diers; but no one was
allowed within, except the physician, who visited daily, and the
orderly officers, who looked through the spars every half-hour. Of
course, it was rather a cold lodging; but, as winter advanced, a hole
was dug a few feet from each cage, built round with freestone, and
filled with sand, upon which charcoal was afterwards kept burning.
Benches were provided for them to sleep on, and two of the orderlies
presented them with bear-skins; but the native fashion is to lie on a
thick, wadded quilt, folded together, and laid on the floor, which,
even in the poorest dwellings, is covered with soft straw-mats. A
large wadded dress, made of silk or cotton, according to the
circumstances of the wearer, serves for bed-clothes--which seem to be
quite unknown; and while the poorer classes have only a piece of wood
for a pillow, the richer fasten a cushion on the neat boxes which
contain their razors, scissors, pomatum, tooth-brushes, and other
toilet requisites.

But while the comfort of the captives was attended to in many minor
matters, there was no relaxation of the vigilance used to preclude the
possibility of self-destruction. They were not allowed scissors or
knife to cut their nails, but were obliged to thrust their hands
through the palisades, to get this office performed for them. When
they were indulged with smoking, it was with a very long pipe held
between the spars, and furnished with a wooden ball fixed about the
middle, to prevent its being drawn wholly within the cage.

For weeks together they were brought daily before the bunyo (governor
of the town, and probably lord-lieutenant of all the Japanese Kurile
Islands), bound and harnessed like horses as before. The ostensible
object of these examinations, which frequently lasted the whole day,
was to ascertain for what purpose they had come near Japan, and what
they knew of Resanoff and Chwostoff--for a singularly unfortunate
combination of circumstances had arisen to give colour to the
suspicion, that some of their party had been connected with that
expedition. But for one inquiry connected with the case, there were
fifty that were wholly irrelevant, and prompted by mere curiosity. The
most trivial questions were put several times and in different forms,
and every answer was carefully written down. Golownin was often
puzzled, irritated, and quite at the end of his stock of patience; but
that of the interrogators appeared interminable. They said, th