From that day our food was greatly improved, for besides the rice
broth, and salt radishes, which they had hitherto given us, we now
received very good fresh and salt fish, roasted or boiled in
poppy-oil, soups made from different kinds of savory herbs, or
sea-mussles, and when the snow began to fall, they shot sea-dogs,
bears, and rabbits, for us, and prepared under our direction,
sometimes, a Russian dish, namely, fish eaten with thin grits, and
little barley-cakes. Our food was brought to us three times a day. For
drink, we received warm and strong tea, and after any fatiguing
examination, they gave us two glasses of warm beer, which they did
also in cold weather. They also furnished us with furred coats, and
night garments, and when they found that it was not customary in
Russia to spend the night on the ground, they made us benches to sleep
upon.
This amiable behavior, on the part of the Japanese, emboldened us to
ask one of the officers, who visited us, whether it was not possible
to have a window cut in the back wall of the shed, so that we might be
able to see the sky and the tops of the trees. He did not refuse our
request, but examined the wall, asked us where we would like to have
it made, praised our choice, and went away. We, of course, believed
that our entreaty would be complied with, but we were very much
mistaken, for when, a few days afterwards, we repeated our request,
the officer replied that the Japanese were very anxious about the
state of our health, and feared lest the north wind would give us a
cold; therefore, they deemed it more prudent not to make a window.
As the autumn came on, and it grew more and more unpleasant to live in
an open building, the Japanese, at our earnest solicitation, pasted
paper over the lattice work, and made a window in the roof, which
could be opened and shut by means of ropes. Through this window we saw
the sky at times, which, in a situation like ours, was a great
comfort. Moreover, when it grew colder, they dug a couple of holes in
the ground, about two paces distant from the cages, and having lined
them with flag-stones, filled them with sand. During the day they
burnt charcoal on these hearths, and by sitting close to the grating,
we could warm ourselves without being within reach of the coals. After
a few days, they gave us pipes with very long stems, to the middle of
which they tied wooden balls, which were too large to be drawn through
the pales. In this way we could smoke the pipes, which they filled for
us, as often as we wished, without having the power to draw them into
our prisons. This mistrust of us, raised our indignation to the
highest pitch; but when we expostulated with them, and told them, in
the strongest terms, what a horror and aversion the Europeans
entertained for suicide, they merely laughed, and appealed to their
laws, which enjoined on them the necessity of keeping from their
prisoners every thing with which they could hurt either themselves or
others. For this reason they would never trust us with needles to mend
our clothes, nor even with a pair of scissors to cut our nails,
obliging us to put our hands through the bars of our cages, that the
soldiers might perform the operation for us.
In the beginning of our captivity, they had not allowed us even to
change our clothes or wash our shirts, but now they provided us with
water for that purpose, which relieved one of our most pressing
necessities. They also invited us to get into a tub, in which water
was warmed by means of a pipe connecting with a little oven, and wash
ourselves. I took the lead, and we found that we had all to bathe in
the same water. This arrangement displeased us not a little, as we
held it to be treatment unworthy of the commonest criminals. But we
soon were silent on this point however, for to our great astonishment,
we saw the soldiers who guarded us, follow our example, and without
adding a drop of fresh water, use the same that we had bathed in! and
these soldiers did not by any means hold a low rank in society, but
were highly esteemed by their countrymen.
We had, in the meantime, by the command of the governor, by whose
orders we were supplied with pen and ink, and with the aid of several
interpreters, prepared a written defence which, when finished, we sent
to him. On the fifteenth of November, we were again led into the fort,
but this time with great rejoicing, and with the assurance that our
affairs were prospering, and that our innocence was beginning to be
universally acknowledged. The Bunjo too declared that after our
assertions, and written defence, he now viewed the attack made on
Japanese property by the Russian vessel, in an entirely different
light, and that he was fully convinced of our entire innocence. It was
true that he had not the disposing of us; that remained with the
Emperor, but he would do all in his power to bring our affairs to a
happy termination. In the meantime we must not be discouraged, but
pray to God. This reference to God, which the Bunjo never failed to
make when he examined us, always gave us pleasure, for by it we
recognized with joy, that the people into whose power we were fallen,
had at least some notion of a Supreme being who cared for man.
After this the ropes were taken from us, at which all the Japanese
heartily rejoiced; indeed, some were so much moved as to have tears in
their eyes. We thanked the Bunjo and officers for their kindness, and
for the first time, returned unbound to our prison, where we found
every thing so altered that it was unaccountable to us, how the
Japanese had accomplished the work in so short a space of time as that
during which we were absent. The lattice work of our cages had been
removed, and the gloomy passage was transformed into a roomy and
cheerful apartment, in which we could all move about conveniently.
Round a hearth on which was boiling tea in copper kettles, they had
made a kind of wooden frame, on which each of us found a cup, pipe,
and tobacco pouch, and instead of the oil lamp which had formerly
given us light, we were now treated to candles.
Hardly had we somewhat recovered from our astonishment, when some of
the officers came with their children to pay us a visit. They
congratulated us on this happy change in our condition, sat down with
us by the fire, smoked and chatted. In a word, we were no longer
treated as prisoners, but as guests. Our supper was now brought to us,
not as usual, in cups, but on new and handsome plates. They gave us
also, plenty of beer. The hopes of again seeing our native land was
awakened within us anew, and this night was the first since our
imprisonment, in which we enjoyed a calm sleep.
But, alas our joy lasted only a few days. Old suspicions reviving,
gradually made our situation worse and worse. Our food was changed
back to what it was formerly, and nothing remained but the new dishes
on which they brought it to us. In the place of candles, the old oil
lamp went into service again, and the guards once more hung up before
our eyes the ropes which they had only a little while before removed.
Gradually we observed many other indications that our affairs were
again assuming a serious aspect since the commander of Kumachir, who
had originally made us prisoners by treachery, arrived in Matsmai.
Our suspicions soon became certainty, for the Bunjo ordered us to
instruct a Japanese in the Russian language, as they could not trust
the interpreter whom we had formerly employed. We refused for a long
while to undertake this tedious task, but were at last obliged to do
so, as they told us very plainly that on it depended the possibility
of our liberation. The Japanese had now an opportunity of satisfying
their curiosity, through our very docile scholar, a scribe of the
Bunjo's. They took unlimited advantage of this opportunity, to our
great disgust and vexation, whilst from them we could not get a word
as to the intention of their government towards us, nor even whether a
Russian vessel had arrived at Japan during our absence, to demand our
release. Every day our conviction grew stronger, that nothing was
further from their thoughts than to liberate us, but that they were
striving by every means in their power to conceal from us our sad
fate, and we came to the conclusion that nothing was left to us but
flight.