Year: 1878

4
the Yokohama branch ofone ofour great
Indian banks. At the time of which l
am writing, the natives of Japan had not
entirely lost that simplicity which made
them pay so dearly for the civilization
they now strut about in. The character
of the lower classes had not yet been
altered by innovating and reform, and
the commercial relations between the
sons of Niphon and the traders of the
West resembled very much those of
which Mr. Diedrich Knickerbocker des-
cribes as existing between the Dutch
traders and the aboriginal Americans
under the happy reign of Van Twiller.
Difficulties arose occasionally; for John
Bull, wherever he has planted his foot,
has shown himself generally to be a bit
of a bully; and the japanese, high
spirited and warlike race, occasionally
resented attempts at bullying by drawing
their swords in remote, unfrequented
places on solitary, defenceless foreigners;
the result of which was that Her Brit
tanic Majesty's charge d afaires, with
very plausible grounds of excuse, gener
allyextorteda pretty round sum from the
native government, and by thus appeal
ing to the TOUGHEST point of the Japanese
their purses procured for certain
interval tranquility and peace. How
ever. the Japanese soon saw that the
Western barbarians really meant nothing
worse than trade and barter, so they
dropped their price and their sword and
descended to the arena of equal terms.


Trade was then good; there was less
rivalry against bankers and merchants
than at present, the greed for gain had
not yet turned the hearts of the natives,
tea and silk paid well, and our half yearly
balance sheets generally showed well on
the right side. We had plenty of work
to do, but we also had plenty of leisure,
and at most times one of our staff could
leave his duties for few days rambIe
to the country, or yachting expedition
down the bay For the information of
those unacquainted with the office ar
rangements of the far East, it may be
stated that all offices are divided into
two distinct sections-the European and
Asiatic. In the European department
are the manager or principal, the juniors,
and the Portuguese clerks. All the head
and book work is done here; there is no
paying coin over the counter, or, in fact,
any contact with the outer world beyond
the mere inspection of drafts and
cheques handed for payment. In the
Asiatic section are the comprador, a
Chinaman, generally speaking, the petty
king Of the whole establishment the
''shroffs," also Cinnamon, who are the
actual receiving and paying cashiers,and
who have absolute charge cf the counter
business, subject, ofcourse, to subsequent
checking by the Europeans and the jap
anese coolies. At our bank European
always superintended the weighing of
all dollars received during the day at the
termination of business hours, saw them
packed, and locked up in the treasury.
Beyond this there was little interference
with the hard money arrangements on
the part of the Europeans; and hence
the comprador and schrofE were chosen,
not only for their intimate knowledge of
all the ins and outs of exchange, and of
the thousand and one lodges of the ma
tives, but for their good birth, education,
and respectability.


The tea season was we'll advanced and
we were fairly busy; the weather was
oppressively hot in our dusty settlement,
so the European junior had a fortnight's
leave for a ramble up the country. Las
accountant, did his work as well as my
own, and amongst the extra duties which
devolved on me was the weighing of the
dollars every evening, and seeing them
safely locked up in the treasury. As
went into the Office one morning, the
comprador met me at the door ,grinning,
all over with excitement, and pointed to
a paragraph in the daily paper, which
announced that one of the great native
banks in Curio Street had been robbed
of some five thousand pounds worth of
gold coin, and that no trace had yet been
found either of the robbers or their
booty, remarked: Il think that belong
number one clever robbery. S'pose we
no can keep sharp lookout ale same
happen to U.s." So thought, and gave
orders that the "momban" or night-gate
guard should be doubled, that the treas.
ury locks should be seen to, and that
every precaution should be taken to
guard against nocturnal visits.


One evening, some weeks after this.
when autumn had fairly arrived and the
days began to draw in, the comprador
told me as we were putting the dollars
into the treasury had got the notion
into my head that would see them in
every night myself, Notwithstanding
that my junior had long since returned
that some Japanese of high birth and