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TEE EED AND WHITE BANNERS. 129
this way ;
is
but to hear of one of our emperors drowned
too hard to bear."
" Be comforted, my child ;
his name is inscribed
not only on the monument erected on one of the
rocky islands near the place of his drowning, but
shines forever on the imperishable roll of rulers of
Everlasting Great Japan."
"Were the Taira, or He'ike', utterly wiped out?
Did none of them escape
? " asked Taro.
"
A bare handful reached Kiushiu and fled to the
highlands of Goka in Higo. Here a company of
about five hundred of their descendants still live as
hunters. Their stronghold
is surrounded by deep
valleys and marshes, and they allow no strangers
among them. They imagine all other Japanese people
to be their enemies, and only send out men occasionally
to sell their furs and buy rice. Rai Sanyo
says, '
Their crimes were atoned for by their services,
and Heaven would not cut off their posterity.'
Whenever a noble house falls we must remember
their virtues as well as their failings."