She has a healthclimate, a land of

ever green and fertile land is hers. ful air, a fertile soil, a temperate mountains and valleys, a coast line indented with bays and harbors, and food in plenty. She is a country resplendent with natural beauty, but liable at any moment to awful desolation and hideous ruin."

If Japan is the "England of the Orient," Yokohama is its Liverpool. When Commodore Perry visited Japan in 1854, there was only a small fishing village where now stands the great commercial metropolis of Japan. Great steamer lines connect Yokohama with other parts of the empire, with America, and with England. The bay which forms the harbor is very beautiful, and is now being enlarged and protected by breakwaters.

We are forcibly reminded of the victory won by the courage and genius of Commodore Perry, when we learn that within this bay are Perry Island, Webster Island, and Cape Saratoga, so named in honor of the American people.

The air is so clear This famous peak,

From Yokohama Bay a fine view of the sacred mountain Fujiyama is to be seen. We can with difficulty believe it to be sixty miles distant. that all objects seem near at hand. the highest in Japan, is more than twelve thousand feet above the sea. Rising in solitary grandeur and crowned with glistening snow, this cone-shaped mountain is visible to the people in many parts of Japan.

The Japanese love their sacred mountain. Its picture is to be seen painted on all works of Japanese art, and even the commonest fans and vases are thus decorated,

On the left, as we approach the city of Yokohama, is a range of low hills called the "Bluff." Here the foreign merchants have built their homes and surrounded them with beautiful gardens. The business quarter of the city, along the water front, is called the "Bund," as it is in so many Oriental cities. Here are hotels (American and European), the customhouse, and the post office. Many of these buildings stand in large gardens, and are surrounded by beautiful shrubbery.

As would be expected, there is here a large foreign settlement, and we shall not find it a good place to see real Japanese life. The Japanese town stretches for a long distance back from the "Bluff."

Among the curious sights in this new land, almost the first to greet us is the jinrikisha, the small twowheeled carriage drawn by men. It is an interesting fact to recall that this vehicle, now so common in all parts of Japan, was invented by an American.

The Japanese, with characteristic energy, soon made jinrikishas for themselves, and they were soon in general use in all the large cities. A jinrikisha usually seats but one person, and is drawn by one, two, or three men. It is a curious sight to see these enlarged baby carriages dashing through the streets or along the roads leading into the country. The men are trained to endure long journeys and to travel at a rapid gait. Since the invention of the jinrikisha, many strong young men have left their country homes to become beasts of burden in the cities.

A jinrikisha ride by night through the streets of

Yokohama presents many pictures of native life. We see hundreds of paper lanterns hanging before the stores and theaters, and we hear the confused cries of the men in the bazaars or shops calling attention to their wares.

Not many miles from Yokohama is the now small village of Kamakura, and it is an interesting place to visit.

In the middle ages this small village was a great city. Kamakura was the ancient capital of Japan and the home of the shoguns. In the time of its greatest glory it is said to have had a population of more than one million, and it must have been a busy, prosperous city. Several hundred years ago a tidal wave swept over the great plain on which Kamakura was built, and the city was completely destroyed. Looking at this plain to-day one can hardly believe it was ever the site of so great a city. All that is now to be seen as a proof of the existence of this once proud capital is a huge bronze figure of Buddha, called Dai Butsu. The figure is fifty feet in height, and is a most impressive witness to the skill of the Japanese artisans of the ancient times.

As visitors to England rarely spend much time in Liverpool, so is it with Yokohama in Japan. It is the gateway to the beautiful country which lies before us, and as soon as possible we leave the seaport town for Tokio, the great capital.

CHAPTER XVII.

FROM YOKOHAMA TO TOKIO.

AMONG the presents which Commodore Perry carried from the President of the United States to the mikado was a model of a locomotive and a miniature telegraph line. The telegraph was set to work and the little steam engine puffed to and fro over its mile of track. These new toys were regarded with much interest, and the people came from far and near to see them.

To-day railroads and telegraph lines connect the most important cities of Japan, and are being rapidly extended throughout the empire.

The first railroad built in Japan was the one we shall pass over on our journey from Yokohama to Tokio, a distance of eighteen miles. When this railroad was opened, it was managed by foreigners; but the Japanese soon bought it, took it into their own charge, and proved at once their ability to manage such an enterprise.

The road from Yokohama to Tokio passes through many small villages of thatched cottages. All the low land is carefully cultivated and planted with rice, the great food crop of Japan.

The young rice plants must be set out in the wet season. At this time we may see both men and women standing in mud and water, busy at their work in the rice fields. They wear large hats, which look like inverted bowls, and rain coats made of straw or oiled paper.