52 THE INLAND SEA REVISITED. 



the deer was on his last legs, and reaching the wall, 

 and finding the deer's track on the path which ran 

 along by it, off again I went on better ground. In a 

 couple of hundred yards I turned a sharp angle. At 

 the same moment, fifty yards from me on the path, with 

 antlers flung over his shoulders, and with an unsteady 

 but swinging gallop, came the stag. It was impos- 

 sible to get out of his way, and he, poor brute, was 

 past caring for what was ahead. A dreaded dog was 

 close behind him, and to keep going was his only 

 chance. Swinging my gun to the shoulder, I fired 

 at his throat when twenty yards off, and he fell 

 dead. His head was the best of many a deer I shot 

 on the island, although several larger animals fell to 

 my gun afterwards. 



The scenery in the Inland Sea is in perfection 

 during May. For thirty miles after leaving Soza 

 Sima you pass innumerable islands of all sizes and 

 shapes. The golden patches of ripe corn are now being 

 cut. In Japan harvesting is done very differently from 

 that in England. The neighbours assist one another in 

 cutting, gathering, and threshing, which all goes on at 

 once, and on the spot. No grain is cut here until quite 

 ripe. The whole village, men, women, and children, all 

 do their share of the work. Merrily and quickly the 



