OZAKA AND TOKUSHIMA
THE next few days were occupied almost exclusively with the question of
what measures were to be adopted for the detection and punishment of the
murderers of the "Icarus" sailors at Nagasaki. Sir Harry, as was very
natural, took up the matter with great warmth, and used some extremely
strong language to the principal minister of the Tycoon, a good-natured,
yet not by any means weak, old gentleman named Itakura Iga no Kami. He
seemed to be old, though probably not over five-and-forty. The rumour at
Nagasaki had been that the perpetrators were Tosa men, and the suspicion
was strengthened by the fact that a sailing vessel and a steamer
belonging to Tosa, which were lying in the harbour, suddenly left before
dawn, a few hours after the murder. It was suggested that the
perpetrators had escaped in the sailing vessel, as she left an hour and
a half before the steamer, and that they were transferred to the latter
somewhere outside the harbour. As far as we could judge, the Tycoon's
government seemed to entertain the same suspicions. The Tosa men had
always had the reputation for being more savagely disposed than any
other Japanese. The government promised to dismiss the two governors of
Nagasaki, and to send a body of 500 men from Yedo to patrol the foreign
settlement at Nagasaki to prevent anything of the kind recurring. Upon
this Sir Harry accepted an invitation to see the Tycoon, who had come
down from Kiôto to give an audience to the French Minister, M. Roches,
about the recent arrest of some native Christians at Nagasaki. Sir
Harry, Mitford and I went accordingly to the castle in palanquins, as
the weather was very hot, and no good ponies could be procured. We were
received in the private drawing-room (_shiro-in_). The Tycoon, who
looked a little worn, had with him Itakura and Hirayama; the latter was
a little old man of rather low origin with sharp cunning features, who
had lately been promoted. We nicknamed him the fox, and he deserved it
well.
After an hour's talk, on indifferent matters, we were joined by Admiral
Keppel and his staff. This led to some conversation on naval affairs,
but I came to the conclusion that His Highness took very little interest
in the subject. After a while the Tycoon sent for Matsudaira Kansô, the
ex-_daimiô_ of Hizen, an oldish-looking man of forty-seven, and
introduced him to Sir Harry and the Admiral. He had a sharp countenance,
and spoke in a fitful, abrupt manner, constantly winking with both eyes.
He had the reputation of being a time-server and a great intriguer, and
certainly, up to the very moment of the revolution, which took place in
1868, he never allowed anyone to guess what side he would take. He sat
next to the Tycoon on his left, and the only other mark of respect,
other than that due to equals, which he employed in speaking was the
word "kami," for "you." Sir Harry endeavoured to get an invitation out
of him to visit his place at Saga, but he was too wary, and merely
expressed the expectation that they might meet some day at Nagasaki; but
that never came to pass. When the Tycoon was tired of talking we
adjourned to the next room, where a Japanese luncheon was served, with
cold _saké_; which was a sign that no one was expected to take more than
enough.
Early that morning I had received a call from Saigô Kichinosuké, and
here I insert a translation of a letter which he afterwards wrote to
Okubo Ichizô giving an account of our conversation. The original was
found many years afterwards among the papers of Iwakura Jijiû, and a
copy was given to me in 1906, as I was passing through Tôkiô on my way
home from Peking, by my old friend Matsugata Masayoshi.
Copy of letter addressed by Saigô Takamori to Okubo Toshimichi.
Yesterday morning at 6 I arrived at Ozaka, and on inquiring
where was the lodging of the English, I learnt that it was at
the temple where they were in the spring; so I at once sent to
Satow to inquire at what time to-day it would be convenient for
me to call. The answer was that I should come at 7 o'clock. I
went at that hour, and found he had just woke, and I was shown
upstairs. I said that hearing of the minister's arrival at
Ozaka, I had been, as you know, sent as a special messenger to
inquire after his health. The ordinary compliments having been
offered, he said the mail to England was being despatched about
ten o'clock, and that at half-past eleven the minister was going
to the Castle. I said that I had no particular business, but had
only come to call in order to congratulate him on his arrival at
Ozaka. As he must be very busy, I would not trouble him with a
personal interview, and begged him to say so to the Minister. He
replied that the Minister particularly wished to meet me, but as
he was so much occupied he would ask to be excused that day. He
said the Minister would remain two or three days at Ozaka, and
particularly desired to meet me, and he thought he would be able
to give me an interview in two or three days. He said he would
sail from here on the 2nd of next month in order to return to
Yokohama (or probably Yedo).
When I saw Satow, he said things were exactly as before and that
there had been no change of any importance, and the position
being just as before, it was entirely different from what
Shibayama had suspected; therefore I told him that the Ozaka
Commercial Co. has, as I said to you the other day, agreed with
the French, and is planning to make great profits. [An obscure
passage follows.]
I said I should like to try to discuss the settlement of
Japanese affairs by the French, on which Satow replied that he
would very much like to argue it. I told him the French said
Japan must have a single concentrated government like all
western countries, and the _daimiôs_ must be deprived of their
power. Above all it was desirable to destroy the two provinces
of Chôshiû and Satsuma, and that it would be well to join in
subduing them. I asked what he thought of this. Satow then
answered that it might be seen from the two previous attempts at
subjugation, that a government which had not been able to beat
Chôshiû alone would certainly not be able to deprive all the
_daimiôs_ of their powers. I said: How could such weak people be
helped. He replied that not a word could be said to that, and
the argument was impossible. If such an argument were publicly
brought forward, there was no doubt that they would help the
government to destroy the _daimiôs_. It was heard that the idea
was that in two or three years' time money would be collected,
machinery be provided, French assistance be invoked and war be
begun. As the French would then send troops to give assistance,
it would be dangerous unless an opposite great Power were got to
assist. If a report were then spread that England would also
send out troops to protect, it would be impossible for French
auxiliary troops to be set in motion; he said that therefore it
was necessary to come to a thorough agreement beforehand. In the
first place the English idea was that the sovereign of Japan
should wield the governing power, and under him the _daimiôs_
should be placed, and so the establishment of the constitution
(or national polity) would be similar to the system of all other
countries. This was the first (word omitted here) thing of all.
The sovereign of England had lately sent to the _Bakufu_ a
letter addressed to the sovereign of Japan. This was a letter of
condolence on hearing of the death of the late Emperor. This was
to be delivered to the Emperor by the _Bakufu_. It would be
improper if no reply were made to it, but up to the present no
reply had been received.
Although that was what they had declared with respect to the
Emperor of Japan, at Kiôto H.M. did not take that view at all.
It was maintained that the admission of aliens into the capital
would be a defilement. As that sort of thing was undesirable, it
would be necessary that a definite form of government vis-a-vis
all countries carried on ordinary relations. If it was desired
to consult with England, he would like to be informed, and as he
was disposed to undertake the assistance asked for I replied
that we would exert ourselves for the transformation of the
Japanese government and we had no justification (?) vis-a-vis
foreigners.
The French grabbed profit at Yokohama and entered into
agreements for their own pleasure. England was a country based
on commerce, and would strenuously oppose any attempt to hinder
commerce, and was therefore extremely indignant.
The culprits who had killed two English sailors at Nagasaki were
not yet known. We had heard it was rumoured to be the act of
Nagasaki[3] men. He heard that Nagasaki was very badly spoken
of. When Satow and others travelled overland from Echizen,
Nagasaki men lay in wait for them at Fushimi. It was also said
by many that they committed acts of violence at Kiôto, and
gathered gamblers together. If it was Nagasaki men who had
killed aliens at Nagasaki, it was to be much regretted as doing
a great injury.
[3] Substituted by Saigô for Tosa.
When they came to Echizen no one came to meet them. Though local
governors came to meet them in the country, no one came to see
them at the castle-town, but they were entertained hospitably
with _saké_ and _sakana_. Satow said he could not understand
this.
The above is a summary of the important points. Satow says he
will come here to-morrow at ten o'clock, and I think there will
be more conversation. I propose to stay two or three days
longer, so please understand that. Satow's language about the
_Bakufu_ is very insulting. I will tell you all in detail.
Good-bye. 27th of 7th moon.
SAIGO KICHINOSUKE.
Okubo Ichizô sama.
P.S. note by penman.--This copy of the letter contains
obscurities, and some incorrect transcriptions.
Next day I went to see Saigô at the Satsuma agency, in order to learn
from him how things were going on at Kiôto. He talked a good deal of a
parliament of the whole nation, to be established as a substitute for
the existing government of the Tycoon, which I found from my young
friend Matsuné was a very general idea among the anti-Tycoon party. To
me it seemed a mad idea. Saigô also revealed to me a plan conceived by
the government for monopolizing all the trade of Ozaka and Hiôgo by
placing it in the hands of a guild of twenty rich native merchants,
which was no doubt copied from the old arrangement at Canton before the
opium war of 1840.
This piece of news, when it was brought to him, inflamed the chief's
wrath, who immediately got hold of the prime minister and insisted upon
the scheme being abandoned. A new proclamation was issued, annulling the
previous one establishing the guild, but as it was extorted by dint of
great diplomatic pressure, I had very little belief in its being acted
on. It was, and always has been, a Japanese idea to regulate commerce,
both domestic and foreign, by means of the guilds, who pay for their
monopoly, and make the most of it. Whatever may be the abstract merits
of such a system, it is not altogether in accordance with western ideas,
and we have never ceased to make war upon it whenever it crossed our
path in eastern countries.
Another matter about which we had to speak very strongly was the wording
of the Tycoon's reply to the Queen's letter, conveying the usual
expressions of condolence on the death of the late Mikado. The ministers
apologized very humbly for having made use of discourteous forms, and
promised to take great care for the future. The style of official
documents addressed to the British Minister was also a subject upon
which we had never-ending disputes with the Japanese officials, and it
was only after the revolution that I succeeded in getting these things
done in proper form. Their object was always by the use of particular
forms and turns of phraseology to convey to their own people the belief
that the foreign representatives were the inferiors of the Tycoon's
ministers; doubtless they did not in their own country hold a rank at
all approaching that of the high functionaries they had to deal with,
most of whom were _daimiôs_, and it was a difficult matter, as it always
has been in every eastern country, to induce them to recognize the
official position of a diplomatist representing his sovereign.
I have said in an earlier chapter that one of my teachers at Yokohama
had been a retainer of the _daimiô_ of Awa. During the spring, when we
were first at Ozaka, there had been some talk about my going to pay the
_daimiô_ a visit at his capital, which lay not far from that city, but
owing to a misunderstanding it came to nothing. On the present occasion
the Awa people had sought me out again, and renewed the invitation,
which I however persuaded them to transfer to Sir Harry and the Admiral.
It had been already agreed that the British Legation should proceed to
the province of Tosa in company with some special Commissioners of the
Tycoon, in order to discover, if possible, the murderers of the two
sailors belonging to H.M.S. "Icarus." Our wily old friend Hirayama was
selected, along with a couple of other officials, for this business, and
they wished to precede us by a few days in order to make a preliminary
inquiry. So when the projected visit to Awa came to the ears of the
ministers, they pressed Sir Harry to accept it, as Tokushima lay in the
direct route to Tosa, and also because they believed that the _daimiô_
was not a dangerous opponent, but rather inclined to be a partisan of
the Tycoon, if he took any side at all. Sir Harry was pleased, because
he liked these entertainments, and so the matter was settled to every
one's satisfaction. I took care to keep to myself the fact that the
invitation had really been intended for myself alone, the _daimiô_
having heard about me from my teacher, and being curious to see the
writer of the pamphlet on "English policy."
Sir Harry and Mitford went off in the "Basilisk" with Hewett, the
"Salamis" remaining behind to pick me up on the following morning. She
was to leave at eleven, so I had to pack up overnight, and start very
early. I hurried off with the Legation writer Ono, leaving Noguchi in
charge of the baggage, and as usual he was late. I waited some time, but
still he delayed. I became impatient, and desperately started in a boat
with only the writer. Just as we were passing the proposed site of the
foreign settlement, Noguchi came alongside in a tiny skiff, without the
baggage. Further down, near the mouth of the river, we changed into a
larger boat, built to cross the bar, and got on board half-an-hour late.
Two Awa officials had joined just before me, and to my great joy and
relief the baggage boat came alongside a quarter of an hour afterwards.
We weighed anchor precisely at noon, and steaming southward through the
Yura straits, got to the little harbour of Nei in Awa about six o'clock
in the evening. The "Basilisk" was there already. Apparently no one
awaited our arrival. Sir Harry therefore despatched me to Tokushima to
find out what sort of reception he might expect. I got into a big native
sailing boat with one of the Awa officials, while the other man hastened
on ahead in another.
There was a fresh breeze, and we rushed along under the cliffs at a good
pace until we found ourselves approaching the bar at the mouth of the
river on which Tokushima is situated. It was already dark, and the
breakers extended right across the entrance. The other boat, which had
preceded me, now turned back, and as she passed the people on board
shouted out that the passage was no longer safe. My pilot however
disregarded the warning, and pushed boldly on. The passage was extremely
narrow, between widely extended sandbanks on either side; the huge waves
tossed about the boat, big as it was, like a child's toy. At last after
some anxious minutes we got inside, and were now in comparatively smooth
water, without having shipped a drop. A great deal of apparently
unmeaning shouting and hallooing took place, and our boat was allowed to
surge hither and thither, till we drifted back again to the sandbank,
where we found the other Japanese; they had run their boat ashore in the
most reckless way, narrowly escaping a drowning in the surf.
After mutual congratulations, we got into a houseboat and proceeded up
the river to the landing-place, where I had to wait some time till a
guard of soldiers could be brought down. This gave time for a crowd of
spectators to collect, in spite of the advanced hour. At last the guard
arrived; it consisted of cavalry, in long boots and conical hats, with
white plumes of horsehair, commanded by a grizzled old warrior named
Hachisuka Mimasaka, a descendant of the robber chieftain who founded the
House of Awa, but a retainer for all that. They escorted me in solemn
procession to a temple that had been prepared for our accommodation, by
laying down red felt carpets and furnishing it with hastily constructed
tables, chairs and bedsteads. It was evident that they had expected only
a small party of three or four Europeans, but I explained to them that
Sir Harry would not land without the Admiral, and neither of them could
come on shore without the whole of his staff. So they had to make the
best of it, and greatly extend their preparations before I would
acknowledge myself satisfied. They had written up our official titles
over the doors of the rooms intended for us, and mine had been rendered
by "tongue-officer," a euphemism for interpreter; this I immediately had
done away with, and my name substituted, for in Japan the office of
interpreter at that time was looked upon as only fit for the lowest
class of domestic servants, and no one of _samurai_ rank would ever
condescend to speak a foreign language. I had often to fight pretty hard
with Japanese of rank in order to ensure being treated as something
better than a valet or an orderly.
My good Awa friends, anxious to make me as happy as possible, had racked
their brains in order to produce a dinner in European style, and a most
dismal banquet it was; uneatable fishes in unsightly dishes, piles of
unripe grapes and melons, heavy and tasteless sponge cakes, with coarse
black-handled knives and forks to eat with. A wretched being, who had
been to the United States as a sailor and had picked up a few words of
low English, was put forward prominently to wait upon me, as if I were
so ignorant of Japanese as to need an interpreter. It was explained that
he was the only person in the clan who understood European manners and
customs. I found him disgustingly familiar, and had to address a private
remonstrance to one of the officials who had come down with me, who said
that he was a privileged person "on account of his great learning."
Nevertheless he administered a rebuke to the individual in question, who
thereupon reverted to his native Japanese good manners.
I had entirely lost my appetite, owing to having been without food since
the middle of the day. We proceeded to discuss various points of
etiquette connected with our proposed visit to the _daimiô_ at his
castle. It was the first occasion on which foreigners of rank had been
received within the walls of a native baron's fortress. It was finally
decided that we should ride past the place where the notice to dismount
stands, and get off our horses at the inner gate. The question of
precedence at table was also decided. On one side were to sit the
_daimiô_, his eldest son and a _karô_ named Mori, Commander Suttie of
the "Salamis," Major Crossman of the Royal Engineers, Lieutenant
Stephenson (flag lieutenant); on the other Sir Harry Parkes, Admiral Sir
Harry Keppel, Captain Hewett, Mitford and Mr. Risk, the Admiral's
secretary; I was to sit at the head of the table between Sir Harry and
the _daimiô_. Separate and special individual presents were to be given
to Sir Harry Parkes, to the Admiral and to myself, and a general present
to all the others, to be divided among them as they liked. After all
these knotty points had been disposed of, at a late hour I got to bed.
On the following morning I left early and went down to the mouth of the
river to see whether it was possible to cross the bar in order to meet
Sir Harry, but found that it was still impassable owing to the heavy
swell that continued to roll in from the open sea. After wasting a good
deal of time in this vain attempt, I returned to the town, and procured
nine horses, with which I started off overland to Nei, where the ships
were lying. The road was pretty good in places, but at times very
narrow, and wound in and out among the hills. The ponies were sturdy
little animals, and though unshod trotted over the stones without
stumbling, but they had hard mouths, and would not obey the snaffle. At
Nei I got a small boat and went on board. From Sir Harry downwards
everyone was willing to risk the ride to Tokushima, in spite of the
weather. We started at four, and in a couple of hours reached the town,
in a heavy storm of rain and wind. The streams, which had been quite dry
when I passed in the middle of the day, were now so swollen that the
water came up to the ponies' girths. We were wet through. If we changed
at the temple, there was the risk of getting wet again in riding to the
castle. It was arranged therefore that we should go on as we were, and
dress in an ante-room. Mitford and Aston were engaged in drying their
clothes. I had got into a pair of pyjamas, and could not ride in that
costume. So I tried to procure three palanquins for us, which took an
unexpectedly long time to produce. Sir Harry lost his temper, and swore
he would not be kept waiting for all the d----d _daimiôs_ in Japan.
Numata (my old teacher) and the other Awa people manifested the most
stoical indifference to all this wrath. Mitford volunteered to go on
horseback, so they set out. Aston, as a punishment for not being ready,
was forbidden by Sir Harry to join the party, a prohibition which caused
him the intensest joy. At last my palanquin arrived, I got in, and the
bearers went off at such a pace that I reached the castle at the same
moment as the others. In the dark, for it was now nine or ten o'clock,
the walls of cyclopean masonry, as we entered the gates and wound
through the outer fortifications, seemed very imposing, though they were
not so in reality. We had to alight outside the point at which I had
agreed with the officials, but luckily no one seemed to be aware of the
alteration. We got into the palace and were shown into rooms where we
changed our dress; and the different garb worn by the various members of
the party was very curious, no proper uniforms or evening dress at all.
I could only muster a shirt, a white coat and trousers, no waistcoat,
and no cummerbund. Sir Harry was the only one who kept his shoes on, as
every one had got his feet wet in riding from Nei.
Everyone being at last ready, we were ushered through a series of wide
passages into the banqueting room, and were met by the prince, who
according to the agreement was clad in the ordinary costume of a
gentleman, wide trousers, gown and mantle of silk. The introductions
followed in the proper order of rank, and the prince led the way to the
tables. The top one was oval, having been made months ago when it was
expected that Mitford and I would be the only guests; the others were
square. For the prince and his son there were elaborately carved chairs
of old-fashioned style, for the rest of us there were three-legged
chairs with semi-circular seats, very rickety and badly balanced. We
were placed with our backs to the alcove (_tokonoma_), this being the
seat of honour, on which the presents were laid out, a magnificent
bronze about two feet high occupying the centre.
Sir Harry and the Admiral gave the prince a couple of revolvers, which
seemed to afford him much pleasure, and the return presents, consisting
of rolls of brocade, crape and so forth, were then announced by one of
the attendants. Sir Harry, who had by this time quite recovered his
equanimity, made himself very agreeable to the prince, talking on
general topics, instead of dwelling on the "relations of friendship
which happily unite our respective countries" and the usual diplomatic
commonplaces. The prince, Awa no Kami, to give him his proper title, was
a man of about forty-seven years of age, of middle height, and with a
refined countenance, slightly pock-marked; his manner abrupt and
imperious, but his good humour without limits. Awaji no Kami, the son,
was about twenty-two, a little taller than his father, with a mild, fat
countenance, a gentle and subdued manner; and he exhibited great
deference towards his father.
The usual order of a Japanese dinner was reversed, the rice, soup and
baked fish being first placed on the table. When this course had been
removed, drinking commenced, a red lacquer cup being handed first to Sir
Harry. I whispered to Sir Harry to call for the bowl to dip it in, and
he returned it to the prince, who then offered it to the Admiral and to
Captain Hewett, and then it travelled down the line to Stephenson, from
whom it was returned to the prince. There was a good deal of picking at
the various dishes of the banquet which was placed before us, and a
great quantity of _saké_ was drunk. After a while a play was announced,
and in order to get a better view of the acting we moved our chairs down
to the other end of the room, where tables with our plates and drinking
cups were placed before us. The actors were retainers of the prince
wearing the long trousers belonging to the court costume, but not
otherwise dressed for their parts. In the first piece there was three
characters--master, servant, and guest. The master tells the servant to
imitate him in all things, which injunction he takes literally, and
addresses the guest in exactly the same style as his master employs to
him; this enrages the master, who cuffs the servant, and he in turn the
guest. This sort of fun continues with variations until the master's
patience is quite exhausted, and he kicks the servant out of the room.
The second piece is a well-known one, entitled "The Three Cripples." A
rich and benevolent person advertises for cripples to enter his employ,
and there enter successively a lame, a blind and a dumb man, gamblers
who having become beggars have adopted these disguises in order to
impose on the charitable. They are accepted, and having placed them in
charge of three store-houses, their employer goes out. Then the three
recognize each other as old comrades, and agree to open one of the
store-rooms, which is full of _saké_, after which they will rob the
other two. However, they get so drunk that when their master returns
each forgets the part he had previously played; the blind man assumes
dumbness, the lame one blindness, and the dumb pretends to be deaf.
Their detection of course follows, with the natural consequences.
After the play was over we drew round the little tables, and the _saké_
cup passed freely from hand to hand; Awa no Kami vowed that the Admiral
was his father, and Sir Harry his elder brother, while Awaji no Kami
expressed himself to me in a similarly affectionate manner. It was
arranged that we should have a review of the troops on the following
day, and about midnight the wind and rain having moderated we took our
leave, getting back to our lodging at one in the morning. I found that
even our servants had not been forgotten, presents having been sent to
each one of them; not a single person was passed over. This was truly
princely hospitality. I forgot to mention that before we started for the
castle, a polite message of welcome was brought to Sir Harry from the
prince, accompanied by a box three feet long, one deep and one wide,
full of eggs, another of the same size full of vermicelli and a basket
of fish. The trouble that had been taken to make us comfortable was very
great, even after they had heard of the increased number they would have
to entertain; they had gone to work to make bedsteads and tables, and
even to build bathrooms.
The morning turned out finer than could have been reasonably hoped for
after the storm of the preceding day, and after breakfast we started for
the parade ground. Our way lay through the castle, and over a
considerable stream which washed one side of the fortress. It was a very
good ground, though rather small, but the prince explained that he could
not enlarge it without pulling down some Buddhist temples, which would
shock the religious feeling of the townspeople. Some five hundred men,
divided into five bodies of varying strength, were put through their
drill. Their uniform was in imitation of European style, black trousers
with red stripes down the side, and black coats; happy the soldier who
could muster a pair of boots, the rest had only straw sandals. On their
heads they had hats of papier-maché, either conical or of dish-cover
shape, with two horizontal red bands. They used the English infantry
drill, with the quaint addition of a shout to indicate the discharge of
their firearms. In the opinion of those who were competent to judge,
they acquitted themselves very creditably. We viewed the evolutions from
a sort of grand stand, with tables before us piled up with various
delicacies. _Saké_ of course formed part of the entertainment, and
Hewett was singled out by the prince as assuredly the best toper of us
all, on account of his jolly red face. Everyone this morning had
remarked what a capital liquor is _saké_, it leaves no bad effects
behind, from which it may be inferred that we had returned home on the
previous night in a happy frame of mind and body.
About noon we took our leave. Sir Harry presented a ring to the young
prince, and the Admiral put another on the finger of Awa no Kami, to
their intense delight. On our way back from the drill ground we were
taken to a temple on a hill commanding an extensive view, where we were
entertained with a luncheon washed down with bad champagne procured in
Yokohama for the occasion. The prince whispered privately into my ear
that he intended to abdicate and pay a visit to England. To Sir Harry he
said all sorts of friendly things about the opening of Hiôgo to foreign
trade. The Admiral promised to bring the "Ocean" and "Rodney" to Nei in
the coming winter to show him what English men-of-war were like. After
returning to our lodgings we had a substantial lunch off the provisions
brought from the ships, but our entertainers were not contented till
they had made us sit down to a final feast prepared by themselves, just
for five minutes, to drink a farewell cup and receive a parting message
from the prince. At last we got away, some on horseback, others in
palanquins, and in three hours after leaving Tokushima we were safely on
board ship. Sir Harry was accompanied by four principal officials to the
"Basilisk," where Hewett gave them some excellent champagne, and they
went over the ship's side full of affectionate regrets at having to part
from us. The "Salamis" left at once for Yokohama with the Admiral,
Mitford, Aston and Crossman, while we remained to pursue our voyage to
Tosa on the morrow in the "Basilisk."