686 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chai-. 



at a fete, 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 apjDeared 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 the Vega again 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 the Vcgci the 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 

 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 Kttle 

 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 fishermen's 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 

 small mhi bottle. 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 



