1636: Seas of Fortune (58 page)

Morro Bay

Yoshimichi crossed his arms. “All right, Danzaemon, you got my attention.”

“Would you like some shells, Inawashiro-sama?”

“Don’t trifle with me. I am not that idiot Benzo. The drill bit was made of jade. Is there jade in Chumash territory?”

“Not as far as I know. The fellow I got the drill from, he said that he got in trade from the Tsetacol. That’s the next little tribe north of here, along the coast, around the place marked as Cambria on our map. My village sometimes trades with them, sometimes fights with them. I can find you someone who has been there before.

“Now, I hope that in view of the value of this information I have provided, that you will reconsider our request for more gunpowder . . .”

North Along the Coast

Inawashiro Yoshimichi and his six samurai worked their way north by sea, in the large fishing boat that had brought them to Morro Bay. They were accompanied by one of the Chumash, who had shown much curiosity about their vessel. His name, if they could trust their translator, was Keeps-Canoe-Off-Rocks. It sounded like a good omen, if nothing else.

The Indians of Tsetacol greeted them. More precisely, they greeted the Japanese warmly, and Keeps-Canoe-Off-Rocks and their Ohlone translator with considerably more reserve.

As Yoshimichi walked through the village, it was apparent that he was among a different group of Indians. For one thing, their huts were rectangular, while those of the Chumash were round. For another, when one of the samurai spotted a condor and aimed his bow at it, the Tsetacol tribesmen became extremely agitated, enough so that Yoshimichi ordered the bowman to stand down. Yet, in the Chumash village at Morro Bay, Yoshimichi had seen a condor sacrificed by a shaman. A twentieth-century anthropologist would have labeled the Tsetacol as Salinan.

Keeps-Canoe-Off-Rocks spoke some Salinan, which would have been more useful if Yoshimichi’s translator knew more Chumash. However, Yoshimichi felt fairly confident that the Tsetacol didn’t have any more jade, and that they got it by trading with villages farther north.

* * *

Beyond the Tsetacol were the Chaal, who lived between Cambria and San Simeon. When the Japanese boat approached the shore, the Chaal shot at them. The samurai were eager to shoot back, but Yoshimichi ordered them to hold their fire. A second and then a third volley of arrows came their way, and one struck a crewman.

“Return fire,” Yoshimichi ordered. The samurai were happy to oblige him.

They heard an Indian cry out, and Yoshimichi ordered “Desist!” His immediate purpose wasn’t to massacre the Indians, just to make sure they didn’t think the Japanese were patsies.

They tried to make contact again the next day. This time, they landed unopposed. However, when they cautiously ventured inland, they found that the Chaal had hastily abandoned their fishing camp. Clearly, if the Chaal had jade, Yoshimichi wasn’t going to find it this time around.

He decided that pursuing the Chaal with so small a force was a really bad idea, and the Japanese returned to their boat.

A turn of the weather brought fog to the coast, and they had to give a wide berth to Ragged Point, which lay a few miles north of San Simeon.

Not far north of Ragged Point, the terrain changed. The Santa Lucia Range marched beside the sea. There was mile after mile of sea cliffs, against which the waves beat furiously.

They would have to wait for better weather to make landings here, even if they were lucky enough to find a sandy cove.

Yoshimichi reluctantly gave the order to sail to Maruya. Perhaps First-to-Dance, who had been off on a mission to the Ixchenta when he had gotten Danzaemon’s message, could provide some guidance. Jade didn’t have the mystique in Japan that it had in China, but it was still valuable.

* * *

“I think this is made of the same material as your drill bit.” First-to-Dance handed over a green stone.

Yoshimichi pulled out a knife, and tried to scratch it. The knife had no effect; a good thing, since jade is harder than steel.

“Well, is it jade, Yoshimichi-san?” she demanded.

“Come outside with me.” He studied it in the harsh light of the afternoon sun, tilting it this way and that. “It is like the ocean, it has translucency, depth. I would swear that it is jade. Where did you find it?”

“One of the Ixchenta had it. They call this a warming stone; it is placed in the campfire, to heat it up, and then it’s carried along when you must go somewhere that’s cold.”

“Is it found on Ixchenta land?”

“I don’t think so. At least, this one came in trade from the Esselen. The Ixchenta say that the Esselen live on the cliffs of the coast to the south.”

“Great. I can go up and down this coast, year after year, until I am old and my teeth fall out. Unless you can show me on a map where the Esselen live.”

First-to-Dance wasn’t sure of the exact location—her tribe didn’t trade with the Esselen directly—but she thought it was the Big Sur country, somewhere between the mouth of the Carmel and the up-time town of Lucia. That narrowed the search area down a bit.

Yoshimichi swore. “All that time with the Tsetacol and the Chaal wasted.”

“I am sorry to add to your troubles, but you need to know about the Esselen. They are very shy, they are hard to find, and their language is difficult to learn.”

Yoshimichi swore again.

* * *

With some trepidation, Yoshimichi reported to Shigetsuna. The latter, fortunately for Yoshimichi, was willing to be philosophical about it: “If there’s a jade drill bit among the Chumash, and a jade warming stone among the Ixchenta, there’s certainly more jade in the Big Sur country, waiting for us to find it.”

When he in turn, reported to Date Masamune, they agreed that the best strategy was to show the finds to the commissioners and to be cautiously optimistic about the chances of finding the source.

“Emphasize that finding the jade without Indian assistance would be like trying to find a needle at the bottom of a lake,” said Masamune. “And that we have already invested two years in gaining the trust of the local Indians, and if we are persistent they will eventually lead us to the jade. Do not volunteer that our local Indians are of the wrong tribe.”

Fall 1636,

Kodachi Machi, Santa Cruz

“My lord, a messenger has come from the pilot-major of the Third Fleet, informing us that the lord commissioners will disembark as soon as appropriate preparations are in place to receive them.”

Date Masamune raised his head. “Yes, yes, we will—what was that phrase the Dutch told us?”

“Roll out the red carpet,” said Shigetsuna. Coincidentally, red was an auspicious color in Japan, associated with protection against the demons of disease.

“Did the message inform us of the names of the lord commissioners?”

“Yes. The good news is, one’s a Sakai.” In other words, a relation of Sakai Tadakatsu, the senior councillor who had persuaded Iemitsu to issue the New Nippon Edict. “Sakai Tadayoshi, to be specific. I don’t know him personally, however.

“Then there’s a Hotta.” Shigetsuna made a face. Hotta Masamori was a leader of the anti-Christian faction. It was a foregone conclusion that
any
Lord Hotta was here to do mischief.

“Last but definitely not least, there’s Matsudaira Nobotsuna.” The first Tokugawa shogun had formerly been known as Matsudaira Motoyasu. The shogun’s heir received the surname Tokugawa; all of his other sons took Matsudaira. Unlike the other two men, Nobotsuna was himself a senior councillor. Masamune recalled hearing the Dutch speak warmly about him. But even if he weren’t hostile to Christians, he could be expected to be wary of the possibility that New Nippon could be a springboard for a challenge to the supremacy of the Tokugawa clan. In other words, while Masamune needed to impress Lord Sakai with the potential of California, he couldn’t afford to be too persuasive. At least not in Matsudaira’s hearing.

The Tokugawa were great believers in hammering down nails that stuck out too much.

* * *

Shigetsuna took the distinguished visitors to the shores of the Monterey Bay. Shigetsuna pointed out a particular stretch of water; there, several dozen sea otters floated on their backs, holding paws so they didn’t drift apart.

Japan had started exporting sea otter fur to China back in 1483. The sea otters didn’t live in Japanese waters; the Matsumae clan bought the skins from the Ainu of Ezochi (Hokkaido), to the north of Japan. Most of the skins came from still farther north, from the Ainu of the Kuril Islands.

“So many,” said Lord Sakai.

Shigetsuna shook his head. “I have seen a ‘raft’ of two hundred of the beasts.”

“I am surprised that you haven’t killed them off already.”

“We limit our hunting in this area, for the sake of good relations with the natives. We have wooden boats, and can go further afield, they can’t.”

“What do they use?”

“It’s like the tub boats of Sado Island, but made from tule reeds. It can only be paddled with the current.”

“Why haven’t you shipped these furs back home?”

Shigetsuna looked at him with amazement. “We have! A shipment went home with the Second Fleet.”

“Hmm. My clerk reviewed the manifests from all the ships of the Second Fleet. He said nothing about furs.”

“It would no doubt be interesting to compare our copies with those your clerk saw.”

Lord Sakai nodded. They both knew that the customs inspectors in Nagasaki could be persuaded to ignore errors or omissions in manifests, for a suitable inducement. “Have your man Takuma speak to mine.”

The show-and-tell continued. “Now, here we have a treat for you,” said Shigetsuna. He pointed out a small fishing boat, with one man on board. “Watch!”

Perhaps a minute later, the fisherman picked up a long bamboo pole and thrust it into water. A young woman, wearing just a loincloth, climbed up this impromptu ladder and pulled herself into the boat.

“Watching her is indeed a treat,” said Lord Sakai with a smirk, shading his eyes so he could see her better.

“I had a different treat in mind. Can you make out what she is carrying?”

“Why—abalone!” Abalone was a luxury food in Tokugawa Japan. Only a few privileged daimyo could buy fresh abalone.

“Do you have anyone who knows how to make
hoshi-awabe
?” Lord Sakai asked eagerly.

That was dried abalone, which was exported to China.

“We do.” He and Lord Matsudaira exchanged looks. Lord Hotta contrived to look bored.

The party rode next to see the “Fathers of Trees,” as Shigetsuna called them: the great redwoods.

“They are most impressive,” said Lord Matsudaira.

“Lord Date comes here, when his work permits, to meditate. He values the shade of a big tree.”

Lord Matsudaira raised an eyebrow. Taking shelter in the shade of a big tree was proverbial, it meant to attach one’s self to a great house. The implication was that Date Masamune was so attached, and the implication was that he served the Tokugawa.

“Furs, and shellfish, and wood are all very well, but where’s the famous gold of California?” said Lord Hotta, lip curled.

Shigetsuna sighed. “In another few years, when our numbers and resources are greater, we will be ready to make another attempt on the gold fields.”

“No need,” said Lord Matsudaira, “other arrangements have been made.”

“Arrangements?”

“Yes. It seems that our Dutch friends have suffered setbacks lately. The barbarians of France, England and Spain have leagued against them, and destroyed much of their fleet.” This had happened in August 1633, but it took quite a few months for the news to reach East Asia. “Early this year, they petitioned the shogun for permission to found a settlement of their own in California. And to look for gold. Since your son-in-law was unsuccessful, the shogun thought that they should be given the opportunity.”

“And where is this settlement of theirs going to be?”

“It is in the place that the up-timers call San Francisco. Their colony ship accompanied the Third Fleet across the Pacific, much as Lord Tadateru’s did your own. My consolations to his widow, by the way.”

It was, of course, almost exactly the situation that Date Masamune had been trying to avoid: the Dutch deciding who could sail into San Francisco Bay. His only consolation was that since Iroha and her samurai had opened the overland route from Monterey to the South Bay, he could leapfrog the Dutch and send colonists to occupy the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta. Not just to control access to the gold fields, but also because his advisors thought that it might be possible to grow rice there.

“Of course, the grand governor will be responsible for making sure that they account to the shogun for his share of any gold they collect.”

* * *

Lord Hotta and Councillor Shigetsuna stood in a high place, watching the moon set. When it at last vanished from sight, Lord Hotta spoke. “I will be very blunt, Councillor Shigetsuna. If it were up to me, the
kirishitan
would not have been allowed to found a colony at all. They believe that the obligation to obey this Jesu of theirs is higher than the one they owe to the grand governor, and through him to the shogun. They believe, I warn you, that since the grand governor is not a Christian, that they can pick a new ruler who is . . . like the king of Spain.”

Shigetsuna spread his hands. “The grand governor has addressed this problem already, Lord Hotta. His son Munesane has been baptized, as ‘David Date,’ and thus is a Christian ruler, as much as the king of Spain.”

“Your lord is clever. Perhaps too clever for his own good. Some of the
kirishitan
will see this as a subterfuge, at least so long as Date Masamune remains in California. They will deem the son to be merely a figurehead, and the father to be the true ruler. Does Date Masamune intend to convert?”

“No, he does not. But the reality is that he is old, and once he dies, David Date’s position as a true Christian ruler will be indisputable.”

“The other problem that I see, Councillor Shigetsuna, is that the province of New Nippon is very large. Larger, indeed than the homeland itself. To give so great a province into the rule of one person, old or young, seems . . . imprudent.”