his master's pipe by his side, withdrew, after further prostrations, to prepare refreshments. Every Japanese carries a pipe-case and tobacco-pouch, hanging by a silken cord from a "netsuki," or carved ivory figure, tucked in the "obi," or waistbelt, and the whole paraphernalia, like everything else in common use among the Japanese, is a tasteful work of art. The tobacco is cut as fine as sewing cotton, and is very mild, while the pipe-bowl is a tiny metal thimble, hardly large enough to hold a good-sized pinch of snuff. After two or three puffs, discharged from the nostrils, the smoker taps out the ashes into a little bamboo cylinder, which always accompanies the tobacco-bon, and having refilled five or six times, puts his pipe back into the case. We had hardly learned. to smoke à la Japonais, when the manservant returned, accompanied by three girls, beautifully dressed, with smoothly banded hair shining like polished ebony, and naked feet peeping beneath their long robes. Kneeling when within a yard of us, they gently pushed towards each person a lacquered stand, or tray, carrying beautiful bowls of lacquered wood, beside which lay the chopsticks. On a separate tray stood bottles of saki of various brands, and a number of tiny China cups, in delicate silver stands, while a great bowl of water was placed near us on the floor. It was some minutes before we learned to manipulate the chopsticks, the girls meanwhile smiling frankly at our difficulties, as indeed they did at every mistake we made. The dinner occupied a very long time, and we smoked or strolled in the garden between some of the courses. These were served slowly, with many removals of the trays, and were not eaten in any given order. It is good manners to take a little of everything, but it is de rigueur to eat twice at least of rice. Here are the dishes. Fish soup, fish of many kinds, dressed in many ways, chestnuts, sweet potatoes, three kinds of seaweed, green ginger, prawns (as big as little lobsters), a gelatinous fishcake, pounded chicken, mushrooms, lily seeds, plums and rice. Saki, served hot, was handed as required, the man filling, while one of the girls held the little cup, not in her fingers, which would never do, but by the silver saucer. This was then gently pushed,

with deep obeisances, by the kneeling waitress along the floor, till within a foot of the guest, who was expected to take the cup leaving the stand. Although the service was extremely ceremonious, the relations between master and servant seemed quite friendly, and their intercourse politely familiar. As the dinner progressed, Okowa handed a cup of saki now to one attendant, now to another, who received it with beaming smiles and a profusion of prostrations, while they chatted with him at intervals, just as happy children do with grown-up people, laughing perpetually. The handing of the cup is a complimentary act, like our health-drinking, and a complicated etiquette governs this ceremony in company, but it is at all times indispensable that the person to whom a cup has been given should rince it in the bowl of water already mentioned before returning it to the convive who paid him the compliment of handing it. The smiling faces of the girls told us how far we fell short of ideal Japanese good behaviour at table, and certainly our long legs, sprawling uncomfortably in search of an easy position, and our awkward fingers, flirting morsels with the chopsticks, more by good luck than skill, into our mouths, gave them plenty of food for amusement.

In view of their gracious smiles, pretty manners, and ceremonious politeness, one would think that the Japanese are a very social people; but this is by no means the case. Their daily life is regular and monotonous, and there are no such things as dinners, evening parties, conversaziones, or balls. Family connections sometimes dine together, and young people are educated to play a graceful part in matters of the minutest detail on these occasions, but, beyond this, the Japanese never "entertain." entertain." A Japanese day begins about seven or eight o'clock in the morning, with a meal of rice and tea; a second similar meal, with fish added, is taken at midday; and a third about seven in the evening. The last is such as that which I have described, and is eaten, except among the masses, by ladies and gentlemen separately. While the day has been devoted to work, the evening passes in talk and story-telling, or the girls of the family take their "samisens," a

kind of tinkling lute, and sing. The people are great believers in ghosts and witchcraft, and the long evenings and dimly lighted rooms lend themselves well to the wildest stories of superstition. At nine o'clock comes the bath, when the family assemble, irrespective of sex, and stew together in water hot enough to cook a European; this lasts an hour, and at ten o'clock every one is in bed.

Society, in our sense of the word, does not exist in Japan; men meet frequently, but always to discuss affairs or arrange business, and visits of ceremony are paid at certain times, but that is all. No Japanese asks his friends to his home for the sake of social enjoyment, but if he wants to entertain them, goes to some tea-house, provides saki, musicians, dancers, or what not, and makes a riotous night of it. The position of woman whether as wife or maiden, though far superior to that of Orientals generally, is not high. A girl is taught to read and write, to play the samisen, dance, and behave with extreme politeness, and is free to go, whether to the temple, the shop, or the visit, alone; enjoying, in fact, in this respect all the liberty of Europe. But she remains the slave of her parents, who can dispose of her services absolutely, and sell her, if they so please, even into a shameful life, without the interference of law on her behalf. Marriage is an affair de convenance, arranged by the father without reference to the girl herself, and indeed woman in Japan attains to no dignity until she has become mother and manager. Even then she plays a part very inferior to that of the man, being quite ignorant of her husband's affairs, and never, as with us, a centre around which the family groups itself, but a toy during youth, and an upper servant in middle age.

CHAPTER IV.

ENOSHIMA-KAMAKURA-DAIBUTZ.

October 15-17.

October 15.-We left Yokohama, accompanied by our Japanese friend, to visit the island of Enoshima, famous for its beauty, and with the intention of seeing Kamakura, the ancient capital of the Shoguns, and Daibutz, the colossal bronze image of Buddha, on our way back to the settlement. As our route lay for some twenty miles along the Tokaido, the great highway of Japan, we hired a carriage and pair, in preference to taking the long ride cramped in jinrickishas; and found ourselves provided with a buggy, evidently of American origin, but now dying of old age, and a pair of ragged China ponies, piloted, I cannot say driven, by a Japanese coachman. The trap looked good for another twenty miles, and the horses had apparently been fed within a few days, so we made the venture, encouraged by the triumphant confidence of the driver in himself and the outfit. The buggy belied its appearance of senility at starting, our Jehu carrying away a whole row of scaffold poles in the first street we turned, and this without damage to the trap. As the sticks fell-behind us, fortunately-we glanced at our man, who sat smiling, evidently proud of his work, a picture of self-satisfaction. After this we gave ourselves no more concern, feeling that we were in the hands of Providence, and having no legal responsibility for damages.

Following Okowa's counsel, we launched upon this, our first expedition, without any of the preparations usually made by Europeans when travelling in Japan. We had made up our minds to eat, drink, and sleep like the natives, and took neither cook, canned meats, wine, nor bedding with us. We had indeed found the dinner at Mr. Okowa's house very palatable, and our

friend assured us that, with him as caterer, should fare no worse in the tea-houses; so we started, prepared to obey the Japanese proverb-one of the many identical with our own-and "enter a village ready to follow its customs."

The villages touch one another along the Tokaido, and, saving their poorer appearance, the houses are just like those of Yokohama. A Japanese house is only a shelter, whether its roof covers the emperor or a coolie. A few poles, a straw covering, a raised floor, and some paper slides satisfy the wants of all classes. The dwelling is a tent rather than a home, having none of the privacy, as it has none of the cherished joys, of the family hearth, such as we know it in Europe. Great fires visit these temporary towns at intervals, sweeping away miles of their flimsy buildings, but even such calamities are powerless against the instincts of a people, descendants of a nomadic race, and hereditary camp

builders.

Japan is a paradise for children, where they swarm in numbers which appear quite phenomenal to travellers fresh from childless America. Though petted by every one, and inordinately indulged by their mothers, who appear devoted to them, they are neither exigeant nor quarrelsome. A stranger has ample opportunity to form an opinior. on this point, for they live out of doors, and from the tenderest age wander at their own sweet will about the streets, playing games, flying kites, or sucking sweeties; while every footpassenger and horseman is as careful of their safety as if they were his own. The last comer is carried on the mother's back, but older members of the family have no sooner learnt to walk than they are taught to carry their younger brothers and sisters in the same manner. The wide sash which every child wears serves to secure the living burden to the young back, but the bearer's arms are free, and it is a comical sight to see youngsters of seven or eight, playing with all the energy and activity of youth, darting hither and thither, jumping and shouting, apparently quite unconscious of the baby tossing behind them. Children are suckled for a very long time in Japan, and it is a common thing to see