1889.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 115 



Feb. 11, 1879, I witnessed the Shinto festival, commem- 

 orating the 2,539th anniversary of the accession of the 

 first emperor, Jimmu Tenno, and on the third day of No- 

 vember following I attended the celebration of the twenty- 

 seventh birthday of his royal descendant of the 121st 

 generation, the present emperor. 



The great length of the imperial line is largely due to its 

 crookedness. Any child of the emperor may become heir 

 to the throne, whether by the empress or one of his majesty's 

 concubines ; and, since that branch of his family is limited 

 only to twelve, it is no fault of the system if the line 

 becomes extinct. The heir apparent is such a son. 



However much the views of foreigners concerning Japan's 

 people may differ, I doubt if ever a traveller spoke or wrote 

 of her scenery save in terms of unqualified admiration. I 

 hesitate to attempt a just tribute to its enchanting variety, 

 warmth and beauty. Japan is indeed the traveller's para- 

 dise. It is a bit of creation more than worthy the author- 

 ship of her traditional gods, or to be the abode of their 

 children. 



Imagine yourself wafted away to the shores of the bay of 

 Yedo, to a landscape most fair and smiling. Gentle slopes, 

 crested by dark fringes of gnarled pines and stately firs, 

 and clothed in dense masses of feathery bamboo, lead down 

 to the sea. The quaint eaves of many a sombre-lined temple 

 and holy shrine peep out here and there from the groves 

 The bay itself is studded with picturesque fisher-craft, the 

 torches of which nightly shine like glow-worms among the 

 outlying forts, and against the dusky shore as far as the eye 

 can reach. Far away to the west, beyond the twin hills of 

 Hakone pass, Fijiyama, the " peerless mountain," rises above 

 the plain, from which tradition gave it birth in fiery flames one 

 night two-and-twenty centuries ago. It reaches its hoary 

 head far above the summer clouds, as if to gaze upon the 

 fair face of its twin-born sister, the beautiful Lake Biwa, 

 three hundred miles beyond, which the self-same night was 

 cradled there as Fuji arose to view. Milton conceived a 

 scene like this when he wrote : — 



" So high as heaved the tumid hill, so low 

 Down sank the hollow bottom, broad and deep 

 Capacious bed of waters." 



