r?-26 THE LONTNS. 



sooner or later as tlie Japanese continue in tlieir 

 course of P^nropeanizino-, which seems to attack all 

 their quaint old customs ; noi- will it sur])rise me 

 to see tliis picturesque bridg-e itself make room for 

 some ugly iron structure, to be crossed by carriages 

 and footmen. 



{Since the above was written, " Unbeaten Tracks in 

 Japan,'' published in 1880, by Miss Isabella Bird, 

 informs us that the " Adsuma " of to-day is a handsome 

 stone bridge, so I must apologize for the insinuation . 

 The authoress did actually see it crossed by the Minister 

 of Marine in his English brougham and pair. Another 

 innovation Miss Bird describes is the " kuruma," a kind 

 of bath-chair, noiv universally used by natives as ivell as 

 Europeans ; it is on two ivheels, and draum by one, two, 

 or three men or boys, and might ivell be called a pull- 

 pull in contradistinction of the push-push at Pondi- 

 cherry.) 



On descending into the street, I fairly ran against a 

 man, respectably dressed, wearing a deep fibre hat 

 coming down to his chin, thus completely concealing 

 his features ; it had two small holes to see through, 

 and bore the appearance of a bee-hive. This indi- 

 vidual, I ascertained, was a noble degraded by his 

 Government : there are a great many of this class, 

 belonging to the fraternity of " Lonins," or adventurers, 



