c6o J A I’ A N.
to have been written in blood. Montefquieu obferves, that it is
to fupply the great defedt o f the religion o f the country, in its
ignorance of the dodlrine o f future rewards and puniihment.
and Punish- Almoft every crime is puniihed with death, and often attended
with the moil excruciating torments. Crucifixion is very common
; fometimes the malefactor is crucified erect, fometimes
with the head down. 1 have little doubt but that thefe puniih-
ments were unknown in the empire, till the propagation of
Chriilianity. The ideas were taken from the crucifixes o f
the Chriilians, and from the pidlures o f the buffering o f our
S A V I O R . The mode in which death was inflidted. on the
apoftle St. Peter, probably gave rife to that variation o f cruelty
in Japan.
T h e puniihment for gentlemen and ioldiers is ripping open
the belly. As a peculiar favor, they are fometimes. permitted to*
he their own executioners. The emperor fends his mandate;,
the perion whom he fo-favors,, receives it with the utmoft re—
fpedt; makes a great feaff, and on the conclufion. puts the imperial
order in execution, in the very prefence of his friends andi
family.
From the variety of feature and form of body in the Japanese’
o f the feveral provinces, it is evident they are defcended from
different races o f people, who have migrated^ or have been caff
on the coafts at various times. “ Thus,” fays Kaempfer,\. 95..
“ although the Japanefe in the main, particularly the common
“ people of Nipon, be o f a very ugly appearance, fhort-fized’,
“ ftrong, thick-legged, tawny, with flattilh nofes and thick eye-
“ lids (though the eyes Hand not fb deep in the forehead as in
§§•• “ ■ the
. J A P A N.
<c tRe Chinefe), yet the defcendants o f the eldefl and nobleft
“ families, of the princes and lords o f the empire, have fome-
“ what more majeftick in their ihape and1 countenance, being
“ more like the -Europeans. The inhabitants of the provinces
« Satzuma, Oojijma, and Fiuga, are o f a middle fize,. ftrong,
“ courageous, and manly, otherwife civil and polite. The fame
“ is obferved of the inhabitants of fome of the northern pro*
« vinGes in the great ifland Nipon, excepting thofe o f the great
« province Osju, who are faid to be beyond others cruel and unci.
merciful. J The inhabitants-of; fome provinces of Saikokf, par-
“ ticularly of Flfen,. are. ihort, {lender, but well-fhaped, o f a
« g o o d handfome appearance; and extremely polite.. The inha*
« bitants- o f the I great ifland Nipon, particularly of its eaftern
a provinces, are knowm from* others by their big heads, flat
« nofes, and-mufculous flefhy complexion.’.’
Kaempfer* relates, that- fome.- centuries pgeyPaR-Japanefe dif-
covered the ifland ,of Genkaifma, fituate to the- north o f Nipon,
and inhabited by Owi, or ¿lack devils; and that after extirpating
them, they peopled the ifle with a colony of their own. Thefe
blacks are defcribed in the; antient chronicles- o f Japan to -have
worn long hair fpread over, their Ihoulders,. and to have had
ftrange houfthold goods- and1, high-crowned hats. Kaempfer
juftly imagines-them to-have been- Malayes wrecked. on that
ifland; Thofe people are remarkable for wearing their hair o f a
great length ; and-as to the h-ats, they mofr.probably were Eu~
ropean, and among the articles imported into the Malaye iflands,
which in old times were brought over land to Ormuz, and from:
* Hlft. of Jgpati) a, 93,.
thence
a6i
I sl e of B l a c k s .