No seats, pianos or organs were seen in the temples, but the floors were covered with mats, on which the worshipers kneel. Off the main church are rooms, where tapestry, with holy figures outlined, hang on the walls, and shrines are sometimes found in the cloisters. The temples are generally located in attractive grounds, often used by children at play. About the buildings are stone or cement posts, on top of which is a four-cornered cap, with a roof or covering larger than the pillar; these represent square lanterns. Under the roof the inside is hollow, with four corners as supports. Lights, put in these, radiate from the four openings. It is one of the sacred emblems of Japan, and hundreds of these lanterns stand in temple enclosures, each one the gift of a well-to-do adherent of the faith. The temples are covered by a roof which seems out of proportion to the building. The eaves are very deep, the supports often richly carved, the designs generally typifying some feature of the religion. The entrance to a Shinto temple is always marked by two stone or wood posts, one on each side, from 12 to 18 feet in height. About two feet below the top a long, straight beam of stone, from a foot to eighteen inches wide, rests in mortises of the upright posts. As the cross stone is solid, one end is placed in the mortise of one pillar and placed across to enter the mortise in the opposite one, the ends extending from two to four feet from the pillars. On top of these posts rest a wide stone cap piece of warped appearance. The whole is called a torii, and appears only at the entrance of a Shinto temple. For walks, the enclosures are covered with gravel, like the streets, or the natural soil serves the purpose of tiling or pavement. They bear no resemblance to temples seen in the other countries visited, neither are they as expensively fitted as some of the mosques and temples in India.
Poor people of other countries do not, as a rule, have two pairs of shoes, but every Japanese seemed to possess that coveted number. When we say shoes, we mean something—anything—tokeep the feet from the ground. The Japanese "shoes" are pieces of wood, a trifle longer than the foot, arched at a point between the joint of the toes and instep, with heavy braid. Another strip of braid, coming from the point of the shapened wood on which the foot rests, is secured to the cross braid, which fits in between the big toe and the next. Under the footboard are fastened two other thin pieces of wood, two to three inches apart, and sometimes three inches high, resembling the bridge of a violin. In wet weather, high-bridged clogs are worn to keep the feet from the ground, and in dry weather low-bridged clogs are used. Sandals are worn by some Japanese, but the bridge clog is the shoe of Japan. High-bridge clogs make more noise than low-bridge ones, and when a dozen persons walk on a sidewalk wearing this footgear one knows the Japanese are coming. The clogs cost from 30 to 50 cents a pair.
Bathing in Japan is a custom that must not be overlooked. In the country districts one tub—of wood—is used by a family. Often the bathing takes place in a yard, and the members go through with the custom, one after the other, while steam is on the water. The same water answers the purpose of all.
Small hens' eggs and two-wheeled vehicles go hand in hand in the Orient, as in both respects, particularly in pigeon-sized eggs, the Japanese products are the same as first met with in Bombay, India.
Kyoto is flat, with a pine-tree covered hill behind, on which a number of temples stand. Looking over the city from this elevation, it reminds one of a huge lumber yard. By reason of fires having occurred frequently, a few wide streets course the flat site, and not more than half a dozen modern buildings rise above the one-story, flimsy homes. Without these fire-swept tracts there would be no street cars in some Japanese cities. In Osaka and other cities the ravages by fire are being taken advantage of to replace the alleys with wide streets. Dwarfed pines, fruit trees, bulbs, and other plants are seen at many homes. The Japanese are poor, and are taxed heavily by thegovernment; still, the full, rosy cheeks of both women and children would not suggest the hard conditions they are forced to endure to keep body and soul together.
Kyoto, the literary center of Japan, is also noted for its porcelain, lacquer goods, cutlery, hardware, and silk manufactories.
Comfortable chairs in a clean passenger coach, with an observation compartment at the rear, and but four foreigners as passengers, was the agreeable manner in which we started for Yokohama. At nearly every stop the platforms of the coaches were not only swept but washed. Nothing was lacking to insure comfort, and the train traveled at a speed of 30 miles an hour; but, like the flimsy homes of the people, the coach, which was a first-class one, was not the solid car that one is accustomed to in other countries. The railway stations were of good construction, however, being clean and tidy.
Along the route women and girls were seen carrying bundles of coarse grass and reeds from the hills. In China men are seen carrying on their shoulders large numbers of shoes made from such material. In rice fields, and where other grain had been cut, the stubble was level with the ground—nothing allowed to go to waste. A great many of the hills were terraced with stone walls in order to raise food to live on. At one section of the road the train passed through a valley, hills rising from each side. The soil was naturally rich and of considerable depth. Women and men were engaged here in shoveling dirt into grass baskets, which was carried up steep hills and deposited near the top on small patches of land that had been made level by building stone walls to prevent storms from washing the soil back again into the valley. Often a Shinto shrine appeared, and peasants as they passed bowed, bent their knees, and moved their lips. All seemed to be warmly clad, had rosy cheeks, and none looked untidy; nor was there any begging at the railway stations. On we went, winding about hills, then through valleys, until, after rounding a sharp turn, a white mountain loomed up in front and to the left—Mount Fujiyama, the sacred mountain of Japan, which rises to aheight of 12,365 feet, located 86 miles from Yokohama. By early evening we had reached the cradle of modern Japan.
To Commodore M. C. Perry, of the United States Navy, credit is given for starting a new era in the history of Japan, at Yokohama, in 1854. Yokohama is to Japan what Shanghai and other cities are to China—a world treaty port. Commodore Perry practically forced Japan to open her gates to other nations of the world, after they had been locked for 2,000 years against all, except the Dutch at Nagasaki. As in the treaty ports of China, the hand of the white man is in evidence at every turn in the good docks, warehouses, customs houses, splendid postoffice building, good bank building, racecourse, public gardens; wide streets, with pavement, some having walks; gas, electricity, street cars, and other signs of progress. A short distance from the concession strip of land the native city is located, with the usual small frame dwellings and narrow, unpaved streets. In 1859 a foreign settlement was established, where only a fishing village had stood previously, but to-day Yokohama is the leading seaport city of Japan and the terminus of ships sailing from European and American ports.
Beyond the business center of the city, on an elevation known as the Bluff, foreigners live. These residents have their churches, libraries, clubs and societies, and are free from any interference. Horses and oxen, instead of human beings, were found pulling loads of merchandise, and cranes at the docks were used to load and unload the thousands of vessels that come and go. A good railway station adds to the appearance of this foreign city, but there is little native interest to be observed compared to other typical Japanese centers.
At Kamakura, an hour's ride from Yokohama, is located the great Daibutsu, the Japanese Buddha, 49½ feet high, with a circumference of nearly a hundred feet. The Daibutsu is composed of bronze plates, brazed together, and has eyes, four feet in length, of gold. In the center of the forehead is a silver ball, denoting wisdom. The ear lobes are very long and the hair curly. This great image rests on a stone foundation, and the position of the Buddha is that of sitting down, hands folded,in reverential meditation, the feet being partly under. It is hollow inside, and a shrine has been erected within for worshipers. A ladder leads to the top of the Daibutsu. Kamakura has been sacked by warfare, racked by volcanoes, and ravaged by fires on various occasions, but for 600 years the great image has remained in the same position. It is a striking work of art. From the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries Kamakura was the capital of the Shogunate, and at one time had a population of a million people, but to-day it is but a seaside village.
An hour's ride from Yokohama, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is reached. The water here is shallow, Yokohama being practically the port for the official city of Japan. Tokyo has more open space than other native cities, and street cars, rickshas and crowds of people about the railway station gave ample evidence of having reached a large center. One of the main streets of the capital city is wide, with sidewalks, and good business buildings rise at frequent sections along the thoroughfare. Goods were displayed in the windows, and clerks were on their feet; whereas in other cities Japanese merchants, like the Indians, were seen sitting down on an elevation or low counter, with feet partly under and the sandals or clogs on the floor. Away from the business street, however, are the one-story frame dwellings, with latticed-like doors, having white paper in the window squares to admit light. Outside the home are several pairs of clogs, as, again like the East Indian, Japanese enter in stockinged feet. The same sliding doors were here, too, and the streets were as narrow and as free of pavement as those of Kyoto and other cities. The charcoal buckets were surrounded by members of the family, each one seeming to take turn in fanning the embers to a stronger heat.
A visitor would find difficulty in getting about Tokyo, as the street signs, where they appear, are printed in Japanese, and the same applies to those on street cars. Large, modern street cars were in use, and the travel was so heavy that two conductors, as in Osaka, were kept busy collecting fares. The fare was the same as that in other cities—4½ cents with a return coupon, or 2¼ cents a single ride. Traffic keeps up from morning until late at night. A stranger would do well to have written down in the Japanese language on a piece of paper where hewishes to leave the car, as no English is spoken by conductors, and the pronunciation of the names of places is not at all as the spelling of the word would suggest in English. As many people held on to the straps as were seated.
Japanese believe in the merit of water, as was evidenced in the sprinkling of streets, these being partly muddy all the time, which suggests that high-bridge clogs are generally worn. Very few of the streets were paved with asphalt or blocks, the paving peculiar to Japan—loose gravel—being in evidence on most of them. Many canals and a few rivers run through the city, and bridges are frequently met with; some of these are of iron.
One misses restaurants, bakeries, and similar stores when traveling through the Far East. Not enough foreigners live in these parts of the world to create a demand for such eating places. Rice is the principal food, and one never sees a loaf of bread or a cake displayed in store windows. Eating is confined to the home or hotel.
Tokyo covers an area of 100 square miles, and good parks are included within its boundaries. The grounds about the Mikado's palace and the government buildings, the latter of European design, are in keeping with a national capital. A high wall surrounds the grounds in which the palace is situated, and a moat, containing clear water, separates the wall from streets on each side. The effect that should accompany an imperial residence is marred, however, as the entrance to the passageway leading to the grounds was enclosed with an unshapely frame structure, guarded by soldiers. The streets through that section of the city were paved with loose gravel. Green stretches of grass and park spaces, together with splendid vistas, characterize the scene about the location of the imperial palace. Visitors are not allowed to enter.
The police and military systems of Japan are so perfect that a foreigner's whereabouts while in the country will be accounted for by the authorities to the minute. The officers have shelters to stand in throughout the city, in which a telephone is placed. None seemed officious, but they can put their hands on a visitor any time they have occasion to do so.
At one end of the city is located what is familiarly known as Asakusa Temple, the church of the poor, the grounds and buildings of which are nearly always crowded with people. On and near the grounds are seen fortune tellers, fakirs, toy vendors, flaring advertisements, observation towers, side shows, idols and altars, and the clatter of clogs is loudly heard. In front of this temple are shrines, one of them erected to Binguru, the helper of the sick. Binguru is made of stone, and wears a pink bib. The people believe that by rubbing an affected part of the body on the stone image they will be cured. As a result, Binguru is growing less in weight from year to year by reason of so many hands coming in contact with the stone god. Priests sell pictures of the goddess Kwannon, which, the people believe, will bring them good fortune—a baby boy to a home, for instance—and, in a general sense, keep away evil days. Then the church treasury is replenished by priests telling fortunes. The contribution box is different to those seen in any other temple, being 6 feet long and 18 inches deep, with strips of wood nailed across the top, one side higher than the other. Between the strips over the top were openings of two inches. A railing separates the money trough from worshipers. Though the people are not burdened with money, the coins rattling in that cattle-guard-like money-box sounded like rain dropping on a tin roof.
The amusement center of Tokyo is located a few squares from Asakusa Temple. Hundreds of theaters stand within a short radius, and the life of the Chinese and Japanese peoples reaches its zenith in these districts. The streets are literally emblazoned from both sides with vari-colored canvas, containing, in Japanese, an account of what is going on inside the buildings. Pictures of the show are painted on sheets of cloth in red, yellow, orange, black, blue—in fact, all colors—and large lights hang thickly above these—truly a striking combination of light and hues. The charge for these performances is from 2½ to 10 cents.
At one theater, where admission was five cents, foreigners' shoes had to be covered with cloth. It seemed as if religiouscustom was being carried too far to be halted by an attendant with a pair of canvas slippers to conceal leather from the floor of a five-cent show house. After leaving and walking a square's distance from the building, a man stepped in front and offered 10 sen, the sum paid for admission, but, having forfeited all claim to it, I continued on my way. But that would not do, the usher refusing to leave until I had accepted the 10 sen. Thereupon I returned to the theater, bought another ticket, and submitted to slippers custom.
A trench was being dug on one of the main streets away from the business center, and a pile driver was used to drive heavy scantlings for shoring. The iron weight was raised by ropes, pulled by women. Pulleys were fastened to the top of the derrick, and ropes ran over these. A dozen women were engaged at the work, each one with a rope in her hand, and if the ropes had been colored the scene would have resembled that of a Maypole gathering. They all pulled together when the weight was to be raised, and some of the pullers, stepping back as the weight came nearer the top, danced, hummed a keep-step song, and joined in laughter at the same time. When the weight reached the top of the derrick, all let go the ropes, and gave a shout as it hit the top of the shoring post.
Celebrating the advent of cherry blossoms is a religious custom of Japan. One would naturally think cherries were a common luxury in that country, but it happens that the trees only flower, and do not bear fruit. In a general sense, flowers and trees figure largely in the life of the Japanese nation, which suggests the deep-rooted growth Shintoism has taken. In January, when it is cold, even plum and other trees blossom, which proves a source of joy to the people. The pine tree typifies long life, and the bamboo uprightness. The lotus is another sacred plant of the Land of the Rising Sun, and the lesson taught from that flower is that purity comes out of impurity. The lotus will grow in dirty pools, but the open flower will be as pure as if grown in a clear mountain stream. But the greatest nature festivals take place during the cherry blossom season, and later, when the chrysanthemum is in bloom. The wistaria isanother sacred flower. Girls and women dress themselves in their best kimonos and fasten on their back their richest obi, all taking keen delight in parading under the bowers of flowering trees and vines.
In Japan a stranger will always find some one to speak to him, to bow, to give him a smile, as in India. A card may be handed the visitor, with an invitation to call at a certain address—a store, for instance. The Japanese have acquired the highest science in lacquer and in damascene work. Lacquer work is done by a varnish made of dissolved shellac and other chemicals, and woodwork of various designs are finished in a highly polished manner. Gold, silver, ivory, bronze, and mother-of-pearl are often inlaid on the designs offered for sale. The damascene work is ornamented metal, done by inlaying or incorporating patterns, usually of another metal, and smoothing and polishing the whole surface; or in engraving designs, with deep-cut lines, inlaying gold wires, and rubbing these down level. Another form of damascening is the making of small holes in a base metal, filling these with gold, and then burnishing the article. There are also other forms, and the Japanese and Chinese seem to have mastered that art to a higher degree than other races. Runners for these merchants seldom fail in meeting visitors.
"Look," said a Japanese acquaintance, pointing to a small girl of the same race. As Japanese bear a resemblance from one end of the islands to the other, no difference could be seen in that particular girl from others passing by. He then explained. The girl wore a long apron, the sort American girls wear at school and about the home. Children wearing aprons was an innovation in clothes, and American women teachers in that country introduced the "style."
Men with pads across their chests work like truck horses in Tokyo. Women also were seen engaged at the same hard work. Aside from street cars, rickshas were the conveyances mostly used to get about the city. A great many of the pullers wear neither clogs nor sandals, their feet being covered with a cloth slipper. Still, they seemed to be in better circumstancesthan those seen in Shanghai. Fare, however, is higher than in other countries passed through. Few automobiles were seen in Japan.
Tokyo is supplied with good temples, and the skill of the Japanese in the lacquer art is shown in these buildings. The supports in some of the churches have been treated to dozens of coats of lacquer, and the ceilings richly inlaid with gold leaf, often worked in flower designs. The carving on the enclosures and doors is good, but the more noted is the handicraft of Chinese. Mats are used on the floors of the temples, and valuable Japanese tapestry is shown to visitors. Some of the church enclosures contain hundreds of stone lanterns. As in other Japanese cities, there were no beggars.
In one of several creditable city parks is a good museum, the building being very imposing. The same ground, containing temples, has an interesting zoo. In this park the principal cherry blossom celebrations take place. Industrial museums are also found in other sections of the city. A visit to the capital of the Mikado proves interesting.
The geisha is composed of women whose occupation is dancing and entertaining. Through the artfulness of this class, the hand of the geisha often reaches to the legislative halls of Parliament.
Hari-kiri—one form of suicide in Japan—is putting one's self to death at the suggestion of the government, to save disgrace, brought about by his own acts, and the scorn of his countrymen. Disemboweling is generally the method of hari-kiri. Self-destruction in this manner mitigates, to a large extent, the disgrace that his family would otherwise bear.
Diamios are the landed class of Japan, and during the feudal system of government they wielded much power with the Mikado and the Shogun. Most of the stone lanterns seen about the temple grounds are gifts from diamios. Samurai is the term used for the army.
Women with blackened teeth are met with frequently in Japan. As an even row of white molars often proves the means of gaining the affections of a man, the green-eyed monster,jealousy, in the Japanese husband prevents attention being paid to his wife by another man by his making the teeth black. Yet it is better for a woman to have her teeth blackened than to have her eyes dug out, as is the custom in India. A husband goes and comes when he so desires, as his liberty is not questioned by his wife. Everything is in favor of the man in Japan; the woman must breast an opposing current of inferiority almost from the time of birth until death.
A saucy child is seldom met with in Japan, and it is a rare thing to see a parent chastising one. Obedience of children—and women also—is a national characteristic. Both Japanese and Chinese children are the picture of health. The Japanese woman is the model wife and mother.
After being invited to a home, and not seeing the hostess about, would naturally seem very strange in most countries, but this is a custom in Japan, lived up to in a great many instances. Only in the homes of Japanese families where European customs have supplanted native tradition does the hostess and daughters take part in entertaining guests. Geisha girls are engaged to entertain visitors, the host and hostess taking a very small part in the entertaining. Guests, whether wearing shoes, clogs, or sandals, leave these outside, as it is a universal custom to enter a home or temple in bare or cloth-covered feet.
In some Latin-American countries the customary salute, even by men, is a hug, but in Japan it is a deliberate bow, then another, still another, and the bowing does not cease until from eight to ten of these salutes have been gone through. Judging by the requirements in acknowledging pleasure at meeting a friend, time would not seem to be at a premium in the land of the Mikado.
The Japanese—whether high or low, rich or poor—are very polite. Should any criticism be in order on this admirable trait, it would be that the Japanese have a surfeit of politeness, perhaps enough for themselves and their clever neighbors, the Chinese. But it is better to have too much than not enough of so good a thing. Meeting some countrymen away from home,and at home also, the fact bluntly occurs that many Americans are behind people of other nations in this attainment. As the fronds of a wrecked cocoanut palm inspires hope in a greater degree than any other factor we know of, so in like measure politeness will smooth harsh feelings and contribute more largely to real happiness in life than any other of our social requirements.
The island of Nippon is the largest of which the kingdom is formed. The area of Japan is 150,000 square miles, and the population about 50,000,000. The Mikado (Son of Heaven) exercises monarchical powers, although the two legislative bodies suggest the laws. Tokyo, with a population of 3,000,000, has been the capital of the Empire since the resignation of the late Shogun, in 1868. While Japan has made great strides in maritime, naval and military affairs, and her schools, still the home of the Japanese is not as good as the hut of the Samoan.
Ninety miles above Tokyo is located Nikko, held in the same degree of reverence by Japanese as the Hindus do Benares and Mohammedans Mecca. Temples, mausoleums, mountains, lakes, streams, and trees tend to make this an attractive place. On leaving Tokyo for Nikko I had settled in a government official's seat unknowingly. A trainman stood at the side, his manners suggesting something had gone wrong. I asked him if a mistake had been made, and just then the official stepped between the seats and answered, in good English, "No mistake whatever." He proved good company during the journey, and when I had quit the first train to make connections for Nikko he accompanied me to the other one and saw that I received the best accommodation the train afforded. Not until I had reached my destination had it occurred to me that I had occupied his seat.
The lacquer merchants, damascene workers, and brass dealers were all on hand, each extending invitations to give them a call before leaving the city.
Aside from the natural attractiveness of Nikko, the first object of interest that meets the eye is a bridge, 40 feet long,spanning a river. This is arched in design, painted a bright red color, but is not generally used for crossing the stream. It is known as the Sacred Bridge, and was originally built in 638 B. C. Only Shoguns were privileged to use it, with the exception of twice a year, when pilgrims to the shrines were allowed to pass over. The original bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1902, but the same reverence is maintained for the new one. Only the imperial family is now allowed to tread the sacred boards.
The gods of Japan range from dove-like images to demons of the most savage type. A great many, much in evidence, have been carved out of wood and are painted in flaring colors. The god of thunder is a fierce-looking image, and monkeys and other images are brought plainly to view with lavishness of bright-colored varnish. The tomb of Iyeyasu, the great Shogun of Japan, is located in Nikko. It rests on a stone base, with a bronze base above, is cylindrical in form, and capped with a bronze cover representing the design of a roof over some of the shrines. Another tomb, nearly as famous, is that of the great Shogun's grandson, Iemitsu. It is over 300 years since these notables were laid to rest in that attractive section.
From some of the temples radiate a dazzling light when the sun is shining, by reason of the rich gold-lacquering and the wood carving being painted in flaring colors. Standing at the base of a pine tree-covered hill, these temples are not imposing, yet, by reason of no expense being spared in their embellishment, they are conspicuous, and even famous. The greater wealth, contained in the holy of holies section of the buildings, a stranger does not see. The colors are so glaring and some of the gods so fierce looking, that, while appreciating the great expense in creating the structures and images, one would be safe in regarding the scene as depicting a savage art.
While costly temples prove a magnet to both native and foreigner, nature has been very liberal in dealing with Nikko. The stately cryptomeria, or cedar, trees growing at the approach of and in the temple grounds are admirable. An attractive avenue of these trees embowers a highway passingthrough Nikko for 20 miles, some of which rise to heights of over a hundred feet, and are from two to nine feet in diameter. Three hundred years ago these trees were laid out and planted so close that, save for openings above the lower trunk, where the trees begin to narrow, the space on each side of the roadway is solidly walled by cedar bases. We have seen nothing to compare, in uniformity and distance, with the two rows of cryptomeria at and below Nikko. Pine and other trees grow all about, and rivers, cascades, and inviting glens all go to make the surroundings very attractive.
Soap must be furnished by guests in some hotels, and matches as well. While in India travelers generally furnish their own bedding and shoe polish, in our Nikko hotel all these accessories were furnished, together with a bath kimono and mat sandals.
"Ahayo" is the word one will be greeted with when passing a group of rosy-cheeked, slant-eyed, clothes-quilted, clog-shod Japanese children. If the salute be returned a bow will be made by the happy cherubs, when they will clatter on their noisy way. "Ahayo" is "good day" in the English language.
All accounts must be settled before New Year's Day, when a national settlement takes place, or the debtor will be dishonored. If a creditor feels disposed to extend debts, the debtor is saved from disgrace. The most precious thing in a home must be sold to meet obligations at the close of the year. This custom necessitates a great fair being held just before New Year's Day, which occupies miles of space in the larger cities. Both high and low visit these annual fairs, and purchases are liberal, as every one knows the reason for which the articles are put on sale. These fair districts are illuminated with electric lights and native lanterns, and many indigent Japanese become shopkeepers for the time being.
In some districts of Japan a funeral, when the deceased is an aged or respected person, assumes the form of a festival. Friends bring money, cakes, saké (native drink), plums, sugar, edibles of all kinds, and flowers. All bow before the home altar and assume a praying attitude with the hands. Then the offerings are placed before the shrine. When all the sympathizershave gathered, bowed, and deposited their offerings, a feast is prepared, which often continues for two days. The Japanese have no fear of the hereafter, and this custom is maintained to honor the respectable dead.
Nikko homes are similar to those seen in other sections of Japan—small, one-story frame buildings, with paper-square doors.
Returning to Tokyo, from that city we left for Yokohama, where the fourth ship we had traveled on since leaving Manila was making ready to start for Honolulu, 3,400 miles separating the Japanese seaport from the Hawaiian capital.
Sailing from Japan on a Japanese ship, second-class was the best accommodation we could afford, which did not mean anything in the nature of luxurious living. The butter—well, it was not the kind one gets on a farm, and seemed to be made of at least three constituents—olive oil, peanut flour, and colored lard. Twenty foreigners were on the ship, the other passengers being Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos. A request was made of the captain, who was a Britisher, to oil up the table, as it were, when luxuries like catsup and pickles improved things somewhat; but the Oriental butter remained true to its original taste and color.
For the first two days out the ship sailed through the tail of a typhoon, after which summery weather prevailed. A number of Chinese sailors, with collapsible tables, appeared on the deck below, where, in a half-circular space, on each side of a dividing line, were printed the words, "High—Low." On the tables were small teacups, a pair of dice alongside, and small piles of money—silver, gold, bills, and nickel coins of several countries. A half-dozen of these gaming tables did business part of the day, and some all day. This form of gambling is common on most ships sailing in that part of the world.
Nine days out from Yokohama a green island hove in sight—one of the Hawaiian group. The next morning the ship lay to in a blue-water bay; shortly afterwards she was being towed through a channel and was soon alongside a wharf at Honolulu.
One would be led to think from the questioning, ticket examination,passport identification, and other immigration regulations, that the streets of Honolulu were glistening with diamonds or other precious material. Immigration officials take passengers' steamship tickets on their leaving a vessel, and travelers regain them only when about to enter the gangplank on leaving the islands. Thirty days is the longest period allowed for a stop-over. Orientals, however, leave a ship by hundreds.
The most striking feature of the Hawaiian Islands is its climate—perpetual summer. Most of the white people seen were Americans, but whites are much in the minority. The street-car system is good, the cars modern, and some large and roomy. No color line is drawn, and Asiatics are seen at every turn. While Chinese and Japanese merchants control the business in less prominent streets, American business houses dominate the business center. Some of the stores are good, although prices are higher than on the mainland, as the United States is termed.
Ice and bananas were the cheapest things quoted, the former selling at half a cent a pound and bananas at 5 cents a dozen. Milk, on the other hand, costs from 10 to 12 cents a quart, and butter was quoted at 40 cents a pound. Beef, mutton, pork and veal sold at 22 to 26 cents a pound. Turkey and chicken, live weight, sold at 35 to 40 cents a pound. Fresh eggs brought from 50 to 75 cents a dozen. Potatoes are sold by the pound, and cost 4 cents. At 60 pounds to the bushel, potatoes cost $2.40. A 50-pound sack of good flour sells at $1.65 to $1.75. Coal sells at $12 a ton, but little is used, as summer prevails the year round. A cord of wood costs $14. Gas is $1.50 a thousand feet, and electric light 17 cents a thousand watts. A furnished room can be rented for $2 a week, however, and popular priced restaurant food can be had for a dollar a day. Street-car fare is 5 cents. House rent ranges in price from $20 a month upward. A house renting for $30 a month includes ground containing cocoanut palms and other attractive tropical growths. Wages paid are about the same as those on the mainland. Street laborers, mainly Portuguese and Russians, are very well paid, receiving from $1.60 to $2 a day.
The percentage of motor-cars to population is very high. There are about 1,200 in Honolulu, and, as the population is 50,000, it works out an average of one motor-car to every 400 inhabitants.
"Don't Spit" signs, printed in big type, are posted in rooms and at public places, suggesting that lung trouble is prevalent. Honolulu is similar to Los Angeles, Cal., in this respect, as many wealthy people with that malady make their home in this pleasant climate, which may account in a measure for the many motor-cars seen.
With the exception of some business buildings, the later-built of these being attractive structures, Honolulu is built of wood. The lumber comes from the Pacific Coast, and, as the price for 1,000 feet ranges from $37 upward, it is needless to add that it costs a good sum to erect substantial buildings in the Hawaiian Islands. A great many of the homes, however, like others in warm climates, offer a very inviting appearance, as verandas are built all around, and, if two or more stories in height, each floor has a porch attached. Flowering vines grow over these, and in the home space is often found the poinciana regia, a crimson-flowering tree, as gorgeous in color as the flambeau growing in Durban, South Africa. Cocoanut palms and bamboo also grow within the grounds, while the streets may be studded with the trunks and arched with the long fronds of a different specie of attractive palm tree. Together with flowers, pineapples, banyan and mango trees, one has a setting nearly as good as that offered in the metropolis of Natal, between which and Honolulu there is a marked similarity.
The temperature varies only about 30 degrees the year round. During the summer the thermometer seldom rises higher than 90 degrees in the shade, and rarely drops below 50 degrees during the winter. Wherever the cocoanut palms are seen growing, one knows there will be no cold weather. While the sun is hot during the day, one can sleep under bed clothing at night. Nairobi, British-East Africa, and Entebbe, Uganda, were other places visited where the nights were cool, though a hot sun shone during the day.
As in New Zealand, there are said to be no snakes nor poisonous plants. Bees and yellow jackets, however, buzz about all day. Mosquitos were unknown in the group before 1826, when a Mexican whaling ship, it is said, started a "colony."
Sugar-cane growing is the most prosperous industry here, notwithstanding that it requires more care, cultivation and expense than in other countries. Irrigation and fertilization are necessary to insure crops in some parts of the group. All the soil is of volcanic origin.
The wages paid sugar plantation workers are from $18 to $26 a month, with free house rent, cooking fuel, and medical attendance. In addition to wages, a bonus is given to workers who remain to the end of the season. The homes are built of lumber, rest on posts from two to four feet above ground, and are whitewashed. We believe many white persons in the United States would quickly accept an offer of work at the wages paid, comforts included.
Pineapple growing, which holds second place to the sugar industry, is a new venture; and those familiar with the nature of the soil, and the droughts, blights and pests that have to be combatted have not full faith in the permanency of the pineapple industry here. Corn would do well if a bug did not eat the heart out of the stalk when young; cotton also, but for a pest; fruit would be abundant if trees were not attacked by the Mediterranean or some other fly, and cattle thrive as long as feed and water are available; but, owing to frequent droughts, animals die on some of the islands nearly every year; Irish potatoes would yield a good crop if a bug did not eat the vines—in short, pests are so numerous that the government has sent scientists to many parts of the world to seek parasitic insects that will destroy those which now devastate the crops. On some islands where wells had been bored for watering the cattle, it turned out so salty that the animals would not drink it.
The streets were full of "Thank you, ma'am." In some instances one side of a street contained a walk and the other side the Oriental form of sidewalk, native soil. One might walk about Honolulu for a day without seeing more than three orfour policemen. In such a mixed population, with bumpty-bump streets the rule, and hop-step-and-jump sidewalks numerous, it is safe to presume the city management might be improved on. But a splendid municipal feature is the patrol wagon. This "Black Maria" is an artistically painted, swift-geared, smooth-running, attractively screened automobile. The smart appearance of the "Maria" is enough to tempt poor people to commit an offense against the law in order to get a ride in the handsome machine.
No beggars were seen, which indicates there is little distress, neither are there government almshouses. Refuges for old people to end their days have been provided, however, maintained by public-spirited citizens. In very few parts of the world will one find as comfortable homes as those occupied by the laboring class of Honolulu.
Save for music from the picking of strings of a guitar or banjo and sounds of song coming from groups of Kanakas as they pass along the streets in the evening, there is little native life left. With few exceptions they wear European clothes, including shoes. Like all natives living on the islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Kanaka is not much given to work. When an ambitious feeling does come over him he then wants to work, but when these moods are absent he cannot be depended on. Like the negro, there is little push in him, and it is said that there is not one successful business Kanaka in the group. Japanese and Chinese have taken advantage of openings that Kanakas should have accepted. When there is an easy job in sight, however, Kanakas want to secure it, a majority of territorial positions being filled by natives. There is little initiative in them, and one is safe in asserting that it requires two to do one man's work. Withal, the Kanaka, like other tribes of the Polynesian race, is a very agreeable, peaceable, good-hearted, care-free person.
Panorama of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Panorama of Honolulu, Hawaii.
A few of the native customs are still maintained, notably wearing garlands, and, by way of show, a grass skirt may be seen worn by women. A garland of white flowers encircles the head,and one of red, lavender, yellow, or other color is worn about the neck. In front, under the neck garland, a clump of orange leaves or some other growth is worn. Their hair is straight, features regular, complexion swarthy, and they are of good build. The mausoleums of the Kanaka kings rest in a cemetery a short distance from Honolulu.
High, pretty hills rise behind the metropolis to the shore on the other side, and the view of the city obtained from some of these, stretching out at the base and beyond to the turquoise blue sea, with light green fields of sugar-cane to the right extending to Pearl Harbor, and Diamond Head to the left; beautiful verdure and attractive homes in between, together with the seductiveness of the balmy air and tropical growth, holds one in Hawaii when better success might be achieved in a more rugged clime.
Among the attractions of Honolulu is its aquarium. Some of the beautifully colored fish swimming about the glass tanks look more like pretty birds than fish. There is also a good museum; a beach, where natives, standing on boards, disport themselves while the breakers are rolling in; parks scattered about the city, in one of which a native band plays every evening; forts, which may be visited, located close to the city, and a trip around Oahu Island is a very pleasant one.
I was offered work at good wages, but as the time at my disposal could be better utilized in familiarizing myself with the country, and having no desire to remain, energy was reserved until the mainland was reached. Two English dailies, four Japanese, one Chinese, and a semi-weekly Portuguese newspaper are published in Honolulu.
The Hawaiian Islands were discovered by Captain James Cook, the noted navigator, in 1778, who had planted the English flag in Botany Bay, near Sydney, Australia, seven years earlier, and who claimed Tasmania and New Zealand for England; he also discovered the Tongan group. The Kanaka, true to Polynesian custom, welcomed the captain and his crew on their first visit. A year later, however, upon the return of theskipper, he got in trouble with the natives, who killed him. A monument is erected to the memory of the great navigator on the Island of Hawaii.
David Kalakaua was the last of the native kings; he died in San Francisco, Cal., in 1891, his sister, Liliuokalani, being proclaimed Queen. Two years later, in 1893, the Queen was deposed, when the islands virtually became an American possession. In 1898 it became a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as its first governor. What was once the royal palace of the rulers of Hawaii is now the capital building. Liliuokalani lived for years in Honolulu in a white-painted house, built in beautiful grounds.
Eight islands compose the group, namely, Kauai, Niihau, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii, the latter, from which the territory takes its name, having an area of 4,015 square miles; the other seven combined have not the area of Hawaii, the eight totalling 6,449 square miles. Captain James Cook first gave the name Sandwich Islands—now obsolete—to the group.
Leaving Honolulu for Kilauea crater, soon we rounded Diamond Head, and some time later Molokai, on which the territorial leprosy colony is located, appeared on our left. A portion of this island is utilized for stock grazing purposes, but the grass was white from drought, and cattle were dying for want of water. Maui was next reached, where what should have proved a nice land view also was blighted by the drought. Later we sailed alongside Hawaii, its vegetation offering a more inviting scene than those left behind. A number of stops were made during the journey, passengers leaving and others boarding the vessel. Most of the white travelers were Americans. After several landings in Hawaii, Hilo was reached, where all passengers left the ship. Hilo, next in size to Honolulu, has a population of 7,000, mostly of color. A large tonnage of sugar is shipped from this port, where the harbor, the best in the group, has been improved by a good breakwater.
From Hilo a start was made for Kilauea crater, which may be reached by train or motor-car. The train was taken, and itproved even slower than the ones traveled on during the short trips from Manila. Some excuse might be offered for the Hilo train, as the route is up-grade, while the railways in Luzon are as flat as a table. Finally the train "stuck" at a steep grade, and the conductor, who was a Kanaka, did not know what to do to get it started. He was "waiting for orders from Hilo," he said. The train was later detached, however, and, when the parts had been taken over the humpback and linked together again, it crawled slowly through large sugar plantations, past tree ferns, and other attractive landscape scenes, until we reached Glenwood, the end of the railway line, where a mail motor car was ready to take passengers to the hotel, nine miles beyond. An elevation of 4,000 feet had been traveled from Hilo to the object of our mission. Many passengers had wended their way to this place, and it seemed odd, after having been in black countries for three years, to find every one at the hotel locking the door to his room at midday. In some countries passed through the room doors were not closed even at night.
Looking down upon and over a depression in the earth, bastioned by deep walls of rocks on each side, 7¾ miles in circumference and containing an area of 4¼ square miles, there spreads out for three miles a fissured, hillocked, corrugated, gnarled, steam-emitting surface of slate-colored and black lava. This is the first view one obtains of Kilauea crater. The scene is very unusual, and interest is sharpened to a keen edge. Later a journey is taken over that strange lava wake, when the leaven from the fire-boiling underworld suggested the tremendous force contained below the sphere on which man treads. We had looked at the teeming volumes of water being ejected from geysers in Yellowstone Park; but water washes away and will eventually become purified as the stream it joins leaves the geyser zone. But here the lake-like, deep, black earth deposit remains, although, like the water from the geysers, for a time it had been a moving stream also. An acre of land area with similar deposit would attract scientists from great distances, but here there are over four square miles of that subterranean deposit. One obtains a side view, as it were, of a portion of theworld turned inside out by nature's force at Kilauea crater. There was no soil, no rock, no trees—the substance under, before, all about us was weirdly foreign to what is natural to the upper crust of the earth and to the sky above. Further on the fissures became wider, the hillocks higher, and the substance warm. Still yet ahead steam—or white smoke—is issuing from the cracks in the alien deposit, and when these are reached canny, hissing, and gurgling sounds from underneath are heard. From every side appears varied formations, molded while the lava was changing from liquid to solid matter. Some of these resemble mummies, great coils of rope, petrified trees, columns of iron, and other shapes. Beyond appears a large volume of smoke, reminding one of a great geyser basin on a calm, early morning. Approaching, the air becomes sulphur-laden, a hand is put to the nostrils, and natural breathing for the time is withheld, to prevent one from choking from the netherworld fumes. The wind now whirls the noxious odors away, and a still further advance finds one on the rim of a deep, yawning maw. Unearthly fumes again envelop the onlooker, but a friendly breeze again wafts the poisonous vapor to other parts, when the awful vent in Kilauea's deep, leaden crust reappears. Boom! comes from below, and smoke envelops the gaping chasm. A draught of wind sweeps the smoke from the pit of the fiery abyss, and——A black and red stream of fire is seen swirling across the strange floor below! It is Halemaumau, the greatest active volcano in the world, termed "the safety valve of the Pacific." The volcano is about a thousand feet in circumference, and the fire swirls several hundred feet below the lava-crusted rim. How many persons have had the rare privilege of looking into an active volcano? There it was—Halemaumau, in Kilauea crater.
Locating to the windward of the volcano, the demon-like river of fire was, for the time being, holding revelry in quiet volcano fashion—but volcanic fashion. Boom! came from below, as if from ordnance in action nearby, and fiery rocks were hurled against the lava-scaled sides. Ah! A clear stream of liquid fire now runs across the base as a river. Then sulphurous smokeenvelops all. There (after the smoke has lifted) now runs what seems like a river of thick, black dirt; but small explosions are taking place. A red seam next shows through the volcanic dross. A clear red river of fire——Boom! The sides of the crater, like icicles—flushed by the rays of a scarlet sun—on a rock-faced coast, formed from a surging sea, are gorgeous with dripping lava. Were a black panel implanted across a morning aurora—that is how Halemaumau's strange river looks now. The current runs but one way and comes from the same side of the fomenting maw. Where does the lava stream come from? Into what outlet does it empty? Boom! Boom! The burning depths seem to rise on a platform of fire. Listen to the splash as the red, upheaved rocks fall back into the furious maelstrom! What a pretty, clear stream of carmine liquid! It has passed away, and the black, dross-like course has again taken the red flow's place.
There was no afterglow in the west, and the shades of evening were soon enveloped in the scroll of night. See Halemaumau now! How grand in the darkness! All about is flaming red. There is the same unspecked fiery river, flowing in the same direction as before. Half black now, and half red, but coming from the same invisible source and becoming lost in the invisible outlet. A clear, red stream again, but appearing further away. The liquid fire seems to have been sucked far below! An abnormal expansion of the axis on which the world revolves takes place. Boom! Boom! Boom! The tremendous force from contraction ejects flaming substance from the nether-world high up against the sides, and from Halemaumau's flare the sky above is aglow—an esplanade of fire spanning the space between the infernal abyss and the vault of heaven!
The last stop has been reached on the long journey. From Honolulu, after visiting Kilauea crater, I continued to San Francisco on an American ship, the fifth vessel traveled on since leaving Manila. After a stay of several weeks in San Francisco, in order to earn a portion of the money necessary to secure railway passage to New York, and borrowing $50, a start was made forthe Atlantic seaboard, stopping off a week at Washington, D. C. New York was reached May 1, 1913, having left Gotham nearly three years and three months earlier.
In order to point out how cheaply one may travel, if economy be practiced, this statement is offered: From the time of leaving New York, February 9, 1910, until my return to New York, May 1, 1913, I had been away 1,176 days. I had for the journey $1,350. My earnings in South Africa amounted to $2,400, in San Francisco $60, in Washington, D. C., $15, which, with the $50 borrowed, makes a total of $3,875 for the entire time consumed by the tour. By dividing $3,875 by the number of days—1,176—an average expense for everything of about $3.30 a day is the result. The distance traveled was 73,689 miles, and the itinerary and accompanying map indicate the course from place to place. No wrecks or accidents were encountered—no such experience having taken place in all my journeyings. I have often thought I traveled under a lucky star.