Japan and the Japanese

JEALOUS VIGILANCE OVER THE DUTCH. 239
of whom attend constantly hard by the gate, to search whoever
goes in or out. Nor is anybody exempted from being searched but
the governors,
their deputies or commissioners, with their retinues,
and our ordinary interpreters and their sons, who are entered aa
apprentices.
" Such a variety of people of different ranks and characters being
to do duty upon one guard, it obliges on the one side everybody to
discharge their duty to the utmost of their power, and on the other
it puts the government out of all apprehensions of their
plotting or
conspiring together ; for, in fact, they are not only to watch us,
and the people who have business with us, and, on this account, go
in and out of our island, but each other also. Among the things
which stand by, or are hung upon the walls of the guard-house, are
irons to put on criminals, ropes to bind them, heavy staffs to beat
them, and a particular sort of an instrument, a kind of hook or rake,
which they make use of to catch thieves and deserters, and which is
commonly carried about at their public executions.
"All these people, although they maintain themselves and their
families entirely by what they get by us and our service, yet from
their conduct one would think them to be our sworn enemies,
always intent to do us what mischief they can, and so much the
more to be feared, as their hatred and enmity is hid under the
specious color of friendship, deference and good-will.
" Considering that there are so very few Dutchmen left in the
island, one would imagine that the Japanese had no reason to be
uneasy, or anyways apprehensive of our conduct. Surely such a
small number of people, and those, too, deprived of arms and ammu-
nition (the very first thing which the Japanese take into their cus-
tody upon the arrival of our ships), would never take it into their
heads to make any attempt against
the peace and tranquillity of the
empire. As to smuggling, they have too well prevented any
attempts of that kind, by taking not only an exact inventory of all
our goods and commodities, but by locking them up under their
own locks and seals. Even the cloth and stuffs which are brought
over for our own use must be delivered into the custody of the
Ottona, till one of their own tailors, sworn for this purpose, cuts
them, allowing each of us just so much as will make him a good
suit. But what they have still less reason to be apprehensive of, is