136 THE KII COAST. 



Nothing that I know of is so refreshing after a long 

 and tedious "walk as a good bath, in water as hot as you 

 can bear it. Scarcely a cottage in Japan, however poor, 

 is without its bath, particularly in the country, where 

 there are no public bath-houses, as there are in the large 

 towns. They are generally placed in front of the house, 

 in the path, or beside a stream. The goodman first gets 

 in, then his wife and children. If the bath is big enough, 

 two or three at a time soak themselves. Soap has only 

 been used of late, since, in fact, it was introduced a few 

 years ago by foreigners. In the public tea-houses the 

 bath-room is attached to the house, and covered over. 



To return to my trip. The following day our course, 

 for there was no path, led up the stream, which, I have 

 mentioned, passed the village. After six miles of this 

 slippery, wet walking, we struck up the face of the 

 mountain, and climbing, scrambling, and sometimes 

 walking in a zig-zag line for several hours, we at last 

 gained the crest ; an hour afterwards we reached the 

 camping-ground, a plateau of some extent, where 

 three streams met, which, after flowing a short way 

 west, tumbled down the mountain side in a single river 

 of fair size. These streams were all full of trout of 

 excellent quality. Next morning I left our camp very 

 early for the peak, 1000 feet above our wigwam. I 



