322 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



sama drove away all Christians from it. A curious 

 and interesting work, entitled Ambassades vers les 

 Empereurs du Japon, published at Amsterdam in 

 1680, mentions that at Ohosaka there was a "temple 

 des diables," where the Japanese adore a frightful 

 statue, who wears a crown full of diamonds on the 

 head of a bear. The narrator makes the important 

 statement, that "Les Japonnais honorent les diables, et 

 leur font toutes sorte d'offrandes et de cultes religieux, 

 afin qu'ils ne leur f assent point de mal." We steamed 

 within two miles of the shore, and found there a 

 depth of about five fathoms ; but for many miles 

 before that the lead had given only from seven to 

 five fathoms ; so, though the bay is exposed to the 

 south-west, no very heavy sea could get into it; 

 large vessels might ride out a storm from that quarter, 

 and on other sides they are effectually protected. In 

 the distance the mountains converge, forming the 

 valley of the Engawa, on which, forty miles off, is 

 Miyako "the Capital" where the Mikado "the 

 Lord of the World " or Spiritual Emperor, resides 

 in a state of deified isolation, which would be per- 

 fectly intolerable were it not relieved by a large 

 number of wives. The Siogoun, or Temporal Em- 

 peror, of course, resides at Yedo "River's Door" 

 where the temporal business of the country is 

 chiefly transacted ; but Miyako is the greatest manu- 

 facturing place and commercial emporium of the 

 whole empire. None of the other ports can for a 



