60 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



The kung-qua* towns, which occur at distances of ahout twelve miles along the main 

 thoroughfares of the island, are stations also for exchanging baggage-carriers and their official 

 directors; and, on our arrival at those places, we always found new ones already prepared and 

 ready to take us up. One man, however, Usi-Sati, kept with us the whole way as interpreter 

 and guide, till on the third day he broke clown, and had to be left behind. 



Our route, on the first day of our journey, (Tuesday,) was mainly along the western side of 

 the island, and was over the same road that we had returned by on our former journey ; and 

 the fine bridges, picturesque ravines, and rich cultivation of the first part of the way, together 

 with the rough mountain scenery further to the north, I presume have all been described in 

 Mr. Taylor's report. 



We were hurrying on for the kung-qua of Peko, thirty miles from our starting-point, and 

 night overtook us while we were still five or six miles distant from it ; but at one of the villages 

 we found our interpreter, who had preceded us, now waiting, with a good provision of torches 

 (dry reeds tied in long bundles) and torch-bearers ; and, with their help, we got on safely, 

 sometimes by the sea-shore, sometimes by broken and tortuous paths in the interior. Our 

 party came dropping into the kung-qua between eight and nine o'clock, the American part of 

 it completely exhausted by the long and rapid journey ; and, although our Lew Chew officials 

 presently had eggs and live chickens provided for us, we voted, unanimously, that we were too 

 tired to get or wait for a regular supper ; and so, after a hasty extempore one, we tumbled on 

 the thickly-matted floor, and gave rest to our exhausted limbs. 



On Wednesday our course was still as in our former return journey, until about twelve o'clock, 

 when we arrived at the village of Necumma, and here Mr. Heine and Dr. Fahs separated from 

 the main party; our mode of travelling being too rapid to admit of sketching or careful botaniz- 

 ing, they here crossed the island, and returned by another route. 



The southern portion of Lew Chew is gently undulating, and under high cultivation; then, 

 going northwardly, we came to a very mountainous region, with specks of fields and villages 

 only where the short mountain gorges open to the sea. Along the edge of this mountain- 

 country our road still continued, after leaving Necumma, mostly on the winding beach, till 

 about four o'clock, when we came to a region of a totally different character. We were now at 

 the angle whence projects that long promontory, which, stretching out westward and then to 

 the north, and curving round, forms, with its adjoining islands, the large bay, and, within that, 

 the snug little harbor called Port Melville. This promontory itself is mountainous ; but on 

 the main island the mountains now sunk into hills, often sharp and conical, but cultivated to 

 the summits, while every inch of the valleys between was turned to advantage in rice and other 

 grains, the whole presenting a scene of active husbandry and great agricultural beauty. At 

 the angle on the sea-shore we found the very pretty town of Nugah, with several junks at 

 anchor in front. The town is beautiful, with green openings, over which, and along its streets, 

 noble trees were casting their shadows ; while the streets themselves, as is the case in most of 

 the Lew Chew towns, were remarkable for cleanliness and neatness. We were taken to the 

 kung-qua, where fresh bearers were found waiting ; and as the populace, in their curiosity to see 

 the strangers, crowded a little beyond the limits allowed them by Lew Chew etiquette, the 

 island officials, by sound blows upon the backs of the intruders, soon restored them to their 

 places; the blows being received with a patience and equanimity very wonderful to Americans. 



" A kung-qua is a public building for the accommodation of travellers. Mr. Taylor has, no doubt, described them in 

 his report of our journey in June of last year. 



