Eight lascivious-looking priests resided at the temple, having the receipts from the _kunqua_ attached, as a part of their revenue.
The hour of the day having arrived, when that tocsin of man’s soul, the dinner-bell, would have been heard, if at home, we seated ourselves on the front steps of the temple to partake of a little “chow-chow.” While thus engaged the incidents of the morning came to my recollection, and I handed over my epistle “_extraordinaire_,” which I had gotten from the two Japanese, to my friend our interpreter, to get an inkling of what it was all about, at the same time giving him my surmises as to its contents. It was of much more import; he thought the commodore should see it, promising to return it to me. As there were a number around us, no doubt indulging in the Japanese espionage, I only got at the time, the superscription, which was: “A secret communication, for the American men-of-war ships, to go up higher.”
On leaving this place we clambered to the summit of high, bleak hills, with a very white volcanic formation, at the top, so bright that at a distance it might well have been taken for snow. The ascent was anything but agreeable, as we were impeded by thick bushes, brier and bramble. Two Japanese who attempted to play pilot, fared worst, but upon getting up some distance had the “sava” to see that going ahead were as well as going back. We rested at an abandoned quarry on the summit, and from here had a fine view of the surrounding country. My companions having filled the leaves of an old census-book with little botanical specimens, comprising rare little plants and cosy little wild flowers of every hue, together with what they thought were some new specimens of the fern family, we descended into a pretty little valley waving in wheat, and at sundown were at Simoda.
That night the officer of the mid-watch of the Mississippi heard the words “American! American!” pronounced in a low tone from the top of the gangway-ladder, and immediately two young Japanese descended to the deck. They made signs to him of great fatigue, held up their tender though blistered hands, and desired to cast off their boat from the ship, which they were not permitted to do. An attempt was made to comprehend them by means of a Chinese servant, who was awoke for the purpose, but the domestic celestial insisted that they had “rice for sale.” The commander of the Mississippi directed them to be put on board of the flag-ship. Here it was ascertained they were from Yedo; that they were desirous of coming to our country, and that, unable to effect that object or have communication with us when we lay off Yokohama, they had followed us, at much risk, in an open boat, from the bay of Yedo to our anchorage at Simoda. Their plan was, after getting on board of us, to permit their boat to go adrift, allowing their swords to remain in her, which family relics the Japanese regard as very heir-looms, not to be parted with but in the last extremity, and by this means to produce the belief that their owners had been drowned when the boat should be picked up. Fearing there might be some deception in the matter, perhaps a ruse to see in what faith we were prepared to observe their laws, which we were aware prohibited any of their people from leaving Japan for a foreign country, they were ordered to be put ashore in a ship’s boat at a point where they would not be liable to observation, which was done, the hour being nearly two in the morning. On reaching the beach they soon disappeared in the woods.