80 Mr. J. O. Pelton on 
within the sacred precincts, for which offence he was condemned 
to perform hara-kiri, i.e. commit suicide by disembowelling. The 
story of how his faithful dependants, forty-seven in number, 
finally avenged their master’s death, and by so doing incurred 
the same fate, is a terrible story of fierce heroism too long to 
recount here. 
The extraordinary feats that are accomplished by Japanese 
swords may seem incredible. It is said that so keen can the 
edge of a first-class blade be made, that if held upright in 
running water the reeds and grasses which are floating down 
with the current will be divided when they come in contact with 
it. A Japanese nobleman of the old school would not consider 
a blade satisfactory unless it would cut a bar of iron and sever 
a falling hair. But these feats, which seem so incredible, have 
been vouched for by reliable authorities, both native and foreign. 
The fact that a bar of iron or a falling hair can be divided is 
of course only possible when the blade is sharpened to its 
utmost, and in the former case is wielded by an accomplished 
expert. No novice, however powerful, could accomplish it; it is a 
work of skill, not of force. Those of you who may have witnessed 
Japanese gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, conjuring, &ec., will 
admit that in all these they have knacks and tricks which are in 
many ways superior to anything we can show. In the hands of 
an accomplished expert the Japanese sword is the most effective 
cutting instrument in the world. The most wonderful part of 
the matter is that the quality of the metal is so good, and the 
tempering carried to such perfection, that, though subjected to 
such severe tests, a fine blade will be uninjured and its beauty 
unimpaired. 
The best experts—I believe they exist with very few exceptions 
only in Japan—can tell, when the sharpening and polishing of 
the blade is completed, who has wrought it, and if they are 
government officials are empowered to give a certificate written 
on special paper and stamped. Only a most consummate judge 
can note and estimate all the markings which a fine blade will 
show,—the nioi, misty spots and flecks, fleecy and broken apart 
like clouds; tobi yaki, flying burns, i.e. isolated specks of soft 
white. Along the edge would appear little points of bright 
silver, called nie; then there would be the utsuri, or reflection, 
resembling the mist round the moon; the chikei, small films of 
white; the niadzuma, or lightning flashes; the swnagashi, resem- 
bling specks of sand in a row; the ucki yoke, or narrow forge- 
marks. The blade which combined all these would be the 
treasured possession of a damio, to be handed down from father 
to son, an heirloom never to be parted with. 
An examination of swords will show differences that are 
difficult of explanation. I refer more particularly to the grooves 
