At the first look which we took of our quarters, we thought that we had seen the sun for the last time, for although without, the day was clear and bright, yet within almost total darkness reigned.
Imagine a four cornered shed, five and twenty paces long, fifteen wide, and some twelve feet high, three sides of which were walled up without the smallest opening, and the fourth covered with a strong wooden grating made of bars placed about four inches from each other. In the grating was a door and little gate, but both securely bolted. In the middle of the shed stood a couple of cages, likewise made of wooden bars, and separated from each other and the wall, by narrow passages. One of these cages was six feet square and ten high; the other was of the same heighth and breadth, but only eight feet high. 56 In the latter were the sailors, and in the former, Moor, Chleb Nikow, and I. The entrance to each of them was so narrow that one was obliged to creep through it. The door was made of thick beams and fastened by means of a strong iron bolt, over which was a little opening through which they put our food, when they gave it to us. The wall of each cage, which was opposite that of the other, was made of boards, so that we could not see the sailors nor they us. Outside of the grating which formed one side of the shed, was a sentry box, in which two soldiers kept a continual watch. They could see us all, and did not take their eyes off us for a single moment.
During the night they entered the shed every half hour, walked around our cages and looked in through the bars. From sunset until the break of day, numerous watchmen went the rounds with lanterns, and struck the hours with a couple of sticks.
At night our prison was still more dreary, for we had neither light nor fire. A lamp set in a paper lantern, burned in the guard-house, and threw a pale, sickly light into the shed, which it would not have been sufficient to illumine, under any circumstances. Except the scanty portion which the rays of this light fell on, all the shed was shrouded in impenetrable darkness. The rattling which ensued from the opening and shutting of doors, whenever the guards visited us, broke through the deep silence of night, and added to the discomforts of our situation. It was out of our power to enjoy a calm refreshing sleep, for besides the noise, frightful phantoms of every kind drove it away.
The shed, cages, guard-houses, and hedges, by which they were surrounded, were all quite new, and had so lately been finished, that the chips and shavings had not yet been carried away. The building, which was large, and made of beautiful wood, must have cost the Japanese government no trifling sum; greater indeed, we imagined, than they would have devoted to such an object, had their intention been soon to set us free. For a sojourn of two or three years, they might easily have found some suitable building already constructed, and the security and arrangements of this place, seemed to denote that it was to be our abode for a long while, perhaps during life. These reflections tormented us fearfully. For a long while we sat silently gazing at each other, considering ourselves as victims to our own imprudence. On the fourth day after our arrival at Matsmai, the Japanese took us out of our cages, in order, as they told us, to present us to the governor. We went bound in the old way, with soldiers holding the ropes. The road to the fort was through a dirty street, which they had covered with boards, and as it commenced raining, they held umbrellas over our heads. We were led into a roomy court-yard within the fort, which was covered with pebbles, and were placed in a row on a bench which stood within a small building. After we had remained here about an hour, a door was opened, and we were taken through a second court into a third, where the soldiers who accompanied us, laid aside their sabres, daggers, and the straw sandals which they wore instead of shoes, and at the same time, pulled off our boots. We were now taken into an immense 58 hall, the floor of which was covered with magnificently worked carpets. The doors and windows were made of beautiful wood elaborately carved. On the curtains which according to the Japanese custom, formed the partition walls between the rooms, and could be removed at pleasure, were paintings set in golden frames, and ornaments representing beasts and birds. On both sides of the room were seated Japanese officers, armed with swords and daggers. They laughed and joked among themselves until a noise was heard, and a voice cried, “Hush!” when a deep silence prevailed.
A servant now entered the apartment, kneeled down at the door, laid the palms of his hands on the ground, and bowed his head. The governor then made his appearance, clad in a plain black robe, on the sleeves of which was embroidered his crest, as is customary in Japan. At his girdle hung a dagger, but his sabre was carried by a servant, who had it rolled up in a cloth, that his hands might not touch it. After the governor had taken his seat, the Japanese all made him a reverence, laying the palms of their hands on the floor, and bowing so profoundly that their foreheads touched it, in which position they remained for several seconds. He replied to their salutation by bowing low, his hands placed on his knees. We also saluted him, in the European fashion, and he nodded his head to us, smiling all the while, as if to assure us that his intentions towards us were friendly.
He now drew from his bosom a sheet of paper, and called over the names of each one of us, according to his rank. We replied singly, by a bow, and each time he 59 bent his head. He then spoke to a man who was sitting by his side, and who held the post of interpreter, and commanded him to translate to us what he was about to say. But this individual did not seem to have the slightest knowledge of the Russian language, and began with the words:
“I am a man, thou art a man, another is a man, tell me what kind of a man?”
When we, astounded at the fellow’s impudence, managed to explain to them that we did not understand in the least what he was trying to say, and the officers, after some trouble, had made him confess that he did not know even the commonest phrases in the Russian language, they began to laugh, drove him away, and made use of our interpreter, Alexis, who had hitherto remained a prisoner with us. After an examination, during which the same questions were put to us as had been formerly asked by them, the governor, or “Bunjo,” as the Japanese term him, told us that if we had any request to make, we might now do so.