Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/194

RV 168 island of Deshima where they were confined had an area of only three and one-fourth acres. It was surrounded by a high fence of boards with a double row of spikes, and never, from year's end to year's end, did the inmates enjoy the privilege of free egress, while the only Japanese allowed to enter constantly were prostitutes. Between the island and the mainland stretched a narrow bridge, having at one end a constantly closed gate, at the other a guard-house. A bamboo pipe brought a supply of fresh water from Nagasaki, and two tide-gates on the north gave access to ships arriving from Holland. A very potent commercial instinct was required to carry on trade under such conditions, and indeed the whole story shows that the mediæval Dutch possessed not only remarkable shrewdness but also extraordinary adaptability. They quickly appreciated that the good will of officialdom was essential to their successful sojourn in Japan, and they spared no efforts to ingratiate themselves. They went to Persia or India for rare and costly gifts such as might placate the Shōgun's councillors or the Nagasaki Governor. They obeyed every order addressed to them by the Japanese authorities, however unjust or repugnant they found it. Thus, when commanded to destroy various edifices just erected by them at Hirado, because the year of the Christian era was carved on the stones, they complied unhesitatingly. When required to lend armed assistance for the repression of the Christian in-