which had sent him there, and well knew how to recover its citizens, and had the power to do so. Hearing this decided language, the chief seemed to lose his imperturbable nonchalance, and said he would exert all his influence to get the men soon, adding, "I think you may expect it-" "Stop! You have had time enough to think, and I'll do

forgiven, after they had asked pardon; they were instructed to behave properly, and promised to obey the warning. Their repeated attempts to break out, compelled the Japanese authorities to take them away from the temple and put them in prison, though not only had they themselves promised to be quiet, but the Dutch superintendent had

ered up in three days from this, for I will stay no longer?" Thus pressed, the governor's messenger promised that in three days they should be handed over to the American commander, whereupon the parties shook hands. The chief afterwards walked over the vessel, inspected the crew at general quarters, &c., and then took his leave. On the 25th, the chief, Matsmora Shai, returned, and on taking his seat, remarked that Mr. Levyssohn, being too sick to come off, had sent a substitute, who was in the boat alongside, and he wished to know if he might come on board. Captain Glynn directed the officer to go to the gangway and invite him to come up, but Moreama, the interpreter, interfered, and said it was necessary for him to give him permission to do so. This gentleman, Mr. Bassle, brought a letter from Mr. Levyssohn, offering a quantity of provisions, which Captain Glynn was of course compelled to decline, as he had already told the authorities he must pay for what he took. Mr. B. also brought some Japanese official documents in Dutch, with four signatures and seals attached to them, which he orally translated.

One of them was an informal reply from the governor, through the opperhoofd, in which, after reciting the names of the sailors, he says that it has been represented at court that the men were to be sent away by the next Dutch ship, and are now handed over to the superintendent, to be surrendered to the American man-of-war; but though they (the sailors) reported that their ship was wrecked, yet the law of Japan strictly forbids any person voluntarily approaching its shore; and as it is plain that long voyages cannot be taken in boats, in future persons coming ashore in this manner will be carefully examined. The governor adds, that these men were provided for, and yet, in violation of the laws of the land, broke out of their residence several times, and escaped into the country, but were recaptured, and pardon granted to them; and concludes by requesting the superintendent to inform the American commander that whalers from his country are not to resort to the Japanese seas, as the present case, and one in 1847, show that they are becoming more numer

Ous.

The other paper seemed to be a report of their guard, and contained a notice of the arrival near the island of Lisili, belonging to Yesso, within the principality of Matsmai, of fifteen North American whalers, who asked for assistance, and had a residence given them. It then detailed the several occasions on which these men had broken out of their "residence," and been retaken, and

sult of the diseases each one had suffered, it concluded with saying that their incarceration was wholly owing to their own restiveness. Soon after the reading of these documents, and their delivery to Captain Glynn, the party left the ship.

A new visitor, Hagewara Matasak, came on the 26th, with Moreama, to announce to Captain Glynn that the men would be given up according to promise, and inquiring, with some earnestness, if he would then sail. The positive assurance that this would be done seemed to relieve him vastly; and he then proceeded to say that Captain Glynn's request to visit Mr. Levyssohn on shore had been communicated to the governor, who had refused to grant permission, as it was against the laws of Japan. He was told that this was enough, and the question was then asked if the laws of Japan were in book. "No, no; not so-the French and Dutch put their laws in books, but our governor gives us the law." "Did your governor give you the law prohibiting foreigners visiting the Dutch factory at Desima, or did the emperor make it?" asked Captain Glynn. He was told that this was an imperial regulation; and when a copy of Ingersoll's Digest of the Laws of the United States was offered to him for his acceptance, he again quoted law to decline taking it. The number and object of American vessels which yearly resorted to the Japanese waters was then stated, and on this subject the chief was evidently interested.

After this conversation, a boat bearing the Netherlands flag came alongside, and Mr. Bassle and another gentleman came on board, bringing some papers in Dutch signed by the four head Japanese interpreters, which Mr. B. orally translated. One of them contained an extract from the laws to the following effect :

When shipwrecked foreigners have no means of returning home, they are allowed to sojourn, and their wants are provided for; and on their arrival here they are to be sent back to their country by the Dutch superintendent, which is thus fixed by the law. This being duly considered, it is accordingly not allowed in future to land in the Japanese empire.

Shortly after this, the Japanese officers and the whole party took their leave, and the boat containing the shipwrecked mariners came alongside, and they on deck. Their names were-Robert McCoy, of Philadelphia; John Ball, of Kempville, N. Y.; Jacob Boyd, of Springfield, New Jersey; John Martin, of Rochester, New York; John Waters, of Oahu; and Melchar Biffar, of New York, Americans; Harry Barker, James Hall, Manna, Mokea, Steam, Jack, and Hiram, Hawaiians, all formerly belonging to the ship Ladoga; and Ranald M'Donald, of Astoria; belonging to the ship Plymouth. The cunning of the Japanese in deferring the delivery until they had finished all their own conferences, and placed themselves in security aboard their own boats, was very evident, as thereby all charges brought by their misused prisoners would fall harmless upon them. They may have been conscious that a conference upon the deck of the Preble might have been unpleasant, and they placed at a disadvantageous equality with those whom they had so badly treated.

The narrative of the imprisonment of these unhappy mariners shows the cruelty of the Japanese government, and the necessity of making some arrangement with it involving the better usage of those who are cast upon their shores. The men told their story to Capt. Glynn in a straightforward manner, which carried conviction with it; and we are happy in being able to furnish the following account compiled from their depositions:

NARRATIVE OF THE SAILORS.

It appears that the men from the Ladoga deserted her on account of ill usage, and went off in three boats about June 5th, 1848, near the straits of Sangar; they cruised along the coast of Yesso, and landed to get food and water, but being refused, put to sea and landed again about three miles north, where the villagers built them three mat sheds, and supplied them with food. On the morning of the 7th, an officer inquired why they had come there, and gave them permission to stay till a northerly wind blew to carry them away; and meanwhile ordered a calico screen to be put up, and guards posted, to prevent them from going into or seeing the adjoining country. These soldiers were armed with swords and matchlocks, and their superiors were cased in mail and Japanned helmets or hats made of paper, and resembling broadbrimmed quaker hats; the men carried the match for their matchlocks at their waist.

The shipwrecked sailors were supplied with about one hundred and sixty pounds of rice and some firewood; on the next morning they put to sea again, pulling and sailing down the coast, everywhere perceiving that the country was aroused, and keeping off until they were invited ashore by a boat from a village near where they had first landed; here they found three mat inclosures run up for their reception since they came in sight, and were told they could stay there till the wind became fair. On the afternoon of the 9th, on attempting to go aboard their boats, they found they were prisoners, and the reasons assigned for detaining them were that an officer wished to speak to them, and that their boats were so frail and small they would perish, but that in twenty days a larger vessel would be furnished them. Their luggage was all brought ashore and ticketed, and placed within a house in the village; five days after they were again removed to a prison-so

ridiculously afraid were the Japanese of foreigners looking at their possessions, that these fifteen unarmed sailors were conducted to their lodging through a file of armed soldiers lining both sides of the street.

Here the men remained quiet till the twenty days were up, constantly in charge of a guard and restrained from walking about, at which time they were told no vessel would be ready until twenty days more had elapsed; at the expiration of this second period, they were informed that they would not be allowed to leave the place till January, and their application to be permitted to depart in their own boats was refused. Finding that no dependence could be placed in the assertions of the Japanese, McCoy and Ball made their escape from the prison, intending, if possible, to reach the coast and get to sea in a boat; but they were captured in the first village they approached to ask for food, and taken back to their comrades. A while after their return, on the occurrence of a quarrel the guard nailed Ball into a grated crib by himself for ten days; the cage was too low for him to stand up, and when he hallooed to his comrades, violating the orders of his keepers not to speak, he was jammed at with a stick to compel him to be quiet; for four days out of these ten he was unable to eat.

While he was in this cage, McCoy and Martin made their escape, but were soon arrested on the coast, though not before McCoy had swum out a distance from the shore; they were both put in a crib or cage by themselves after they were brought back, and Ball added to their company. Here they remained twenty-five days, fed through a hole just large enough to admit a cup. Martin was taken out once, after some high words had passed between him and the others, and thrown on the ground; standing on him, the Japanese bound his arms, and then raised him up and secured him to a post, where they beat him with the bight of a rope over his face and head; after which he was returned to his cage, at the intercession of his incensed companions, who endeavored to break out.

About the 10th of August, the men were all removed on board a junk, the three just mentioned being put into a cage between decks only five feet high, six feet long, and four feet broad; the other twelve men were stowed in a second cage twelve by ten feet square, and high enough to stand up in. In these cribs they were kept during the passage to Nangasacki, where they arrived about September 1st; they made every objection to going ashore, and asked for their own boats that they might try to reach China in them. Moreama, the government interpreter, among other falsehoods, told them they should be carefully taken care of ashore, and in six weeks forwarded to Batavia in the Dutch ship. One could have a little more patience with a people like the Japanese, if to their cruelty in carrying out regulations which they suppose necessary for their national safety, they did not add such gratuitous mendacity to delude the unfortunates in their power. The men were questioned on board of the junk, and then carried to the "town house of Nangasacki," as they called it, in kago or chairs; as each man entered the door, he was compelled to step on a crucifix in the ground, and if he showed any dislike to tread on the sacred emblem, a Japanese attendant on each side pulled him back, or lifted him up, until both feet rested on it. McCoy was told that if any of the men had refused to go through this ceremony, he would have been put into an iron house, from which death would be his only exit. Boyd was pulled from one side to the other, as he showed some dexterity at dodging it, until he was forcibly fixed by his guard upon it. When in the town house, they were made to squat down, and shortly a hissing sound announced the governor's approach. They told him in brief they were shipwrecked Americans; but as it was now dark, the examination soon closed, and they were carried to a temple about a mile from the town, where they were lodged in a room surrounded by a fence thirty feet high, beyond which was a wall eight or ten feet high; their guard lodged under the same roof, separated from them by a grating. These accommodations were not so bad and strait as the cages and junk.

In a day or two they were all again carried to the town house, and questioned more minutely, but McCoy and Boyd had by this time learned enough of the Japanese language to know that the interpretations of Moreama were very incorrect. Partly on this account, perhaps, the examination was again put off to the morrow, at which time the opperhoofd from Desima was present. "He asked us," says McCoy, "what was our object in coming into the Japan seas? We told him we came in pursuit of whales. He then asked us if we came in pursuit of any other kind of fish; if whaling was our only object; and if we did not also come to spy out the country? We told him, No, we only came for whales. He asked us if we ate the whales; to which we replied, We made oil of them, &c.;-with more such conversation, after which we were carried back to our prison."

The suspicious rulers, having no truth themselves, were not satisfied with the superintendent's examination, and next day (September 6th) this testimony was all gone over again, and after it concluded, Moreama told them he doubted not they were spies, and came for no other purpose than to examine the country. The Dutch superintendent kindly sent them coffee, sugar, gin, and wine, and a piece of longcloth for Ball to make himself clothes. After six weeks had elapsed, he sent a letter to them, stating that permission had not yet come from Yeddo, but that the Dutch ship would tarry twenty-five days outside of the harbor; he also wisely cautioned them against quarrelling, adding that such unruly conduct would only aggravate their condition. In their reply to this note, the dispirited seamen expressed themselves as in a wretched condition, and begged him to

make known their case to some American consul, if perchance thereby a man-of-war might be sent to their relief.

Seeing no release come, the impatient McCoy escaped from his prison, by tearing off the boards from the fence and climbing the wall, in the vain hope of getting aboard of the Dutch ship lying off the harbor before she sailed. He travelled all night, and hid himself in the hills during the next day, till 4 P. M., when he made for the beach; a rain-storm induced him to hope the coast was clear; but he was retaken and carried back in a kago to his old quarters, and questioned as to his designs in escaping, and his object in spying out the land. He was put in stocks, and tied to the grating during the night, and the next day carried to the town house to undergo another examination, where the question as to his being a spy was again asked, though he told his keepers his only desire was to get aboard of the Dutch ship. He was taken thence to the common prison in the heart of the town, once the site of a church, and kept there by himself about three weeks. McCoy had by this time acquired so much knowledge of Japanese as to be able to talk with the people and his guard on most common subjects; but they were too carefully watched themselves to be free to tell him anything of importance. At the end of three weeks, thinking the Dutch ship had sailed, he despaired of ever getting away, and refused to take food. His guard told him he must eat, for that doubtless the emperor would give permission when he "thought good" for them to depart; and the governor himself sent an officer to inquire the reason of his abstinence. On the fourth day (November 16) he was taken to the town house in a kago, rather faint from his long fast, where he again saw his companions, and met Mr. Levyssohn. This gentleman informed them all that permission for their departure had not yet come, and that the ship had already waited five days beyond the twenty-five; he added that he had written to the American consul at Batavia, and endeavored to cheer up the spirits of the disheartened men by telling them that they were not among savages, and that there was no cause for fear, if release was long deferred. He also obtained a promise from the Japanese, that if McCoy behaved quietly he should be restored to his shipmates; which was done four days after.

After a month's detention, another escape was planned, by burning through the floor of their room and digging under the board fence; but only McCoy, Boyd, and Ball, got out, when the guard heard the noise and stopped the rest. These three made for the thickets behind the town, and directed their course south-westerly to the seashore, which they reached about two o'clock; but the barking of a dog turned them from their course, so that daylight surprised them before they could reach some boats they saw in a distant cove. Hiding themselves in the bushes during the day, they started the next evening for the seaside; but hunger compelled them to ask a peasant for food-he