i9oo2 "To Kyushyu 



sinecure'. 



German but failed ingloriously, even if good- 

 naturedly, when put to the test. 



Collecting was good at Tsuruga, but a big snake 

 Snyder found in a thicket being a protege of Ebisu, 

 its capture would bring bad luck, the fishermen said ! 

 And yet because the season had been very dry the GodsUp 

 people were whacking the heads of the mud gods 

 of Omi, who had neglected the rice fields. Fortu- 

 nately for the reputation of those poor deities, it 

 rained hard the morning we left. 



From Tsuruga we hastened to southern Japan, 

 crossing a narrow strait of the Inland Sea to the port 

 of Moji on the great island of Kyushyu. Leaving 

 Moji, the railway passes through a pretty hill coun- 

 try with many plantations of lacquer trees — Rhus 

 vernicifera — a sort of sumac with spreading, 

 umbrella top. In the highlands lies the dainty, 

 Swiss-like village of Arita, where they make the fine 

 Imari porcelain. Farther on we came to the placid, 

 fjord-like bay of Omura; then, having crossed 

 another ridge, dropped into the city of Nagasaki. 



There the honorable governor of the province, in 

 one Mitsukuri, a shrewd and agreeable gentleman, re- ^'^s""'^' 

 ceived us most hospitably and introduced me to the 

 director of fisheries, Kobaraki, who took much inter- 

 est in our work and who in turn presented to us 

 Yahiro, a dealer in monkeys. Being then sorely 

 tempted, I bought two of those fascinating animals, 

 arranging to have both sent in due time to my return 

 steamer at Yokohama. 



We now discovered what seemed at first an alarm- 

 ing setback, but which really turned out to our 

 advantage. In Tokyo we had bought ten barrels of 



C 23 1 



