not without rude interruptions. One,
especially memorable, occurred at the very time when Rodrigo's vessel
was cast away. "In a quarrel at Macao some Japanese sailors lost
their lives, and their comrades were compelled by the commandant,
Pessoa, to sign a declaration exonerating the Portuguese. The
signatories, however, told a different tale when they returned to
Japan, and their feudal chief, the daimyo of Arima, was much
incensed, as also was Ieyasu In the following year (1609), this same
Pessoa arrived at Nagasaki in command of the Madre de Dios, carrying
twelve Jesuits and a cargo worth a million crowns. Ieyasu ordered the
Arima feudatory to seize her. Surrounded by an attacking force of
twelve hundred men in boats, Pessoa fought his ship for three days,
and then, exploding her magazine, sent her to the bottom with her
crew, her passenger-priests, and her cargo."

Fifty-eight years before the date of this occurrence, Xavier had
conveyed to Charles V a warning that if ships from New Spain
"attempted to conquer the Japanese by force of arms, they would have
to do with a people no less covetous than warlike, who seem likely to
capture any hostile fleet, however strong." It was a just
appreciation. The Portuguese naturally sought to obtain satisfaction
for the fate of Pessoa, but Ieyasu would not even reply to their
demands, though he made no attempt to prevent the resumption of trade
with Macao.

OPENING OF ENGLISH AND DUTCH TRADE

In the year 1609, Ieyasu had reason to expect that the Spaniards and
the Dutch would both open trade with Japan. His expectation was
disappointed in the case of the Spaniards, but, two years later, the
Dutch flag was seen in Japanese waters. It was flown by the Brack, a
merchantman which, sailing from Patani, reached Hirado with a cargo
of pepper, cloth, ivory, silk, and lead. Two envoys were on board the
vessel, and her arrival in Japan nearly synchronized with the coming
of the Spanish embassy from Manila, which had been despatched
expressly for the purpose of "settling the matter regarding the
Hollanders." Nevertheless, the Dutch obtained a liberal patent from
Ieyasu.

Twelve years previously, the merchants of London, stimulated by a
spirit of rivalry with the Dutch, had organized the East India
Company, which at once began to send ships eastward. As soon as news
came that the Dutch were about to establish a trading station in
Japan, the East India Company issued orders that the Cl