128 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
a gold watch and chain, gold rings and bracelets. 
These things are common enough now (except the 
bracelets) among Japanese women, but in those days 
it was otherwise. On the voyage back I was atten¬ 
tive to her, and learned that the head-master of the 
school was her husband; that she came from Sendai, 
but had been educated at a missionary school in 
Tokyo. She was going back to her parents in 
Sendai. On her arrival in Hakodate, she put up at 
a Japanese hotel with her servant. She appeared 
to be well provided with funds, and in no hurry to 
return to her parents, for she remained some months 
in Hakodate, and became the talk of the town on 
account of her un-Japanese-like actions. Riding 
was her favourite amusement. She would don 
hakama (Japanese “ divided skirts ”), and, sitting 
astride her horse, ride like a centaur, delighting to 
gallop the animal until it was nearly exhausted. 
Her pranks were many, and somewhat unsettling 
to her friends. Eventually she went to Yokohama, 
where a friend of mine persuaded her to go to her 
people in Sendai, since which time I have neither 
seen nor heard of her. It appeared that her hus¬ 
band had sent her away as being somewhat too wild 
and gay for a quiet schoolmaster’s wife. 
Although Hakodate was a most uninteresting 
and dull place, yet incidents occasionally happened 
which tended to break the monotony. One I may 
relate, in which my friend the Consul and I had a 
slight difference. The Japanese issued regulations 
requiring that all dogs should be registered, and carry 
a ticket with the name and address of the owner. 
This ticket was made of wood, about 2 inches wide 
and 3 inches long, and all dogs found without one 
