It would be of but moderate interest now to relate in detail our troubles of the next day or two, the difficulty of getting boats, the labour of moving such chattels as we could, leaving the rest to be burnt or looted with the Legation buildings. On the 2nd of February a first puff of smoke announced the firing of the castle with all its glories of art. It was time that we should leave Ōsaka. It had not been easy in those distracted times to procure fresh food, and our men were beginning to suffer from scurvy; a change to Hiōgo was to them a godsend. On the 31st of January the Uyésama himself, who had been all this time in the Castle of Ōsaka waiting the course of events, escaped in disguise in the U.S. ship _Iroquois_, from which he transhipped into one of his own steamers and made off to Yedo. There has been much exaggeration as to the numbers of troops engaged at Fushimi. There were probably not more than ten thousand of the Tycoon’s men against some six thousand of the clansmen. And no doubt the former would have given a better account of themselves had there not been treachery in their camp. The General in command at a most important point turned traitor, and the enemy suddenly poured in upon them in a quarter where they believed themselves to be perfectly safe. Then the Tycoon’s Commander-in-Chief deserted to the enemy. The game was up. My part in the flight from Ōsaka was very exciting. The rest of the Legation went down the river in boats, as I have said, and so by sea to Hiōgo. (Shall I ever forget the sight of our dear old giant Willis, squatting like a man-mountain on the top of the great boxes containing the archives—for he was Chancelier as well as Doctor?) I, on the other hand, was ordered to ride to Hiōgo in charge of the mounted escort. We started in bitter weather with a blizzard in our teeth from the north-west; it pricked so hard that now and then the horses would try to turn round, and only with spur and whip could they be made to face it. The case was awkward, for having no more to go by than the points of the compass, we missed our way, and had to travel for a good many miles through paddy fields of which the narrow banks were slippery with sleet and ice. At one place two of the men, whose horses absolutely refused to go forward, were deposited in the horrible slush of the field and were, of course, drenched. Those who know rice fields need not be told of their condition.