furniture, which, to my surprise, was readily accepted,
and I have had no reason to regret my bargain since,
for the table meets with much admiration. On the
whole, excepting a t Yokohama, where Europeans have
taught the natives greed, I found the Japanese very
fair-dealing people, and nothing pleased them so much
as to have their productions appreciated.
There were several nobles and people of the better
class with their families staying at this house, who
one after the other asked permission to pay me a .visit,
probably never before having set eyes upon Europeans,
and it was amusing to see them examining and handling
every article lying about; they very politely begged to
be shown the contents of my portmanteau, and I
noticed many a smile over the different items of my
toilet, some of which seemed to puzzle them very
much.
The next day promising to be fine, I started early
on a pedestrian expedition to the famous lake of
Hakoni, situated a t a distance of fully six miles,
mostly up-hill, in the direction of Fusi-Yama. At
first the path was narrow, winding up the side of a
bare mountain until we joined the Tokaido,—the broad
military road, paved throughout with large pieces of
granite, rather trying to one’s fe e t; here we passed
several groups of soldiers returning to their duty in
the capital, and what struck me as strange was th a t
their muskets, swords, and accoutrements were being
•carried by coolies. We now began to descend, and
soon approached a fine large sheet of water which
proved to be the principal lake, there being smaller
•ones on either side; They were completely enclosed
by hills, and the remains of an old temple, with an
•enormous bronze figure of Buddha, stood at the very
edge of the w ater; an avenue of cypress and cedar trees
fringing the southern side of the larger lake until it
reached the village of Hatta, a pretty spot at the
foot of a hill, celebrated for its hot sulphur-spring.
Here more tea-houses and more bathing establishments,
and joyous laughter ringing through the a ir
from all quarters. I was told that this was the
fashionable season, and that the place was honoured
with the presence of princes, as well as less exalted
visitors, who come here from far and near. I had
some difficulty in obtaining access to one of the best
tea-houses, the proprietor being afraid of giving
umbrage to her ordinary clients by admitting a barbarian
; however, my interpreter soon overruled her
objection, and, once admitted, every one treated me
with the greatest civility, and I spent several hours
lounging full length on the matted verandah of my