172 



EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



We resumed our march at half past one o'clock. The old Pe-ching, "Chang- Yuen," who 

 had hecome a little fatigued by this time, took a ka-goo, or Lew Chew chair, and followed in 

 our rear, leaving the particular charge of us to his subordinates. The scouts were sent ahead, 

 as usual, for our path descended again to the populous plain at the base of the hills. We 

 already perceived indications of a fixed system in the espionage to which we were subjected. 



Rums of N-igagusko — North. 



Chang- Yuen and his two secondary officers were depiited to accompany us during the whole 

 journey, while their dozen or more attendants and helpers were changed as we passed from one 

 district of the island into another. Nothing could exceed the vigilance with which they watched 

 us. We might separate into as many divisions as there were men, and yet each of us would still 

 retain his native convoy. We could neither tire them down, nor run away from them. When, 

 by chance, we suddenly changed our course, we still found them before us. And though this 

 was the result of a jealous and exclusive system, yet they managed to give it the appearance of 

 being done through respect for us. 



I was curious to obtain some information regarding the domestic life of the natives^ and 

 frequently entered their huts unawares, in the hope of finding them at their avocations within. 

 In most cases I found the huts deserted, but in some others caught the merest glimpses of Lew Chew 

 life, in its more humble aspects. Near the castle^ while our convoy was passing around a village, 

 I slipped into one of the alleys and entered a bamboo enclosure, within which were five neat 

 dwellings. The mats were let down before the doors, but the people were all hidden behind 

 screens and in lofts under the thatch, for on looking in I found no one but a child and an old 



