224 
A JAPANESE BAZAAR. 
And now, as we approach the bazaar, let us take a 
bird’s-eye view of its construction and general appear- 
ance. 
It was never my fortune to see either a saw-mill or 
pit in Japan; and yet this building -was got up with 
very fair pine boards that had evidently been sawed. Thej’- 
were rough and unplaned, truly; but then that only let 
one see that they had been sawed and not hewn. The 
building itself covered about three-fourths of an acre 
of ground, was perfectly square, some fifteen feet in 
height, one-storied, and enclosed an immense square 
court, whose area was probably greater than that of 
the building itself. Its roof was thatched and sloped to- 
ward the court, and it was possessed of but one entrance. 
In short, it was nothing hut four equally long, wide, and 
high sheds put together so as to form a square, and 
having a door left in one of said sides near one of the 
corners. It had, like the spy-houses, been built solely 
for us and since our arrival, and would, like them, be 
torn down after our departure. 
Wo entered at the solitary door, and, like so many 
children in a toyshop with an unexpected supply of 
pocket-money at their disposal, looked around upon 
the brilliant display, and confused ourselves by wonder- 
ing which we were to admire most, which we were to 
pass by, and which to linger over. 
Two of the four shed-like sides of the building were 
divided off into stalls, one of which was furnished to eaeh 
merchant to enable him to display specimens of his wares to 
the best advantage ; while the spaces immediately in front 
of the stalls were covered by boxes containing the wares, 
