IMPRESSIONS OF JAPAN 9 



plain people bowing to each other, and many young peo- 

 ple saluted me on the street. The infinite variety in their 

 shops is noticeable. To see the coaling of the steamers 

 in Japanese harbours, which is done by baskets handed 

 from one to another, makes an impression on the traveller. 

 Hundreds of women and men take part in the occupation, 

 and they come neatly dressed to this dirty work, women 

 with clean white kerchiefs on their heads. The low 

 ditches in their rice-fields are like engineering work, and 

 their bundles of wood are nicely tied. 



Of the many temples I visited in Kioto the first was 

 Chion-in, which lies impressively on an elevation at the 

 foot of a charming wooded hill. The tiny lake at the back 

 of the quaint structure, the peaceful atmosphere, the sun- 

 shine, and singing birds — the tout ensemble was inexpres- 

 sibly beautiful. On my way back to the hotel I passed a 

 Christian church and felt ashamed of the wretched archi- 

 tecture, in the usual conventional style, made of stone 

 with white-plastered walls, hard and unattractive. Never 

 have I been among a people so close to nature, strikingly 

 intelligent, friendly, and the most aesthetic of all nations 

 on the globe. 



In continuing the journey opportunity is afi^orded to 

 see Shanghai, Hong-Kong, and at last Singapore, the 

 important port of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore, with 

 its green lawns and trees, has a pleasant, though humid 

 climate, cooler than that of Batavia, and quite comforta- 

 ble although so near the equator. It is satisfying to know 

 one place where the native races have a good time in 

 competition with the whites, not only the Chinese, who 



