First view of Japan - Curious islands - Papenberg Massacre of Christians Visit from the officials - Harbour of NagasakiDesima of old - Desima of the present day - Japanese factory Town of Nagasaki - Tea-houses Salamanders Buddhist Mimic processions

temples Large camphor-trees - Tombs Dr. Siebold's residence Excursions - Epunga Natural productions-Scenery-Trade of Nagasaki - Its capabilities as a

Sanatarium.

AT daylight on the 12th of October, 1860, the swift little barque Marmora,' in which I was a passenger from China, was rapidly approaching the coast of Japan-a country at the ends of the earth, and well named by its inhabitants "the

B

2

FIRST VIEW OF JAPAN.

Kingdom of the Origin of the Sun."

CHAP. I.

When I

came on deck in the morning the far-famed shores of Zipangu lay spread before my wondering eyes for the first time. Having heard and read so many stories of this strange land-of its stormy coasts, on which many a goodly vessel had been wrecked; of its fearful earthquakes, which were said to have thrown up, in a single night, mountains many thousands of feet above the level of the sea; of its luxuriant vegetation, full of strange and beautiful forms; of its curious inhabitants; and last, but not least, of its salamanders!-I had long looked upon Japan much in the same light as the Romans regarded our own isles in the days of the ancient Britons.

My first view of these shores, however, did a good deal towards dispelling this delusion. It was a lovely morning. The sun rose from behind the eastern mountains without a cloud to obscure his rays. The Gotto islands and Cape Gotto were passed to the north of us, and with a fair wind and smooth sea we were rapidly approaching the large island of Kiu-siu, on which the town of Nagasaki is situated. The land is hilly and mountainous, and in many instances it rises perpendicularly from the sea. These perpendicular rocky cliffs have a very curious appearance as one sails along. There are also a number of queer-looking detached little islands dotted about; and one almost wonders how they got there, as they seem to have no connexion with any other

Some of them are crowned with

No

land near them. a scraggy pine-tree or two, and look exactly like those bits of rockwork which are constantly met with in the gardens of China and Japan. doubt these rocky islands have suggested the idea worked out in gardens, and they have been well imitated. Others of these rocks look in the distance like ships under full sail, and in one instance I observed a pair of them exactly like fishingjunks, which are generally met with in pairs. Nearer the shore the islands are richly clothed with trees and brushwood, resembling those pretty "Pulos" which are seen in the Eastern Archipelago. The highest hills on this part of the mainland of Kiu-siu are about 1500 feet above the level of the sea; but hills of every height, from 300 to 1500 feet, and of all forms, were exposed to our view as we approached the entrance to the harbour of Nagasaki. Many of these hills were terraced nearly to their summits, and at this season these terraces were green with the young of wheat and barley.

crops

The pretty little island of Papenberg stands as if it were a sentinel guarding the harbour of Nagasaki. Pretty it certainly is, and yet it is associated with scenes of persecution, cruelty, and bloodshed of the most horrible description. "If history spoke true," says Captain Sherard Osborn, "deeds horrid enough for it to have been for ever blighted by God's wrath have been perpetrated there during the persecutions of the Christians in

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ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS.

CHAP. I.

the seventeenth century. It was the Golgotha of the many martyrs to the Roman Catholic faith. There, by day and by night, its steep cliffs had rung with the agonized shrieks of strong men, or the wail of women and children, launched to rest, after torture, in the deep waters around the island. If Jesuit records are to be believed, the fortitude and virtue exhibited by their Japanese converts in those sad hours of affliction have not been excelled in any part of the world since religion gave another plea to man to destroy his fellow-creature ; and may it not be that the beauty with which Nature now adorns that rock of sorrows is her halo of glory around a spot rendered holy by the sufferings, doubtless, of many that were brave and good?" As we passed the island we gazed with awe and pity on its perpendicular side, from which these Christians were cast headlong into the sea.

As soon as our ship rounded Papenberg the harbour and town of Nagasaki came full into view. On each side of this entrance to the bay there are numerous batteries, apparently full of guns. On Papenberg itself, as well as on every little island and headland, fortifications were observed as we sailed along. There is also a flagstaff and telegraph station on one of the hills; and the moment a ship is seen approaching, a signal is made and passed on to Nagasaki. We were not molested by either guard-boat or customhouse officer, but allowed to sail quietly in to our anchorage. Here

we were boarded by sundry officials, who immediately began to put all sorts of questions regarding the ship, her cargo and passengers; and the information obtained was all committed to paper. The commanding officer was then informed that two of these gentry would be left on board, and he was requested to give them shelter and accommodation in the cabin.

The harbour of Nagasaki is one of the most beautiful in the world. It is about a mile in width, and three or four in length. When you are inside it appears to be completely land-locked, and has all the appearance of an inland lake. The hills around it are some 1500 feet in height, and their surface is divided and broken up by long ridges and deep glens or valleys which extend far up towards the summits. These ridges and glens are for the most part richly wooded, while all the more fertile spots are terraced and under cultivation. The whole scene presents a quiet and charming picture of Nature's handiwork intermingled with the labour of man.

On the south side of the harbour there has been a portion of land set apart for the subjects of foreign nations whose Governments have lately made treaties with Japan. The various Consuls, most of whom are also merchants, reside at present in small houses or temples on the sides of the hill behind the settlement. It is an interesting sight to see the flags of several Western nations-English, French, American, and Por