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A JOURNEY THROUGH A PRISON. 285
mains were buried in a cemetery near the executionground
at Senji.
Strangling appeared to be a punishment one degree
less severe than decapitation. But the worst punishment
of all was that of gokumon, or exposure of
the head, on the pillory at Shinagawa or Senji. All
Japanese had a wholesome dread of this punishment.
Notices of an execution were posted up at
Nihon Bashi in the center of the city, or on small
kosatsu, or proclamation-boards. Orders from the
Sai-ban-sho, or court, were issued on one day ;
execution
followed on the next.
By official permission
the interview between Mr.
Rai and Honda Jiro took place in a private room in
the superintendent's house. The prisoner had been
somewhat prepared for the proposal to be made to
him, and his mind was receptive. After a long and
earnest conversation he signified his agreement to
the invitation of the lord of Echizen, and signed a
document to that effect. He then put on his samurai
dress, which had been carefully kept for him,
received his swords, and the two gentlemen left the
prison together. Honda Jiro found lodgings in Echizen's
Middle Yashiki, and was put under the charge
of the superintendent.
Here, during his private incarceration, we leave
him, only saying that, with the aid of Doctor Sano,
Mr. Rai, and Professor Koba, Honda Jiro was well
supplied with Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese books,
and that he at once gave himself diligently to study.
It was during his last year of confinement that Mr.