Satsuma's man Godai, I learnt, had gone to Ozaka the previous night, or early that morning, in order to assure the chief that he might safely remain there, but of course he came too late. The next thing one heard was that it had been intended to declare Keiki a rebel if he did not withdraw his troops from Ozaka, Kiôto and other points between the two cities, and that Satsuma, Geishiû, Chôshiû and Tosa were charged with the duty of using force to compel obedience if he refused to listen to the advice offered to him by Echizen and Owari in the first place. This seemed to explain his hasty flight, but from any point of view, European as well as Japanese, it was disgraceful. After informing the diplomatic representatives that he regarded himself as charged with the direction of foreign affairs, the only further intimation they received from his officials was that he could no longer protect the Legations, but he never so much as hinted that he was about to abscond. I was also informed that it was intended to invite the ministers to Kiôto, and Keiki had been ordered to transmit the invitation to them, which of course he omitted to do. In fact the policy of the Tokugawa government from the very beginning of their relations with the outer world of Europe had been to keep foreigners from coming in contact with the Kiôto party; and in this they were heartily assisted by Roches, the French Minister. I well recollect how, when we went to the castle to see Keiki after his retirement from Kiôto, some of the commissioners for foreign affairs jeered at me, saying, "Of course you now expect to get to Kiôto, but don't be too sure," or words to that effect.
A report having been circulated that somebody, either Satsuma or Tokugawa people, were going to blow up the martello tower which stood at the end of the dry river bed between Hiôgo and Kôbé, boats were sent from H.M.S. "Ocean," the French flagship "Laplace" and the "Oneida"; the door was locked and the key taken away.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE BIZEN AFFAIR
On February 4, Bizen troops were passing through Kôbé from the early morning, and about two o'clock in the afternoon the retinue of one of their karô shot an American sailor who had crossed the street just in front, which according to Japanese ideas was an insult that deserved mortal chastisement. After that they attempted the life of every foreigner whom they met, but fortunately without any serious results. What at a later time became the foreign settlement was then an open plain; at the upper edge of it ran the high road, and as the Bizen people passed along they suddenly opened fire, apparently from breech-loaders. Then every foreigner was seen scurrying across the plain for safety. The American marines immediately started in pursuit, our guard of 2/ix was called out, and some French sailors were landed. Half of our guard under Bruce were despatched to occupy the entrance from Kôbé into the foreign quarter, and the other half followed in pursuit. On reaching the Ikuta-gawa stream-bed, at the eastern extremity of the plain, we perceived the Bizen men marching in close column about 600 or 700 yards ahead, so we passed through the gap in the river bank and opened fire. There were at least half-a-dozen civilians with us, all armed with rifles, who likewise fired. Willis, Mitford and I had only our revolvers. At the first volley from our side, the enemy turned into a field by the side of the road, and fired at us from below a bank. On our returning their fire, they all took to flight. We pursued them, every now and then firing at one or other who had failed to get under cover, but finally they took to the hills and disappeared completely. Sir Harry, followed by his mounted escort of ex-policemen, galloped some distance down the road in the direction of Nishinomiya, but was unable to catch sight of the foe. If any of them had suffered from our fire, he must have been carried off by his comrades. Willis found an old peasant woman lying by a bank with a bullet wound through both ankles, whom he brought back and cured of her hurt. Then we took prisoner a wretched porter, who escaped with his life by a mere miracle, for at least fifteen revolver shots were fired at him at close quarters as he rose from his place of concealment, without his receiving a single wound. We opened the baggage which had been dropped by the fugitives, but found nothing of value, only three small weapons, representing a cross between a matchlock and a howitzer, and a few carpenters' tools. From the porter, whom we led home as our prisoner, we ascertained that the detachment consisted of two Bizen karô, Ikéda Isé and Hiki Tatéwaki, who were on their way with about 400 men to reinforce the garrison of Nishinomiya, and that some of them had remained behind at Hiôgo. On returning to the settlement we found a quantity more baggage which had been dropped in Kôbé by the men whom Bruce had intercepted. Sentries were then posted along the main street of Kôbé as far as the first barrier gate, where a strong guard was stationed with a howitzer. A line of sentries was also drawn round the north and east sides of the plain. From some of these, who were Americans, sailors or marines, an alarm was raised about ten o'clock. Great alacrity was displayed by the naval people; field pieces were landed and numbers of small-arms men. After all, no enemy made his appearance to justify so great a stir being made. I proposed to Sir Harry that we should issue a manifesto declaring that if Bizen's people did not satisfactorily explain their behaviour, the foreign powers would make it a quarrel with Japan as a whole. He induced his colleagues to agree to this, and I started our prisoner back to his people with a copy, though I did not feel much confidence in its reaching its destination. About half-past one, a hundred Chôshiû men sent down for the protection of Kôbé and Hiôgo against Tokugawa troops arrived just outside our post in the middle of the village, and were within an ace of being fired on by our guard. Luckily I came up at the moment, and went to an inn at which they had billeted their rank and file, to arrange that they should withdraw, which they did very readily.
During the afternoon, four steamers belonging to Chikuzen, Kurumé, Uwajima, and one it was thought to the Tokugawa, were seized at Kiôgo and Kôbé, to hold as a "material guarantee."
The morning of February 5 brought me again an invitation from Yoshii to visit him at Ozaka and talk over affairs, but it was impossible, for I had too much on my hands. The "Whampoa," a steamer belonging to Glover & Co., of Nagasaki, had arrived, and a rumour was invented and spread that she was conveying 800 Satsuma troops, so I was sent off in a boat to stop their landing. There was not a single Satsuma man on board. Some men of Awa in Shikoku had decamped in boats from Hiôgo, and our people pursued them, but as they were only a few in number and very miserable in appearance, they were not molested. We then issued proclamations, with the wording of which I was entrusted, explaining why we had seized the steamers, a second exhorting the people to go quietly about their business, and a third announcing that all unarmed persons would be allowed to pass our posts. About one o'clock a Dutchman (appropriately enough in accordance with popular notions) raised an alarm that the Japanese were advancing to the attack. The report spread as far as the quarters of the Foreign Representatives at the custom-house, where von Brandt was making a great fuss about a body of at least three hundred armed men that he asserted were menacing Kôbé from the hills close by on the north side. I had a look at them through his glass, and certainly saw men, but if they were armed, I was sure they were friendly Chôshiû men. So I got leave to take Lieutenant Gurdon of H.M.S. "Ocean" with ten men, and we started out to explore, and to paste up our proclamations wherever we found one of Chôshiû's. The only people on the hills turned out to be peasants. The Chôshiû troops were billeted at Shôfukuji, a large temple, or Buddhist monastery, about two miles away among the hills, so it was manifest that they were keeping their engagement to us. We marched through Hiôgo, and pasted a copy of our first notification on the door of the Bizen official hotel (honjin), and the whole series of four on the house where their troops had passed the night of the 4th. Having accomplished all this, we returned to relieve the anxiety of our fellow foreigners.
Just as I got back I met Yoshii and Terashima, who had come down to have a talk. The chief gave them a short interview, at which he advised them to send off at once and get the Mikado's messengers to come down with their notification to the Foreign Representatives. They wanted him to let 300 Satsuma troops pass through our lines, but he refused, on the ground that as we did not know anything officially from the Mikado, we could not recognize Satsuma as acting under His Majesty's orders. So they agreed to bring their men into Hiôgo by another route. Then I went off with them to their honjin at Hiôgo, and they told me a good deal about the course of recent events. Theirs had been a continuous course of victory from the very first, for being like "rats in a bag," they had to fight hard for their lives, and were compelled to be victorious. At Fushimi they had had a desperate fight, but after that they pressed on and drove the Tokugawa forces into Yodo. This place, as well as the long bridge over the river, was fired by the retreating troops. Aidzu's men fought very bravely. The plan of the Baku-fu was to get the Satsuma and Chôshiû soldiers engaged with Aidzu and the Shin-sen-gumi (a body of armed samurai recently raised), and then to creep round to the imperialist right with the drilled infantry and seize Kiôto. Higo too was only waiting for signs that Satsuma was getting the worst of it, in order to seize the palace, but now he was very humble. The number of Satsuma and Chôshiû men actually engaged was about 1500, the remainder being employed in the defence of the city. Anyhow, as the roads to be held were very narrow, large bodies could not have been employed to any advantage. They loaded their field-pieces with bags of bullets, which did great execution on the enemy. About twenty Satsuma men were killed, and the entire list of casualties did not exceed 150. They took a good many prisoners, and captured numbers of guns and small arms, etc. Tôdô's defection was a great help to the imperialists. His men had been fighting against them, but when the Mikado's standards, the sun in gold on a red ground and the moon in silver, were displayed, they lost heart and changed sides. Another of their advantages was their good skirmishing. Ninnaji no Miya, a prince of the blood, also known as Omura no gosho, was the commander-in-chief. They anticipated that all the clans as far as Hakoné would submit, and that Sendai would join them. Kishiû already showed signs of a desire to come to terms, and Ogaki had submitted, as indeed had nearly all the other clans who had fought, with the exception of Aidzu. They said that Iwashita, Gotô and Higashi-Kuzé, the latter one of the five runaway court nobles, were to come down to Kôbé to communicate the Mikado's proclamation to the foreign representatives. It would be the desire of the new government to show perfect impartiality in its relations with foreign states, but as the English had been the good friends of the Kiôto party, they would always be regarded with particularly grateful and amicable feelings. I remained with Yoshii and Terashima till half-past ten in the evening. They seemed to admit that we had acted within our rights in seizing the steamers, and while I was with them they wrote and despatched long letters to their own people at Ozaka, explaining the affair and enclosing our notification. They also wrote up to Kiôto urging that no time should be lost in despatching the Mikado's messengers with the announcement to the foreign ministers.