19003 A Glorious Ride 



prickly ash, and a thorny aralia like our ''Hercules 

 Club." Abundant club-mosses trailed up the sides 

 of the trees, not creeping along the ground as in our 

 forests. Black raspberries were plentiful, but my 

 pony objected to berry picking and made it a long 

 task to mount; as Rafinesque once observed, "horses 

 do not suit botanists." I noticed a goldenrod with 

 two long ray flowers only, and two species of touch- 

 me-not, the one yellow, the other light purple. There 

 was also a quaint little crown-imperial with creamy 

 petals tiger-spotted like an orchid. 



From the top of the ridge the Daiya plunges 290 

 feet down the narrow and vertical Kegon Fall, the 

 most admired of Japanese cascades, though perhaps 

 too symmetrical for the occidental taste. Its black 

 lava cliffs are beautifully overhung with vegetation, 

 and close behind it lies the placid Lake Chuzenji 

 surrounded by steep forest-clad mountains, delightful 

 from every point of view. Originally Chuzenji held 

 no fish, the Kegon shutting them off effectually, but 

 several kinds of trout and landlocked salmon have 

 been introduced there in recent times. At the little 

 Komeya Inn they served an excellent tiffin of beef- 

 steak and onions, with curry and rice. The bill of 

 fare, however, read as follows: 



Bif Tek an Oneona 

 Kuri an hiz 



Out of Chuzenji the trail for some distance threads 

 the handsome forest which skirts the lake. But at 

 the mouth of the inlet of Jigoku (Hell) River, enter- 

 ing at a right angle, we turned northward along the 

 banks of the stream which foams down from the 

 noted Ryuzu or Dragon Head Fall, a promiscuous Lacy 

 cascade of white lace interspersed with green pools. Ryuzu 



C 69 ] 



