athing
should have been observed by English mariners in Japan so long ago as
1613, and yet never attempted in the British or any other European navy
till more than 150 years afterwards, and then brought forwards as a new
invention.--E.]

We met with nothing extraordinary after passing through the straits of
Xemina-seque till we came to Osaka, where we arrived on the 27th of
August. Our galley could not get nearer the town than six miles;
wherefore we were met by a smaller vessel, in which came the _goodman or
host_ of the house where we were to lodge in Osaka, and who brought with
him a banquet of wine and _salt fruits_ to entertain me. A rope being
made fast to the mast-head of our boat, she was drawn forwards by men,
as our west country barges are at London. We found Osaka a very large
town, as large as London within the walls, having many very high and
handsome timber bridges which serve to cross the river _Jodo_, which is
as wide as the Thames at London. Some of the houses here were handsome,
but not many. It is one of the chiefest sea-ports in all Japan, and has
a castle of great size and strength, with very deep ditches all round,
crossed by drawbridges, and its gates plated with iron. This castle is
all of freestone, strengthened by bulwarks and battlements, having
loop-holes for small arms and arrows, and various passages for throwing
down stones upon the assailants. The walls are at least six or seven
yards thick, all built of freestone throughout, having no packing with
trumpery within, as I was told, but all solid. The stones are large and
of excellent quality, and are so exactly cut to fit the places where
they are laid, that no mortar is used, only a little earth being
occasionally thrown in to fill up any void spaces.

In the castle of Osaka, when I was there, dwelt the son of _Tiquasama_,
who was the true heir of Japan; but being an infant at the death of his
father, he was left under the guardianship of four chiefs or great men,
of whom Ogoshosama, the present emperor, was the principal. The other
three guardians were each desirous of acquiring the sovereignty, and
being opposed by Ogoshosama, levied armies against him; but Ogoshosama
defeated them in battle, in which two of them were slain, and the other
saved himself by flight. After this great victory, Ogoshosama attempted
what he is said not to have thought of before. Seizing the true heir of
the throne, he married the young prince to his own daught