After the Amherst Embassy, Manning returned to England. He endured a terrifying shipwreck in the Java Sea, after which the survivors had to fend off attack from pirates. Surviving this ordeal, Manning continued his journey and met Napoleon on the island of St Helena, finally arriving back in England in August 1817. Initially, he promised important works on Chinese culture as well as a detailed comparison of the Chinese language with ancient Greek. But, to the perplexity and disappointment of his friends and admirers, Manning never published any such major treatises, despite living for another two decades. He did, however, provide the first English translation and commentary of Chinese jokes. This was slim reward for the vast resources of time and money expended on his Chinese studies, but it nevertheless contains important clues about the sociological purpose of his research. The chapter examines some key recollections of Manning by his contemporaries which help prepare the way for the analysis of Manning’s inner life and hidden purpose, which is explored in the concluding chapter.