denses, in a large jar placed above the tube, the crude camphor is removed and sent to the dealers.

The Japanese are very skillful in the manufacture of camphor, and they will surely enlarge this industry in Formosa.

CHAPTER XX.

THROUGH NORTHERN JAPAN.

OUR travels in Japan have thus far been almost wholly on Hondo, but the island of Yezo, not far to the north, is well worth a visit.

Yezo, which is nearly as large as Ireland, is but thinly populated, and the interior is covered with forests and jungles. Near the coast are swamps and fertile plains.

There are many rivers in Yezo, and so the island is well watered. The climate is colder and drier than that of the other islands of the empire. Its northern limit is in about the same latitude as Venice, and yet there is snow here for several months of the year.

In

Some one has called Yezo "Japanese Siberia,” and there appear to be good reasons for the name. many respects it resembles Siberia, especially as to climate and the animals found there. In some past time

it is believed to have been a part of the island of Saghalin, which is nearer the coast of Korea. Yezo is the land of exile for Japanese criminals, just as Siberia is for Russian convicts.

The port, and one of the principal towns, is Hakodate, situated at the foot of a rocky cliff which bears some resemblance to Gibraltar. There is a fine harbor here, and vessels sail frequently between this port and Yokohama.

Great quantities of fish, salted, dried, and smoked, are sent from Hakodate to China and southern Japan. The interest of the Japanese in their fisheries should here be explained. It is only natural to expect that, with a seaboard so extensive as that of Japan, a large proportion of the people who dwell near the coasts should be engaged in the fisheries.

Every fish of importance known along our seacoast is known in Japan, and is to be found in the markets of all the treaty ports. Thus we shall see our wellknown cod, salmon, herring, halibut, trout, smelts, lobsters, oysters, crayfish, and shrimps in all the fish markets. Many varieties of fish not known to our people are also to be found in Japanese waters. In addition to the bonito, one of the rarer sorts, highly prized by the Japanese, we shall see the famous tai, a fish of brilliant pink color, without which no feast is considered complete.

The capital of Yezo is Sapporo, a small straggling town, built entirely of white pine houses, and reminding the traveler of some of the settlements as they once appeared on our own Western frontier.

One feature sure to interest the American visitor to Sapporo is the courthouse, as it is a miniature copy of the Capitol at Washington.

An evidence of the wise policy of the Japanese government is seen in the interesting experiment which is now being tried here.

The Japanese government wished to colonize Yezo, and thus make it more difficult for Russia to get the island in her power. Sapporo was laid out in squares and streets, quite like an American city. Houses and stores were built. An agricultural college, with farms for experimenting, was located here.

Forests are

The criminals sent to Yezo are employed in preparing the way for the coming settlers. laid low, roads are built, and mines are worked. Into these openings in the forests settlers are flocking in large numbers. To induce the people to leave the crowded districts of southern Japan, free homes and tracts of land are offered to settlers.

Coal is the principal mineral found in Yezo, and the mines are among the richest ever opened. It has been estimated that these mines are capable of producing as much every year as all the coal fields of Great Britain, and that they will continue to do so for a thousand years. Much of this coal is already finding a market in America.

There are still living on the island a small number of the aborigines of Japan-a people called the Ainos. They are wild savages who live by hunting and fishing, and are settled in small villages along the coast and among the mountains. They build rude huts for shelter. Their life is much like that of our American Indians. The men hunt and fish and the women do all the drudgery and heavy work. One of the principal occupations

of the women is the making of cloth from the fibers of the bark of a curious tree. From this cloth and from the skins of animals all their clothing is made. Men and women dress nearly alike, and the only adornment of their costume is a quaint embroidery made by using a thread of elm bark.

The huts in which this primitive people dwell are usually built upon posts driven into the ground. Benches, which are built around the walls, furnish sleeping places.

The only religion of the Ainos appears to be a strange sort of worship of the wild bear. In all their villages are to be seen tall poles on which are the skulls of bears. It is not easy to comprehend this religion, since the Ainos are ever ready to kill and to eat the bears to which they offer their worship.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE HERMIT KINGDOM.

LEAVING Japan with her civilization, and with her ambition to be the leading nation in the Far East, we come to Korea, a country but little known to travelers. The peninsula of Korea, which is often thought of as a very small country and of little importance, is larger than all the New England States. Its position makes it of singular value to three great nations, — Russia, China, and Japan.