ides of a large
room. Special places were arranged for the pouring of tea, and presently
a very pretty Japanese girl appeared and proceeded to heat the water,
measure out the tea, put it in the teapot, with many other movements,
pouring a little water on it, all in the most deliberate manner, and
finally the preliminaries were over, and three pretty little maidens
passed the tea around. Another girl in a bright kimono appeared and went
through the process again. This was repeated three or four times. We
then adjourned to a very large room, like a small theatre, with a
gallery at the back, in which we sat. Opposite us was a wide stage, and
on either side was arranged a platform about two feet wide, extending
the whole length of the room. Here sat the musicians dressed as geisha
girls, and the dancers, called Maiko, were also clad in the same manner,
with long artistic kimonos and flowers in their hair. The dancers
entered and proceeded to the stage; then commenced a slow and measured
tread, every movement being graceful. Cherry blossoms were everywhere,
even forming the decorations on the wall. Different figures were
repeated, but all in that deliberate manner, very little like dancing
but more like a devotional exercise. We sat there for about an hour, but
cannot truthfully say that we enjoyed the music, as it was somewhat
discordant.

Our last day in Kyoto was a very full one. We visited shops in the
morning, and in the afternoon went quite a distance to see a historical
procession. We were seated in about the same manner as previously
described. Those who took part in the procession were geisha girls and
novitiates who were to be educated as future geisha girls, their parents
giving them over to the instructors at an early age. This was a very
interesting pageant. First only one or two would appear in a historical
costume of very rich brocade, the hair most elaborately dressed with the
ornaments peculiar to that particular period. Next two little girls
would appear, also dressed in historical costumes. Then, after a
considerable pause, there followed another geisha girl; and thus the
procession continued for over an hour. We did not realize until the day
following that most of the persons who took part were of questionable
morals.

In the evening we attended a Japanese theatre. The play was a historical
tragedy called "The Forty-seven Ronans." The stage was well arranged
and the action very good; it was far more int