i54 
FROM HONG-KONG TO YOKOHAMA. 
SETO UGH I. 
Early on the 26th May, our good ship left Kobe for a cruise through the Inland 
Sea. A glance at the chart will show that the latter consists of a series of almost land¬ 
locked basins, strewn with numerous islands, and communicating with each othei bp naiow 
straits. Two arms of the sea, divided by the island of Sikok, connect the Scto Echi with the 
Pacific Ocean in the south, while Simonosaki Strait, in the west, joins it to the Strait of 
Korea. The total length of the Inland Sea from east to west is about 250 miles. Me had 
INLAND SEA, NEAR Ml WAR A. 
heard so much of the natural beauty of this Japanese Mediterranean that we could not check a 
feeling of disappointment when, on entering it for the first time, we saw little else than a wide 
sheet of water, dotted over with sails and fishing-boats, and bounded in the distance by ranges 
of bare-looking hills. The extent to which the latter had been stripped of their natural 
clothing of forest, as well as the large patches of cultivated ground—some of the elevated 
islands we passed being covered with crops up to their very summits—seemed to indicate 
that the shores of this sea must for ages have been the home of a numerous population, 
The whole region has the appearance of having been formed by the sinking of the land— 
a phenomenon almost to be expected in a country subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic 
eruptions. During our 
progress, however, we 
discovered several 
pretty nooks and cor¬ 
ners, peaceful-looking 
villages cosily sheltered 
in some quiet secluded 
bay, and many fine 
vistas of sea and 
mountain which might 
well have tempted a 
prainter to enrich his 
sketch-book with 
scenes of rare beauty. 
The cruise did not 
extend to the western 
our destination being 
Miwara, situated in the north-west corner of the central basin. On the morning of the 27th 
ENTRANCE TO THE CASTLE AT MIWARA. 
half of the Seto Uchi, which is said to possess superior attractions, 
