ossibly
also a bridge and a temple. Even in the gardens of the poorest houses
an attempt at something of the sort had been made. The domestic
occupations of the inhabitants being conducted in this public manner,
a very good idea might be obtained, even at the end of a few miles'
drive, of how the lower class of Japanese wash and dress themselves
and their children, how very elaborate the process of hair-dressing
is, to say nothing of a bird's-eye view of the ground-plan of the
houses, the method of cooking food, &c.

As we emerged into the open country the landscape became very pretty,
and the numerous villages, nestling in the valleys at the foot of the
various small hills, had a most picturesque appearance. At a
stone-quarry that we passed, on the side of a mountain, there were
about seventy men at work, without any clothing, though the
thermometer was far below freezing point. The Japanese are a sensitive
nation, and finding that foreigners were astonished and shocked at the
habits of the people, in going about without clothes, and in bathing
in public and at their house doors, they passed a law prohibiting
these customs in towns. In the country, however, the more primitive
customs are still in force, and every dwelling has its half-open
bath-house, whilst the people do as they like in the matter of
clothing.

After stopping twice on the road, to drink the inevitable tea, we
changed from our carriage to _jinrikishas_, each drawn and pushed by
four strong men, bowling along at a merry pace. The sun was very warm
in the sheltered valleys, and the abundance of evergreens of all kinds
quite deluded one into the belief that it was summer time, especially
as camellias grew like forest trees, covered with red and white bloom,
amidst a dense tangle of bamboos and half-hardy palms. There were many
strange things upside down to be seen on efther hand--horses and cows
with bells on their tails instead of on their necks, the quadrupeds
well clothed, their masters without a scrap of covering, tailors
sewing from them instead of to them, a carpenter reversing the action
of his saw and plane. It looked just as if they had originally learned
the various processes in 'Alice's Looking-glass World' in some former
stage of their existence.

We had not long left the town before our men began to undress each
other; for their clothes were so tight that it required no
inconsiderable effort to remove them. Some of them were beautifully