MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



499 



on the shore for the governor of 

 the castle, who, he assured me, 

 would soon come out to meet 

 me. — I asked him what we were 

 to understand by their having 

 sent back in the cask all the 

 articles we had left in the fishing- 

 village. He replied that they 

 wished to return them, because 

 they supposed we did not intend 

 to have any further intercourse 

 with them, and that in that case 

 they durst take nothing. I im- 

 mediately recollected that Lax- 

 man, in his Narrative, mentioned 

 that the Japanese would accept 

 of no presents until the conclusion 

 of the negociation, though it did 

 not appear that they afterwards 

 declined any thing which he 

 offered them. I therefore felt 

 myself perfectly satisfied on this 

 head. 



I had not long to wait for the 

 governor ; he soon appeared 

 completely armed and accom- 

 panied by two soldiers, one of 

 whom carried his long spear, and 

 the other his cap or helmet, 

 which was adorned with a figure 

 of the moon. In other respects 

 it somewhat resembled the crowns 

 which are occasionally worn at 

 nuptial-ceremonies in Russia. It 

 is scarcely possible to conceive 

 any thing more ludicrous than the 

 manner in which the governor 

 walked. His eyes were cast down 

 and fixed upon the earth, his 

 hands pressed close against his 

 sides ; he besides proceeded at so 

 slow a pace that he scarcely 

 extended one foot beyond the 

 other, and kept his feet as wide 

 apart as though a stream of water 

 had been running betwixt them. 

 I saluted him after the European 

 fashion, upon which he raised his 

 left hand towards his forehead, 



and bowed his head and his whole 

 body towards the ground. Our 

 conversation then commenced. I 

 apologized for having been com- 

 pelled, by the most urgent neces- 

 sity, to occasion them so much 

 inconvenience. He expressed his 

 regret that the ignorance of the 

 Japanese respecting the object of 

 our visit should have occasioned 

 them to fire upon us, and in- 

 quired why, on first entering the 

 harbour, we did not send out a 

 boat to meet that which had been 

 dispatched from the garrison, as 

 we might thereby have prevented 

 the occurrence of such disagree- 

 able hostilities. I assured him 

 that no boat had been seen by 

 any of the crew on board our 

 sloop, and imputed our not having 

 perceived it to the darkness of 

 the evening. I plainly saw, how- 

 ever, that he was seeking to 

 excuse his own conduct, and was 

 at the same time asserting a direct 

 falsehood ; for when we entered 

 the harbour, we could perceive 

 every object around us with the 

 utmost distinctness : not even the 

 flight of a bird, and much less a 

 boat proceeding from the shore, 

 could have escaped our observa- 

 tion. He then asked whether I 

 was the captain of the vessel, or 

 whether it was commanded by 

 some individual older than I; 

 which question he repeated se- 

 veral times. He likewise asked 

 where we were sailing to, why we 

 had landed on their coasts, and 

 whither we next intended to. pro- 

 ceed ? Lest an explanation of the 

 real object of our visit to their 

 islands, might create fear and 

 suspicion, I informed him that 

 "we were sailing from- the eastern 

 extremity of our empire to St. 

 Petersburgh, that contrary winds 

 2 K 2 Imd 



