MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



513 



ing on despair ! In the raeanwliile 

 some ot my companions also 

 awoke, and their sighs and prayers 

 served only to increase my dis- 

 tress. I forgot my own misfor- 

 tunes, and slied bitter teiirs for 

 their unhappy fate. In this situa- 

 tion I remained for upwards of 

 an hour, when the cold forced mo 

 again to take refuge in the luj'. ; I 

 stretched myself upon the ground, 

 but to sleep was impossible. 



We arose at daybreak (on the 

 26th of April) kindled a fire, 

 cooked some wild garlic and sor- 

 rel, eat our breakfast, and then 

 continued our journey. V/enow 

 resolved no longer to climb the 

 hills, but to pursue our course 

 along the banks of a little stream 

 which flowed in a westerly direc- 

 tion, and then to turn towards 

 the north, to await on the sea- 

 shore an 0|)portunity of getting 

 on board a vessel. We descended 

 into a deep valley below the hill, 

 and directed our course towards 

 the west, along the side of the 

 stream. But the road we had 

 chosen was by no means an easy 

 one. The stream frequently 

 flowed with violence between 

 narrow cliffs of rocks, which we 

 could not pa^ without the great- 

 est difficulty and danger. The 

 least slip of the foot would have 

 plunged us into the water, and 

 we should have been carried down 

 by the current and dashed to 

 pieces against some of the pro- 

 jecting masses of rock. In ad- 

 dition to this, we were compelled 

 at every quarter of a mile, and 

 even at shorter distances, to wade 

 across the rivulet, as the banks 

 on one side were frequently so 

 steep, that it was impossible to 

 walk along them. Whenever we 



Vol. LX. 



found it necessary to cross from 

 one side to the other, we, of 

 course, chose those parts in which 

 the water was shallow and flowed 

 with little violence; but we fre- 

 quently found it, even with the 

 assistance of poles, difficult to 

 resist the force of the current. 

 The depth of the stream was 

 various, sometinus reaching to 

 our knees, and at other limes 

 above our waists. 



Having travelled in this way to 

 some distance, we discovered on 

 the banks of the rivulet several 

 empty huts, which, during the 

 summer season, had been inha- 

 bited by wood-cutters and coal- 

 burners. We entered them and 

 searched for provisions, but we 

 found only an old hatchet and ti 

 chi(cl, both completely covered 

 wiil> rust, and two lackered cups 

 which we carried away. The day 

 was clear and excessively warm; 

 we therefore resolved, though the 

 sun had not yet set behind the 

 hills, to pass the night in one of 

 the huts, in which, we found a 

 stove for making charcoal. We 

 were afraid to kindle a blazing 

 fire, lest it should be perceived 

 by the Japanese ; we, however, 

 made one sufficiently large to 

 roast some wild garlic, lysimachia 

 and sorrel, and to dry our clothes. 

 We then lay down to rest in the 

 hut, of whicii, one half of the roof 

 had fallen in, so that wc slept as 

 it were, in the open air. The 

 night was extremely cold, but 

 from this, we did not suifer much 

 inconvenience, as we lay among 

 straw, with which, we completely 

 covered ourselves. 



On the following morning, the 

 27th of April, we took our usual 

 breakfast, and pursued our course 



2 L alov.g 



