ed us with their rocky masses and
deep green thickets.

We entered a shady channel between two high ranges of mountains, oddly
symmetrical--like stage scenery, very pretty, though unlike nature. It
seemed as if Japan were opened to our view through an enchanted fissure,
allowing us to penetrate into her very heart.

Nagasaki, as yet unseen, must be at the extremity of this long and
peculiar bay. All around us was exquisitely green. The strong sea-breeze
had suddenly fallen, and was succeeded by a calm; the atmosphere,
now very warm, was laden with the perfume of flowers. In the valley
resounded the ceaseless whirr of the cicalas, answering one another
from shore to shore; the mountains reechoed with innumerable sounds; the
whole country seemed to vibrate like crystal. We passed among myriads of
Japanese junks, gliding softly, wafted by imperceptible breezes on the
smooth water; their motion could hardly be heard, and their white sails,
stretched out on yards, fell languidly in a thousand horizontal
folds like window-blinds, their strangely contorted poops, rising up
castle-like in the air, reminding one of the towering ships of the
Middle Ages. In the midst of the verdure of this wall of mountains, they
stood out with a snowy whiteness.

What a country of verdure and shade is Japan; what an unlooked-for Eden!

Beyond us, at sea, it must have been full daylight; but here, in the
depths of the valley, we already felt the impression of evening; beneath
the summits in full sunlight, the base of the mountains and all the
thickly wooded parts near the water's edge were steeped in twilight.

The passing junks, gleaming white against the background of dark
foliage, were silently and dexterously manoeuvred by small, yellow,
naked men, with long hair piled up on their heads in feminine fashion.
Gradually, as we advanced farther up the green channel, the perfumes
became more penetrating, and the monotonous chirp of the cicalas swelled
out like an orchestral crescendo. Above us, against the luminous sky,
sharply delineated between the mountains, a kind of hawk hovered,
screaming out, with a deep, human voice, "Ha! Ha! Ha!" its melancholy
call prolonged by the echoes.

All this fresh and luxuriant nature was of a peculiar Japanese type,
which seemed to impress itself even on the mountain-tops, and produced
the effect of a too artificial prettiness. The trees were grouped in
clusters, with the pretentious grace shown on lacquer