58 THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. [chap. 



we should remain in ignorance of the fact that the castle was 

 now occupied by Japanese troops. At the south end of this 

 courtyard was the entrance to the ancient palace of the kings of 

 Liu-kiu — a holy of holies into which, as far as I can discover, no 

 European had previously penetrated. Captain Basil Hall, Sir 

 Edward Belcher, and Captain Beechey were all unsuccessful in 

 their attempts to see the capital ; and though the pertinacity 

 with which Commodore Perry stuck to his claim of returning the 

 state visit at the Castle of Shiuri was rewarded with success, the 

 party were apparently not admitted beyond the ante-room of the 

 palace. Mr. Brunton, who seems to have been the latest visitor to 

 the islands who has published any account of them,^ found the 

 inner gates closed ; and the majority of the few remaining ^'isitors 

 have either never visited the capital, or if so, have not been per- 

 mitted to enter the gates of the fortress. It was, therefore, with no 

 little mterest that we passed between the two huge stone dragons 

 guarding the entrance, and found ourselves within the sacred 

 precincts. 



A more dismal sight could hardly have been imagined. We 

 wandered through room after room, through corridors, reception- 

 halls, women's apartments, through the servant's quarters, through 

 a perfect labyrinth of buildings, which were in a state of indescrib- 

 able dilapidation. The place could not have been inhabited for 

 years. Every article of ornament had been removed ; the pamtings 

 on the frieze — a favourite decoration with the Japanese and Liu- 

 kiuans — had been torn down, or were in\dsible from dust and age. 

 A few half-rotten mats lay here and there, but the floors were for 

 the most part bare, and full of holes, which, combined with the 

 rottenness of the planks, rendered our exploration a rather perilous 

 proceeding. In all directions the woodwork had been torn away 

 for firewood, and an occasional ray of light from above showed that 

 the roof was in no better condition than the rest of the building. 



From these damp and dismal memorials of past Liu-kiuan 



^ "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," vol. iv. 187.5-1876. 



