Sierra Club Bulletin. 



of the houses we emerged into the fields, a company of 

 nine, who intended to reach the summit of Asama before 

 the dawn. 



For three hours our route lay in the plain around the 

 base of Hanare to the village of Kutsukake. This little 

 hamlet was asleep, shuttered, and dark when we arrived, 

 but soon waked up and while our guides smoked a pipe 

 of refreshment came out to look at us and to offer for 

 sale bean-cake and soda-water. From this time onward 

 we were climbing up the valley which lay between Hanare 

 and Asama upon a slope which was gentle at the begin- 

 ning but steeper with every mile traversed. We soon 

 rounded the southern end of Hanare, thus placing it 

 between us and the village of Karuizawa. Hanare 

 was still upon our right as we traveled northward, while 

 on our left was a broad, deep valley which lay between 

 us and Asama, and which became narrower and deeper 

 as we rode forward. At the head of the ravine was a 

 connecting ridge across which the road passed from 

 Hanare to Asama. Just as we entered the valley a heavy 

 mist settled down upon us, diffusing an icy chill and 

 making it almost impossible for one of us to see his hand 

 before his face. The nine horses went in single file along 

 the narrow path which wound around the side of Hanare, 

 looking up the height of the mountain on the one hand, 

 and on the other looking down over a precipice, which 

 in some places fell away to the black depth of a thousand 

 feet. There were places where a single misstep of a 

 horse in the darkness would have thrown its rider to 

 destruction. But just then this was hidden from our 

 eyes ; it was only upon the return journey on the morrow 

 that we saw. 



At intervals the head betto called in signal to the 

 others, and they answered each in turn, the sounds, 

 muffled in the darkness and dampness, coming as though 

 from out of a great distance. Then after an interval a 

 sleepy echo was stirred in the steep sides of Asama 

 across the chasm. The paper lanterns glimmered dimly 



