Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/195

 berd, and sword only, rowed out to attack a fleet of fifteen hundred war-junks provided with culverins and catapults. Pictorial scrolls painted by Tosa artists of the era show some of these boats, dashing seaward on their reckless errand, and append the names of the soldiers seated in them, as well as the issue of each venture. In no case can more than ten fighting men be counted in one boat. Their wooden shields, when they carry such defences, hang over the gunwales; at the bow kneels the banner-bearer, raising aloft a long pennant, and in the stern half-a-dozen men, sometimes wearing corselets but generally without any protection whatever, bare-armed and bare-shouldered, despite the enemy's poisoned arrows, strain desperately at the oars. To their insignificant dimensions and the rapidity of their movements these boats evidently owed their frequent immunity from the balls of iron and stone discharged by the Mongol fleet. It is the only historical instance of victory's resting with sword, spear, and bow against gunpowder and bullet. It also illustrates the devoted courage as well as the versatility of the Japanese bushi. He appreciated that he must modify his methods, and not only abandon the old etiquette of the battle on shore, but also play the part of assailant, at any risk, in order to prevent the landing of a powerful foe.

Although the advantages of preventing an enemy from massing his strength were thus recog-