pirates and samurai
TRANSCRIPT
Pirates and Samurai
2 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Finding a Pirate Ship
Thursday 20th April 2017, 8:04 pm,
I googled ‘mutiny 1829’ and there
she was on the screen. I instantly
knew it was her. One of those
moments of disbelief at your own
utter certainty tinged with
annoyance that a hunt started two
and a half years before had been
solved by a search that any 9-year-
old worth their salt would have
made. Her name was the Cyprus, a
shallow draft brig (two-masted
square-rigged ship) and her true
story more exciting than any Jonny
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Depp film.
I had first come across the old ink
and watercolour drawings
chronicling the 1830 arrival of a
foreign ship off Mugi Cove,
Tokushima Prefecture while
purchasing an old fisherman’s
cottage in the area in June 2014. I
had always been interested in
obscure local histories and tried
googling ‘foreign ship Tokushima’
in Japanese. I clicked on the top
result and there on the screen were
four ink and watercolour drawings:
a nameless brig under British
ensign; a crew member; a page of
curiosities including a pipe, a
bucket and some hats; and a map
showing she had moored less than
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900m from the back garden of my
new holiday home.
Some six months later I finally
made my way to the Tokushima
Prefectural Archive and found that
there was a 5th image, the odd one
out, that the archivists had not
bothered to put up on the website. It
was of a red coat and epaulet.
Impressed with the detail on the
cuffs, I photographed it before
hearing a brief description of the
illegible hand-written account from
Tani-san, one of the volunteer
archivists. The manuscript, titled
An Illustrated Account of the
Arrival of a Foreign Ship, was
written in meticulous detail by a
low-ranking samurai artist,
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Hamaguchi Makita. It was
obviously a fascinating window
into the Edo period recorded as
Hokusai carved the wood blocks for
his Great Wave. There was also a
second much shorter manuscript
entitled A Foreign Ship Drifts in Off
Mugi Cove. Tani-san, it turned out,
was member of the Tokushima Old
Manuscript Reading Group and had
edited an annotated transcription of
legible but still barely
comprehensible versions. I took a
copy home to translate and two and
half years later with a slightly
desperate last-ditch two-word
Google search, ‘mutiny 1829’, I
had solved an almost 200-year-old
mystery of the ship’s name and her
history, and quickly discovered that
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there were two books, an academic
paper questioning the captain’s
claim of having reached Japan,
numerous webpages, articles and
chapters, as well as a poem and folk
ballad all written in English about
this amazing escape.
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Mutiny and Piracy on the Brig
Cyprus
The brig Cyprus was purchased by
the colonial government of
Tasmania, then Van Diemen’s Land,
in 1826 to convey convicts and
supplies to prisons around the
island. Van Diemen’s Land was
then a British colony and had been
settled as a penal colony for
transported convicts since 1803.
The brig was 70 feet 6 inches
(21.8m) long 20 feet (6.1m) wide
and had a yellow streak down each
side and her hull was sheathed in
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copper.
Brig Cyprus shown in part of Hobart Harbour, 1825 A. Earle, courtesy
of the Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales.
On 14th August, winter, 1829, after
departing Hobart, she had met with
a storm and taken shelter in the
uninhabited Recherche Bay. All the
prisoners on board had reoffended
in Van Diemen’s Land and were
heading for Macquarie Harbour
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Penal Station, also known as the
Hell’s Gates and considered the
worst place of punishment in the
British Empire. A Victorian
historian later described it as a place
of ‘inexpressible depravity,
degradation and woe’.
Notice on Sturminster Newton Bridge, U.K., 2004 J. Dunckley,
courtesy of Creative Commons.
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The Horrors of Transportation, c.1849 J. Platt, courtesy of Mitchell
Library, State Library of New South Wales.
In the late afternoon, the lieutenant
in charge of the military guard of
the West Suffolk 63rd Foot went out
in the jolly boat fishing in the calm
of the bay. While he was away the
prisoners, some in irons, were being
let up on deck five at a time to
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exercise. Some of them simply
overpowered the three guards on
duty, freed the other prisoners,
blocked the narrow hatchway to
prevent the other soldiers from
coming up on deck, grabbed
weapons and took control of the
ship. Of the 63 prisoners, guards,
crew, and accompanying family on
board, 45 of them were put ashore
on the beach 70km from Hobart
with limited supplies.
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West Suffolk 63rd Foot redcoat shown in part of the Battle of Bunker
Hill, 1897 by H. Pyle, presumed stolen.
The Making of the Coracle, 1829 by W. B. Gould, courtesy of Mitchell
Library, State Library of New South Wales.
Of the 33 prisoners destined for
Macquarie, 18 took the Cyprus, her
cargo of supplies for the penal
station and the personal effects of
all on board. Later, all but one of the
prisoners who stayed behind on the
beach had their Macquarie Harbour
Penal Station sentences revoked for
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not escaping and assisting the
lieutenant and ship’s captain.
William Swallow (a nom de guerre,
his real name was William Walker)
claiming to have played little active
role in the mutiny was later to be
celebrated in an Australian folk
ballad that includes the following
verse:
...The Morn broke bright the Wind
was fair, we headed for the sea
With one more cheer for those on
shore and glorious liberty.
For Navigating smartly Bill
Swallow was the man,
Who laid a course out neatly to take
us to Japan...
Swallow could read and write and
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had served an apprenticeship on a
collier in the North Sea. He had
been pressed to serve in the Royal
Navy during the Napoleonic wars.
After being discharged he was
unable to find work and had turned
to thieving. He also had a history of
daring escapes having once stuffed
his shirt with cork and jumped
overboard from another ship.
Map data ©2017 Google
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To keep the Cyprus away from
other shipping, Swallow set a
course for New Zealand and sailed
between the North Island and the
South Island where they stocked up
with water. Next, probably
influenced by the story of the
mutiny on the Bounty, they laid a
course for Tahiti. But on August
25th, while being driven off course
by a storm, a man was lost
overboard and they landed on
Chatham Island where they stole
from a Moriori village and some
sealers.
When they finally neared Tahiti, the
seasonal winds were against them
and the sails in poor repair so they
ended up sailing back westward to
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one of the Friendly Islands (Tonga)
that the pirates called ‘Nowey’,
probably Niuatoputapu. Here they
stayed until mid-November when
there was a disagreement and only
10 of the remaining 17 headed for
Japan. There, the ship was damaged
by a cannonball. After that, they
headed past Formosa (Taiwan)
where they scuttled the ship and
headed for Canton, China: two men
in the jolly boat, 4 on a Chinese ship,
and 4 in the long boat, the stern
lettering of which had been
changed to ‘the Edward’. In Canton,
Swallow claimed that they were
shipwreck victims and that while in
Japanese waters ‘being in want of
Provisions and water’ were ‘fired at
by two batteries and 16 Boats, and
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one shot struck the vessel between
wind and water’. Although viewed
with suspicion by the authorities
three of the crew of ten managed to
board a ship to Mexico and were
never heard of again, four of them
returned to London and were later
arrested, one was sent back to
London and the remaining two
were caught and eventually
transported again.
In London, the story of the mutiny
and the arrest of the five captured
the public’s imagination. All but
Swallow were sentenced to death.
Though he would later be sentenced
to death for illegally returning to
England, he was found not guilty of
piracy. Later, three including
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Swallow had their sentences
commuted to transportation for life.
The remaining, two men were the
last to be executed for piracy in
England. Thanks to the intense
public interest, the trial was well
reported in The Times of London on
the 14th of September 1830 ‘The
story told by three of the prisoners,
of being fired at by the Japanese, is
probably correct...'
Swallow’s account from the trial
was reported on 18th of October
1830.
‘Running some distance up the
coast of Japan, he anchored in a
convenient bay. A boat came from
the shore with a Mandarin or person
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of authority, and desired to know
what brought them there, and
desired him to give in writing what
he wanted, which he did in English,
and said they were in want of wood
and water, and would give anything
in the vessel in exchange. At that
time they were in great distress.
They had been cruising about
nearly five months; all the sails
were split, and there was no canvas
to mend them. In four hours the
letter was returned, with the seal
broke, and they were told to be off
by sunset, or they would be fired
upon, a large ball was shown them
as earnest of the intention of the
natives. At that time it was a dead
calm, and it continued so until after
sunset, and they could not get away.
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The Japanese, to frighten them,
then opened a fire from the batteries
with musketoons. They made every
attempt to get away, but could not,
and the Japanese fired upon them
from the guns of the batteries. One
shot knocked the spyglass out of his
hand, and another struck the vessel
under the counter [part of the stern]
betwixt wind and water. At 10
o’clock a breeze sprung up from oft
the land, which enabled them to
depart and make sail from the shore,
and the Japanese ceased firing.’
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The Samurai’s Curious
Encounter with a Foreign Ship
off Mugi Cove
The key events of Swallow’s
account appear to match those
recorded in detail by the samurai
chronicler Hamaguchi Makita in
his Illustrated Account of the
Arrival of a Foreign Ship. He was a
low-ranking samurai who worked
as an artist under the pseudonym
Hamaguchi Gyoboku.
Hamaguchi’s account can be
divided into his eyewitness
accounts and what was reported to
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him by others.
Map data ©2017 Google
‘The foreign ship first appeared
50km off None, Tosa no Kuni
[Kochi Prefecture] on the 11th day
of the 12th month of the 12th year of
the Emperor Bunsei.’ [The old
Japanese calendar was lunar and
this was the 5th of January 1830 on
the European Gregorian calendar.]
The next day, the 6th of January, she
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was 12~16km off the village of
None. After dawn on the 7th, on the
land standards were raised, gongs
and drums were beaten, conch
horns were sounded, and beacons
were lit. Around 8 o’clock in the
morning the ship was seen to be
sailing south toward Muroto Misaki
Cape. Around 10 o’clock that
morning she dropped anchor 500m
off Murotsu Harbour where
apparently, six men of a nine-man
crew made three attempts to land in
a small boat but were each time
driven off with musketoon fire.
After asking for grain, water and
firewood and being repelled for a
second time, one man was seen
crying and praying in desperation
as officials waved them away. They
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were given water and about 100kg
of rice provided by a local merchant.
The skipper was reported as
looking about 50 and they were
described as ‘handsome looking
like the “Dutchmen” [Europeans]
in the paintings’. On the 8th
around 7 o’clock in the morning
they sailed away from the port
heading north west toward Tano. In
the late afternoon, they were
sighted further up the coast 8km off
Yasuda and Aki. On the 9th in the
late afternoon they received water
from a fishing boat while heading
west toward Ashizuri. On the 10th
there were big waves and strong
winds and the local coastal overseer
could not keep track of them.
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At around 9 o’clock on the morning
of the 14th, the foreign ship was
again sighted off the small town of
Hiwasa, Awa Koku [Minami,
Tokushima Prefecture]. An official
sent word to Tokushima Castle and
a local samurai clan chief. Soldiers
and local men were deployed at a
dozen or so locations up and down
a 40km stretch of coast. With over
320 musketoons and 60 cannons
between them, each group
numbered between 10 and 40 men
and was made up of clan foot
soldiers (musketeers), and ronin
samurai, hunters and fishermen
from the villages.
The barbarian ship drifted down the
coast past Oshima Island to Mugi
Cove, about 2km off which she
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dropped anchor at around 3 o’clock
in the afternoon. Gongs and drums
were beaten, conch horns were
sounded, beacons were lit and
blanks were fired. Meanwhile,
word had arrived at Tokushima
Castle at around 7 o’clock and a
gathering of the samurai
commanders and clan chiefs was
convened.
On the 15th before 7 o’clock in the
morning a vanguard of vassal
clansmen was dispatched and
before 9 o’clock the main force
including our chronicler,
Hamaguchi departed. Part of this
force went by road to Nishi Yuki
Cove and then on by sea, and at
around 7 o’clock that evening
arrived in Hiwasa where the ship
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had been sighted from the day
before.
Once there, Commander Yamauchi,
Hamaguchi and some other samurai
and fishermen continued on in
rowing boats to Mugi 24km to the
south. On their way to Mugi, they
would have passed within a
kilometre of the barbarian ship and
Hamaguchi writes that he saw her
in the murky light of the half-moon.
They arrived in Mugi at around 1
o’clock on the morning of 16th.
From there a two-pounder (6.5cm
cannon) was delivered by rowing
boat to Tebajima Island. At the West
Mugi Fish Exchange, Commander
Yamauchi asks those gathered for
any details about the ship. Mima, a
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local samurai commander said,
‘I’ve been suspicious of that ship
since it arrived yesterday afternoon.
The colour seems to have changed.
Through my spyglass, I can see a
floor halfway up the mast where
one climbs up to look out. And the
men on the ship, they do not look
hungry at all. In fact, they seem to
be mocking us by diving off the
stern and climbing back up. It is
strange that since yesterday Sawaro
and everyone who gets closer to the
barbarian ship returns feeling pity
for them. I am certain this is
Christians artfulness. [Deleted as in
original manuscript.] The ship does
not appear to be drifting at all. I
think they are pirates. We should
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crush them!’
In the second shorter manuscript, A
Foreign Ship Drifts in Off Mugi
Cove, the chronicler Hirota reports
contact on the water half way
between Hiwasa and Mugi the
previous afternoon. A local farmer,
Harada, had gone out with a
companion in rowing boat to
confirm that the barbarian ship was
the same one as before in Tosa no
Kuni [Kochi Prefecture]. Harada
stated ‘The foreigner then tossed
some things down into our boat:
something shaped like this,
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From A Foreign Ship Drifts in Off Mugi Cove by Hirota, 1830, copy
courtesy of Mugi Board of Education.
and what we took to be a small bell
of gold and fine workmanship. Also,
they held up an 18cm-square icon
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of woman in a black frame fitted
with glass, pointed to it and spoke
gibberish but we understood not
one word.’ ‘... we returned each
item.’
Harada reports encountering
another group lead by a samurai
called Sawaro out on the water.
Sawaro’s contact with the foreign
ship was reported by Hamaguchi.
He was a lower ranking samurai
[the relative rank of a samurai was
equivalent to the rice yield
attributed to their land which was
listed on their family register
records]. He had taken his musket
and headed out in a fishing boat to
see the barbarian ship for himself.
‘The barbarians came to the front of
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the boat. They beckoned and as we
got closer they produced a bucket
and asked for water and then
showed us some firewood. We gave
them what little we had then one of
the “Dutchmen”
[Europeans]offered a picture of a
woman, something in a twist of
paper that he indicated to be
gunpowder by pointing at my
musket, and what appeared to be a
gold coated bell. An object so
beautiful that I could not contain
my desire to hold it .’ ‘We did not
accept any of them but as I was
returning the bell, it fell into the
ocean and the “Dutchman” became
most angry so we paddled off
quickly.’
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Sawaro’s account continues, ‘We
didn’t see any firearms but they
have put up a curtain along one side
of the ship and we do not know
what is going on behind it.’
Commander Yamauchi and
Commander Mima discussed and
agreed to the preparations to
repulse the barbarian ship.
Commander Yamauchi decided,
‘Take a large lead ball out to the
ship and tell them that if they don’t
leave immediately, we will fire on
them and reduce them to
matchwood!’ Dawn had broken
while they were still discussing
what was to be done.
On the morning of the 16th,
Commander Yamauchi orders
Hamaguchi,
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‘Disguise yourself as a fisherman,
get close to the barbarian ship, and
draw me a detailed picture of
anything that looks like a weapon.’
Four other samurai volunteered to
go with him. ‘We hid our swords
under a cover and dressed like the
fisherfolk tying hand-towels around
our heads. As we approached the
barbarian ship the dog wagged its
tail and whined at us. Its face looks
like my illustration. It did not look
like food. It looked like a pet. Some
barbarians were painting the
outside of the ship with tar, one was
climbing the mast and another was
mending the sail. Each of them was
involved in some task. All of them
stopped work and looked at us. At
first, we kept our distance at about
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50m, but they waved to us to come
closer and did not seem to be hostile
so we rowed over to get a better
look.’
From An Illustrated Account of the Arrival of a Foreign Ship, by
Hamaguchi, 1830. Courtesy of Tokushima Prefectural Archive.
‘The ship was about 18m in length,
about 7m wide and about 3m high
with a 60cm-wide red-tar stripe
along her sides. The stern crests and
parts that glinted are all sheathed in
copper. (The polishing off of the
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green copper rust probably
accounted for the apparent “change”
in colour. The appearance of a
“curtain” was caused by the tar
running down the side of the ship.)
The bow, 2.4m x 60cm, is shaped
like a fresh bracken sprout.’ ‘Lower
down there were European letters,
two at a time, made of brass and
hammered into the hull. On the
stern, there were chrysanthemum
crests and 2 windows that could be
opened on each side. They seemed
to be the only possible firing
positions.’ ‘There was nothing
suspicious looking along either side.
Along the red stripe, there were
small holes [scuppers] through
which we could peer in. On doing
so, we saw a stove and cooking pot
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under cover of a tarred roof and a
locker with preserved meat hanging
therein. There was a smaller boat
loaded at the front of the ship. It
was painted blue with a red stripe.
All the decks were made of wood. I
know not what was below, but there
was not one weapon in sight.’
‘The rudder 90cm x 30cm was very
narrow, all sheathed in cooper and
attached with butterfly hinges. It
looked as if it could only be moved
from left to right. As in my
illustration, there were poles
sticking out over both corners of the
stern. (Those who knew of these
“Dutch” [European] ships were of
the opinion that these strange stern
poles were for lowering the small
boat.) There was no damage on the
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outside. She sat lightly in the water.
Her draft was extremely shallow,
just 90cm, like an empty ship.’
‘The fore and aft masts were made
of 3 sections held together with
metal rings. (The “Dutch” ships had
three-section masts too and in
strong winds their sails come down.
This ship’s sails were always the
same and could be raised and
lowered freely at will.) The masts
were painted white but the paint
was peeling in places. The foremast
was about 18m high and the main
mast about 20m. Atop the main
mast, there was a magnetic needle
about 60cm long [Hamaguchi
appears to have thought the wind
vane was a compass]. As in my
illustration, from the square flange
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near the top, the edge of the sail was
attached with rope to its buntlines
and all of the blocks were part of the
contrivance. Next there was a floor
90cm x 120cm. There were rope
ladders down that looked like a Go
board [the ancient Chinese game].
From up there they could look out
or go out on the yards, etc.’ ‘On the
bow of the ship there was 2.4m
bowsprit. The main mast boom
stuck out 3m over the stern and
could be lowered or raised. There
was a banner stitched to a pole off
the stern rail. Unlike our ships, it
was not spread out by hanging it
from a cross piece and when there
was no wind, it just hung limp
hiding their clan’s crest. When the
wind blew, it would flutter and
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become visible. The sails were of
thick cotton with indigo lettering
but it was too faded to make out.
The yards did not lower, and the
sails were furled and tied to them.
Both clews of each sail had ropes
attached and with the yards and
spars were set according to the
wind. It appeared that the sideways
facing bow sail and the square
facing stern sails could be trimmed
to catch the wind as desired. There
was an unbearable stench in the
vicinity of the ship.’
‘All of the men were wearing hats:
most of leather, but one of wound
red cotton cloth and another like a
thatched farmer’s hat. Their clothes
had tubular sleeves. They were all
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wearing 2 to 3 buttoned-layers of
tightly-woven wool fabric and long
underwear made of leather. They
lined the side of the boat and with
both hands open indicated that they
were 10 in number. Like the face in
my illustration, they all had long
pointed noses. Their eyes were big
and blue and their eyebrows red.
Their hair was red, about 9cm long
and curly. Their beards were dark
red. The pitch of their voices was
mid-range.’
‘When signaled one man brought
out a bucket like the one in my
illustration and saying “Pésu! Pésu!”
[Pronounced ‘pace’ and possibly
they heard ‘Piss!’ as a crude joke].
pointing to his mouth, rubbing his
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chest. They exchanged words
amongst themselves like birds
twittering. One of them brought out
some firewood and requested we
provide it. We refused by waving
our hands and gave them a little
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water.’
From An Illustrated Account of the Arrival of a Foreign Ship, by
Hamaguchi, 1830. Courtesy of Tokushima Prefectural Archive.
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‘The skipper, who looked about 50
(the others all looked more like 25
or 26), was wearing a black fur hat
with tightly woven wool fabric
hanging down at the back. He
appeared to be giving instructions
to the crew. When we removed the
hand towels from our heads, to the
man they, in accordance with what
appeared to be some mark of
respect, removed their hats. Most of
them revealing balding heads. The
skipper, he was holding a small
knife and a length of rope-like dark
red tobacco from which he cut a
length kneaded it in the palm of his
hand, placed it in a suspicious
looking object, sucked and then
breathed out smoke.’
Hamaguchi then describes smoking,
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related paraphernalia (they were
using the stems of feathers as pipe
stems) and the origin of tobacco.
Referring to The Red Haired
Discourses [1787, Morishima
Chūryō] he writes it was brought to
Europe by a gentleman called
Johannes Newt from some small
island off the North American coast.
‘Then they pulled up a piece of
white meat on a string that had been
floating off the bow. It looked like
food. One of them grabbed a piglet
by the scruff, held it against the side
of the boat and, while pointing to
the land, said “Peké! Peké!”
[Pronounced like ‘peck’ and ‘aye’
together, possibly they heard
‘Piggy!’ in a regional British
accent]. We wondered if they were
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asking for more piglets or telling us
it was food. He tossed it back into
the bilge of the ship from where,
from the noise, we judged there to
be a number of the animals.
Another man stuck a forked metal
chopstick into some of this meat
that appeared to have been steamed,
and put it to his mouth indicating
that it was indeed food. Next the
skipper brought out a tightly-woven
scarlet woolen coat to show us. It
was longer than the jackets they
were wearing and had 5 coattails.
The cuffs were stitched with gold
thread and the buttons were silver
plated. He held it up to his
shoulders to show us. This was a
thing of great beauty and most
colourful.’
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From An Illustrated Account of the Arrival of a Foreign Ship, by
Hamaguchi, 1830. Courtesy of Tokushima Prefectural Archive.
‘We saw not a single weapon. One
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of the crew took off his shoes and
rolled down his white socks from
above the knee revealing his red leg
hair. He then showed us a yard
square of thick leather and
indicated that their shoes were
made of it. Then one of them
opened his shirt, baring his left
breast on which there was the half
body of a beautiful woman tattooed.
Next, one of them brought out a big
glass of what appeared to be an
alcoholic beverage and indicated
that we should drink. We declined
by waving our hands, upon which
they passed the glass around
themselves, one by one tapping
their heads as they drank to indicate
the good feeling it brought them,
and finished the lot.’
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The crew put out a gangplank and
invited the disguised samurai
‘fisherfolk’ aboard but they
declined, returning to Mugi at about
noon to make their report.
Meanwhile at 10 o’clock that
morning the Tokushima clan’s
feudal overseers had arrived. In
1825, the Tokugawa Shogunate had
issued an edict reiterating and
strengthening the ‘Sakoku’,
isolationist policy. ‘All foreign
vessels should be fired upon. Any
foreigner who landed should be
arrested or killed on sight. Every
interaction should be reported in the
utmost detail.’ It also included a no-
benefit-of-the-doubt clause i.e.
shoot first, ask questions later. In
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50 © Nicholas Russell 2017
line with the edict, coastal batteries
had been increased throughout
Japan. In 1808, the Nagasaki
Harbour Incident involved a British
ship and ended with the ‘seppuku’,
ceremonial suicide, of the top
official sent by the Tokugawa
Shogunate to oversee the town
because he hadn’t defended the
open port properly. The
commanders and overseers in Mugi
had not yet identified the red ensign
as British, they still wrongly
thought it was that of another
country called Anglia.
Commander Yamauchi had to act.
He ordered a local sword-carrying
landed gentleman and his
subordinate, ‘Go aboard the
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barbarian ship and with gestures tell
them to leave immediately. If they
do not comply, show them the large
ball and tell them that we are ready
to fire it at them from Tebajima
Island and reduce them to
matchwood. If they accept this and
we see them raising their anchor
and lowering their sails, they will
be provided with a little water and
firewood. Be sure to tell the men on
Shima no Hira, too.’
The two of them paddled out
quickly toward the ship and the
barbarians came out on deck to
meet them as they went on board.
‘The barbarians pointed out that
they still had repair work to do
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52 © Nicholas Russell 2017
mending sails and painting etc. One
of them made a fist with one hand
and put it under his cocked head
indicating sleep. Then he indicated
their departure by cupping one hand
and blowing into it. Through means
of these gestures he conveyed that
they needed 5 days to finish the
repairs. The two men paddled back
to report to Commander Yamauchi
who stated again that they had to
leave immediately.
So, the two of them rowed out again
and refused by waving their hands.
The skipper then asked for 3 days
but again both of them refused by
waving their hands. On seeing this,
the barbarian repairing a sail
became extremely angry and
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53 © Nicholas Russell 2017
started shouting. The skipper turned
to the two men and indicated that
they should leave immediately. As
they were giving them the firewood
and water, he wrote a letter about
24cm square with sideways writing
and as they were leaving he handed
it to them. They took it and rowed
quickly away. Commander
Yamauchi was not happy. “What
did you accept a letter from them
for? Take it back at once!” he
ordered.
They rowed out once more, tossed
it onto the barbarian ship and
quickly rowed back.’
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54 © Nicholas Russell 2017
From An Illustrated Account of the Arrival of a Foreign Ship, by
Hamaguchi, 1830. Courtesy of Tokushima Prefectural Archive.
‘We watched the barbarian ship but
it did not weigh anchor. A smoke
signal was lit on Shima no Hira. On
Tebajima Island, the gunner
Ikenouchi lit the fuse of the two-
pounder (6.5cm cannon) and fired
in earnest. The report was like a
thunder clap followed by an eerie
screeching noise as the old deeply
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pitted ball flew between the two
masts of the barbarian ship.
Irritatingly, without sign of haste or
panic, the crew leisurely spread one
sail. In response, the Shima no Hira
gun crews opened up with their
one-and-a-quarter-pounders (5cm
cannon) and three-quarter-pounder
(4cm cannon). The barbarian crew
spread another sail but the ship still
did not move. Infuriated,
Commander Yamauchi ordered his
gunners and musketeers to set up in
the 4 patrol boats: No.1 patrol
boat with a three-quarter-pounder
and musketoon, No.2 patrol boat
with a hand cannon and musketoon,
No.3 patrol boat with hand cannon
and musketoon, No.4 patrol boat
with small hand cannon and
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56 © Nicholas Russell 2017
musketoon. When everything was
on board they departed. [These
patrol boats had crews of 7 oarsmen
each.] The first shots were fired
to the left and the right of the brig
and this seemingly endless barrage
of tens of shots continued. Then
finally the barbarian ship weighed
anchor and spread all her sails.’
Map data ©2017 Google
‘There was an onshore breeze from
the south and it was difficult for
them to sail out to sea. Instead,
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57 © Nicholas Russell 2017
ignoring the hail of cannon and
musketoon balls, they sailed
between [the two samurai firing
positions] Ni no Saki on Tebajima
Island and Shima no Hira Headland
to the west of Mugi. At about this
time the feudal overseer realized it
was a British ship and became
extremely angry. They ordered fire
to be directed at the waterline in the
red copper sheathed area. Two
cannonballs hit and shook the ship
badly. The barbarians were
standing and yelling. There
appeared to be about fourteen of
them. They headed west toward
Asakawa Harbour. Commander
Yamauchi from his boat orders his
patrol boat gunners to concentrate
their fire on the rudder area at the
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58 © Nicholas Russell 2017
stern on the starboard side of the
ship. One of Nishizawa’s three-
quarter-pound cannonballs reduced
a two-foot square area of the sturdy
hull to splinters and ricocheted off
to port. One or two of brig’s crew
appeared to have been killed or
injured as they were laying on the
deck. The others turned towards
Commander Yamauchi’s boat, all
removed their hats and appeared to
be praying. Out on the water the
samurai heard random cries of
“Roubin! Roubin! Rou!”
[Pronounced like ‘rue’ and ‘bin’ and
possibly they heard “Row men!
Row men! Row!”]. The barbarians
all showed themselves blowing into
cupped hands. They were gesturing
that the wind was no good.
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59 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Commander Yamauchi asked when
the wind might change. His
boatmen responded that after
sundown a wind would blow up
from Asakawa but it would not
reach them there. Later, however,
just off Mugi Cove there would be
an offshore breeze. Commander
Yamauchi was good enough to
share this knowledge with the
barbarians through gestures and
they swiftly turned the brig across
the wind. Unlike our large ships, the
barbarian ship turned tightly and it
could not, in fact, sail directly into
the wind as we had thought; it could
only sail across the wind. The
barbarian ship was now surrounded
by our small boats, including both
of our commanders. Our guns were
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60 © Nicholas Russell 2017
at the ready to blow them to bits. If
they grab the ropes to go over the
side or put up a fight, we were ready
to shoot. A foul stench was coming
from the ship. The Musketeer
Nishizawa threatened them by
shouldering his big gun. The
barbarians looked worried, cried
out and trembled with fear. Some of
them even pointed to their sides and
fell down praying. We took this to
mean that one of Nishizawa’s
musketoon balls had reached its
mark and taken a life.’
‘The crew were bailing water from
the hole made by Ikenouchi’s shot.
One man reported seeing a
cannonball hole where water was
going in every time the ship moved
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61 © Nicholas Russell 2017
and another man reported seeing
water coming out as well. Not
before long, as the barbarian ship
was moving back to Shima no Hira
and as dusk fell a strange beguiling
pipe and singing could be heard.
The sound was like that of a child’s
pennywhistle; nothing like a real
flute. It was eerie.’ ‘Finally, the
offshore breeze arrived from the
mountains behind Mugi and carried
the barbarian ship off, back out to
sea.’
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62 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Conclusions
Having translated part of An
Illustrated Account of the Arrival of
a Foreign Ship and A Foreign Ship
Drifts in Off Mugi Cove
manuscripts and researched the
Cyprus mutiny, I believe they are
one and the same ship. The time
lines, the description of the ship, the
order of key events in both accounts,
the ‘large ball’, the hole ‘betwixt
wind and water’, the swallows
stitched on the red coat’s cuffs all
seem to point to this. The five
coattails and decoration on the cuffs
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do not appear to be military so the
coat is something that was made
from scratch or modified from one
of the uniforms on board. In his
petition for clemency to Robert
Peel, Swallow reports that he was
employed as a sailmaker so he had
the needlework skills to craft and
embroider his own ‘red coat’. He
also states that there was no loose
gunpowder but ‘250 rounds of
cartridges’ which was the type that
was offered to the samurai who
dropped the bell. From a return of
the stores shipped aboard the
Cyprus we know that red paint
needed to change the colour of the
yellow streak along the side of the
ship was also on board.
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64 © Nicholas Russell 2017
The most notable thing about the
boomerang shaped object is that
neither its material nor its size are
noteworthy to the samurai while the
two other objects seen in the same
encounter are both described in
these terms. To me, this implies a
material that was ordinary to the
samurai i.e. wood and a size that
was not exceptional. Boomerangs
are not indigenous to Tasmania
however a south east Australian
coastal boomerang would fit the
limited information we have and
could have been brought to Van
Diemen’s Land. Of everyone on
board Dr. Williams, the ship’s
doctor seems the most likely
candidate as its owner and while the
Williams family archive has no
Pirates and Samurai
65 © Nicholas Russell 2017
record of such an object, John
Williams, the doctor’s great
grandson stated in emails to me,
‘my great grandfather would have
treasured a boomerang if by some
means he had acquired one’ and
‘one could imagine that when he
began his medical career in VDL
some patients may have paid in
goods rather than cash.’ giving us
one possible route onto the ship. All
or some of the men and officer of
the 63rd West Suffolk had almost
certainly stopped off in south east
coastal Australia, en route for Van
Diemen’s Land; giving us another
possible way for a boomerang to be
on board.
I do not believe anyone was killed
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66 © Nicholas Russell 2017
or injured by Japanese fire because
Swallow did not mention it in his
testimony while readily admitting
to losing a man in the storm off
New Zealand. I think the crew were
low on supplies but not in as dire a
condition as they claimed; they
were nourished and hydrated
enough to drink alcohol, go
swimming and work repairing the
ship. The foul smells were probably
due to the tar that was being used to
paint the boat. The Japanese
gunners did not fire at the crew: if
they had, the crew would not have
been able to stand up and signal the
lack of offshore wind. In my
opinion, the discipline of the
samurai musketeers and the fact
that the crew of the foreign ship did
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67 © Nicholas Russell 2017
not return fire helped avoid a more
unfortunate outcome. I think that
Swallows true motive for
repeatedly trying to land, trade,
communicate and moor off shore
despite coming under warning fire
a number of times, was to escape to
Japan, the one place within the
range of the ship, which had limited
capacity for storing water, that the
British authorities would never
catch them. It could be argued that
the samurai opened fire on the ship
due to a misunderstanding of her
capabilities. The samurai thought
Western ships could sail directly
into the wind, but of course they
could not, and he was angered when,
despite warning shots, she sailed
along the coast rather than out to
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sea directly into the onshore breeze.
It is worth noting the parallels
between our pirate and samurai
chroniclers: both were in a situation
where a possible outcome was a
death sentence for themselves or
those around them, and were
literate and savvy enough to realize
they needed to exaggerate the end
of their accounts to appease those
who would be judging them.
Georgian England and Edo Japan
were harsh and both Captain
Swallow and Commander
Yamauchi did what they had to in
difficult situations and thanks to the
account by Hamaguchi we get a fly-
on-the-wall view of the samurai’s
discussions, and an amazing
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69 © Nicholas Russell 2017
description of the ship, her crew,
their interaction and the
engagement that followed.
The British lead in naval power was
at its peak a few years before during
the Napoleonic Wars and the
Cypress was almost certainly much
more technologically advanced
than anything Hamaguchi had ever
seen. Japan was said to be ‘closed’
to the outsiders to prevent
destabilizing foreign influences like
Christianity. For the same reasons,
the Shogunate had equally strict
penalties for Japanese people who
travelled abroad and hence
technology innovation for long
distance sea travel was discouraged.
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70 © Nicholas Russell 2017
In Japan, the Cyprus has become
known as ‘the Kipurosu’ from the
Japanese pronunciation of the name
of the island of Cyprus which
comes from the local pronunciation.
How strong an association the name
had with the island in the minds of
those who sailed on her is debatable,
and undoubtedly, they used the
same standard English
pronunciation that we use today.
However, the etymologies of both
names have a strong association
with the word copper in which the
Cyprus’s lower hull was sheathed
and perhaps this was the reasoning
behind her name. From only one
ship registered in 1777, by 1816
some 18% of the British merchant
fleet were copper bottomed. Due to
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71 © Nicholas Russell 2017
the speed and quality of these
vessels they received favourable
insurance terms from Lloyds and
the expression ‘copper bottomed’ is
still used in English today to
describe a venture, plan or
investment that is considered safe.
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72 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Primary Sources
An Illustrated Account of the
Arrival of a Foreign Ship: 1830
Hamaguchi Gyoboku
A Foreign Ship Drifts in Off Mugi
Cove: 1830 Hirota Kanzaemon
The Times, 14 September 1830
The Times, 18 October 1830
HO17:59 (Kp18) Criminal
Petitions, includes that of William
Swallow to Robert Peel (filed under
1831)
Principle Sources
The Man Who Stole the Cyprus:
2008 Hirst
Contrary Winds: 2012 John
Williams
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73 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Other Sources
The Voyage of the Cyprus
Mutineers: 2008 Sissons, The
Journal of Pacific History
Closing the Hell’s Gates: 2008
Maxwell-Stewart
Japanese and Western Calendar
Month and Date Tables: 1978
Noshima
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74 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Hamaguchi Gyoboku
and Hirota Kanzaemon; the
Tokushima Prefectural Archive
especially the Chief Curator
Tokuno Takashi and Assistant
Curator Kinbara Hiroki; the
Tokushima Old Manuscript
Reading Group especially Tani
Keiko; the Mugi Board of
Education especially Deputy
Section Manager Kawabe Yoji and
Chief Sato Shunsuke; Warwick
Hirst of the State Library of New
South Wales; Professor Hamish
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75 © Nicholas Russell 2017
Maxwell-Stewart of the University
of Tasmania; Dr. Stephen Gapps of
the Australian National Maritime
Museum; Professor Fujikawa
Takao of Osaka University’s
School of Letters; Dr. Machida
Tetsu of the Naruto University of
Education; John Williams the great
grandson of the Cyprus’s doctor;
Mugi Old Manuscript Reading
Group especially Tomida Takeshi;
the volunteer translators of Prevail
School of English especially
Shimoda Shigeyuki, Tobe Fumiko
and Wendy Tsune; and Luke Hunter,
Steven Breyak and Professor Chis
Maxwell for all their help,
encouragement and cooperation in
the preparation of this article.
As Hokusai once said, “If heaven
Pirates and Samurai
76 © Nicholas Russell 2017
had granted me five more years, I
could have become a real painter.”
While we do not compare ourselves
to such a master, we understand his
dilemma: If heaven had granted us
five more years, we could have
given you a real translation.
However, our desire to share
Hamaguchi’s incredible work with
you as soon as possible weighed
against perfectionism and this is our
imperfect result. If you delve
further and notice any mistakes
please feel free to contact me and
contribute to what will be process
of periodic polishing as we strive
for less-imperfect imperfection.
This translation of the Mugi
Manuscripts is not complete: some
sections have been cherrypicked,
Pirates and Samurai
77 © Nicholas Russell 2017
others summarized and others cut.
However, unlike most translations,
to achieve maximum fidelity it has
undergone a double check process
in which the translation into
English was then translated back
into Japanese and compared to the
original manuscripts by archivists
and experts.
To access the latest version of
Pirates and Samurai and other
resources for study,
http://piratesandsamurai.com/
To access just translations of the
Mugi manuscripts and other
reference material for research,
http://mugimanuscripts.com/
Pirates and Samurai
78 © Nicholas Russell 2017
While all the historical facts have
been reviewed by the relevant
experts, the conclusions drawn here
are my personal views and not
necessarily those shared by
contributors. This work is
copyrighted not for profit but to
maintain its integrity when
reproduced. Any nonprofit request
for unadulterated complete or
partial use will be granted. Any
income from for-profit use will
used to help maintain the legacy of
the foreign ship that once moored
off Mugi Cove. All images are
subject to their original owner’s
copyright.