ISLAND OF DESIMA. 
Chap. I. 
tuguese — flying at this distance from home. A 
great portion of the land set apart for the 
foreign settlement was in the course of being 
reclaimed from the sea, and ere long a town of 
considerable size will rise on the shores of this 
beautiful bay. 
The island of Desima — dear old Desima, where 
the Dutch have traded and dreamed so long — lies 
a little further up the bay, and looks in the dis- 
tance like a small fort or breastwork in front of 
Nagasaki.* In these days, when Japan has to 
a great extent been opened to foreigners, it is 
amusing to read the account of the restrictions 
which were placed upon the movements of the 
Dutch during the period when all the trade of 
Japan was their own. The little island was only 
separated from Nagasaki by a narrow canal 
spanned by a stone bridge, but the dwellers on 
either side were prevented from seeing each other 
by means of a high wall. The bridge was closed 
by a gate, beside which was a guardhouse occupied 
by police and soldiers ; and no one was allowed to 
quit the island on any pretence without the per- 
mission of the Governor. Japanese were not 
allowed to visit the Dutch without permission, ex- 
cepting those who were appointed to inspect their 
dwelling-place, and then only at certain hours. 
The Japanese servants of the Factory were obliged 
to leave the island at sunset, and to report them- 
* It is about 600 feet in length, and 240 in width. 
