100 'S. SEKIYA AND Y. KIKUCHI 



the area thereafter occupied by Lake Inawashiro. This account of 

 the splitting of one large mountain into several minor peaks is in- 

 teresting, as it agrees with the suppositions suggested Ly the struc- 

 ture of the volcano. For, as has been previously explained, the 

 several ridges together constituting the Bandai group surround an 

 elevated plateau which has all the appearance of an old crater. 



Another tradition, apparently referring to the same event, says 

 that in the first year of Daidö (806 A. D.) Lake Inawashiro was 

 suddenly formed, and in it a small island, now called Okina-shima, 

 appeared. 



Religious traditions, on the other hand, not unnaturally connect 

 the catastrophe with demoniacal agencies. A Buddhist temple in a 

 village near Bandai-san contains a document, said to chronicle its 

 founding;, which runs thus: "In olden times there used to dwell 

 about Bandai devils who did much harm to the inhabitants; in the 

 year of Daidö numbers of people living at the foot of the mountain were 

 swallowed beneath the earth, and there was left a great lake (Inawa- 

 shiro). The reigning Emperor, in order to subjugate the evil spirits 

 which were probably the cause of all these terrestrial mysteries, 

 despatched the famous priest Kükai, who, on arrival at the spot, per- 

 formed ten days' secret prayer to Buddha, when the devils were com- 

 pelled to vacate Bandai and to flee to the neighouring mountains. 

 In commemoration whereof, Kükai caused this temple of Dainichi-ji 

 to be built." 



Several ancient records describe the mountain as having at various 

 times smoked and ejected lire and poisonous vapours. Such accounts 

 are highly interesting, especially when we consider the volcano's 

 apparent quiescence for ten centuries. We give below translations 

 of some of the records published by the Geographical Bureau, with 

 remarks on them. 



