more interesting assignments. On 30 April, the steamer Irrawaddy—with General Ulysses S. Grant and party on board—entered Hong Kong harbor. After leaving the White House some two years earlier, the former president had begun a cruise around the world; and he wished to visit China and Japan before heading home. Ashuelot dressed ship and manned the yards in honor of her erstwhile Commander in Chief. A short time later, Grant briefly visited the gunboat which had been charged with transporting him while he was in Chinese waters. He returned to her on 5 May and she took him to Canton and Macao. She returned to Hong Kong on the 10th, and he went ashore for two final days at that British crown colony. The general and his party returned to the ship on the 12th, and she stood out to sea for visits to Swatow and Amoy en route to Shanghai which she reached on the 17th. At the end of a six-day visit there, Grant reembarked in Ashuelot; and she took him to the mouth of the Pei Ho River and then up that estuary to Tianjin where he again left the ship and proceeded by small boats to Peking for discussions with Prince Kung who ruled the Chinese Empire as regent while the seven-year-old Emperor was growing to adulthood. During their meetings, the Prince explained to Grant China's position on its dispute with Japan over control of the Ryukyu Islands and requested his good offices in regard to the matter during the general's forthcoming visit to Japan. After leaving Peking, Grant returned to Tianjin where he boarded Ashuelot for passage to the mouth of the river. There, the screw sloop of war awaited to take Grant to Japan. On 15 June, Ashuelot got underway and proceeded via Chefoo to Nagasaki. She operated in Japanese waters until autumn when she returned to China. By that time the years had taken their toll on the gunboat—so much so that she had come to be known throughout the squadron as "the ironmonger's hope". Nevertheless, since no replacement for her was available, she was retained in the Asiatic Squadron and patched up for further service. She arrived at Shanghai on 10 October 1879 and remained there undergoing extensive repairs through the spring of 1880. 1880–1883 Ashuelot departed Shanghai on 20 June of that year and reached Nagasaki on the 23rd. For the