A LARGE CRATER. 
339 
summit we should have before us a descent equally easy, but 
instead of that we found ourselves standing on the edge of 
what was nothing more or less than a deep pit, which, so far 
as we could see, was nearly circular. The greater portion 
of the sides of this pit were perpendicular cliffs of rocks, which 
here and there, near their upper parts, showed the irregular, 
broken stratification, so characteristic of the sides of many 
craters. In places at the foot of these cliffs a sloping talus had 
been formed ; whilst in other places (which, I may remark, 
were few in number) the cliff-like forms bad been so far 
denuded that the sides of the pit formed irregular, but ex- 
ceedingly steep, slopes. Looking at this pit from the com- 
manding position in which we stood, I estimated its width 
at seven miles ; and it was not until we descended, and tried to 
walk across, and found how little was the progress which we 
made, that we recognized how far we had underrated its true 
dimensions. In the middle of the pit, and running up far 
above its sides, there is a large, irregular block of moun- 
tains, the central peak of which is always giving off large 
clouds of steam. This peak was Mount Aso, the goal of our 
journey. From the rim upon which we stood, by a zig-zag 
pathway, we quickly made the descent to the crater plain 
below us. The depth at this point was about 600 feet. 
At the foot of these mountains the priests have their per- 
manent rendezvous, and on the summit small temples and 
shrines, where during fixed seasons they reside, and receive the 
crowds of pilgrims to the deities of the mountain. The number 
of pilgrims who ascend the famous Fujiyama every year must 
be many thousands, and the fees the priests derive thereby, from 
the toll-gates on the upward paths which they have established, 
are very numerous, and must form a considerable revenue. If 
you visit some of these mountains at any other time than 
the appointed season, you may be refused permission to ascend. 
I myself was refused in this way at Iwakisan, one of the most 
beautiful volcanoes in northern Kipon. On another mountain, 
Chokaisan, I was subjected to a most curious treatment. I 
commenced ascending this mountain, and after scrambling over 
blocks of lava, and up long fields of snow, I reached the top, 
faint and wear}-, at half -past one o’clock p.m. My first impulse 
was to eat and drink, but in this I was prevented by four 
priests, who insisted that before satisfying either my hunger or 
my thirst I ought to pay my devotions at a small shrine which 
they had built. Being too tired and feeble to resist, I allowed 
them to lead me into the shrine, where I dropped on my knees 
before the idol between two priests, who, after putting on their 
robes of office, commenced to invoke the deity, and beat small 
drums. After this, they opened a small door in front of 
