Chap. X. 
THE SHIP ASHORE. 
167 
has that barren and uncultivated character which I 
have already often alluded to in describing our 
voyage down this sea. It presents a striking con- 
trast to the volcanic regions near Yedo, where 
every inch of land is capable of being profitably 
cultivated, although, for some reason, thousands of 
acres are lying waste, or covered with brushwood 
of little value. But although the shores of the 
Inland Sea, — beautiful though they are, — present 
a barren aspect to the voyager, yet there must be 
many rich valleys amongst these hills capable of 
producing abundant crops to supply “ the wants of 
man and beast.” Glimpses of these were caught 
as we sailed along the shores, and there must have 
been many more which were hidden from our 
view. These the streams which flow down from 
the mountains irrigate and fertilise, while the 
climate of Japan is probably one of the finest in 
the world. 
Before we got clear of the strait some alarm 
was felt owing to the shallowness of the water, and 
it must be confessed we had no great confidence in 
the knowledge of our pilots. After having had 
for some time only three and three-and-a-half 
fathoms of water, we suddenly felt an unusual 
motion, which old sailors like myself knew to be 
an intimation from the ship that she was “ hard 
and fast ashore.” And so it was ; we had touched 
a bank having only two fathoms of water on it, 
which our good ship refused to gt> over, and from 
which she could not recede. Our Japanese pilots 
