Japan and the Japanese

AMERICAN PRISONERS. 503
Americans. Being retaken, he was tied, much as described in
Urolownin's narrative, put into a sort of stocks, and repeatedly
examined under suspicion of being a spy. Thence he was taken to
the common prison and confined by himself for three weeks ; but, on
threatening to starve himself, and refusing to eat for three days, he
was restored to his companions, it would seem, through the intercession
of the Dutch director, who endeavored to persuade the men
to wait patiently, and not to quarrel among themselves.
After a month's longer detention, a new escape was planned, but
only McCoy and two others succeeded in getting out. Being retaken
they were tied, put in the stocks, and finally
all were sent to the
common prison, where they had very hard usage.
It was stated,
and no doubt truly enough, in the Dutch memorandum, respecting
their treatment, handed in by the Japanese, that they gave so much
trouble that the authorities hardly knew what to do with them.
One of the Americans died, and one of the Sandwich-Islanders
hung himself. McCoy, who had learned considerable Japanese, was
secretly informed of the arrival of the Preble by one of' the guards
with whom he had established an intimacy.
At the same time with these men another seaman from an
American whaler was delivered up, who had landed a month or
two later on some still more northerly Japanese island. As this
man, named McDonald, and who described himself as twenty-four
years old, and born at Astoria, in Oregon, had made no attempt at
escaping, he had no occasion to complain of severity. In fact, he
lived in clover, the Japanese Raving put him to use as a teacher
of English. The very interpreter who boarded the Preble had
been one of his scholars. All these men stated that they had been
required to trample on the crucifix as a proof that they were not
Portuguese, that reason being suggested to them when they showed
some reluctance to do it.
McCoy mentioned, and others confirmed it, -that when he threatened
the Japanese guards with vengeance from some American
ship of war, they told him that they had no fears of that, as the
year before, at the city of Jedo, a common soldier had knocked
down an American commander, and no notice had been taken of
it. McCoy and the others strenuously denied having ever heard
this story (ev'dently referring to the occurrence described in a pre-