BAZAARS. 355 



say that it had been the chief ornament on the altar of 

 a Japanese temple for upwards of two centuries. 

 Another real curio was a very skilful representation of 

 the fanciful mermaid, which some fifty years ago 

 created an inexhaustible source of gossip to penny-a- 

 liners on both sides of the Atlantic. I think it was in 

 1822 when Mr. Barnum exhibited the first specimen in 

 America, which can still be seen at his museum at 

 New York. 



It would be of little or no interest to enter upon 

 political subjects, either external or internal, as exist- 

 ing at the period of my visit to Japan, since every- 

 thing was then (in 1871) in a state of transition. 

 The old feudal and spy system was tottering on its 

 last leg, and now there is not a single institution in the 

 country that has not felt the rapid march of progress, 

 which, indeed, has been marvellous and not without 

 effect, even upon the hitherto exclusive system of 

 government of the Celestial Empire at Pekin. 



AA 2 



