590 
THE ARTILLERY OF JAPAN. 
target of the batteries. The captain of the battery fights it, trains it, 
and is responsible for its personel and fire discipline. 
The gun is made of gun metal. The breech is closed by a side 
actioned interrupted screw breech block. It is locked by a nut on top. 
All the guns are made in the arsenal at Osaka. 
It seemed to be curious, that a nation so up to date as Japan, should 
not have a steel gun. But I was told that they import steel rods from 
France for their rifle barrels, and, no doubt, they cannot trust them¬ 
selves to work in steel yet; so prefer a reliable bronze gun, to an un¬ 
certain steel one. In most details of equipment, such as handspikes, 
fuzes, shells, vents, etc., they are so much like us, that it is scarcely 
worth noting the difference, but the heads of the sights were unlike 
any I had seen. The fore-sight and tangent scale rapp*" '^■g 
have similar heads, and one picture will do for both. ffj L Jjjg l 
The tangent scale has a small window and a deflection 
leaf which the fore-sight has not. j ,j 
To lay the gun, you look through the window of 
the tangent scale, and get the object between two j t 
points of the fore-sight. I tried myself and it seemed j j 
to me, to be very easy to lay with. One cannot tell all about a gun 
by looking at it, but I should think it was about the same in power as 
our 2*5 inch gun. Perhaps somewhat below it. 
The harness is not cleaned at all according to our ideas, but all the 
leather is soft and the working parts oiled. They have breast harness 
and rope Australian girths. The riding horse has a bit and the off 
horse is led in a snaffle. They have flat traces and the lead and centre 
set a direct pull on the swingle tree. 
Wallets, shoepockets, whips, etc., all like ours. 
The kit is carried on the off horse in two large saddle bags. They 
have pole draught. 
Three men ride on the limbers and two on the axletree seats. 
The Nos. 1 and officers ride. 
The guns can do about five or six miles an hour. They are not ex¬ 
pected to work with cavalry. 
The horses are stout cobs about 14. 1. high. They are the stamp of 
our Exmoor ponies, but they are rather lacking in bone below the knee. 
Bad tempered horses are castrated, all the others are entire. Mares 
are not used. They get a ration of eleven pounds of hay and two 
gallons of barley. They are groomed and fed twice a day. All the 
horses I saw were in good condition, and well turned out. In camp 
they are tied up to a picket rope, 2' 6" high, with two head ropes. No 
heel ropes are used. The horses are cast for age at fourteen. The 
men are very well trained, the gunners go to laying, and the drivers to 
riding-school every day. I saw a lot of men laying, and they seemed 
to carry out their instruction much as we do. 
I travelled down to Narashchino Camp with Mr. Kakogi. I found 
him a most interesting companion. He had been present at one or two 
of the naval fights in the China war. He told me that Captain Mahan's 
book had been translated in Japanese and that he had read it. 
