130 THE SEA. 



vows of allegiance. The reigning Tycoon* had his eyes opened by this act, and 

 saw that to profess obedience to any spiritual lord was to weaken his own power 

 immeasurably. The priests of the old religions, too, complained bitterly of the loss of their 

 flocks, and the Tycoon determined to crush out the Christian faith. Thousands upon 

 thousands of converts were put to death, and the very last of them are said to have 

 been hurled from the rock of Papenberg, at Nagasaki, into the sea. In 1600, William 

 Adams, an English sailor on a Dutch ship, arrived in the harbour of Bungo, and speedily 

 became a favourite with the Tycoon, who, through him, gave the English permission to 

 establish a trading " factory " on the island of Firando. This was later on abandoned, but 

 the Dutch East India Company continued the trade on the same island, under very severe 

 restrictions. The fire-arms and powder on their ships were taken from them immediately 

 on arrival, and only returned when the ships were ready for sea again. 



Yokohama, the principal port, stands on a flat piece of ground, at the wide end of a 

 valley, which runs narrowing up for several miles in the country. The site was reclaimed 

 from a mere swamp by the energy of the Government; and there is now a fine sea-wall 

 facing the sea, with two piers running out into it, on each of which there is a custom- 

 house. The average Japanese in the streets is clothed in a long thin cotton robe, open 

 in front and gathered at the waist by a cloth girdle. This constitutes the whole of his 

 dress, save a scanty cloth tied tightly round the loins, cotton socks and wooden clogs. 

 The elder women look hideous, but some of their ugliness is self-inflicted, as it is the 

 fashion, when a woman becomes a wife, to draw out the hair of her eyebrows and varnish 

 her teeth black ! Their teeth are white, and they still have their eyebrows, but are too 

 much prone to the use of chalk and vermilion on their cheeks. Every one is familiar 

 with the Japanese stature under the general average for there are now a large number 

 of the natives resident in London. 



Jack will soon find out that the Japanese cuisine is most varied. Tea and sacki, or 

 rice beer, are the only liquors used, except, of course, by travelled, Europeanised, or 

 Americanised Japanese. They sit on the floor, squatting on their heels in a manner which 

 tires Europeans very rapidly, although they look as comfortable as possible. The floor 

 serves them for chair, table, bed, and writing-desk. At meals there is a small stand, about 

 nine inches high, by seven inches square, placed before each individual, and on this is deposited 

 a small bowl, and a variety of little dishes. Chopsticks are used to convey the food to their 

 mouths. Their most common dishes are fish boiled with onions, and a kind of small bean, 

 dressed with oil; fowls stewed and cooked in all ways; boiled rice. Oil, mushrooms, 

 carrots, and various bulbous roots, are greatly used in making up their dishes. In the way 

 of a bed in summer, they merely lie down on the mats, and put a wooden pillow under 

 their heads ; but in winter indulge in warm quilts, and have brass pans of charcoal 

 at the feet. They are very cleanly, baths being used constantly, and the public bath- 

 houses being open to the street. Strangely enough, however, although so particular in 

 bodily cleanliness, they never wash their clothes, but wear them till they almost drop to 



* The Tycoon is nominated out of the members of three families having hereditary rights. The princes 

 or Daimios number three or four hundred, many having enormous incomes and armies of retafners. The Prince 

 of Kanga, for example, has 760,000 a year ; the Prince of Satsuma 487,000 ; and the Prince of Owari 402,900. 



