JAPANESE SHOP.JAPANESE SHOP.
was their intention not to break Japanese customs and usages in any offensive way. A calling card and a letter from Admiral Kawamura, minister of marine, which I sent from the hotel to the Governor of Kioto, procured me an adjutant No. 2, a young, cheerful, and talkative official, Mr. KOBA-YASCHI, whose eyes sparkled with intelligence and merry good humour. One would sooner have taken him for a highly-esteemed student president at some northern university, than for a Japanese official. It was already late in the day, so that before nightfall I had time only to take the bath which, at every Japanese inn not of too inferior a kind, is always at the traveller's call, and arrange the dreding excursion which, along with Lieut. Nordquist, I intended to make next day on Lake Biwa.
The road between Kioto and Biwa we travelled the following morning injinrikishas. In a short time there will be communication between these two places by a railway constructed exclusively by native workmen and native engineers. It will be, and is intended to be, an actual Japanese railway. For a considerable distance it passes through a tunnel, which, however, as some of the Europeans at Kobe stated, might easily have been avoided "if the Japanese had not considered it desirable that Japan, too, should have a railway tunnel to show, as such are found both in Europe and America." It is probable, in any case, that the bends which would have been required if the tunnel was to be avoided, would have cost more by the additional length than the tunnel, and that therefore the procedure of the Japanese was better considered than their envious European neighbours would allow. There appears to prevail among the European residents in Japan a certain jealousy of the facility with which this country, till recently so far behind in an industrial respect, assimilates the skill in art and industry of the Europeans, and of the rapidity with which the people thereby make themselves independent of the wares of the foreign merchants.
When we reached Lake Biwa we were conducted by Mr. Koba-Yaschi to an inn close by the shore, with a splendid view of the southern part of the lake. We were shown into beautiful Japanese rooms, which had evidently been arranged for the reception of Europeans, and in which accordingly some tables and chairs had been placed. On the tables we found, on our arrival, bowls, with fruit and confections, Japanese tea, and braziers. The walls were formed partly of tastefully gilt paper panels ornamented with mottoes, reminding visitors of the splendid view.
A whole day of the short time which was allowed me to study the remarkable things of Kioto I devoted to Lake Biwa, because lakes are exceedingly uncommon in the south, for they occur only in the countries which have either been covered with glaciers in the most recent geological periods, or, in consequence of the action of volcanic forces, have been the scene of violent disturbances of the surface of the earth. I believed that Lake Biwa would form an exception to this, but I was probably mistaken, for tradition relates that this lake was formed in a single night at the same time that the high volcanic cone of Fusiyama was elevated. This tradition, in its general outline, corresponds so closely with the teaching of geology, that scarcely any geologist will doubt its truth.
After our arrival at the inn we had to wait a very long time for the steamer I had ordered. On this account I thoughtlessly enough broke out in reproaches on my excellent Japanese adjutants, who, however, received my hard words only with friendly smiles, which increased still further my impatience at the loss of time which was thus occasioned. It was not until far on in the day, when I was already out dredging from a small steamer, that I was informed as to the cause of the delay. The Biwa Steamship Company had, at the request of the Governor, intended to place at my disposal a very large boat well provided with coal, but after taking the coal on board it had sunk so deep that it groundedin the mud of the harbour. We had already got far out with the little steamer when the large one at last got off. I was now obliged to exchange vessels in order to be received "in a more honourable way." It was not until this took place that I was informed that I was guest and not master, on which account I was obliged to employ the rest of the afternoon in excusing my former violent behaviour, in which, with the help of friendly words, beer, and red wine, I succeeded pretty well, to judge by the mirth which soon began to prevail among my now very numerous Japanese companions.
On the little steamer I had ordered two of my crew whom I had brought with me from theVegato prepare a meal for the Japanese and ourselves. In this way the dinner that had been arranged for us, without my knowledge, became superfluous. I was obliged instead to receive as a gift the provisions and liquors purchased for the dinner, consisting of fowls, eggs, potatoes, red wine and beer, giving at the same time a receipt as a matter of form.
During our excursion on the lake we met with various boats laden with sea-weed, which had been taken up from the bottom of the lake to be used as manure for the neighbouring cultivated fields. Partly among these algæ, partly by dredging, Lieut. Nordquist collected various interesting fresh-water crustacea (Paludina, Melania, Unio, Planorbis &c.,) several sorts of shrimps (a Hippolyte) small fishes, &c. Lake Biwa abounds in fish, and harbours besides a large clumsily-formed species of lizard. In order to make further collections of the animal forms occurring there, Lieut. Nordquist remained at the lake till next day. I, on the other hand, went immediately back to Kioto, arriving there in the evening after nightfall.
After having eaten, along with my two Japanese companions, an unexceptionable European dinner at the inn of the town, kept by Japanese, but arranged in European style, we paid a visit to a company of Japanese dancing-girls.
Kioto competes with Osaka for the honour of having the prettiest dancing-girls. These form a distinct class of young girls, marked by a peculiar variegated dress. They wear besides a peculiar hair-ornament, are much painted, and have their lips coloured black and gold. At the dancing places of greatest note a European is not received, unless he has with him a known native who answers for his courteous behaviour. After taking off his shoes on entering, the visitor is introduced to a separate room with its floor covered with matting and its walls ornamented with Japanese drawings and mottoes, but without other furniture. A small square cushion is given to each of the guests. After they have settled themselves in Japanese fashion, that is to say, squatting cross-legged, pipes and tea are brought in, on which a whole crowd of young girls come in and, chatting pleasantly, settle themselves around the guests, observing all the while complete decency even according to the most exacting European ideas. There is not to be seen here any trace of the effrontery and coarseness which are generally to be found in similar places in Europe. One would almost believe that he was among a crowd of school-girls who had given the sour moral lessons of their governess the slip, and were thinking of nothing else than innocently gossiping away some hours. After a while the dance begins, accompanied by very monotonous music and singing. The slow movements of the legs and arms of the dancers remind us of certain slow and demure scenes from European ballets. There is nothing indecent in this dance, but we learn that there are other dances wilder and less decorous.
The dancing-girls are recruited exclusively from the poorer classes, pretty young girls, to help their parents or to earn some styvers for themselves, selling themselves for a certain time to the owners of the dancing-places, and when the time agreed upon has come to an end returning to their homes, where notwithstanding this they marry without difficulty. All thedancing-girls therefore are young, many of them pretty even according to European ideas, though their appearance is destroyed in our eyes by the tasteless way in which they paint themselves and colour their lips. Unfortunately I had not time to avail myself of the opportunity which Kioto offers the foreigner of judging with certainty regarding the Japanese taste in female beauty. For here, as at various other Japanese towns, there are a number of girls who have been officially selected as the most beautiful among the youth of the place. The Japanese may visit them for a certain payment, but to Europeans they do not show themselves willingly, and only for a large sum. When this takes place at any time, it is only a dumb show for a few moments, during which no words are exchanged.
JAPANESE COURT DRESS.JAPANESE COURT DRESS.
The Governor had promised to carry me round next day to see whatever was remarkable in the town. I was not much delighted at this, because I feared that the whole day would be taken up with inspecting the whole or half-European public offices and schools, which had not the slightest interest for me. My fear however was quite unjustified. The Governor was a man of genius, who, according to the statements of my companions, was reckoned among the first of the contemporary poets of Japan. He immediately declared that he supposed that the new public offices and schools would interest me much less than the old palaces, temples, porcelain andfaïencemanufactories of the town, and that he therefore intended to employ the day I spent under his guidance in showing me the latter.
NOBLE IN ANTIQUE DRESS.NOBLE IN ANTIQUE DRESS.
We made a beginning with the old imperial palace Gosho, the most splendid dwelling of Old Japan. It is not however very grand according to European ideas. A very extensive space of ground is here covered with a number of one-story wooden houses, intended for the Emperor, the imperial family, and their suite. The buildings are, like all Japanese houses, divided by movable panels into a number of rooms, richly provided with paintings and gilded ornamentation, but otherwise without a trace of furniture. For the palace now stands uninhabited since the Mikado overthrew the Shogundynasty and removed to Tokio. It already gives a striking picture of the change which has taken place in the land. Only the imperial family and the great men of the country were formerly permitted to enter the sacred precincts of Gosho. Now it stands open to every curious native or foreigner and it has even as an exhibition building been already pressed into the service of industry. Alongside the large buildings there are several small ones, of which one was intended to protect the Emperor-deity during earthquakes, the others formed play-places for the company of grown children who were then permitted to govern the country.
BUDDHIST PRIEST.BUDDHIST PRIEST.
Much more remarkable and instructive than the now deserted imperial palace are the numerous temples at Kioto, of which we visited several. We were generally received by the priests in a large vestibule, whose floor was covered with a fine woollen carpet and was provided with tables and chairs of European patterns. The priests first offered us Japanese tea, cigars, and sweetmeats, then we examined some valuable articles exhibited in the room, consisting of bronzes, works in the noble metals, splendid old lacquer work, and a number of famous swords dedicated to the temple. These were the only things that our freethinking Governor treated with reverence, for the rest neither the priests nor their reliques seemed to inspire him with any particular respect.
A Samurai.A Samurai.
When a valuable Japanese sword is exhibited one touches neither the hilt nor the scabbard, and of course still less the blade, with the bare hand, but it is taken hold of either with a gloved hand, or with the hand with a handkerchief or piece of cloth wrapped round it. The blade is only half bared, the steel setting is looked at against the light and admired; on the often exceedingly valuable blades which are not mounted, but only provided with a wooden case to protect them from rust, the maker's mark is examined, and so on. As among us in former times, the swordsmith's is the only handicraft which in old times was held in high esteem in Japan, and immense sums were often paid for sword-blades forged by famous masters of the art. Among old Japanese writings are to be found many works specially treating of the making of weapons. But since the swordsmen (samurai) have now been forbidden to show themselves armed, old Japanese swords are sold in all the towns by hundreds and thousands, often for a trifle. During our stay in the country I purchased for a comparatively limited sum a fine collection of such weapons. Even those who cannot appreciate the artistic forging of the blade, the steel-setting, and tempering, must admire the exceedingly tasteful casting and embossing of the ornamentation, especiallyof the guard-plates of the sword. They are often veritable works of art, unsurpassed in style and execution.
It is not very many years ago since the men who belonged to thesamuraiclass never showed themselves abroad without being armed with two swords. Even schoolboys went armed to the first European schools that were established in the country. This gave occasion to several acts of violence during the time which succeeded the opening of the ports, for which reason the European ambassadors some years after requested that carrying the sword in time of peace should be prohibited. To this the Japanese government answered that it would make short work with the minister who should publish such a prohibition. Soon after, however, it gavepermissionto those who desired it to go without weapons, and the carrying of arms soon became so unfashionable that one of the authorities did dare at last to issue a distinct prohibition of it. During our stay in Japan, accordingly, we did not see a single man armed with the two swords formerly in use.
After we had seen and admired the treasures in the temple vestibule, we visited the temple itself. This is always of wood, richly ornamented with carvings and gilding. If it is dedicated to Shinto, there are no images in it, and very few ornaments, if we except a mirror and a large locked press with the doors smashed in, which sometimes occupies the wall opposite the entrance, and in which, as I have already stated, the spirit of the deity is said to dwell. The Shinto temples are in general poor. Many are so inconsiderable as to look almost like dovecotes. They are often completely deserted, so that it is difficult to discover them among the magnificent trees by which they were surrounded. The entrance to the temple is indicated by a gate (torryi) of wood, stone, or copper, and here and there are ropes, stretched over the way, to which written prayers and vows are affixed.
Even those who have long studied Japan and its literaturehave very little knowledge of the inner essence of Shintoism. This religion is considered by some a pure deism, by others a belief with political aims, the followers of which worship the departed heroes of the country. Of a developed morality this religion is wholly devoid. In the same way it appears to be uncertain whether Shintoism is a survival of the original religion of the country or whether it has been brought from abroad.
GATE ACROSS THE ROAD TO A SHINTO TEMPLE.GATE ACROSS THE ROAD TO A SHINTO TEMPLE.
Buddhism was introduced from China by Corea. Its temples are more ornamented than the Shinto temples, and contain images of deities, bells, drums, holy books, and a great quantity of altar ornaments. The transmigration of souls, and rewards and punishments in a life after this, are doctrines of Buddhism. Outside the temples proper there are to be found in many places large or small images in stone or bronze of the deities ofBuddha. The largest of these consist of colossal statues in bronze (Daibutsu), representing Buddha in a sitting position, and themselves forming the screen to a temple with smaller images. A similar statue is also to be found at Kamakura, another at
BUDDHIST TEMPLE AT KOBE.BUDDHIST TEMPLE AT KOBE.
Tokio, a third at Nara near Kioto, and so on. Some have of late years been sold for the value of the metal, one has in this way been brought to London, and is now exhibited in the Kensington Museum. The metal of the statues consists of an alloy of copper with tin and a little gold, the last namedconstituent giving rise to the report that their value is very considerable. To give an idea of the size of someDaibutsustatues it may be mentioned that the one at Nara is fifty-three and a half feet high, and that one can crawl into the head through the nose orifices.
Nearly all theDaibutsuimages are made after nearly the same design, which has been improved from generation to generation until the countenance of the image has received a stamp of benevolence, calm, and majesty, which has probably never been surpassed by the productions of western art.Daibutsuimages evidently stand in the same relation to the works of private sculptors as folk-poetry to that of individual bards.
As I have before pointed out, the Western taste for the gigantic was not prevalent in Old Japan. It was evidently elegance and neatness, not grandeur, that formed the object towards which the efforts of the artist, the architect, and the gardener were directed. Only theDaibutsuimages, some bells, and other instruments of worship form exceptions to this. During our excursion at Kioto we passed an inclosure where the walls were built of blocks of stone so colossal, that it was difficult to comprehend how it had been possible to lift and move them with the means that were at the disposal of the Japanese in former times. In the neighbourhood of that place there was a grave, probably the only one of its kind. It is described in the following way in an account of the curiosities of Kioto written by a native:—
"Mimisuka, or the grave of the noses and the ears, was erected by Hideyoshi Taiko, who lived about A.D. 1590. When the military chiefs of this famous man attacked Corea with a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, he gave orders that they should bring home and show him all the ears and noses of the enemies who were killed in the contest, for it was an old practice in Japan to cut off the enemies' heads to show them to the king or the commander of the army. But it was now impossible to bring the heads of the dead Corean warriors toJapan, because the distance was too great. Hideyoshi therefore gave the above order, and the ears and noses, which were brought to Japan, were buried together at that place. The grave is 730 feet in circumference, and is 30 feet high."
Kioto is one of the principal places for the manufacture offaïence, porcelain, andcloisonné. The productions of the ceramic art are, as is well-known, distinguished by their tasteful forms and beautiful colours, and are highly valued by connoisseurs, on which account they are exported on a large scale to Europe and America. The works are numerous and small, and are owned for the most part by families that for a long succession of generations have devoted themselves to the same occupation. The articles are burned in very small furnaces, and are commonly sold in a shop which is close to the place where they are made. The making of porcelain in Japan, therefore, bears the stamp rather of handicraft than of manufacturing industry. The wares gain thereby in respect of art to an almost incredible degree. They have the same relation to the productions of the great European manufactories that the drawing of an artist has to a showily coloured lithograph. But the price is high in proportion, and the Japanese porcelain is too dear for every-day use even in its own country. Nearly all the large sets of table porcelain that I saw in Japan were, therefore, ordered from abroad. The cups which the natives themselves use for rice, tea, andsakiare, however, of native manufacture; but even in a well-provided Japanese household there is seldom so much porcelain as would be required for a proper coffee-party at home.
In the evening the Governor had invited us to a dinner, which was given in a hall belonging to a literary society in the town. The rooms were partly furnished in European style with tables, chairs, Brussels carpets, &c. The dinner was European in the arrangement of dishes, wines, and speeches. The dishes and wines were abundant and in great variety. Thecompany were very merry, and the host appeared to be greatly pleased, when I mentioned that at one of the places which I had seen that day I saw a wall adorned by a motto of his composition. He immediately promised to write a similar one on me with reference to my visit to the town, and when a few moments after he had the first line ready, he invited his Japanese guests to write the second. They tried for a good while with merry jests to hit upon some suitable conclusion, but in vain. Early the following morning Mr. Koba-Yaschi came to me, bringing with him a broad strip of silk on which the following was pencilled in bold, nobly-formed characters:
Umi hara-no-hate-made
Akiva-Sumi-watare,
which when translated runs thus:
"As far as the sea extends
The autumn moon spreads her beneficent light."
According to the explanation which I received the piece points out that the autumn moon spreads her beneficent rays as far as to that place in the high north where we wintered. After the above-quoted verse came the following addition in Japanese: "Written by Machimura Masanavo, Governor of Kioto-Fu, to Professor Nordenskiöld, on the occasion of a dinner given to him during the autumn of 1879." The whole besides was signed with the author's common, as well as his poetical, name, and had his seal attached. His poetical name was RIO-SAN, which may be literally translated "Dragon-Mountain."
The poetry of the Japanese is so unlike that of the Western nations that we find it difficult to comprehend the productions of the Japanese poets. Perhaps they ought more correctly to be called poetical mottoes. They play a great part in the intellectual life of the Japanese. Their authors are highly esteemed, and even in the homes of the poorer classes the wallsare often ornamented with strips of silk or paper on which poems are written in large, bold, pencil characters. Among the books I brought home with me are many which contain collections of the writings of private poets and poetesses, or selections from the most famous of the productions of Japanese literature in this department. A roll of drawings which turned up very often represents the sorrowful fate of a famous poetess. First of all she is depicted as a representative Japanese beauty, blooming with youth and grace, then she is represented in different stages of decay, then as dead, then as a half-decayed
RIO SAN'S SEAL.RIO SAN'S SEAL.
corpse torn asunder by ravens, and finally as a heap of bones. The series ends with a cherry-tree in splendid bloom, into which the heroine, after her body had passed through all the stages of annihilation, has been changed. The cherry-tree in blossom is considered by the Japanese the ideal of beauty in the vegetable kingdom, and during the flowering season of this tree excursions are often undertaken to famous cherry-groves where hour after hour is passed in tranquil admiration of the flower-splendour of the tree. Unfortunately I was so late in getting theexplanation of the beautiful poetical idea that ran through this series of pictures, some of which were executed with execrable truth to nature, that I missed the opportunity of purchasing it.
I was obliged to leave Kioto too early in order to be present at afête, which was given to us at Kobe by the Japanese, Europeans, and Chinese who were interested in our voyage. The entertainment was held in a Buddhist temple without the town, and was very pleasant and agreeable. The Japanese did not seem at all to consider that their temple was desecrated by such an arrangement. In the course of the afternoon for instance there came several pilgrims to the temple. I observed them carefully, and could not mark in their countenances any trace of displeasure at a number of foreigners feasting in the beautiful temple grove whither they had come on pilgrimage. They appeared rather to consider that they had come to the goal of their wanderings at a fortunate moment, and therefore gladly accepted the refreshments that were offered them.
On the morning of the 18th October theVegaagain weighed anchor, to proceed on her voyage. The course was shaped through the Inland Sea of Japan for Nagasaki. When I requested of the Governor of Kobe permission to land at two places on the way, he not only immediately granted my request, but also sent on theVegathe same English-speaking official from his court who had before attended me to Kioto. The weather was clear and fine, so that we had a good opportunity of admiring the magnificent environs of the Inland Sea. They resemble much the landscape in a northern archipelago. The views here are however more monotonous in consequence of their being less variety in the contours of the mountains. Here as at Kobe the hills consist mainly of a species of granite which is exposed to weathering on so large a scale that the hard rocks are nearly everywhere decomposed into a yellow
BURYING PLACE AT KIOTO.BURYING PLACE AT KIOTO.
sand unfavourable for vegetation. The splendid wild granite cliffs of the north accordingly are absent here. All the hill-tops are evenly rounded, and everywhere, except where there has been a sand-slip, covered with a rich vegetation, which in consequence of the evenness of height of the trees gives little variety to the landscape, which otherwise is among the most beautiful on the globe.
We landed at two places, on the first occasion at Hirosami. Here some fishermens' cabins and some peasants' houses formed a little village at the foot of a high, much-weathered granite ridge. The burying-place was situated near one of the houses, close to the shore. On an area of some hundred square yards there were numerous gravestones, some upright, some fallen. Some were ornamented with fresh flowers, at one was a Shinto shrine of wooden pins, at another stood a bowl with rice and a smallsakibottle. Our zoologists here made a pretty rich collection of littoral animals, among which may be mentioned a cuttle-fish which had crept down amongst the wet sand, an animal that is industriously searched for and eaten by the natives. Among the cultivated plants we saw here, as many times before in the high-lying parts of the country, an old acquaintance from home, namely buckwheat.
The second time theVegaanchored at a peasant village right opposite Shimonoseki. When we landed there came an official on board, courteously declaring that we had no right to land at that place. But he was immediately satisfied and made no more difficulties when he was informed that we had the permission of the Governor, and that instead of the usual passport an official from Kobe accompanied the vessel. Shimonoseki has a melancholy reputation in European-Japanese history from the deeds of violence done here by a united English, French, Dutch, and American fleet of seventeen vessels on the 4th and 5th September, 1864, in order to compel the Japanese to open the sound to foreigners, and the unreasonably heavycompensation which after the victory was won they demanded from the conquered. Although only fifteen years have passed since this occurred, there appears to be no trace of bitter feeling towards Europeans among the inhabitants of the region. At least we were received at the village in the neighbourhood of which we landed with extraordinary kindness. The village was situated at the foot of a rocky ridge, and consisted of a number of houses arranged in a row along a single street, the fronts of the houses being as usual occupied as shops, places for sellingsaki, and workshops for home industry. The only remarkable things besides that the village had to offer consisted of a Shinto temple surrounded by beautiful trees and a considerable salt-work, which consisted of extensive, shallow, well-planned ponds now nearly dry, into which the sea-water is admitted in order to
ENTRANCE TO NAGASAKI.ENTRANCE TO NAGASAKI.
evaporate, and from which the condensed salt liquid is afterwards drawn into salt-pans in order that the evaporation may be completed. It was remarkable to observe that several crustacea throve exceedingly well in the very strong brine.
On the surrounding hills we saw thickets of the Japanese wax tree,Rhus succedaneus. The wax is pressed out of the berries of this bush with the help of heat. It is used on a large scale in making the lights which the natives themselves burn, and is exported bleached and refined to Europe, where it is sometimes used in the manufacture of lights. Now, however, these wax lights are increasingly superseded by American kerosene oil. The price has fallen so much that the preparation of vegetable wax is now said scarcely to yield a profit.[384]
We left this place next morning, and on the 21st October theVegaanchored in the harbour of Nagasaki. My principal intention in visiting this place was to collect fossil plants, which I supposed would be found at the Takasima coal-mine, or in the neighbourhood of the coal-field. In order to find out the locality without delay, I reckoned on the fondness of the Japanese for collecting remarkable objects of all kinds from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. I therefore hoped to find in some of the shops where old bronzes, porcelain, weapons, &c., were offered for sale, fossil plants from the neighbourhood, with the locality given. The first day, therefore, I ran about to all the dealers in curiosities, but without success. At last one of the Japanese with whom I conversed told me that an exhibition of the products of nature and art in the region was being arranged, and that among the objects exhibited I might possibly find what I sought for.
Of course I immediately availed myself of the opportunity tosee one of the many Japanese local exhibitions of which I had heard so much. It was yet in disorder, but I was, at all events, willingly admitted, and thus had an opportunity of seeing much that was instructive to me, especially a collection of rocks from the neighbourhood. Among these I discovered at last, to my great satisfaction, some beautiful fossil plants from Mogi, a place not far from Nagasaki.
Immediately the following morning I started for Mogi, accompanied by the Japanese attendant I had with me from Kobe, and by another adjutant given me by the very obliging governor of Nagasaki. We were to travel across the hills on horseback. I was accompanied, besides my Japanese assistants and a man from theVega, all on horseback, by a number of coolies carrying provisions and other equipment. The Governor had lent me his own horse, which was considered by the Japanese something quite grand. It was a yellowish-brown stallion, not particularly large, but very fine, resembling a Norwegian horse, very gentle and sure-footed. The latter quality was also quite necessary, for the journey began with a ride up a hundred smooth and not very convenient stone steps. Farther on, too, the road, which was exceedingly narrow and often paved with smooth stones, went repeatedly up and down such stairs, not very suitable for a man on horseback, and close to the edge of precipices several hundred feet deep, where a single false step would have cost both the horse and its rider their lives. But as has been said, our horses were sure-footed and sure-eyed, and the riders took care in passing such places not to pull the reins.
None of the mountain regions I have seen in Japan are so well cultivated as the environs of Nagasaki. Every place that is somewhat level, though only several hundred square yards in extent, is used for growing some of the innumerable cultivated plants of the country, principally rice but as such easily cultivated places occur in only limited numbers, the inhabitants have by industry and hard labour changed the steep slopes of the mountainsinto a succession of level terraces rising one above the other, all carefully watered by irrigating conduits.
Mogi is a considerable fishing village lying at the seaside twenty kilometres south of Nagasaki in a right line, on the other side of a peninsula occupied by lava beds and volcanic tuffs, which projects from the island Kiushiu, which at that place is nearly cut asunder by deep fjords. No European lives at the place, and of course there is no European inn there. But we got lodgings in the house of one of the principal or richest men in the village, a maker and sellerof saki, or as we would call him in Swedish, a brandy distiller and publican. Here we were received in a very friendly manner, in clean and elegant rooms, and were waited on by the young and very pretty daughter of our host at the head of a number of other female attendants. It may be supposed that our place of entertainment had no resemblance to a public-house in Sweden. We did not witness here the tipsy behaviour of some human wrecks, and as little some other incidents which might have reminded us of public-house life in Europe. All went on in the distillery and the public-house as calmly and quietly as the work in the house of a well-to-do country squire in Sweden who does not swear and is not quarrelsome.
Sakiis a liquor made by fermenting and distilling rice. It is very variable in taste and strength, sometimes resembling inferior Rhine wine, sometimes more like weak grain brandy. Along withsakiour host also manufactured vinegar, which was made from rice andsakiresidues, which with the addition of some other vegetable substances were allowed to stand and acidify in large jars ranged in rows in the yard.
When my arrival became known I was visited by the principal men of the village. We were soon good friends by the help of a friendly reception, cigars and red wine. Among them the physician of the village was especially of great use to me. As soon as he became aware of the occasion of my visit hestated that such fossils as I was in search of did indeed occur in the region, but that they were only accessible at low water. I immediately visited the place with the physician and my companions from Nagasaki, and soon discovered several strata containing the finest fossil plants one could desire. During this and the following day I made a rich collection, partly with the assistance of a numerous crowd of children who zealously helped me in collecting. They were partly boys and partly girls, the latter always having a little one on their backs. These little children were generally quite bare-headed. Notwithstanding this they slept with the crown of the head exposed to the hottest sun-bath on the backs of their bustling sisters, who jumped lightly and securely over stocks and stones, and never appeared to have any idea that the burdens on their backs were at all unpleasant or troublesome.
According to Dr. A.G. NATHORST'S examination, the fossil plants which I brought home from this place belong to the more recent Tertiary formation. Our distinguished and acute vegetable paleontologist fixes attention on the point, that we would have expected to find here a fossil flora allied to the recent South Japanese, which is considered to be derived from a Tertiary flora which closely resembles it. There is, however, no such correspondence, for impressions of ferns are almost completely wanting at Mogi, and even of pines there is only a single leaf-bearing variety which closely resembles the Spitzbergen form ofSequoia Langsdorfii, Brag. On the other hand, there are met with, in great abundance, the leaves of a species of beech nearly allied to the red beech of America,Fagus ferruginea, Ait., but not resembling the recent Japanese varieties of the same family. There were found, besides, leaves of Quercus, Juglans, Populus, Myrica, Salix, Zelkova, Liquidambar, Acer, Prunus, Tilia, &c., resembling leaves of recent types from the forests of Japan, from the forest flora of America, or from the temperate flora of the Himalayas. But
FOSSIL PLANTS FROM MOGI.FOSSIL PLANTS FROM MOGI.1, 2. Beech Leaves (Fagus ferrugineaAit., var.pliocena, Nath.). 3. Maple Leaf (Acer Mono, Max., var.pliocena, Nath.).
as the place where they were found is situated at the sea-shore, quite close to the southern extremity of Japan, it is singular that the tropical or sub-tropical elements of the flora of Japan are here wanting. From this Dr. Nathorst draws the conclusion that these are not, as has been hitherto supposed, the remains of a flora originating in Japan, but that they have since migrated thither from a former continent situated further to the south, which has since disappeared. Dr. Nathorst's examination is not yet completed, but even if this were the case, want of space would not permit me to treat of this point at greater length. I cannot, however, omit to mention that it was highly agreeable to be able to connect with the memory of theVegaexpedition at least a small contribution from more southerly lands to vegetable palæontology, a branch of knowledge to which our preceding Arctic expeditions yielded new additions of such importance through the fossil herbaria from luxuriant ancient forests which they brought to light from the ice-covered cliffs of Spitzbergen and from the basalt-covered sandstones and schists of the Noui-soak Peninsula in Greenland, now so bleak.
FOSSIL PLANT FROM MOGI.FOSSIL PLANT FROM MOGI.Leaf ofZelkova KeakiiSieb., var.pliocena, Nath.
After our return from Mogi I made an excursion to the coal-mine at Takasami, situated on an island some kilometres from the town. Even here I succeeded in bringing together some further contributions to the former flora of the region.
After the inhabitants of Nagasaki, too, had given us a grand parting feast, at which speeches were spoken in Japanese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian,Danish, and Swedish, a proof of the mixture of nationalities which prevailed there, theVegaagain weighed anchor on the 27th October, in order to continue her voyage. We now left Japan to commence in earnest our return, and on our departure we were saluted by the crews of two English gun-boats anchored in the harbour, theHornetand theSylvia, manning the yards and bulwarks. It was natural that the hour of departure, after fifteen months' absence from home, should be looked forward to with joy. But our joy was mixed with a regretful feeling that we were so soon compelled to leave—without the hope of ever returning—the magnificent country and noble people among whom a development is now going on which probably will not only give a new awakening to the old cultured races of Eastern Asia, but will also prepare a new soil for European science, industry, and art. It is difficult to foresee what new undreamed-of blossoms and fruit this soil will yield. But the Europeans are perhaps much mistaken who believe that the question here is only that of clothing an Asiatic feudal state in a modern European dress. Rather the day appears to me to dawn of a time in which the countries round the Mediterranean of eastern Asia will come to play a great part in the further development of the human race.
FOOTNOTES:
[383]The number of the works which the collection of Japanese books contains is somewhat over a thousand. The number of volumes amounts to five or six thousand, most of the volumes, however, are not larger than one of our books of a hundred pages. So far as can be judged by the Japanese titles, which are often little distinctive, the works may be distributed among the various branches of knowledge in the following way:
Numberof WorksHistory 176On Buddhism and Education 161On Shintoism 38On Christianity (printed in 1715) 1Manners and Customs 33The Drama 13Laws 5Politics, Political argumentative writings, partly new andprivately printed against the recent statues 24Poetry and Prose fiction 137Heraldry, Antiquities, Ceremonies 27The Art of War and the Use of Weapons 41Chess 1Coining 4Dictionaries, Grammars 18Geography, Maps 76Natural History 68The Science of Medicine 13Arithmetic, Astronomy, Astrology 39Handicrafts, Agriculture 43Notebooks 73The art of making bouquets (Horticulture?) 16Bibliography 9Various 20————Total 1036
[384]Further information on this point is given by Henry Gribble in "The Preparation of Vegetable Wax" (Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. iii. part. i. p. 94. Yokohama, 1875).