306 TRAVEL, AD VENTURE, AND SPORT. 



who have been told off for that purpose. They are 

 not like the Chinese in this respect, for the English 

 which they do speak is wonderfully accurate and 

 pure, and is used by some of them with considerable 

 fluency. On the other hand, Japanese is infinitely 

 easier to learn than the Celestial tongue. It is 

 almost impossible to help picking up a little of it, 

 so characteristic, and yet so easy of pronunciation, 

 are many of its words and phrases. In this respect 

 it is even easier than Italian and Hindostanee, though, 

 as with the former language, difficulties accumulate 

 upon the learner as he proceeds. It would be hard 

 to avoid, even if one wished it, picking up such words 

 as 0-ha-yo, "Good day," or rather equivalent to that; 

 Jigijigi, " Make haste ; " Pigi pigi, " Go away ; " Ip- 

 iocha, " Very good ; " Kore wa gin sen nan mu i ka ? 

 " How many dollars is this ? " 



The little artificial island of Desima, to which the 

 Dutch were formerly confined, the wrestlers, the tea- 

 houses, and the other lions of Nagasaki, have been 

 already sufficiently described, and I need only say 

 that the houses are scrupulously clean; the ladies 

 are indubitably fine-looking ; and a bull - necked 

 wrestler sufficiently proved that he could throw me 

 over his head, though the operation was not entirely 

 carried out. At this time a number of horses were 

 being conveyed for the China expedition from Kana- 

 gawa, in the neighbourhood of the capital, and it 

 had been found that they fared ill upon the long 



