Jue 19, ISfiS. ] 



JOURNAIi OF HOETIOULTUHE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



467 



attempted to seize and appropriate; and from Denmark, an 

 enormous merchant captain, who had sold his vessel, and was 

 returning to Copenhagen. He was a man of immense size 

 and strength ; his good humour and fun were equal to his bulk, 

 and although acquainted with many Danes, Swedes, and Nor- 

 wegians, I have never met with one so completely the imper- 

 sonation of one's idea of the old Korse Viking (i.i'., in appear- 

 ance only, for if bis body was large and powerful, his heart was 

 truly womanly, noble, tender, firm, soft, and true), robber, 

 pirate, and conqueror, or of the grand old Saxon mythological 

 deities, Thor or Woden. I can only say we were a very merry 

 jolly party. 



We will leave the cool shades of Dominico's, and turning 

 out into the broiling sun, plod on our way towards the fruit 

 market. Having proceeded some half a mile or so we come to a 

 gateway in the wall ; passing by the guard we go over a bridge 

 which spans the moat, and following a broad, very dusty road 

 pass the large and roomy theatre and come to a sort of parade- 

 ground, where we see drilling a number of troops, somewhat 

 Email and awkward, but looking on the whole clean and neat, 

 though most decidedly not formidable ; and an Englishman 

 by comparison, could not help thinking, proudly, of " The 

 Guards," at home. 



Having crossed over this parade-ground, which is surrounded 

 by a high iron railing, with a gateway on each side, we come to 

 a new town or suburb, and passing up one of the streets we 

 turn sharply to the right and enter the fruit market, and, oh ! 

 what luscious temptation do we here see exposed on all sides ; 

 and I for one must really say that I can almost excuse, and 

 certainly do not wonder at. Eve's transgreesion, if the Apple 

 with which she was tempted was one half as beautiful as many 

 of the fruits here displayed for sale, and the only objoction to 

 which is their bewildering variety. In every direction are seen, 

 on stalls, under stalls, on the pavement, and in baskets, fruit, 

 vegetables, and flowers, though the latter, I grieve to say, do 

 not seem to hold anything like the position in pubhc estima- 

 tion which, from their sweetness and brilliancy of colour, 

 they should do ; but I suppose the old proverb, " Fiimiharity 

 breeds contempt," stands good or bad here as elsewhere. 



One of the iirst and most conspicuous fruits, both on account 

 of the size of the bunches and its utility, is the Plantain. 

 This is used both green and ripe — when it is of a dull brown- 

 ish yellow. It is generally cooked and made into fritters with 

 batter, and is superior to any fritter I know, neither Apple, 

 Quince, nor Peach being comparable to it, for before its pecu- 

 liarly delicate mellow flavour even the luscious Pine Apple 

 must succumb— i.e., when cooked. Next comes its delicious 

 first cousin the Banana, which is a much shorter and smaller 

 fruit, although, to a certain extent, like the last, both much 

 lesembling iu shape a sausage which has been squeezed imtU 

 it has become triangular instead of round. There are two 

 kinds of Banana — the light yellow and the red, which latter is 

 generally much the sweeter, though drier than the other, and 

 both are in flavour much like a mellow Pear. Both the Plan- 

 tain and Banana grow on a tree, or rather plant, with a very 

 long, broad leaf, and the difiference between the two plants is 

 rather a puzzle to the iminitiated. 



Next in importance in the fruit line to the Plantain and 

 Banana come Oranges, which are most abundant and cheap — 

 that is, if you know how to bargain for them, for even in this 

 OQt-of-the-way spot the natives understand the noble art of 

 " chiselling " or cheating a stranger. Here we likewise see 

 Pine Apples and Poraeloes (I beg pardon, that is the Ben- 

 galese name for them|, here they are called Shaddocks, and in 

 England Forbidden Fruit, I suppose on account of the bitter- 

 ness with which their otherwise sweet and delicious juice is 

 mingled. They are a large fruit, often as much as 5 inches in 

 diameter, of the Orange tribe, the flesh of the sweetest and 

 best being pink. In Calcutta they could be bought in any 

 quantity for a pice a-piece, a pice beingthe fourth part of three- 

 halfpence. Then come Grapes and American Apples, and nuts 

 of various kinds from the mighty Cocoa-nut downwards. 



As for vegetables I can hardly say much ; but I noticed 

 Cabbage and Turnips, common Potatoes (here called as in 

 America), Irish Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes, several kinds of 

 vegetables and Beans to me unknown, and plenty of Sugar 

 cane. My space, however, warns me that I must stop, and 

 although I would have been delighted to have taken you to 

 that wonderfully brilliant marine garden, where Amphitrite's 

 Most precious scaly flowers are exposed to view in all their 

 acbnees of purple and gold, fiilyer and black, bright scarlet 

 aitd yellow, and other vivid ooIoutb tooDumeroua to mention, 



and only to be understood by leing actually seen — I mean the 

 fish market, and likewise to mass at tlie curious old cathedra], 

 I must drop the curtain o'er the scene and make my cangi. — 



A SUBOEOS. 



TOBACCO CULTURE IN ENGLAND. 



Fon the convenience of those persons who, like your corre- 

 spondent " P.," are unable to refer to the Acts mentioned bj 

 " W. C." (page 416j, I have hereunder set forth so much of the 

 penal clauses in the Tobacco Acts as wiU help to guide them 

 to the right view of the subject. 



Section 3 of the Act of 1831 (1 & 2 William IV., c. 13), ex- 

 plains how the several penalties and forfeitures imposed by the 

 Acts passed in the twelfth and fifteenth years of the reign of 

 Charles II., or by the Act of 1831, or any other Act prohibiting 

 the growth and culture of Tobacco, may be sued for, re- 

 covered, &c. 



By the Act (12 Charles II., c. 34), " a penalty is imposed for 

 every rod or pole of ground planted, and so pioportioniibly for 

 a greater or Icsacr quantity of ground ;" and by Vi Charle.s II., 

 c. 7, the penalty was increased, but the same words again 

 occur — " proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity." 



Moreover, there is a penalty on having Tobacco (exceeding 

 1 lb. in weight), the growth of the United Kingdom, in i)033es- 

 sion, &c. (see page 287). — X., Surrey. 



NOTES FROM JAPAN. 



To the west and north-west of Yokohama, at a distance of 

 about twenty-five or thirty miles, is a range of mountaius, a 

 portion of the great range that extends itself across the Island 

 of Nippon to the western coast. The eastern termination on 

 the plains at the head of Odawara Bay is an abrupt peak, styled 

 Oyama, a sacred mountain, the residence of an evil spirit, to 

 whom an idol is erected on the summit, and to which, at a 

 certain season only in the year, pilgrimages are made. 



A laige section of the country between the hills and valleys 

 of the coast is an elevated plain, which extends many miles into 

 the interior, and mainly cultivated with the Mi.lberry for the 

 production of silk, the chief source of wealth to its inhabitants. 

 The town of Hachoji, situated iu a large valley that intersects 

 the plain near the base of the mountains, a trifle beyond the 

 strict limits to which foreigners are permitted to travel, is the 

 centre of a large silk trade, and of considerable commercial 

 importance; it is not unfrequently visited by parties from 

 Yokohama. 



To make a visit not only to Hachoji, but a tour through the 

 countrj' to Oyama, had long been my desire, but it was not 

 until last summer and autumn that opportunity presenteditself, 

 when I had the pleasure of twice doing so, on foot and after- 

 wards on horseback. 



My first journey did not extend itself as far as Hachoji, which 

 I visited on my second trip, and otherwise varied in direction 

 from the second. The possibility of a pedestrian tour had fre- 

 quently been the topic of conversation between myself and 

 several friends, until at last we decided to try it. On the morn- 

 ing of September 5th we started off, accompanied by two atten- 

 dants to carry necessary baggage and provision, and took the 

 road direct to the mountain. After passing over the Tokaido 

 several miles, we turned o£f into a broad and fertile valley, 

 gradually ascending until we reached the table land. Our course 

 laid directly over the plain, meeting numbers of pilgrims going 

 to and returning from Oyama. We soon met with Mulberry 

 trees, our road passing through an almost continuous plantation 

 of them. The point at which we ascended the plain is about 

 the lowest towards the sea, some eight or ten miles distant, at 

 which the Jlulberry is ciJtivated ; beyond it gradually descends 

 into a lower plain cultivated with cereals. Occasionally we 

 would descend into a small valley, in which places the popula- 

 tion chiefly reside, but where the Mulberry is no longer culti- 

 vated. It is characteristic of the people to choose valleys and 

 retired shaded nooks for their residences, and the absence of in- 

 habitants on the plains was a marked feature of our journey. 

 In a few instances we met with villages not iu valleys, but they 

 are rare exeoptions to the general rule. In the afternoon of the 

 day we passed through one of these, which, with its broad street 

 in the middle of it, reminded me of those seen in other lauds. 

 Still later in the afternoon we descended into a valley through 

 which flowed a rapid stream called the Sangami river ; at the 

 time we crossed it was but a.narro?? stieam, not over ^150 jai,^ 



