Captivity among the Japanese

On the fifth of July, A. D., 1811, the Russian sloop of war, Diana, approached Kumachir, one of the most southerly of the Kurile islands, belonging to Japan, for the purpose of seeking shelter in one of its bays against an approaching storm. They were received, on their arrival, by a shower of balls from a fort which commanded the bay. As no one, however, approached the vessel, its commander, Vassillii Golownin, considering this hostile reception as the natural consequence of former deeds of violence perpetrated by his countrymen in those waters, did not return the fire, but endeavored, by means of signs, to make the natives understand that his intentions towards them were friendly, and that he wished to land merely to fill his water casks. After a protracted negociation, a nearer conference was agreed on, and Golownin was imprudent enough to fall into the snare set for him. But we will let him describe the dangers and sufferings he underwent, in his own words:

After we had cast anchor, says he, in the spot designated to us, I landed with midshipman Moor, the steersman, Chleb Nikow, four sailors, and Alexis, a native of the Kuriles, who acted as interpreter. So deceived were we by the apparent friendliness of the Japanese, that we took no arms with us, except our swords. In order to destroy any distrust they might feel towards us, I ordered our boat to be partly drawn on shore, and left a sailor to watch it. The rest of the men, by my orders, carried after us some chairs, and the presents we intended for the natives. As I entered the fort, I was astonished to find that a large crowd had collected in it. There were at least four hundred soldiers, armed with guns, pikes, and javelins, drawn up in an open space to the right of the gates. Opposite to them was a tent made of striped cotton stuffs, into which we were conducted. The commander of the fort, a stately man, dressed in a complete suit of armor, and wearing two sabres by his side, rose on our entrance, and when we had saluted him, politely begged us to be seated on some benches which were set ready for us. We thanked him for his courtesy, but preferred taking our seats on the chairs which we had brought with us. When we were seated, they served us with tea without sugar, which they carried on lacquered wooden waiters. According to the Japanese custom, the cups were only half full. After we had partaken of it, they supplied us with pipes and tobacco, and the conference began. They first inquired the name and rank of each of us, and then asked repeatedly, and in an insidious manner, where we came from, whither we were going, and why our countrymen had formerly ravaged their northern coasts. When we had returned guarded answers to these questions, they wanted to know how many men were in our vessel. As I thought it prudent to magnify our strength, I replied “a hundred;” but Alexis could not translate this number, and I was obliged to make a hundred marks on a piece of paper, with a pencil, and let the Japanese count them. Whilst they were thus employed, midshipman Moor observed that naked sabres were being distributed among the soldiers, and immediately advised me of the fact; but as we had been so kindly treated, I thought little of the circumstance, especially as they were preparing for us a feast, consisting of rice, fish served up with a green sauce, and many other delicacies, the names of which we did not know. After we had partaken heartily of these solids, and for a drink been given a kind of beer called “Sagic,” I declared that we could not stay any longer, and begged them to tell us the price of the meal, which we designed paying for. To this request of mine, they returned very evasive answers, and when they saw that we were tired of the useless and fruitless questioning we had undergone, and were making preparations to depart, they suddenly threw off the mask they had hitherto worn, and by their threatening gestures showed plainly enough what their intentions were. Their chief, who, until the present moment, had spoken in a friendly and pleasant manner, now raised his voice, and pronouncing the name of the Russian who had ravaged their coasts, made a long speech, during which he often fiercely struck his hand on his sword, and ended by swearing that the Emperor would have him cut in two if he suffered a single Russian, who was in his power, to escape. As soon as Alexis, in whose anxious countenance we discovered coming evil, had translated these words to us, we sprang to our feet, and made for the door. The Japanese immediately set up a loud and threatening cry, but did not attempt to seize us, contenting themselves with throwing oars and blocks of wood in our way, in order that in running we might stumble over them and fall. When we had almost reached the entrance of the fort, they fired a volley at us, but fortunately hit no one, although the balls whistled most unpleasantly near to our heads. We were lucky enough to get out of the fort, and had almost reached our boat, when I saw to my horror that it was lying high and dry on shore, for in our absence the tide had ebbed. As our pursuers were well aware that we could not float it again, and had also made themselves acquainted with the fact that there were no weapons in it, they grew bolder, and surrounded us on all sides, brandishing their huge sabres, which they held in both hands. As resistance in such a case would be little less than madness, we surrendered ourselves to them as their prisoners. They seized me by the arms, and dragged me back to the fort, together with my unhappy companions. On the way a soldier struck me with a small iron rod, but an officer angrily ordered him to desist, and no more blows followed.

They took us into a large building resembling a barrack, which stood on the shore, and having forced us to kneel, bound us with cords of the thickness of one’s finger. Over these they lapped thinner ones, which gave us great pain. The Japanese are perfect masters of this art, and we were excellent specimens of their skill. We had about us just the same number of ropes and knots, and were tied in precisely the same parts of our bodies. Cords ran round our breasts and necks, our elbows nearly touched each other behind our backs, and our hands were tied fast together. A long rope was fastened to us, one end of which a Japanese held, and on the least intimation of flight, had only to pull it, and our elbows were painfully pressed together, whilst the ropes around our necks were so tightly drawn, that we were nearly choked. But as if this was not enough, they bound our legs together above the knees and ancles, and then making slip-knots in the ends of some ropes, they put them over our necks, and tied them to the rafters of the building, pulling them so tight that we could not stir. They then searched our pockets, and having taken from them every thing they could find, very coolly lit their pipes and sat down to smoke. Whilst they were binding us, the chief came in, and taking his station in front of us, made a speech, during which he frequently pointed to his mouth, with the intention probably of intimating to us, that at present they had no intention of starving us. In this pitiful and agonizing position we remained for an hour, not knowing what was to be our fate. When I saw them put the ropes over the rafters, I concluded, of course, that their intention was to hang us, and never have I so despised death as I did in that moment; my only wish was, that they would finish the murderous work as soon as possible. But the Japanese, it seemed, had no idea, whatever, of taking such a step. Their sole design and object was to render futile any attempt at escape on our part. After a while they unbound our ancles, loosened the ropes about our knees, and leading us out of the building, conducted us through some cultivated fields into a wood. We were so tightly and skilfully bound that a boy ten years of age might have conducted us in perfect safety, but these anxious and careful people did not think so, for each of us had an especial watchman who held the rope, and an armed soldier to walk by his side. From a hill we saw our vessel for the last time, and with bleeding hearts, bid it and our native land, a long farewell.

II

We walked along in single file, and had proceeded on our journey for about half an hour, when we heard the distant thunder of cannon, and concluded that our vessel must have attacked the fort. I was so tightly bound, especially about the neck, that my face became swollen, and I found that my breath was fast leaving me. I could scarcely swallow, and only with the greatest difficulty, articulate. We repeatedly begged our guards to loosen a little the cords which bound us, but the noise of the cannon had thrown them into such paroxysms of terror that they took no notice whatever of our entreaties, but kept looking back, and urging us to go on faster. Life, at this moment, appeared to me a most intolerable burden, and I made up my mind to get rid of it, by leaping into the next stream of water we came to. But this determination of mine, I found, was easier to be made than carried out, for whenever we passed over a stream of the smallest size even, our suspicious guards held us tightly by the arms. At last, unable to proceed farther, I sank exhausted and senseless to the ground. When I recovered, I found that blood had flowed from my mouth and nostrils, and that I was sprinkled with water. For the first time, the natives now listened to our entreaties, and loosening our bonds, greatly relieved us, enabling us to proceed on our way with renewed strength.

After walking for about three hours longer, we arrived at a little village, which is situated on the shores of the strait separating Kumachir from the island of Jesso. Here we were led into a house, and rice bread offered us, but as our appetites were entirely gone, they took us into another room, and made us lie down near the walls, so that none of us could communicate with the others. The ropes by which we had been led along, they tied to iron spikes, which were driven into the floor, and they drew off our boots, and again tied our legs as before. When our guards had thus disposed of us to their entire satisfaction, they seated themselves in the middle of the apartment, round a pan of coals, and began to drink tea and smoke tobacco. One would imagine that men might rest in peace even among lions, if they were bound as we were, but the Japanese did not seem to consider themselves safe even now, for they carefully examined our bonds every quarter of an hour or so.