in the
narrow straits at the western extremity of the Inland sea. The naval
battle which here took place is the most famous in the annals of the
Japanese empire. According to the _Nihon-Gwaishi_ the Taira fleet
consisted of five hundred junks, and the Minamoto of seven hundred. The
vessels of the Taira were encumbered by many women and children of the
escaping families, which put them at a great disadvantage. The young
emperor, with his mother and grandmother, were also the precious freight
of this fugitive fleet. Of course, at this early date the vessels which
contended were unlike the monstrous men-of-war which now make naval
warfare so stupendous a game. They were not even to be compared with the
vessels which made up the Spanish Armada in A.D. 1588, or the ships in
which the gallant British sailors repulsed them. Cannon were no part of
their armament. The men fought with bows and arrows, and with spears and
swords. It was, however, a terrible hand-to-hand fight between men who
felt that their all was at stake. Story-tellers draw from this battle some
of their most lurid narratives, and artists have depicted it with
realistic horrors. The grandmother of the emperor, the widow of Kiyomori,
seeing that escape was impossible, took the boy emperor in her arms, and
in spite of the remonstrances of her daughter, who was the boy's mother,
she plunged into the sea, and both were drowned.

The great mass of the Taira perished in this battle, but a remnant escaped
to the island of Kyushu and hid themselves in the inaccessible valleys of
the province of Higo. Here they have been recognized in recent times, and
it is claimed that they still show the surly aversion to strangers which
is an inheritance derived from the necessity under which they long rested
to hide themselves from the vengeance which pursued them.(119)

This battle was decisive in the question of supremacy between the Taira
and Minamoto clans. The same policy of extermination which Kiyomori had
pursued against the Minamoto was now remorselessly enforced by the
Minamoto against the Taira. The prisoners who were taken in the battle
were executed to the last man. Munemori was taken prisoner and
decapitated. Whenever a Taira man, woman, or child was found, death was
the inevitable penalty inflicted. Yoritomo stationed his father-in-law
Hojo Tokimasa at Kyoto to search out and eradicate his enemies as well as
to supervise the affairs of the government.

It will be r