We Departed From Surunga On The 9th Of October, And During Our Journey
Towards Miaco We Had For The Most Part Much Rain, By Which The Rivers
Were Greatly Swelled, And We Were Forced To Stop By The Way, So That It
Was The 16th Of October Before We Got There.
Miaco is the largest city
in Japan, depending mostly upon trade, and having the chief Fotoqui
or temple of
The whole empire, which is all built of freestone, and is
as long as the western end of St Paul's in London from the choir; being
also as high, arched in the roof and borne upon pillars as that is. Many
bonzes are here in attendance for their maintenance, as priests are
among the papists. They have here an altar, on which the votaries offer
rice and small money, called cundrijus, twenty of which are equal to
an English shilling, which offerings are applied to the use of the
bonzes. Near this altar is an idol, called Mannada, much resembling
that of Dabis formerly mentioned, and like it made of copper, but much
higher, as it reaches up to the arched roof. This Fotoqui was begun to
be built by Taicosama, and has since been finished by his son, having
been ended only while we were there. According to report, there were
buried within its enclosure the ears and noses of 3000 Coreans, who were
massacred at one time; and upon their grave a mount is raised, having a
pyramid on its summit, the mount being grown over with grass, and very
neatly kept. The horse that Taicosama last rode upon is kept near this
Fotoqui, having never been ridden since, and his hoofs have grown
extraordinarily long by age.
This Fotoqui stands on the top of a high hill, and on either side, as
you ascend the hill, there are fifty pillars of freestone, at ten paces
each from the other, having a lantern on the top of each, which are all
lighted up with oil every night. There are many other Fotoquis in this
city. In Miaco the Portuguese jesuits have a very stately college, in
which there are several native Japanese jesuits, who preach, and have
the New Testament printed in the Japanese language. Many of the native
children are bred up in this college, where they are instructed in the
Christian religion, according to the doctrines of the Romish church; and
there are not less than five or six thousand natives professing
Christianity in this city. The tradesmen and artificers of all kinds in
this city are all distributed by themselves, every trade and occupation
having its own particular streets, and not mingled together as with us.
We remained some time in Miaco, waiting for the emperor's present, which
was at length delivered, being ten beobs, or large pictures, for being
hung up in a chamber.
The 20th of October we departed from Miaco, and came that night to
Fushimi.[25] We arrived about noon of the next day at Osaka, where the
common people behaved very rudely to us, some calling after us Tosin!
Tosin! that is, Chinese, while others called us Core! Core! or
Coreans, and flung stones at us; even the greatest people of the city
animating and setting on the rabble to abuse us. We here found the
galley waiting for us which had brought us from Firando, having waited
for us all the time of our absence at the expence of king Foyne. We
embarked in this galley on the 24th of October, and arrived at Firando
on the 6th November, where we were kindly welcomed by old Foyne.
During the time of my absence, our people had sold very little goods, as
according to the customs of Japan no stranger can offer goods for sale
without the express permission of the emperor. Besides, as our chiefest
commodity intended for this country was broad cloth, which had latterly
been sold there at the rate of forty Spanish dollars the matte, which
is two yards and a quarter as formerly mentioned, and as the natives saw
that we were not much in the habit of wearing it ourselves, they were
more backward in buying it than they used to be. They said to us, "You
commend your cloth to us, while you yourselves wear little of it; your
better sort of people wearing silken garments, while the meanest are
clothed in fustians, &c." Wherefore, that good counsel, though late, may
come to some good purpose, I wish that our nation would be more inclined
to use this our native manufacture of our own country, by which we may
better encourage and allure others to its use and expenditure.
[Footnote 25: Fusimo, a town about ten miles from Miaco, on a river that
runs into the head of the bay of Osaka. - E.]
Sec.8. Occurrences at Firando, during the Absence of Captain Saris.[26]
The 7th August, 1613, all things being in readiness, our general Captain
Saris departed from Firando in company with Mr Adams, for the court of
the emperor of Japan, taking along with him Mr Tempest Peacock, Mr
Richard Wickham, Edward Saris, Walter Carwarden, Diego Fernandos, John
Williams a tailor, John Head a cook, Edward Bartan the surgeon's mate,
John Japan Jurebasso,[27] Richard Dale coxswain, and Anthony Ferry a
sailor; having a cavalier or gentleman belonging to king Foyne as their
protector, with two of his servants, and two native servants belonging
to Mr Adams. They embarked in a barge or galley belonging to the king,
which rowed twenty oars of a side, and we fired thirteen pieces of
ordnance at their departure. The old king sent 100 tayes of Japanese
money to our general before his departure, for his expenditure on the
way, which I placed to account, by our general's order, as money lent.
[Footnote 26: This subdivision is taken from observations written by
Richard Cockes, Cape merchant, or chief factor at Firando. These
observations are a separate article in the Pilgrims of Purchas, vol.
I. pp.
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