XVI.] 
JAPANESE LADIES. 
309 
murderous attempts have been made against the men of the 
new time. In order to protect themselves from these, ministers, 
when they go out, generally have their carriages surrounded by 
an armed guard on horseback. 
On the 18th September several of the members of the Vega 
expedition were invited to a dSjeijjner d la fourdiette by Admiral 
Kawamura, minister of inarine. This entertainment had an in¬ 
terest for us because we were here for the first time received into 
a Japanese home. I sat at table by the side of Lady Kawamura. 
Even the children were present at the entertainment. Lady 
Kawamura was dressed in the Japanese fashion, tastefully but 
very plainly, if we except a heavy gold chain encircling the 
waist. In other respects the entertainment was arranged accord¬ 
ing to the European mode, with a succession of dishes and 
wines, both in abundance, according to the laws of gastronomy. 
When it was over our host offered us an airiijg in a carriage, 
durirrg which I jode with the lady and one of the children, a 
little girl about ten years of age, who would have been very 
beautiful if she had not been disfigured, in the eyes of Euro¬ 
peans, by the thick white paint that was evenly spread over her 
whole face, and gave it a sickly appearance. Lady Kawamura 
herself was liot painted, nor was she disfigured with blackened 
teeth. Most of the married women of Japan are accustomed 
after marriage to blacken their formerly dazzlingly white teeth ; 
but it is to be hoped that this unpleasant custom will soon 
disappear, as the women of distinction have begun to abandon 
it. During this excursion we visited, among other places, the 
graves of the Tycoons, the imperial garden, and a very 
remarkable exhibition in the capital. 
A number of the Tycoons, or, as they are more correctly 
called. Shoguns, are buried in Tokio. Their place of sepulture 
is one of the most remarkable memorials of Old Japan. The 
graves are in a temple which is divided into several courts, 
surrounded by walls and connected with each other by beautiful 
