BRUTALITY OF JAPAXESK OFFICIALS. 
299 
few clams in the bottoms of their boats, readily passed 
them on hoard, accepted a few trifling articles in return, 
and were becoming quite lively and pleasant, when a third 
bateau, paddled also by two men, came rapidly within 
hail. The after-paddler of this third bateau, calling to 
them in a threatening and brutal tone, beckoned them 
off from the ship with the most violent gestures, and, not 
content with thus driving them away, confiscated their 
paddles, with which he beat them severely over the head, 
made their boats fast to his, and thus towed them in- 
shore, where a severe bambooing probably awaited them. 
I had the satisfaction, ten minutes later, of using a boat- 
liook in conjunction with the shaven head of one of 
that fellow’s brother-officers, who, while I was sounding 
around the ship in obedience to orders, had the impu- 
dence to leave his “tcn-scuH” boat to be sculled alongside 
of our cockle-shell of a dingy so as to render oars per- 
fectly useless. Ilis object was to prevent our going any 
nearer the shore; and, after motioning him out of the 
way several times without success, I resorted to the boat- 
liook application with most ^satisfactory results. These 
people propel their bateaux (most Japanese boats merit 
the appellation of bateau rather than boat) with from one 
to twenty sculls; and it is astonishing with what skill they 
will manage them. They progress either ahead, astern, 
sideways, or diagonally, as circumstances may call for; 
and, if they wish to prevent a strange boat from proceed- 
ing in a certain direction, all they have to do is once to get 
alongside, and the progress of that boat is at an end until 
a boat-hook or something of that sort is called into requi- 
sition. But to leave generalities. After receiving one 
