when the captain of the Royal Navy's informed Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell, the commander of the United States Squadron, that "aboriginals" had murdered the survivors from Rover after that American merchant bark had been wrecked on rocks just off the southern coast of Formosa. Bell ordered Febiger—then at Foochow—to proceed in Ashuelot to that island to investigate. When the gunboat returned from Formosa with evidence confirming the tragedy, Bell launched a punitive expedition against the guilty tribesmen (see Formosa Expedition), but left Ashuelot on the mainland coast to look after American interests in various Chinese treaty ports. The double-ender continued to perform this duty into the early spring of 1868. In Japan at that time, civil disturbances followed the abolition of the shogunate and the assumption of supreme political power by the Emperor Meiji, drawing Ashuelot to the island empire. She reached Nagasaki on 6 April and, with her sister American warships, remained neutral while furnishing refuge to endangered American citizens and foreigners. She also offered asylum to Japanese officials of both sides who felt themselves to be imperiled. However, late in the spring, unrest in northern China caused Ashuelot to return to the Asiatic mainland. She put to sea on 17 June and, six days later, reached Tianjin—then menaced by Chinese rebels. She worked along the coast of northern China until sailing for Japan late in August. She moved from port to port along the coast of Asia and among the nearby islands, reaffirming the American presence and power in that part of the world, frequently seeking out trouble spots so that she might be on hand as a haven for endangered Americans and for others in peril—native and foreign alike. 1870–1871 As the years passed, the squadron increasingly took advantage of Ashuelot's comparatively shallow draft and the great maneuverability which sprang from her double-ended configuration by using her more and more in riverine operations. Thus, after the massacre of 22 Europeans—including 10 nuns—in June 1870, she departed Shanghai and proceeded north to the mouth of the Pei-Ho which she reached on 26 July. She then ascended that river to Tianjin where the atrocity had occurred and remained at that ancient city into the spring of the following year. She got underway again on 23 April 1871 when the ice of the river had thawed allowing her to put to sea once more. From that time on, Ashuelot