TATZ-NOSKY AND NOAH WEBSTEK. 
229 
dows and at the doors of our own shops. I subsequently 
learned the secret of this from Tatz-nosky, who — with an 
unabridged edition of Noah Webster’s dictionary, and an 
immense pile of scattering pieces of information in the 
shape of symbols, detached words, and sentences obtained 
from the officers of Perry’s and our squadrons, at his 
elbow — was rapidly, and with dogged perseverance, 
informing himself as to our language and customs in 
general. I could not but conclude that the Japanese 
would soon know much more about us than we ever 
should about them, unless another treaty should more 
fully open their poi’ts. Once let Tatz-nosky and his 
brother-interpreters master the English language, once 
let books be introduced into Japan, and the day of their 
stupid seelusion will be past. 
When I asked him how’' these prices had been ob- 
tained, he was candid enough to acknowdedge that the 
different merchants had requested him to write them on 
slips of papei’s, and that they paid him quite hand- 
somely. He had his pocket-book at the time filled with 
slips of bamboo-paper, on which he wrote different values 
in both Japanese and English as he was applied to by the 
merchants. Tatz-nosky was evidently wide awake as to 
the propriety of turning an honest itzabu. 
The merchants, therefore, having to pay for these tal- 
lies, were loath to let them go with the goods. Thus, -when 
any thing was bought, they invariably took them off and 
stowed them away as one would a bank-note ; but many 
of us, wishing to pack our things as they stood, objected 
to this practice, and were, in return, often charged from 
fifty to a hundred cash (three to six cents) for this luxury 
