The third book describes the religious state of Japan, giving an analytical view of the different creeds prevailing there, such as throws great light upon the confused and mixed up view taken in the letters of the Jesuit missionaries.
The fourth book treats of foreign relations and trade. The rise and fall of the Portuguese missions, although the most interesting portion of the history of Japan, is very slightly touched upon, as it seems to have been no part of Kämpfer’s plan to revamp old materials, but to collect new ones.
The fifth book, and much the largest, is devoted, to his two journeys from Nagasaki to Yedo and back—those journeys having furnished him with the principal opportunity he enjoyed of seeing Japan as it was.
“The place where the Dutch live,” says Kämpfer, “is called Deshima, that is, the Fore Island, the island situated before the town; also, Deshimamachi, or the Fore Island Street, it being reckoned as one of the streets of Nagasaki. It has been raised from the bottom, which is rocky and sandy, lying bare at low water. The foundation is of freestone, and it rises about half a fathom above high water mark. In shape it nearly resembles a fan without a handle, being of an oblong square figure, the two longer sides segments of a circle. It is joined to the town by a small stone bridge, a few paces long, at the end of which is a guard-house, where there are soldiers constantly upon duty. On the north, or seaward side, are two strong gates, never opened but for lading and unlading the Dutch ships. The island is enclosed with pretty high deal boards, covered with small roofs, on the top of which is planted a double row of pikes, like a Cheval de Frise but the whole very weak, and unable to hold out against any force.
“Some few paces off, in the water, are thirteen posts, standing at proper distances, with small wooden tablets at the top, upon which is written, in large Japanese characters, an order from the governors, strictly forbidding all boats or vessels, under severe penalties, to come within these posts, or to approach the island.
“Just by the bridge, towards the town, is a place where they put up the imperial mandates and proclamations, and the orders of the governors.
“Besides this, the Otona, or chief officer of the street, chiefly at the time of the sale, causes orders of his own, much to the same purpose with those of the governors, to be put up on the other side of the bridge, just by the entry into the island[136].
“By my own measuring I found the breadth to be eighty-two common paces, and the longest side two hundred and thirty-six. The surface is commonly estimated at a stadium (about three acres). There is a narrow walk to go round along the deal boards which enclose it. The houses are on both sides of a broad street that runs across the island. These houses, and the whole island, were built at the expense of some of the inhabitants of Nagasaki, to whom, or their heirs, the Dutch pay a yearly rent of six thousand five hundred taels—a price far beyond the real value. The houses, built of wood, and very sorry and poor, are two stories high, the lower stories serving as warehouses, and the uppermost to live in.
“The other buildings are three guard-houses, one at each end and one in the middle of the island, and a place by the entrance, where are kept all the necessary instruments to extinguish fires. Water for the kitchen and for common use, which is a separate charge in addition to the rent, comes from the river which runs through the town, being brought over in pipes made of bamboos, into a reservoir within the island.
“Behind the street is a convenient house for the sale of goods, and two warehouses, strong enough to hold out against fire, built by the Company at their own expense; also, a large kitchen; a house for the deputies of the governors of Nagasaki, who have the regulation of the trade; a house for the interpreters, made use of only at the time of the sale; a kitchen and pleasure-garden; a place to wash linen and other things; some small private gardens, and a bath. The Otona, or chief officer of the street, has also a house and garden of his own.