OCEANICA, OR OCEANIA. 



971 



Christianity was introduced in 1549, and extir- 

 pated in 1G3S. No form of Cliristianity is now 

 tolerated. Marriage is performed in the tem- 

 ples. The bride hghts a torch at the ahar, and 

 the bridegroom another at liers, which consti- 

 tutes the ceremony. The funeral observances 

 are similar to the Chinese. 



The buildings in Japan are of excessively 

 slight materials, and the walls are of clay ; the 

 interior is divided into partitions with pasteboard, 

 and the walls are covered with paper, which 

 with the rich is elegantly painted and varnish- 

 ed. As the natives sit on the floor, there is no 

 occasion for the furniture which decorates our 

 apartments. Pomp is chiefly displayed in the 

 number and beauty of the mats with which the floor is spread, and the imperial hall is called 

 the hall of the thousand mats. Fires are frequent, and of course very destructive in the cities. 

 The food of the Japanese is simple, and not only animal food, but even milk and anything 

 made of it, is avoided. Rice is the great article of food, and tea and sacki or rice beer, are 

 universally consumed. The dress is plain. It consists merely of a large loose robe, resem- 

 bling a bed-gown, made of silk or cotton, and varying with the different ranks only in fineness. 

 Straw shoes, which are put off at the door, are wdi'n ; the head, which is shaved, is generally 

 left uncovered, except on journeys, when it is covered with a huge cap of straw or oiled paper. 

 The Japanese are great travelers, and this partly owing to their frequent pilgrimages, and part- 

 Iv to their great inland trade. The princes also make their annual tours with large retinues. 



CHAPTER CLIV. OCEANICA, OR OCEANIA. 



Branch of the Bread- Fruit Tree. 



1. Extent. Boundaries. This vast island-world extends from 95° E. to 106° W. longitude, 

 and from 35° N. to 56° S. latitude. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Ocean, the 

 Strait of Malacca, the Chinese Sea, and the parallel of 35° N. ; on the east by the Pacific, 



Japanese Ladij. 



