When the Tycoon’s people, officers who had been detailed to help Commander Bullock on his surveying expedition, heard that Mr. Satow and I were to undertake this journey overland, they made a great fuss, declared that it was impossible; that they could not be answerable for our lives, and that on behalf of their Government they must decline all responsibility. The Tycoon’s writ clearly did not run in such provinces as Kaga and Echizen, through which we must pass. But these were considerations which left Sir Harry unmoved. Still, though he was determined to gain some knowledge of the west coast, where no foreigners had ever penetrated, and, if possible, to establish relations with the clans and people, he was evidently a little nervous, for when we were taking leave of him, and the Admiral and Captain Hewitt went so far as to express great fear of the dangers which we must face, he tried to make out that it was our own foolhardiness which prompted the idea. This I repudiated at once, saying that we were quite willing to obey his orders in the matter, as a question of duty, but that we certainly should not have thought of undertaking the journey for a whim, which would not be fair upon our people at home. Sir Harry only laughed. To do him justice it was just the sort of trip that he himself would have delighted in, for where his own life was concerned he was always as big a gambler as the ace of spades. [Illustration: THE AUTHOR, AGED 28. _By Samuel Lawrence._] We landed in the afternoon. The _Salamis_ got up steam and was off. The _Basilisk_ followed. The _Serpent_ was still lying peacefully at anchor. That evening we spent in making ready for our start the next morning. The Tycoon’s officers tried hard to persuade us that they must go with us. This we stoutly resisted; they would have been absolutely worse than useless, for they were mere underlings, they could not protect us, and would simply be spies interfering with any possibility of friendly intercourse with the local people. We pointed out to them that their duty was to remain with Commander Bullock, under whose orders they at present were. In the end after a good deal of whining on their part that if any evil thing happened to us they would suffer, they agreed to leave us in peace provided that we would absolve them from all responsibility; so at last they went off to the _Serpent_, after having taken a formal receipt from the Kaga men for our bodies, certified safe and sound at the time of delivery! We started on the 10th of August. With the Kaga people sulky and still sore at the dressing which they had received the day before from our chief, the outset was not encouraging; however, grumpiness is no feature of the Japanese nature, and no ill-will could for long make a stand against Satow’s pleasant and conciliatory ways, and we were soon on far better terms with our guides than we had any right to expect.