Letters and Journals, with the Narrative of His Escape

Kobe, March 9, 1884.

I am very much indebted to you for your kind invitation as to my return to my dearest America. It was a serious matter for me to decide. In the first place I feel it too great an offering. It has been my attempt thus far not to place myself on a footing with the missionaries lest I should prove a stumbling-block to my native brethren. In the second place the anti-foreign party might sharply criticise my going to America. But after serious consideration I have concluded to accept your great favor and visit you once more. I feel there will be no least objection on the part of my native brethren. Some eminent men in the empire outside the churches heartily sanction my going. My friends at Osaka urge me strongly to go. I came here yesterday and my friends are all glad of this great opportunity for my sake. It is not my usual custom to write on the Sabbath, but yesterday I found occasion to speak to two eminent men on re-ligious matters, and I feel I ought to write you at least a line to thank you. Dr. Berry urges me strongly to start from here at once, but I have something on my hands to be attended to first.

April 6. Left Kyoto on the 5th inst. The whole school and other friends, including the members of three churches, came to the station to see me off. It was a great trial for me to leave home, and especially my aged parents (both of them now 78 years of age), my dear wife, and our school, to which I am so much attached. My wife accompanied me to the SS. Khiva in the harbor of Kobe. I committed her to the care of Our Father, on whom she can rely far better than upon myself.

April 7. Prayer for theological students. We passed through the Straits of Shimonoseki at 5.30. The weather was fair and I was not sick at all.

April 8. Prayer for the fifth year class. We arrived at Nagasaki at 6.30 a. m. It is an excellent shelter for ships. The only defect of the harbor is its shallowness. The scenery from the steamer is fine. The harbor is surrounded by moimtains, and the foreign residences are mostly on high ground. A boatman, took me over all the important streets for 30 cents, and I saw some very fine tortoise-shell workmanship in the manufactory.

There are two Japanese youths on board going to Odessa with a Russian priest. The meals are excellent. The servants are Chinese and Hindoos.

April 12. We arrived at Hongkong at 10 A. M. I visited with Mr. H. the Anglican, Catholic, Chinese, and Mahometan cemeteries. The architecture of the latter is very peculiar. They are all handsomely and tastefully laid out. They seem a paradise in this world. Visited the Chinese quarters. At one place the wares were spread upon the ground. Public speakers, singers, and fortune-tellers were there. In one street many painted women invite passers-by into their houses. I visited a smoking gallery where were twenty Chinese in a small room smoking that cursed opium. I asked the editor of the 'China Mail' the proportion of opium smokers among the Chinese. He replied it was about the same as that of drinkers among Europeans. They smoke about 10 cents a day. To my surprise the Chinese are a great commercial people. They have splendid stores fully supplied with both Chinese and foreign articles. The stores on the Queen's Road are beautiful. Most of the houses are three stories high.

April 14th. I went to the union church yesterday. It was thinly attended. In the afternoon Dr. C. preached in Chinese. I also heard Bishop B. preach to the seamen. There are several mission societies working in Hongkong, — English, German, and one American. They have no regular Sabbath-schools established. Rev. Mr. Morrison commenced his mis- sionary work in Canton in 1807. Bishop Burdon came to Hongkong in 1853. He has charge of St. Paul's College, about thirty pupils. His diocese extends from Foochoo to Hongkong. No self-supporting churches in China this side of Foochoo. The bishop has five pupils to teach one hour a day. A slow process! One hundred people belong to his church; one hundred people for thirty-one years' labor! He says the missionaries have not yet discovered a way to reach the higher Chinese classes. They are too proud of their own ways, and are not anxious to adopt western science or manners. In fact there is no movement among the higher classes towards European civilization either in social or political matters. Those who receive an education abroad have no voice. I see nothing in favor of the European way. It is discouraging to educate the Chinese, because they come to get. English only and having got this, go away into business. China is honeycombed with secret societies. The people are tired of the government. If they found a capable leader they would rise. In one sense they are all united against foreigners, but it is almost safe to say that there is no public spirit among the Chinese. They are discontented with the government. They have an instinct for taking care of themselves. There are no public baths like ours. Being so filthy it is wonderful they are so thrifty. They are the Oriental Jews.

We left Nagasaki on the 8th inst. and had fine weather and calm seas nearly all the way to this place, which we reached on the 12th. I called on Rev. C.

R. Hager, a missionary of your board, who secured a hotel for me and took me all over the city. So far as 1 can judge of the Chinese they seem to strive merely for money. For this they rise up early and sit up late; for this they would go without food and endure all manner of hardships. While here I think constantly of a nation for whose sake I am what I am. I called yesterday on the Bishop. He is somewhat discouraged and hopeless about the Chinese. But sooner or later China will move, though it may be slowly. I feel we ought to strike out from Christians' conversation and writing the terms "hopeless" and "discouraged." But hereby I do not intend to criticise the Bishop. I have full sympathy with him, and doubtless if I were in his place I might have become discouraged long ago. I find great comfort in that our God is not simply the only God, but our Father also. It is a great trial to me to leave Japan, but... I cannot write on this subject. I am glad to say that I can sleep much better and have experienced no sharp headaches; but I find it a hard thing to write much.

Ceylon, April 27, 1884. We reached Singapore after a hot voyage of five days. I did not go ashore because it was the Lord's day, and passed a very uncomfortable night, as the steamer was taking on coal. Those who went ashore were equally miserable on account of the heat. Monday I visited the city, which is inhabited by mixed races, most of the shopkeepers being Chinese. About the wharf are small houses in which poor natives and Chinese live. They are one story high and supported on posts. The vegetation is splendid. We found a carriage and drove to the city. The driver was a great cheat. Groves of cocoanut-trees growing to enormous heights were delightful to us. I bought a weekly paper, resembling our " Japan Mail," which cost 40 cents; also a most delicious pineapple, of a naked boy. The road to the city was well laid out, and the botanical garden, planted with tropical trees, is well kept up. The Maharaja of Johore visited the steamer to bid farewell to some friends. He was dressed in the English style, and wore a colored band of silk about the waist. Singapore is an island of undulating ground. If the straits were fortified no man-of-war would be able to pass through. It is well situated for growth, and may in the future become of more importance than Hongkong.

April 23d. We arrived in the harbor of Penang this morning. The island is just west of the peninsula of Malacca; is about thirteen miles wide and nine long, and, except on the north, where the city is, hilly and mountainous. Owing to the intense heat of the tropical sun I did not accompany the few courageous ones who went ashore to visit the city.

Sunday, 27th. The English service conducted by the chief steward was thinly attended. The Catholics, Mahometans, and Parsees, were not, of course, present. The younger officers regard it as a stupid and tiresome thing. One of them said, we are soon to meet with storms because missionaries are aboard. On this account the sailors are much afraid of us. I dislike written forms of prayer, but I liked to be with Christians and enjoyed singing with them. We sighted the island of Sumatra on the afternoon of the 25th. To the northwest is the beautiful wooded Poolo Way. Splendid showers passed over its thick forests and a rare rainbow made me wish I was a painter. The heat is very oppressive. This morning we began to see the peaks of Ceylon in the distance, though I do not yet smell the odors of those famous spices! We shall change our steamer to-morrow at Colombo and may have a chance to see that famous prisoner Arabi Pasha, as also to visit the temples of Kandy. I feel more and more what a rare opportunity I am enjoying, and think of those Italian cities before me; but above all I am thankful that I am once more invited to my dear America to see you. My heart constantly goes back to my dearly beloved Japan. I can only say for her sake I am now here.

29th. We entered the harbor of Colombo early in the morning. The harbor is protected by a finely built breakwater on which is a railway and lighthouse. I drove with my Japanese friend to the house of Arabi Pasha. Leaving our carriage at the gate we entered the grounds. A young man came to ask us what we wanted. We presented our cards and told him we came to call upon Arabi Pasha. While we were talking we saw a tall man dressed in white walking to and fro under the palm-trees. The young man took us to that gentleman and presented him our cards. He was glad to see us and ordered chairs. We exchanged salutations in the Oriental fashion. He asked the object of our visit, and whether we were going to England. He asked, also, where we learned English. We informed him that English was extensively taught in Japan. He then inquired whether England had possessions in Japan. We replied, of course, in the negative. Our conversation was interrupted by a short visit from some English ladies. He seemed to take more of a fancy to us than to his English visitors, but when I came to draw out something about Egypt he showed dislike to any conversation on that subject, remarking: "We cannot tell what will become of Egypt. God only knows. He will take care of it." He asked how large a military force we had in Japan, also how many men-of-war. To our replies he said, "Very good." He advised us to maintain a good army and navy. He inquired about our educational system, and was much pleased to hear of our progress in that respect. Whenever our answers pleased him he said, "very good." I asked about the religion of the Arabs. He replied "Every Arab is a Mahometan." He was pleased when I informed him that I had a copy of the Koran. I have not read it yet, but will do so. He said the Mahometan religion was spreading quite fast in India, and also in China. He asked what re-ligion I embraced, and my reply surprised him. He spoke through an interpreter, but occasionally he burst forth in broken English. His voice is tigerlike, but he has wonderfully pleasant features when he smiles. He is tall and rather fat; his face is full and his eyes comparatively small; his skin and hair are dark, and he wore a long white garment. He received profound obedience from his attendants, and seemed to be one loved and respected. When we bid him adieu he thanked us for calling upon him and gave us his autograph.

Then we drove through groves of palm trees, and the streets and market of the town. The native streets are dirty and dusty, and everywhere were bad odors; the shops are small, scantily supplied, and very inferior to those of Singapore and to the Chinese shops of Hongkong. Most of the houses are of mud, with but one story. The cottages without the city, surrounded by green yards and tall palm-trees, are very picturesque. We saw several nicely built churches of European style; these are Catholic. Numbers of natives crowded about us, showing us recommendations in English and Japanese, and saying, " Other people tell lies, but me tell no lies." They were like flies in midsummer, shameless and bold; they have no self-respect and are downright beggars. At the market were many fruits unknown to me; the oranges are not so good as ours. I wished to ask many questions, but we were surrounded by so many shameless beggars and found ourselves amid such bad smells that, after buying some fruit, we cleared out.

May 5th. We are opposite the island of Sokotra, which is seventy-one miles long. It is an English possession, inhabited by a few Arabian fishermen, and has a few valleys where vegetables can be grown.

May 7th. Quite early in the morning we reached Aden, but on account of the quarantine were obliged to remain on the steamer. The town is built on the barren hills; not a single tree in sight. In the afternoon we passed the Gate of Tears and saw the wrecks of six steamers lying not far apart.

May 13th. Suez is yet a miserable place. There are few respectable houses, the rest being low Arabian mud houses without windows or tiles. Some of them are not over seven feet high, the roofs flat or like beehives, covered with hay and rubbish to prevent leakage. The railway system is bad. There is no head manager. Near Alexandria our conductor and engineer had a terrible quarrel. Everything was in confusion. Time is nothing to these Egyptians.

May 17th. Arrived in Brindisi and took the train for Naples. The fields are in a high state of cultivation. Miles and miles of grape-vines and olive-trees. The farmhouses neat and picturesque. The stations are substantial stone buildings and the second-class carriages far better than those of Japan.