Japan and the Japanese

DUTCH TRADE. 24d
inferior officers, remain on board, taking possession of every corner,
to see that nothing be carried away privately.
The water gates of
our island, through which the cargo is to be brought in, are opened
in presence of the karoo, that is, high commissioners of the governors,
and their retinue. So long as the gates are kept open, the
karoo, with their deputies and other assistants, stay
in a room
built for this purpose, not far off. The whole body of interpreters,
as also our landlords, clerks, and other officers of our island, give
' ^
their attendance, and also their assistance, at that time. They fall
to work with three hundred or more kuli, or workmen always at
least twice the number there is occasion for. The unladino- of
D
every ship ought to be performed in two days, but, notwithstanding
the number of men they employ, they generally make a three days'
work of it, in order to make it so much the more beneficial to the
town.
" The goods are brought from the ship in boats, kept for this
purpose only, at the Company's expense. Being brought within
the water gates, they are laid before the commissioners, who set
them down in writing, count them, compare them with the list that
hath been given in (opening a bale or two of each sort, picked out
from among the rest), and then order them to be locked up, under
their seal, in the Company's warehouse, until the day of sale. The
trunks, belonging to private persons, are set down at the entry of
the island, and there opened and examined. If the owner doth not
forthwith appear with the key, they proceed, without any further
ceremony, to open them with axes. All vendible goods are taken
out and locked up under their seals. Some other
things, also,
which they do not approve of, as, for instance, arms, stuff, and
cloth wrought with gold and silver, as also all contraband goods,
are taken into custody by the Ottona, who returns them to the
owner upon his departure.
" No European, nor any other foreign money, and, in general,
nothing that hath the figure of a cross, saint, or beads, upon it, is
suffered to pass. If any such thing should be found upon any of
our people, it would occasion such a confusion and fright among the
Japanese, as if the whole empire had been betrayed. I have
already taken notice that, upon our drawing near the harbor, everj
one is obliged to deliver his prayer-books, and other books of