I N 1 8 7 1 , a Japanese merchant named Ito Hachibei and a Western firm, Walsh, Hall & Co., embarked upon a partnership. In the course of their business relationship, significant sums of money, well over a million dollars, changed hands. In one transaction, Ito used $500,000 Mexican dollars of Walsh, Hall & Co.'s money. When Ito returned the sum to the Western firm, the Japanese merchant and his escorts took a wagon load of 380,000400,000 niboo gold coins r.,zichibukin) to Walsh, Hall & Co.'s godown. This sum of money was handed over to the Western merchant with little ceremony. Later, one of the assisting Japanese merchants stated: 'I did not get a receipt for the money. It was raining, and there was considerable confusion at the moment, and as we were continually doing business with [them] the idea of a receipt never came into our minds.'2