§7. _Journey of Captain Saris to the Court of the Emperor, with his Observations there and by the Way_. The 7th August, 1613, being furnished by king _Foyne_ with a proper galley, and having taken leave of him, I went aboard ship to put all things in order for my departure.[13] This galley rowed twenty-five-oars of a side, and was manned by sixty Japanese; and I fitted her out handsomely in our fashion, with waste cloths, ensigns, and all other necessaries. Leaving instructions with the master of the Clove and the cape merchant, for the proper regulation of the ship and the house on shore during my absence, and taking with me ten Englishmen and nine other attendants, as the before-mentioned sixty were only to take charge of the galley, I departed from Firando on my voyage and journey for the court of the Japanese emperor. We rowed through among various islands, all or most of which were well inhabited, and had several handsome towns upon them, one of which, called _Facata_, has a very strong castle built of freestone, but without any cannon or garrison. The ditch of this castle is five fathoms deep and ten broad, all round about the walls, and is passed by means of a drawbridge, and the whole is kept in good repair. The tide and wind were here so strong against us that we could not proceed, for which reason I landed and dined at this town, which was very well built, and seemed to be as large as London is within the walls. All its streets are so even, that one may see from one end to the other. This place is exceedingly populous, and the people very civil and courteous; only that at our first landing, and indeed at all places to which we came in the whole country, the children and low idle people used to gather about and follow us a long way, calling _coré, coré, cocoré, Waré_ that is to say, _You Coreans with false hearts_; all the while whooping and hallooing, and making such a noise that we could not hear ourselves speak; and sometimes throwing stones at us, though seldom in any of the towns, yet the clamour and shouting was every where the same, as nobody reproved them for it. The best advice I can give to those who may come after me, is to pass on without attending to these idle rabblements, by which their ears only will be disturbed by the noise. All along this coast, and indeed the whole way to Osaka, we found various women who lived continually with their families in boats upon the water, as is done in Holland. These women catch fish by diving even in the depth of eight fathoms, that are missed by the nets and lines; and by the habit of frequent diving their eyes become excessively red and bloodshot, by which mark these divers may be readily distinguished from all other women. [Footnote 13: The old king sent 200 tayes, worth five shillings each, to Captain Saris, for his expences in the journey.--_Purch._]