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242 them slaves. I pray thee, let me return for a while to my own country and learn whether this be true or false." The Emperor forthwith gave him leave to go, and accordingly sent him away, accompanied by Katsuraki no Sotsuhiko. They reached Tsushima together, and stayed for the night at the harbour of Sabi no umi. Then the Silla envoys Mo-ma-ri Cheul-chi and the others secretly provided a separate ship and sailors, on board of which they put Mi-cheul Han-ki and made him escape to Silla. They also made a straw figure which they put in Mi-cheul Hö-chi's berth, and making it appear like a sick man, they informed Sotsuhiko, saying:—"Mi-cheul Hö-chi has taken suddenly ill, and is on the point of death." Sotsuhiko sent men to nurse him, and so discovered the deception. Having seized the three Silla envoys, he placed them in a cage which he burnt with fire and so killed them. Then he proceeded to Silla, where he touched at the harbour of Tatara. He took the Castle of Chhora, and returned. The captives taken on this occasion were the first ancestors of the Han people of the four villages of Kuhabara, Sabi, Takamiya, and Oshinomi.