Mr. Van Valkenburgh to Mr. Seward
No. 38.]
Legation of the United States,
Yedo,
August 17, 1867.
Sir : I send enclosed (No. 1) copy of a
communication received from D. L. Moore, esq., vice-consul at Nagasaki,
announcing the murder at that place, on the morning of the 14th of June,
of George Bunker, an American sailor from the bark Valetta. While at
Nagasaki I took occasion to make further personal examination into the
circumstances attending the murder, but was unable to learn more than is
set out in the enclosed papers.
The governor of Nagasaki promised me to use every exertion to discover
the assassin and bring him to punishment. I fear, however, their efforts
will be in vain.
While I was at Nagasaki two English sailors, from the Icarus, were
cruelly murdered in the native town by Japanese officers. They seem to
have been sleeping in the street, near the entrance of a tea-house, and
were killed about midnight, each with one cut of a sword across the
throat and chest. Their bodies were not discovered until morning. Every
effort is being made by the English and Japanese authorities to discover
the assassins.
My opinion is that all these murders are committed, not by residents of
Nagasaki, but by the retainers of Daimios residing in other provinces of
Japan, who frequently visit Nagasaki, commit their depredations, and
then return by water to their homes.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
Hon. William H. Seward
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Moore to Mr. Van Valkenburgh
No. 66.]
United States Consulate,
Nagasaki,
June 17, 1887.
Sir: I regret to have to inform you that on
the morning of the 14th instant, between 1 and 2 o’clock, an
American seaman was found murdered in one of the streets of the
foreign quarter at this port. He had received a severe cut across
the back of the neck, which, from its appearance, had been caused by
a Japanese sword. From the testimony taken at the inquest on the
body, it was found that he was a sailor from the American bark
Valetta, named George Bunker; that about 11 o’clock the night
before, he had left a public house in the settlement, saying he was
going on board his ship, but was found by some sailors from H. M. S.
Serpent, who were returning from the city about two hours
afterwards, lying in the street quite dead, though warm. They
procured assistance and carried him to the house of a British
subject near by. It also appears that a man answering to his
description was seen at one of the tea-houses in the city, according
to the statement of a Japanese woman, about 1 o’clock,, and that he
only remained a few moments. The man left the public house alone,
and, judging from the position in which the body was lying when
found, must have been cut down while returning from the city. I
enclose herewith copy of the doctor’s certificate and copy of the
verdict given at the inquest.
No motive can be assigned for the crime, nor has anything yet
transpired to give a clue to the perpetrator. The testimony shows
that he was sober when he left the public house.
I promptly placed the matter before the native authorities,
requesting them, without delay, to take the necessary steps for the
detection and punishment of the guilty party, and at an interview
with the governor to-day he expressed his profound regret at the
murder, and informed me that as soon as it was made known to him he
sent officers to the several public places in the native city, and
to the different villages in the vicinity, with instructions to be
vigilant in their endeavors to find the assassin, and that he would
do all in his power to find out and punish the murderer. It is known
among foreigners here that on the same night a Japanese woman was
severely wounded in the city, by a sword in the hands of a Yaconin.
The governor, when questioned about this, said he had not been
informed of it, but his interpreter told me it was true, though it
had not been reported officially.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
D. L. MOORE, United States
Vice-Consul.
General R. B. Van Valkenburgh,
United States Minister Resident in Japan,
Yedo.
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I certify that I have examined a corpse lying in an outhouse on
these premises, and find an incised wound extending from the
right ear across the back of the neck to the left ear. In the
course of the wound the soft parts are all clearly divided.
There is also a piece of the inferior portion of the occipital
bone sliced off, and the spinal cord divided between the first
and second conical vertebrae.
The wound is sufficient to cause instant
death, and appears to have been made by one cut from a heavy
sharp instrument.
JOS. J. LOWERBY, M. D.
True copy:
Verdict given at an inquest on the body of
George Bunker, held on the 14th day
of June, 1867, before D. L. Moore,
United States vice-consul at Nagasaki, acting as coroner,
and a jury, composed of Messrs. J. U. Smith, Robert G.
Walsh, and Captain Henry Brown.
From the testimony we find that deceased came to his death by a
wound inflicted on the back of the neck with a heavy sharp
instrument in the hands of some person to us unknown. And we are
further of opinion that a wound of this nature could be caused
only by such an instrument as a Japanese long sword.
D. L. MOORE, United States
Vice-Consul.
J. U. SMITH.
H. BROWN.
ROBERT G. WALSH.
June 15,
1867.
