This was followed up, in the year 1688, by another order, by which the Chinese were, like the Dutch, shut up in a sort of prison, for which, like the Dutch, they were compelled to pay a heavy rent. The site chosen for this spot was a garden, pleasantly situated, just outside of the town, on the side of the harbor opposite Deshima. It was covered with several rows of small houses, each row having a common roof, and the whole was surrounded with a ditch and a strong palisade, from which the only exit was through well-guarded double gates[133]. Even here the Chinese had no permanent residence, like the Dutch. They arrived in detachments, twenty junks in spring, thirty in summer, and twenty in autumn; and, after selling their goods, went away, leaving the houses empty. Besides the trade with the Dutch and the Chinese, the Lew Chew Islands [Riūkiū] were also permitted to carry on a particular trade with the province of Satsuma, the prince of which they acknowledged as in some respects their sovereign. The import and sale of their goods was limited to the annual amount of one hundred and twenty-five thousand taels, though, in Kämpfer’s time, a much larger amount was smuggled in, large quantities of Chinese goods being thus introduced. CHAPTER XXVII _Engelbert Kämpfer—His Visit to Japan—Deshima and its Inhabitants as described by him—A. D. 1690._ Engelbert Kämpfer was the first scientific and systematic observer who visited Japan. Of those who have since followed him, but one or two had either his zeal, his assiduity, or his qualifications, and it is to him that we remain indebted for no inconsiderable part of what we yet know of that country, especially of its natural history, and its social, religious, and political institutions. Subsequent visitors, correcting him in some few particulars, have generally confirmed him. The Japanese, according to the most recent observations, appear to have changed very little since his time.