quantity.

The city of Nikko is at present a place of not more than five hundred
houses, all of which are located upon one broad thoroughfare, thatched
with rice straw, and built of the frailest material. We were told that
about a century ago a hundred thousand people dwelt here, but a fire
swept their homes away in a single night, leaving only ashes to mark the
spot. There is no foundation or cellar to a Japanese dwelling. The
temples in this vicinity are isolated from the dwellings, a river
running between, and are wonderful in architecture, size, and
costliness. They are many hundred years of age, and contain, among other
curious ornaments, statues of grotesque shapes in bronze, of priceless
value, mammoth bronze figures of birds of the stork species, etc.,
life-like in character, and of exquisite finish. There are also many
emblems and idols in gold, silver, and gilded wood. Some of the bronzes
are known to be over a thousand years old, and we were assured that
none of such valuable composition has been used for centuries. All
ancient Japanese bronze has in it a large percentage of gold and silver.

Before the door, just over the entrance to these temples, there is
fastened a gong, and above it hangs a metallic hammer, depending from
which is a rope. When a priest, or native of the people, comes hither to
pray, he pulls the rope vigorously, and thus produces a series of
strokes upon the gong that might wake the dead. This is to call the
attention of the Deity, and lead him to give ear to the petition about
to be offered! Enormous bells of exquisite purity of sound, hung a few
feet from the ground in the area before the temples, are rung at stated
periods by the use of a battering ram of wood, suspended near them,
causing the huge monsters to give out soft, muffled, though deep and
far-reaching notes, that float off among the mountain passes, and come
back again from Echo's lips, with startling distinctness. Several
priests, clad in long, yellow robes, were seen actively employed,
chanting, praying, and performing inexplicable ceremonies. One had a lot
of little pine chips by his side, and was busy in alternately feeding a
small fire upon a stone slab and beating a tom-tom. This, as our guide
informed us, was to propitiate the god of fire, and to avert all
possible catastrophes from that much dreaded source. When we passed out
of the grounds, some hours later, this priest was still busy with his
chips and the noisy