Men who find themselves in a situation like ours, catch up every word, and meditate on it closely. Had he said “soon,” I would have regarded his words as a mere attempt at consolation; but now I believed him, and grew more contented. Hardly was this officer gone, when one of the sailors was brought to me. The man was not a little astonished to see what a pleasant apartment I had, and feasted his eyes on the objects he saw from my window. My prison seemed a paradise compared to the cells 52 in which he and the rest had been put. These cells, it was true, were built like mine, but far more narrow and penable, and they stood one on the other in a kind of shed, so that there was a free passage all round them. Instead of a door, they had an opening so low that you had to creep through it. No friendly ray of light ever penetrated to them, and they were surrounded by gloom and darkness.

The conversation I held with the sailor invigorated, in some degree, the sorrow I felt, and I now ate the food that was brought to me for the first time since our arrival at Khakodade. Our food now was worse by far than when we were on our way to the town. They gave us by turns, rice-broth, warm water, with grated radishes, but no herbs, finely cut leeks, boiled beans, salted cucumbers, a soup with balls of meal, made from beans and spoiled fish. Our drink was generally warm water; sometimes, but seldom, they gave us poor tea, without sugar. When we complained of this wretched fare to one of the officers of the guard, he promised us meat, butter, and milk, but excused himself afterwards, when we reminded him of his promise, by jocosely telling us that the cows were still at pasture. When, in order to accomplish our purpose in another manner, we feigned illness, he asked us, in a sympathizing manner, what the Russians did when they were sick? and what they ate?

“All that the physician prescribes,” answered I; “most commonly chicken broth.”

Immediately he demanded of us a detailed account of how chicken broth was prepared, and when we gave it, he 53 wrote it down on a piece of paper. But it seemed as if this were done merely from curiosity or derision, for the chicken broth was never mentioned afterwards. Once he treated us to beer, and in return wished to see us perform a Russian dance. When I remarked to him that no one could compel us to dance, in such a situation as ours, he said, composedly:

“That’s true; a Japanese, in such a case, would neither dance nor sing.”

As I could not obtain any materials for writing, I invented, in order to note daily occurrences, a diary of a peculiar kind. If any thing pleasant occurred, I tied a knot in a white thread, which I pulled out of my shirt. When any thing unpleasant happened to us, I tied a knot in a black silken thread, from my cravat. If any thing note-worthy took place, either pleasant or the reverse, I tied together the ends of a green thread, which I drew from the lining of my uniform. From time to time I reckoned over these knots, and recalled to my mind the circumstances they were intended to denote.

On the tenth of August, word was brought to us that the commander-in-chief of the town wished to see us, and that at noon we were to be presented to him. Accordingly, at the appointed time, they took us singly from our cages, bound ropes round our bodies, and led us by them, under a strong escort, through a long and wide street, which ran through the town and was filled with people, to a castle surrounded by an earthen wall, at the gates of which stood a numerous guard. Having taken us into the court-yard, they made us take our seats on benches and 54 mats, and treated us to good tea, sugar, and tobacco. We might have sat there about an hour, when a voice was heard calling, “Captain Khovorin!” which was the way the Japanese pronounced my name. Two soldiers, who stood by my side, immediately led me through a door, which was hastily closed behind me, into a large hall, through the paper curtains of which came a dim light. On the walls of this apartment hung irons, with which to fetter criminals, cords, and other instruments of punishment, which made me conclude that I was in a chamber devoted to the torture. In the middle of the hall, sat the commander-in-chief, on a kind of raised platform. He was surrounded by several officers and scribes, each of whom had before him his paper and inkstand, and at his side a dagger and huge sabre. After the other prisoners had been led in, a most tedious and insignificantly minute examination was commenced, concerning our names and ages, our parents, and places of birth; also as to the Russian Empire, its power on land and sea, the ship we arrived in, and the object of our journey. The answers we deemed advisable to give, were, as well as the interpreter could understand them and translate them into Japanese, noted down with the greatest exactness.

At last the commander-in-chief asked, with particular emphasis, if the religion of Russia had not been lately changed, as an ambassador who had formerly been in Japan, had worn a long cue, and hair thickly powdered, whilst we had it cut short. When we told him that in our country, the style of wearing the hair had nothing whatever to do with religion, the Japanese laughed in a 55 contemptuous manner, and wondered not a little, that we had no fixed laws on so important a subject. As it was now nearly dark, we were led back to our cages.

Afterwards, we were several more times taken into this hall, where the same questions were put to us, though in a different form, that they might entrap us. They compared the answers we now gave, with those formerly given, and on the slightest difference appearing, made the most diffuse inquiries about it. Finally, on the twenty-seventh of September, they took us from Khakodale to Matsmai, the capital of the island, which is situated on the southern coast, where we were immediately immured in a strongly fortified building, which stood on a hill.

IV.