CHAP. XVII.] 
RIDING IN JAPAN. 
343 
carry a saddle with him, determine to ride on an unsaddled 
horse, which, with the wretched steeds that are only available 
here, soon becomes so unpleasant that he at last prefers to let 
his legs hang benumbed from the hago. A peculiarity in Japan 
is that the rider seldom himself guides his horse. It is com¬ 
monly led by a halter by a groom running alongside the rider- 
These grooms are very light-footed and enduring, so that even at 
a rapid pace they are not left behind. Running footmen also 
attend the carriages of people of distinction in the towns and the 
mail-coaches on Nakasendo. When there is a crowd before the 
carriage they jump down and drive away the people by a 
dreadful shouting. From the mail-coach they also blow the 
post-horn, not just to the advantage of the ear-drums of the 
travellers. 
The scenery by the roadside was exceedingly beautiful. Now 
it consisted of wild valleys, filled with luxuriant vegetation 
which completely concealed the crystal-clear streams purling in 
the bottoms ; now of level grassy plains or hill-slopes, thickly 
studded with solitary trees, chiefly chestnuts and oaks. The 
inhabitants were fully occupied with the chestnut harvest. 
Before every hut mats were spread out, on which chestnuts 
lay drying in thick layers. Grain and cotton were being dried 
in the same small way, as it appeared to us Europeans. On the 
plains there stood besides in the neighbourhood of the cabins 
large mortars, by which the grain was reduced to groats. On 
the hills these tramp-stamps are partly replaced by small mills 
of an exceedingly simple construction, introduced by the Dutch. 
We passed the 2nd October at Kusatsu, the Aix-la-Chapelle 
of Japan, famed like that place for its hot sulphurous springs. 
Innumerable invalids here seek an alleviation of their pains. 
The town lives upon them, and accordingly consists mainly of 
baths, inns, and shops for the visitors. 
The inns are of the sort common in Japan, spacious, airy 
clean, without furniture, but with good braziers, miniature 
