!50 THE HOLY MOUNTAIN. Chap. X 
cape, the dread of mariners, but which, I am bound 
to say, has as yet treated me kindly — was also 
passed, and then darkness set in, and the fair land 
of Nipon was hidden from our eyes. 
On the following morning I was up and on 
deck before sunrise, and was well rewarded by 
the beauty of the scene. Landward, Fusiyama, 
or the “ Holy Mountain,” was seen towering high 
above all the other land, covered with snow of the 
purest white, and its summit already basking in the 
rays of the morning sun, although that luminary had 
not yet shown himself to the denizens of our lower 
world. Sailors and passengers alike looked often 
and long upon that lovely mountain, and it was 
with regret we watched it gradually disappear 
from our view and sink in the horizon. 
In the afternoon of this day we were abreast of 
Cape Oo-sima, and soon afterwards entered the 
Kino Channel, which lies between the islands of 
Sikok and Nipon, and leads into the Inland Sea. 
A reference to the map of Japan will give a better 
idea of the position of this sea than any description. 
No foreign vessel, except ships of war or transports, 
had been allowed to navigate its waters, and, as it 
had not been surveyed, it was necessary, in all cases, 
to obtain pilots from the Japanese Government 
before attempting the passage. The ‘England’ 
was not a ship of war nor in any way connected 
with the Government, and, in ordinary cases, would 
not have been permitted to pass through the 
sacred waters of the Inland Sea. But as Captain 
