In 1857 Laurence Oliphant (1829–88), lawyer, journalist, diplomat and sometime spy, later Liberal MP, satirical novelist, and, for a time, adherent of the religious mystic Thomas Harris, became private secretary to Lord Elgin (1811–63), accompanying him to China, and thence to Japan, on a mission to protect and extend British trading interests in the region. Oliphant's 1859 account of the trip was published in two volumes. Volume 2 deals with the negotiation of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Yedo, the legalisation of the Chinese opium trade and combat with Chinese insurgents at Nankin. The work is a mixture of travel narrative - Oliphant had previously written about his travels in Nepal and in the Crimea (also reissued in this series) - and political analysis. It provides both an informative account of the war from a privileged vantage point and a window upon Oliphant's own colourful career.
Contents
1. First view of Japan; 2. Missionary success of Xavier; 3. A surfeit of sensations; 4. Residence of the American Consul; 5. Official visitors; 6. Residence of British mission; 7. Constitution of government; 8. A riding party; 9. A Japanese funeral; 10. Population of Yedo; 11. Settling-day; 12. Future prospects; 13. Effects of the Chinese climate; 14. All the ships aground; 15. Renewal of the action; 16. A battle between rebels and imperialists; 17. A foraging expedition; 18. First impressions of Han-kow; 19. First appearance of strangers; 20. Exploration of a lake; 21. The Yang-tse-Kiang commercially considered; Appendix.
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