354 FIRE AT YOKOHAMA. 



another along the Yeddo bay through fertile green 

 valleys and over some pretty hillocks covered with the 

 wild camellia, violets, and the sarsaparilla {Smilax 

 officinalis), a twining shrub with bright crimson 

 flowers. 



During the few remaining days of my stay in Japan 

 a fire, not at all an unusual occurrence, took place in 

 one of the most populated parts of the town, and it was 

 amusing to watch the primitive mode adopted by the 

 people to extinguish it, which in truth seldom happens 

 until an entire block is burnt out. Here their super- 

 stitious childishness shows itself. They climb upon 

 the roofs of adjacent houses with large paper globes 

 stuck upon poles and covered with coloured designs of 

 dragons and the emblems of a protecting deity, in order 

 to propitiate the latter. Also silver balls and paper 

 charms were thrown upon the roofs for the same pur- 

 pose. 



On my last visit to the bazaars I managed to pick up 

 a few genuine curiosities in the hands of a dealer, who 

 had just returned from the capital with the spoils of a 

 Damio's collection. One was a life-size white pigeon 

 covered with minute bits of marble admirably imitat- 

 ing its plumage. This sacred symbol of purity had a 

 history of its own, too long to relate here ; suffice it to 



