TEMPLE OF RIO-SHEN-ZHI, SIMODA. 423 



will prove himself to be one indeed. Eegarding tlie liberty of going tbrougb the sixty States 

 as not enough for our desires, we wished to make the circuit of the five great continents. This 

 was our hearts' wish for a long time. Suddenly our plans are defeated, and we find ourselves 

 in a half sized house, where eating, resting, sitting, and sleeping are difiicult ; how can we find 

 our exit from this place ? Weeping, we seem as fools; laughing, as rogues. Alas! for us ; 

 silent we can only be. " ISAGI KOODA, 



" KWANSUCHI MANJI." 



The Commodore, on being informed of the imprisonment of the two Japanese, sent his flag 

 lieutenant on shore to ascertain unofficially whether they were the same who had visited the 

 ships. The cage was found as described, but empty, and the guards of the prison declared that 

 the men had been sent that morning to Yedo, in obedience to an order from the capital. They 

 had been confined, it was stated, for going off to the American ships, and as the prefect had no 

 authority to act in the matter, he had at once reported the case to the imperial government, 

 which had sent for the prisoners, and then held them under its jurisdiction. The fate of the 

 poor fellows was never ascertained, but it is hoped that the authorities were more merciful than 

 to have awarded the severest penalty, which was the loss of their heads, for what appears to us 

 only liberal and a highly commendable curiosity, however great the crime according to the 

 eccentric and sanguinary code of Japanese law. It is a comfort to be able to add, that the 

 Commodore received an assurance from the authorities, upon questioning them, that he need 

 not apprehend a serious termination. 



The large Buddhist temple, the Rio-shen-zhi, or great peace monastery, was the place appro- 

 priated by the authorities, in accordance with the demands of the Commodore, for his use, and 

 another was provided for that of his officers. Most of the Japanese temples have apartments 

 separate from the ecclesiastical part of the establishment, which are used for lodging and enter- 

 taining strangers and distinguished visitors. They are also employed occasionally for various 

 public gatherings, on festival and market days ; and bazaars, for buying and selling, are not 

 unfrequently opened ; thus converting the temple into a place for the free exercise of all the roguery 

 of trade, if not literally into a "den of thieves." As the supply of furniture was scant in the 

 lodging department of the Rio-shen-zhi, chairs and other appliances of comfort were brought from 

 the ships, and the quarters were made tolerably luxurious. In order to familiarize the Japanese 

 people with their presence, the Commodore and his officers frequently resorted to their apartments 

 on shore, and found a walk in the pleasure grounds which surrounded them, and on the wooded 

 hills at the back, a pleasant diversion from the routine of ship's duty. 



There was, notwithstanding the promise of the prefect, very little improvement in the conduct 

 of the authorities, and the Americans still found their liberty much restricted, and their privacy 

 interrupted by the jealous watchfulness and intrusive officiousness of the soldiers and spies. 

 The Commodore himself, on one occasion, when proceeding through the town in company with 

 several of his officers, found that he was constantly preceded by two Japanese functionaries, who 

 ordered all the people they met to retire within their houses and close the doors. The shoiimen 

 were evidently forbidden to sell their wares to the strangers, for the most trifling articles which 

 they might desire to purchase could not be obtained on any terms. The Commodore found it 

 necessary again to protest against this illiberal treatment, and sent his flag-lieutenant to the 

 prefect to lay before him certain complaints and to insist upon their causes being immediately 

 removed. Tlie prefect was accordingly called upon, and informed that it appeared that he was 



