ip of Turkey. The cargo always contains a present to the
emperor; and he, in return, sends one to the Dutch governor-general.

When the Batavian ship is seen, the emperor's agent hails it, to demand
whether the captain is a Christian. He replies that he is Dutch, when a
signal is made for him to approach. From that moment he is boarded by
innumerable armed boats. He is first boarded to see that he has neither
women nor books; for the law is very severe against the introduction of
either into the island. Were either found on board, the ship would be
sent back without being allowed to anchor. This visit concluded, the
merchandise is landed, the ship is disarmed and unrigged without the aid
of the captain or crew, and the guns and rigging are carried on shore.
The captain transmits the bill of lading to the emperor's agent, with a
note of what he desires in exchange, and waits quietly for the
merchandise he is to have in return. Provisions are amply supplied in
the meantime to the crew. When the return merchandise is ready on the
beach, the emperor having notified what he chooses for the ensuing year,
the Japanese themselves again load the vessel, replace her rigging, and
restore her arms, papers, and effects, of which they took possession on
her arrival. There is no instance of anything having been lost; indeed,
the Dutch speak of the Japanese as a most honest people. They are said
to leave their shops and stores without guards or clerks. If a Japanese
goes to a shop, and finds no one there, he takes the article he wants,
lays down the value marked on it, and goes out. All the streets of the
towns are closed at night by iron gates, and each Japanese is
responsible for his neighbour; so they are all interested that no harm
should happen to one another. When a theft is committed in any quarter,
and the author cannot be discovered, the crier, (who is a kind of police
agent), the judge of the division, and the neighbours are compelled to
make good the loss, and are subject to severe corporal punishment.

Very little in those days was known of the interior of Japan, as the
Dutch ambassadors were compelled to submit to the most humiliating
conditions to keep up their intercourse with the country. On visiting
the capital, they were conveyed in palanquins, well enclosed with fixed
lattice-work, like prison-vans in England; and the bearers dared not,
for fear of their lives, indulge them with a view of the country thr