A RACE FOR THE LIMITED 7 



clean garments, I had my breakfast while passing through 

 an enchanting hilly country, amid smiling white birches, 

 and the maples in the autumn glory of their foliage, with 

 more intensely red colouring than can be seen outside 

 North America. The oatmeal porridge seemed unusually 

 well prepared: the waiter intimated that the cook was 

 a Parisian. However that might have been, he was 

 probablv of French descent. 



Four days later we arrived at Vancouver, where I 

 wrote to the three gentlemen of Montreal, my apprecia- 

 tion of services rendered, addressing them care of The 

 Star. Their names I did not know, but it was not the 

 first time that I had been reminded of Darwin's assurance, 

 in the account of his travels round the world, as to "how 

 many truly kind-hearted people there are, with whom he 

 (the traveller) never before had, nor ever again will have 

 any further communication, who yet are ready to offer 

 him the most disinterested assistance." 



Early in the morning on October 19 we saw the 

 first Japanese fishing-boats. The sea was green and in 

 the atmosphere a kind of haze, which almost seems pe- 

 culiar to Japan, imparted an artistic tone to everything. 

 In splendid weather, almost calm, we sailed along the coast 

 of Nippon. As we entered the bay of Yokohama the 

 sun was setting over a landscape that realised one's pre- 

 conceived ideas of the beauty of the country. On one 

 side, low ridges with rows of picturesque pine-trees just 

 as you know them from Japanese prints, while in the 

 background to the west, above the clouds rose the top of 

 Fuji, nearly 4,000 metres above sea-level. We steamed 



