. William H. Seward's travels around the world. adjustment with Russia ofthe boundary-question which involves the title to the island ofSaghalien. Mr. Seward, hardly willing to assume so grave aresponsibility, tried to divert Sawas attention from it, saying thatthe United States and Russia were once near neighbors on theother side of the Pacific Ocean, and that a dispute arose betweenthem concerning the right of American seamen to take fish inRussian waters. The controversy, just at the moment when it wasbecoming serious, was happily brought to an end by the UnitedStates purchasing the entire
. William H. Seward's travels around the world. adjustment with Russia ofthe boundary-question which involves the title to the island ofSaghalien. Mr. Seward, hardly willing to assume so grave aresponsibility, tried to divert Sawas attention from it, saying thatthe United States and Russia were once near neighbors on theother side of the Pacific Ocean, and that a dispute arose betweenthem concerning the right of American seamen to take fish inRussian waters. The controversy, just at the moment when it wasbecoming serious, was happily brought to an end by the UnitedStates purchasing the entire Russian possessions on the AmericanContinent. What would you think, he added, playfully, of asuggestion that Japan shall, in the same way, purchase Saghalien ? The minister hesitated, cast his eyes on the floor, and medi-tated ; then, looking up with a smile of conscious satisfaction, heanswered : All our histories agree that the entire island of Sagha-lien belongs to Japan now. We could not buy from Russia terri-tory which we own ourselves !. THE TOMBS OF THE TYCOONS. 59 That is so, replied Mr. Seward, and, if the people of Japanare like the people of the United States, yon will very soon findout that yon can no more sell yonr own territory to others thanyon can buy it from them. During the conversation, tea and cigars, and afterward cham-pagne and cakes, were served by attendants who crouched on thefloor whenever they received or executed a command. After anhour and a half passed, Sawa mentioned the places of special inter-est in Yeddo which he thought Mr. Seward ought to see, and ex-plained the arrangements which had been made for that purpose ;then, stipulating a private interview with Mr. De Long for theafternoon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs rose and took a gracefulleave by bowing and shaking hands cordially with the whole party. Yeddo is a singular combination of compactly-built and densely-inhabited districts, with intervening gardens and groves, appropri-ated to civ
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, booksubjectvoyagesaroundtheworld
