JAPANESE WBESTLEBS. 
289 
They were men of tall stature and of immense 
weight. A circular mound some 10 or 12 feet in 
diameter, on a raised platform in the middle of the 
building, is the place selected for the performance. 
On a given signal two of the number present them- 
selves and commence the contest. They eye each 
other for a while, as if watching a chance to 
catch their antagonist off his guard, stamping the 
ground as if with impatience. At length they close 
together, a struggle ensues, the result of which is 
that one is forced off the mound ; so the contest ends. 
This Was repeated hour after hour, and the audience 
generally, as they also do in their theatres, come pre- 
pared to make a day of it ; for waiters with rice, 
fish, and other eatables, and saki, are constantly 
in attendance to minister to the wants of the 
spectators. 
The streets are full of life and movement. People 
are wending their way home, or to the bathing- 
house, which, strongly lighted up, shows through 
its lattice bars crowds of both sexes enjoying the 
luxury of the bath. The tea-houses are filling, and 
the plaintive sounds from the sam-i-sen are heard 
from many of the upper stories. Gaily painted and 
figured lanterns are flitting to and fro, and light up 
somewhat dimly the shops and roads, for the gas 
is not as yet laid on all over the city, and the 
law still remains in force that everyone after dark 
