QUACK-DOCTORS. 
303 
wouder was depicted in tlie upturned faces in tlie 
boats, and, on all sides, loud clickings of tlie tongue 
and mute signs of approval were every instant 
interchanged. 
A motley group soon tlironged the decks, all 
dressed in their best, the women and girls liare- 
footed, but with their hair neatly arranged. The 
men and boys often bore on their wrists tame fal- 
cons, and little nuthatches in tall wicker-cages. 
Quack-doctors were especially numerous and im- 
portant ; and the 0-Esha, or chief doctor of the 
ship, found favour in their eyes. A fellow-feeling 
makes us wondrous kind."'^ 
One ancient empiric paused abruptly before me, 
feeling his pulse, lolling out his tongue, and com- 
placently patting his stomach. Tliat pantomime 
having been duly enacted, he next proceeded with 
great gravity to swallow one of his own pills, and 
went away with a well-satisfied smile at his own 
performance. 
The people of Japan are fond of natural curiosi- 
ties, although the mythic element is not so strongly 
