On the 7th of July the king of the Gotto islands, which are not far from Firando to the S.W. came upon a visit to king _Foyne_, saying he had heard of an excellent English ship being arrived in his dominions, which he greatly desired to go aboard of. King Foyne requested of me that this might be allowed, the king of Gotto being an especial friend of his; wherefore he was banqueted on board, and several cannon were fired at his departure, which he was much pleased with, and told me he would be glad to see some of our nation at his islands, where they should meet a hearty welcome. Three Japanese, two men and a woman, were put to death for the following cause: The woman, in the absence of her husband, had made separate assignations with both the men. He who was appointed latest, not knowing of the other, and weary of waiting, came too soon, and enraged at finding her engaged with another man, drew his _cattan_ and wounded both very severely, almost cutting the man's back in two. Yet the wounded man, getting hold of his _cattan_, wounded the aggressor. This fray alarming the street, word was sent to king Foyne and to know his pleasure, who accordingly gave orders to cut off all their heads. After their execution, all who thought proper, as many did, came to try the temper of their weapons upon the dead bodies, which they soon hewed in small pieces, which were left to be devoured by the ravens.
The 10th three others were executed in the same way with the former, being beheaded and afterwards cut in pieces, for stealing a woman long since from Firando and selling her at Nangasaki. When any are to be executed, they are led out of town in the following manner: First there go two men, one having a mattock and the other a shovel, to dig the grave, if that be allowed to the criminal. Then a third person carrying a small table or board, on which is written the crime of the party, which is afterwards affixed to a post on the grave in which he is buried. Next comes the party to be executed, having his hands bound behind him by a silken cord, and having a small paper banner, much like one of our wind-vanes, on which the offence is written. The criminal is followed by the executioner, having his _cattan_ or Japanese sword by his side, and holding in his hand the cord with which the hands of the criminal are bound. On each hand of the executioner walks a soldier armed with a pike, the head of which rests on the criminal's shoulder, to intimidate him from attempting to escape. In this manner I saw one man led out to execution, who went forwards with a most wonderful resolution, and apparently without fear of death, such as I had never seen the like in Europe. He was condemned for stealing a sack of rice from a neighbour, whose house was burning.