THE JAPANESE.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 779, 1 October 1853, Page 4

THE JAPANESE.

[From the “ Sau Francisco Herald.”] Cruel treatment of the Shipwrecked Seamen of the American whaleship Lawrence by the Japanese. We published some weeks ago an account of the horrible barbarities to which a number of American seamen wrecked on the coast of Japan wei e {subjected by the natives. That account was the substance of the depositions of the sailors, taken down by the commander of the U. S. sloop-of-war that liberated them, and is therefore entitled, from its official character, to full credit. They were confined in iron cages for months, it will berecolDoted, treated with every species of indignity, compelled to trample upon the cross, and carried nbou fc like wild beasts. We find in a very ml cresting and valuable memoir upon the unknown countries and islands of Asia, addressed to Con-m-ess by Aaron 11. Palmer, and extra copies printed by their order, a narrative of a similar character showing the cruelties inflicted by the Japanese upon the shipwrecked seamen of the American whaleship Lawrence, which was lost upon the coast of Japan on the 27th of May. It would appear from these cases that the bigoted Japanese are not only inexorable in keeping foreigners out of their country, but make it a practice to maltreat .in the most inhuman manner all who are so unfortunate, by stress of weather, as to fall into thenhands. They must be taught better, and our squadron will have, in the instances we have cited, ample cause to justify the exaction of “ indemnity for the past and security for the future.” "We extract from the letter of How, second mate of the Lawience, published in the Singapore Free Press of the 6th of January, an account of what befel him and bis companions, : seven in number, after they had succeeded in reaching the Japanese shores;— “ The next morning we got into the boat and steered for the mouth of a river on one side of the bay. As we approached it we saw what appeared •to us to be a fort, with spars glistening in the sun above the walls; but on coming nearer we found it was a piece of cloth, extending about threequarters of a mile, and painted so as to represent a fort with guns. Here, as we landed, about sixty men, armed with swords and spears, ran towards us and motioned us to go away. _ We however continued approaching them until we got very near, when we all fell on our knees before them. One of them came up to me and would have struck me down with his sword, but his hand was held back by an old man who stood behind him. I made signs to them that we were harmless people and wanted food. After much talking amongst themselves, they brought us some rice and fish, which we ate. They then motioned us to be off. I took them to our boat and made signs to them that it was impossible for us to go to sea in such a small thing, and that if they would give us the materials for building a larger one, we would go away in it. On this there was another consultation amongst them, and one of them wrote something on a piece of paper and sent a man away with it. In about half an hour he returned with a letter, which was read aloud by one of them, and we were then ordered to get into our boat again, after being searched and deprived of everything we had about its.

They then got another boat to tow ours up the river, along which we proceeded until we got to a lake, on one side of which stood a house all covered with mats, which we were made to enter. We remained in it until night, when they came again with lanterns and ordered us to follow them, motioning to us that if we endeavoured to go in any other direction we would be killed. We followed them on foot for three or four hours until wc came to a town, where we were introduced into a brick building that appeared to us to be the prison of the town. They then locked us all up in a small cell, and kept a vigilant watch over us during the whole of the night, in the morning we were blindfolded and led to the house of the governor, where we were questioned and examined, and asked if we were Englishmen, after which they led us again to our prison. Not a day passed without our being examined and questioned regarding our country, religion, and every other particular that could be thought of. They made themselves understood to us by signs, and principally by drawings on paper, at which they were very expert. In this prison we continued for about eleven months, and not once did wc set a single foot out of it during that time. Every day we had an allowance of rice, fish and water, and once they gave us a sort of liquor called . sakie. We drank it, aud it naturally revived us and made us feel a little more cheerful; they then again examined us and look down our depositions in writing thinking, perhaps, that under the influence of the liquor we would give them whatever information we had before endeavoured to suppress. About this time all the men, with myself fell sick, and what with this, the miserable situation we were in, and the treatment we raetwithfrom ourguards, who frequently struck us and insulted us in every possibly way they could, we gave up ail hopes of ever getting out of our prisons alive. We got .better, however, and were informed that we had to go on to Jeddo where the Emperor lived. They put us on board of a junk and stowed us all in the hold—a dark, filthy place; and during the time we were in her, some three or four months not a single moment were we allowed to step on deck to breathe the fresh air or see the light. One day we were made to wash ourselves, and clean clothes were given us, and we were conducted into the cabin, which was beautifully fitted up with silk and gold ornaments. They then gave us each a carpet to sit upon, and made us understand that we had arrived at a city called Matsamai, where the Emperor’s son lived, and that he was coming on board to see us. By and by we heard r great stir outside, and all the people about us fell on their faces to the ground, and we were made to do the same. Shortly after the prince entered the cabin, accompanied by a numerous suite. We were then examined before him; aud this time the questions were put to us by a Japanese who spoke Dutch, and who communicated with us through one of our men, Murphy Wells, who also spoke a little Dutch. This lasted for about an hour, after which the prince departed and in the evening we received a box of sweetmeats which they said was from him. lie is a very young man of handsome appearance, and on the whole be seemed kindly disposed towards us.— The next day we continued on our voyage, and were again left to the mercy of our jailors. We then arrived at another city ; when we were each put into a box, the lid of which was then fastened down upon us, and in this way we were carried to the town ball. Here we underwent another examination, the questions being put to us by the same interpreter who acted in the same capacity at Matsamai. Their chief object in this, as in all examinations we went through, was to find out whether we were not really Englishmen : and I am of opinion that had we confessed ourselves of that : natmn, we would all have been killed. The interpreter told ns to beware how we tried to mislead them, as they would find out who we were when we got to Nagasakie. They then brought a box from which they took out a print of the crucifixion, and told us to put our feet upon it. On our hesitating to do so the guards drew out their swords and threatened to kill us, and so compelled every one of us to trample on the print, and spit upon it. A couple of epaulets were then shown to us—one an English naval officer’s and one an American—and we were asked which of them belonged to our country. After this we were again conducted to prison. One day we were again summoned to the town hall where we were surprised to see a man in European dress sitting amongst our judges. He took no notice of us at first, but sat writing and • talking to the Japanese. At last he addressed us in Dutch to which we did not reply;; then in Trench, which we also did not understand. He then spoke English and said : “ If there are any ■ John Bulls amongst you, you had better not say any thing about it.” He then interrogated us concerning our country, our religion, and the circumstances relative toymr shipwreck, etc., etc , all of whicu were again interpreted to the Japanese, and no.eu uown in writing by them. He then told us he had some hopes wc would all be set at liberty. X e council then broke up, and we were taken again to prison. At this place one of the men tried to escape from prison, and wasinhumanly murdered by the Japanese . He had made known his intentions to as previously, and we did all we could

to dissuade him from ilfilut to no purpose, as he said he would lather die than suffer any longer. At last, after seventeen months in all of close confinement, privation and ill treatment, wc were liberated and sent to the Dutch factory. Here we were received by the director of the factory. Mr. Levyssohn, in whom we recognized the European who interrogated us at the town hall, and to whose active and humane exertions we were indebted tor our release ; and not only for this, but also for the kind, generous treatment we met with at his hands during the rest of our stay in Japan, we arc under deep and lasting obligations to him. “ Ten days after, we were put on board the Dutch shipHertogenbosch. Here we received the best possible treatment and attention till our arrihere, (Singapore,) when we were handed over by the authorities to the United States consul, who although in a very weak state of health, extended his protection towards us, and furnished us with a few articles of clothing, etc., we were so much in need of; for all which we feel extremely grateful.”