134 
EARTHQUAKES. 
waves of the ocean. He had been told that an 
island out at sea, once fair and verdant, covered 
with people and houses and trees, was now nowhere 
visible, and that ships sailed over the spot where it 
once was. 
Earthquakes are so common in Japan that mete- 
orologists have a division in their tables in order to 
mark their occurrence. Dr. Hepburn, to whom I 
am indebted for a table showing the temperature of 
Kanagawa, and which I shall have occasion to 
mention hereafter, has one of these columns in his 
table. By a reference to it, it will be found that 
from the 1st of November, 1859, to the 31st of 
October, 1860, no less than twenty-eight shocks 
had been felt. In November, 1861, four are 
marked, and in February, 1861, there are the same 
number. This will give some idea of the fre- 
quency of the shocks, and of the volcanic nature of 
the country. When we consider how often these 
earthquakes happen, and how awfully violent they 
sometimes are, it is scarcely to be wondered at if 
the natives of the country view them with feelings 
of awe and dread, and express their fears that some 
day their fair and beautiful land may disappear in 
the waters of the sea. 
As the Temple of Eco-ying is situated in a part 
of the town rarely visited by foreigners, crowds of 
people came to see us take our departure. The 
police of the district escorted us beyond their 
boundary, and we were soon out of the crowd and 
trotting onwards through the principal streets of 
