OR, PLAIN 



in snow, and form a highway for 

 the sledge of the traveller, who 

 is not unfrequently attacked 

 by hordes of hungry wolves, 7. 

 Even in the day-time, and in 

 milder seasons, the wolves are 

 seen bounding from bush to bush 

 by the side of travellers, and 

 keeping parallel with them as 

 they proceed, waiting an^ oppor- 

 tunity to seize a victim. Passing 

 over a vast extent of country, 

 and crossing mighty ranges of 

 mountains, we reach the shores 

 of the Pacific, that great ocean 

 which is of vaster extent than 

 any other, and which alone occu- 

 pies a greater surface of the 

 earth than all its continents and 

 islands taken together. Here, 

 between the latitudes of 30 1 and 

 50°, we discover a group of 

 islands, constituting the Japanese 

 Archipelago * the country and 

 people exhibiting characteristics 

 differing from anything we have 

 witnessed in similar latitudes in 



the New World. The Japanese 

 abstain from eating the flesh of 

 animals ; the number of them has 

 been estimated at 25,000,000 ; 

 they have a very rigid form of 

 government, and the most bar- 



• ttefer to a lnr^or map. 



TEACHING. 59 



barous punishments are inflicted 

 upon offenders. 



The women, 9, after marriage, blacken their 

 teeth, which gives them a very disagreeable 

 appe arance ; the young women, 10, on the con- 

 trary, cultivate the whiteness of their teeth, 

 and have a very attractive appearance ; so 

 that, to persons of European taste, the females 

 of Japan consist of two classes, the married and 

 ugly, and the young and beautiful. r \ he soldiers, 

 11, and the domestics, 13, are under the most 

 abject subservience to the courtiers, 12. 

 Christianity was at one period introduced into 

 Japan, by the aid of missionaries, but these 

 were subsequently expelled, and their doc- 

 trines uprooted. Foreign commerce with 

 Japan has hitherto been chiefly limited to in- 

 tercourse with two nations — the Chinese and 

 the Dutch. But recently treaties of commerce 

 between the Japanese and Great Britain, and 

 also America, have been concluded ; and it 

 may be hoped that erelongmore will be known 

 of this great and interesting kingdom, which 

 for centuries has refused to have any inter- 

 course with other portions of the world. 



The great empire of China now 

 invites our attention, an empire 

 so vast that its surface may be 

 divided into three zones parallel 

 to the equator, and of which the 

 temperature and products will be 

 found to be very different. From 

 China we obtain tea, which affords 

 to us such a refreshing beverage, 

 and so many hours of domestic 

 comfort* : — 



" Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, 

 Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, 

 And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn 

 Throws up a steaming column, and the eups 

 That cheer, but not inebriate, wait on each, 

 So let us welcome peaceful evening in." 



Cowpee's Task. 



The architecture of the Chinese, 

 14, differs from all other styles. 

 The towns are usually square, and 

 surrounded by high walls, having 

 towers at certain distances. 



The houses in town, as well as in the coun- 

 try, are low, and have seldom more than one 

 story, 'lhose of the first class are built of 

 brick, or painted wood, varnished on the out- 

 side, and roofed with gray tiles, 16; the second 

 are of wood or clay, with thatched roofs. In 

 the houses of the rich there are usually several 



• The History of the Tea Plant and the Tea 

 Trade will be given hereafter. 



8 



278. 



