A JINRIKISHA JOURNEY. 187

to the shore, but the Japanese routed them; and they built earth-works
along the sands, to keep off the invaders.

_ “A Japanese officer, Michiari, was pleased to see this Chinese inva-
sion, as he had prayed for this very thing. Writing his prayers on
pieces of paper and then piously committing them to memory, he
finally set the paper-prayers on fire, as that is supposed to be a quick
way of getting a message to a god.’ The ashes he swallowed! That
process must have touched the heart of a wooden god, even.

“ Michiari now packed two boats with daring men, and off he went
to the Chinese fleet. His pigmy craft were despised by the Chinese,
for the Japanese were apparently unarmed.

“¢He is coming to surrender himself,’ said the Chinese concerning
the Japan leader.

“But the latter had no such idea. He threw out his grappling-
hooks, seized a junk, and then his band with keen swords attacked
and overpowered the crew. Burning the junk, they left for the
shore. The whole nation was fired by such heroism, and help came
from every quarter. All over the land, too, there was a going up
of prayers at the temples. The emperor wrote out a prayer and sent
it by a messenger to a temple, and the story runs that when the mes-
senger reached the shrine and presented the prayer, a bit of cloud
was seen that grew. into — what ?

“Into one of the cyclones, so well known in that part of the world ;
and it burst upon the Chinese fleet. How it raged—that awful
storm ! |

“Tt reminds one of the terrible gale destroying the Spanish Armada
off the English coast. In that Japanese cyclone, the Chinese junks
were swept helplessly upon the terrible shore-rocks, and many men
were drowned. The survivors reached Taka island, intending to
build boats there in which they could sail to Corea; but the Japanese