rnor of
Tsushima, being without any means of defence, fled to the Dazai-fu in
Kyushu, and the inhabitants were left to the mercy of the invaders,
who then pushed on to the island of Iki. There the governor, Fujiwara
Masatada, made a desperate resistance, losing his own life in the
battle. It is said that of all the inhabitants, one only, a Buddhist
priest, escaped to tell the story.

Ten days after their first appearance off Tsushima, the Toi effected
a landing in Chikuzen and marched towards Hakata, plundering,
burning, massacring old folks and children, making prisoners of
adults, and slaughtering cattle and horses for food. It happened,
fortunately, that Takaiye, younger brother of Fujiwara Korechika, was
in command at the Dazai-fu, whither he had repaired partly out of
pique, partly to undergo treatment for eye disease at the hands of a
Chinese doctor. He met the crisis with the utmost coolness, and made
such skilful dispositions for defence that, after three days'
fighting, in which the Japanese lost heavily, Hakata remained
uncaptured.

High winds and rough seas now held the invaders at bay, and in that
interval the coast defences were repaired and garrisoned, and a fleet
of thirty-eight boats having been assembled, the Japanese assumed the
offensive, ultimately driving the Toi to put to sea. A final attempt
was made to effect a landing at Matsuura in the neighbouring province
of Hizen, but, after fierce fighting, the invaders had to withdraw
altogether. The whole affair had lasted sixteen days, and the
Japanese losses were 382 killed and 1280 taken prisoners. Two hundred
and eighty of the latter--60 men and 220 women--were subsequently
returned. They were brought over from Koma six months later by a Koma
envoy, Chong Cha-ryang, to whom the Court presented three hundred
pieces of gold.

Kyoto's attitude towards this incident was most instructive. When the
first tidings of the invasion reached the capital, the protection of
heaven was at once invoked by services at Ise and ten other shrines.
But when, on receipt of news that the danger had been averted, the
question of rewarding the victors came up for discussion, a majority
of the leading statesmen contended that, as the affair had been
settled before the arrival of an Imperial mandate at the Dazai-fu, no
official cognizance could be taken of it. This view was ultimately
overruled since the peril had been national, but the rewards
subsequently given were insi