FIRST EXPERIENCES 
71 
Haber led through some gardens, but there were no 
houses near. Haber was carrying an umbrella. 
Suddenly he was attacked from behind by a Japanese 
armed with a short sword. Haber was not much 
hurt, and ran away until he became exhausted, and 
turned into one of the gardens. The Japanese 
caught him up, and struck him repeatedly with the 
sword, nearly cutting his arms off. Haber begged 
him not to kill him, but to get him some water. This 
the Japanese did, and then hacked away at him 
again until he was killed. 
The murderer confessed to all this at his trial, 
and said that he first followed the doctor; but he 
being a big man, and armed with a stick, he thought 
he had better attack the smaller man. He had been 
a schoolmaster, had lost his employment through the 
introduction of foreign ideas which he hated, and 
had resolved to kill a foreigner on the first oppor¬ 
tunity. He was tried and executed in Hakodate. 
I arrived in Hakodate soon after the murder had 
taken place, and the foreigners there were naturally 
much excited over it. 
