Japan and the Japanese

452 JAPAN. A. D. 17921817.
learned from their host, that, within five minutes after they left,
the fire took his house, and destro} r ed everything
is an indemnity
for which, the Dutch East India Company allowed him annually,
for three years, from twelve to fourteen hundred weight of sugar.
The palaces of thirty-seven princes had been destroyed. The
weight of fugitives broke down the famous Niponbas, or bridge of
Japan, so that, besides those burned to death, many were drowned,
including a daughter of the were said to have been lost.
prince of Awa. Twelve hundred lives
On this occasion the Dutch were greatly aided by a wealthy
Japanese merchant, who sent forty men to assist them in removing.
He lost his shop, or store, and a warehouse, containing a hundred
thousand pounds of spun silk, yet the day after the fire was en-
gaged in rebuilding his premises.
The Dutch, burnt out of their inn, were lodged at first in the
house of the governor of Nagasaki ; but, four days after, procured a
new inn. This was in a more public place than the old obscure
lodging. The appearance of the Dutch on the balcony attracted
crowds of curious spectators, and soon drew out an order, from the
governor of Jedo, that they should keep within doors. But Doeff
refused to obey this order, on the ground that, during their entire
embassy, the Dutch were under the authority only of the governor
of Nagasaki ; and in this position he was sustained by that per-
sonage.
After the audience the Dutch received many visits, particularly
from physicians and astronomers. On the subject of astronomy
Doeff was more puzzled than even Thunberg had been, for, since
Thunberg's time, the Japanese would seem to have made considerable
advances in that science. They had a translation of La Lande's
astronomy, and the chief astronomer, Takaro Sampei (to whom,
Doeff, at his special request for a name, gave that of GloMus, and who
proved, on subsequent occasions, a good friend of the Dutch), could
calculate eclipses with much precision. To a grandson of one of
rhunberg's medical friends, who was also a physician, Doeff gavo
extinguish a fire is stated to be considered a glorious achievement But,
though fire is almost the only element the Japanese soldiers have to contend
with, they do not seem to be very expert at subduing it.