PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 275 
at that unsatisfactory season when the migratory birds had all departed, 
and yet it was not cold enough to drive the winter birds down from the 
mountains. 
Finding it necessary to reduce our luggage to the smallest amount 
possible with the work in hand, we sent our tent and collections on 
hand back to Yokohama. The balance of our supplies and outfit we 
sent by native express company to Omachi, in the province of Shinshinu, 
which we decided to make our headquarters. We now had a walk 
before us of about 100 miles over some of the most picturesque and 
mountainous country in Japan, extending nearly across the main island. 
The roads were exceedingly rough, being mainly bridle-paths for pack- 
horses. In this stretch of country we did not observe a single valley 
10 miles in width. Five miles from Chiusenji we passed through the 
town of Umoto, on the shores of Umoto Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, 
smaller in size than Chiusenji, but much more irregular in shape. This 
lake is on a higher level than Chiusenji, and empties into it by a steep 
cascade. Some of the strongest sulphur springs in Japan are found at 
Umoto, and are much resorted to by travelers. The water, which is 
124° Fahr., pours out of the hillside and finally empties into the lake, 
turning the water a dirty, milky color. In this part of the lake we 
noticed that carp were particularly abundant, seeming to enjoy the 
warmer water. 
At Numata, a town of about 4,000 inhabitants, we secured specimens 
of the ‘“‘ Ai,” a celebrated Japanese fish belonging to the Salmonide (the 
Salmo altivelis of authors). These fish are caught in a peculiar man- 
ner. After whipping the stream with flies, as for trout, and securing a 
fish, a fine gut line is passed through the nostrils and fastened to a line 
held in the hand; trailing behind the fish thus fastened, which is simply 
a decoy, are several bright hooks which flash in the sunlight and attract 
other fish. The decoy is now gently led up stream, and the fish, in dart- 
ing after it, get snagged on the hooks. Horse-hoof parings, used as 
lures, are said to be successful with “Ai”; they are also caught with 
weirs. 
At Kusats, one of the most important watering-places in Japan, cele- 
brated for its many fine baths, we stopped for a day and a half. Here 
bathing is done under systematic instruction, and many people suffer- 
ing from skin-diseases resort to the springs during the summer months. 
The red-cheeked starlet (Sturnia pyrrhogenys), which we had observed 
only once before at Subashiri, was very common about Kusats; several 
flocks of 30 or 40 were seen. 
The only town of any importance in our line of travel was Zenkoji, 
the capital of the province of Shinshiu, where we arrived on the evening 
of the 16th of September. This is quite a large, compactly-built place, 
containing about 7,000 people. On the high road to Niigata, the west 
coast sea-port, it commands most of the trade of this section of the 
country. 
