, _Vuoki_, _Taquixima_, or
_Takishima_, and _Firando_[362]. Fernan Mendez Pinto in his travels
assumes the merit of this discovery to himself; pretending that he came
to the island of _Tanixima_, by which I suppose he meant _Taquixima_,
not by stress of weather, but by design, in the service of a pirate who
had relieved him and his companions when cast away, naming Christopher
Borallo and Diego Zeymoto as those who accompanied him. In both
relations _three_ names are mentioned as the discoverers of Japan, one
only, _Zeymoto_, being the same in both, and both agree in the date of
the discovery being in 1542. According to Pinto, the prince of the
island of _Tanixima_ was named _Nautaquim_ who stood amazed on seeing
the three Portuguese strangers, and uttered the following mysterious
words: "These are certainly the _Chinchicogies_, spoken of in our
records; who, flying over the waters, shall come to be lords of the
lands where God has placed the greatest riches of the world. It will be
fortunate for us if they come as friends!"

[Footnote 360: More rigidly from lat. 31 deg. 28' to 40 deg. 80' N. and between
the longitudes of 127 deg. 47' and 142 deg. 33' E. from Greenwich.--E.]

[Footnote 361: Meaning probably a different denomination of measure. The
island of Niphon measures 824 English miles in extreme length, from S.W.
to N.E. in a somewhat bent line. Its breadth varies from 55 to 240
miles, averaging about 100; but it is extremely irregular, owing to many
deep bays and considerable peninsulae. _Jedo_ is now the capital and
residence of the temporal sovereign, _Meaco_ of the once spiritual
sovereign, now reduced to chief priest of the national religion.--E.]

[Footnote 362: The only islands of magnitude besides Niphon, are
_Kiusiu_, which does not appear to have any representative in the text,
and _Sicocf_, probably the _Cikoko_ of De Faria. The other numerous
islands are of little importance, and several of the names in the text
cannot be referred to any of the islands. _Firando_ and _Taquixima_
remain unchanged, and the others cannot be traced.--E.]

The first action of the new governor De Sousa was to diminish the pay of
the soldiers. The saving of charges is a great means of gaining the
favour of princes; _yet ministers never express their zeal by
retrenching their own large allowances_, but by cutting off the small
ones from the poor; and, as was natural, this alteration occasioned much
discontent among the troo