332 JAPANESE LANGUAGE. 



eiionnous size of tlie town may be judged from the fact 

 that one of its principal streets is said to be nine miles 

 long. 



Easter season came round during my stay at the 

 capital, and at the hotel there was no lack of cross 

 buns, oysters, whitebait, and all sorts of delicacies ; 

 whilst the day passed in exchanging calls with the few 

 European residents at the Foreign Legations. Also 

 two or three Japanese officials made their appearance 

 for no special reasons, so far as I could ascertain,— 

 probably as part of their spy system, — but as the con- 

 versation had to be carried on through interpretei'S, 

 it was a lame affair, enlivened only by the sipping of 

 sundry small cups of tea, and the inhaling of fumes 

 from a very diminutive pipe. I was much charmed 

 with the melodious sound of tlieir language, and most 

 of the words ending in a vowel, it rather reminds one 

 of Italian. I learnt two words on that Easter-day, 

 which have often helped me out of a difficulty 

 during the remainder of my stay. They were : Arimass, 

 an affirmative, standing for yes, I have, I am, I will, 

 I want, etc. ; Arimdss-imj, a negative, no, I won't, and 

 so on. Never did I ac(|uire two more acconunodating 

 forms of speech. 



The enormous theatre, Oki-Chibaya, I visited on the 



