fears were perfectly groundless. At an appointed time the priests appeared in their robes of office, the saki which remained unconsumed was put away, the countenances of the congregation changed from gay to grave-some of them, it is true, were a little more ruddy than before-and the religious services again commenced. The officiating priest led off, and was followed by his little congregation; and the "Nam-nam-nam-ing," and tinkling of bells and cymbals, were kept up for about another hour. At the end of this time the people left the temple, and returned quietly to their homes.

CHAPTER XIV.

Journey into the country - Fine views by the way - Town of Kanasawa - Our inn - Visit to a temple- The visitors' book - Crowds in front of the inn- Their manners and customs -- Japanese bedrooms Natural productions Uncultivated land- Remarks on the extent of population in Japan - Fine views-Kamakura the aucient capital - An insane woman - Her extraordinary conduct -Our inn at Kamakura - Large bronze image its interior — Crowds and their behaviour - A tiffin and a siesta temples of Kamakura - The sacred stone Yuritomo's tomb- A page from Japanese history Return to Kanagawa.

Visit to the

A FEW miles south from Yokuhama there is a pretty town named Kanasawa, and a little farther on is Kamakura, said to be the ancient capital of Japan. I had frequently heard of the beauty of these places, and more particularly of the scenery by which they were surrounded; and I therefore determined to visit them, and set out for this purpose on the 4th of July. On this occasion I was accompanied by Dr. Dickson from China, and Messrs. Ross and Hope, merchants in Yokuhama. The first part of our road led us up through a beautiful valley, with richly-wooded hills dipping into it on either side, and giving it a pleasing and irregular outline. On the edges of this valley there were many cottages and farm-houses, and now and then we passed pretty glens which led up amongst the

background of hills. Our road gradually ascended to a higher elevation; and when the highest point on the top of the hills was gained, we obtained a glorious view of scenery which reminded me of some of the prettiest spots in the Himalayas. We then continued our way along the ridge of the mountains, and looked down to the right and left upon valleys, glens, and round hills, all covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. A very beautiful new lily (Lilium auratum) was met with on the hill-sides in full bloom, and its roots were dug up and added to my collections. Far away to the eastward the sea lay spread out before us, studded with islands, and dotted here and there with the white sails of junks and fishing-boats. After we had travelled along the mountain-ridge for some distance, the road began gradually to lead down hill, and about six o'clock in the evening we reached the village of Kanasawa, which lies close upon the sea-shore.

Having engaged rooms at one of the principal inns of the place, we strolled out to look at the town. Kanasawa is a small place with a single street about half a mile in length, in which there are several inns and tea-houses. This spot is remarkable and celebrated amongst the Japanese for its fine scenery. The sea comes in towards it between some small islands, and presents the appearance of a landlocked lake. Little hills,

crowned with temples and trees, are studded about, from which charming views of sea and land

scenery can be obtained.

We ascended one of

these, and were kindly received by the priests attached to the temple. Some fine fresh fruit of the loquat, and sundry cups of very good tea, were presented to us, and a visitors' book was brought in which to insert our names. This book contained the names of many distinguished Japanese who had honoured the place with a visit; and numerous sketches and scraps of poetry, composed upon the spot, recorded the beauties of the situation and the fine views which it cominanded. The book was examined with much interest by the members of our little party, and Dr. Dickson proposed to buy it, offering the munificent sum of fourpence halfpenny as an inducement to the priest to part with it. The Japanese are certainly a curious people; they will sell anything for money. The priest took the tempos, and Dr. Dickson carried off the visitors' book with its valuable autographs, clever sketches, and immortal poetry. After visiting some other places of interest, we returned to our inn, having been everywhere received with the greatest politeness by the people.

We occupied a suite of rooms upstairs. They communicated with each other by sliding doors made

of

paper pasted over a wooden frame; these doors could be taken out, and the whole flat converted into one room when required. The room in which we dined looked out upon the sea, and the high road of the town was under our windows. As the weather was exceedingly warm, the windows were

out, and we were fully exposed to the sea-breeze and to a crowd of natives of both sexes and of all ages who crowded the road in front of the inn. After dinner we sat on a ledge at the window, and amused ourselves with the crowd below. Strange questions were put to us on many subjects; and as the Japanese, as a people, have not our ideas of morality, many of their questions and remarks were not such as I can repeat here. Our landlord, who was probably better acquainted with our manners and customs than the crowd under his windows, several times expostulated with them in an angry tone, but produced no effect. Once or twice a bucket of water was added to his arguments; but although this induced them to scamper away for an instant, they soon came back again. As the night wore on the crowd gradually dispersed, and, intending to be up early next morning, we followed their example and retired to rest.

The floors of our bedrooms were covered with clean matting, and a padded counterpane was laid in the middle of each room, with a wooden pillow for the head to rest upon. Ample mosquito curtains, nearly as large as the room itself, reached from the ceiling to the floor.

Next morning at daylight we were up, and, in order to refresh ourselves, we had a plunge in the bay. As we intended to proceed immediately after breakfast across the hills to the ancient town of Kamakura, I employed the time before our meal was ready in visiting several places of interest in