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336 ZOfrDA THE SAMURAI.
to the Tycoon as a symbol of the bloody work to be
done, and as an emblem of his authority, as general
of the camp, to drive out the barbarians.
Such a proposal of course made the Tycoon sick,
and he kept himself at home, sending Ke*iki as his
proxy,
who also was seized with the kind of ill-
ness which it was especially fashionable in Japan to
have when duty was disagreeable. Kelki publicly
descended from the shrine, and the ronins snorted
with rage. They denounced him in caustic and
obscene terms, and demanded that the Mikado in
person should take the field while they marched
in the van. The court had the utmost difficulty in
quieting their wrath.
The Choshiu clansmen, believing that the orders
of the Mikado could be and should be obeyed when
the date was definitely fixed, had left Kyoto. Re-
turning to their province they began the erection of
batteries on the heights overlooking the narrow
straits of Shimonose'ki, where the naval battle of
the Genji and He*ikd was fought in 1184. The
water is less than a mile wide, but commanding
the channel which runs like a mill-race in front of
the town itself, the new batteries swept a space
a half-mile in width. In formidable redoubts
only
they mounted twenty-four and thirty-two pounders
and eight-inch American Dahlgren guns. They also
bought at Shanghai, pretending they were acting
for the Yedo government, a strong steamer, a brig,
and a bark, and armed them with brass cannon,
raising the red sun-flag of Japan at the peak, and