e crystal ball is an
emblem of purity. Great store is set by the latter, especially if of
large size and without flaw; but to my mind the imperfect ones are the
best, as they refract the light and do not look so much like glass.

In another village close by--also part of the ancient Kama-kura--there
is a fine temple, dedicated to the God of War; but we were pressed
for time, and hurried back to the little carriages. The homeward drive
was long and cold; but the Tokaido looked very pretty lighted up,
the shadows of the inmates being plainly visible on the paper
walls, reminding one of a scene in a pantomime. On our way down a
very steep hill we met the men carrying a _cango_. It is a most
uncomfortable-looking basket-work contrivance, in which it is
impossible to sit or lie with ease. These _cangoes_ used formerly to
be the ordinary conveyance of Japan, but they are now replaced by the
_jinrikishas_, and they are seldom met with, except in the mountains
or in out-of-the-way places.

_Friday, February 2nd_.--I was called at five o'clock, and at
half-past six Mabelle and I started for the market. It was blowing a
gale, and our four oarsmen found it as much as they could do to reach
the shore. The Shanghai mail-boat was just in, and I pitied the poor
passengers, who were in all the misery of being turned out into the
cold of the early morning, with the spray breaking over them as they
sat in the small boats.

The market at Yokohama is one of the sights of the place. There were
large quantities of birds and game of all kinds--pheasants with tails
six feet long, of a rare copper-coloured variety, ducks, pigeons,
small birds, hares, deer, rabbits. The fish-market was well supplied,
especially with cuttle-fish. They are not inviting-looking, but are
considered a delicacy here. A real octopus, in a basket, with its
hideous body in the centre, and its eight arms, covered with suckers,
arranged in the form of a star, is worth from a dollar to a dollar and
a half, according to its size. I was not tempted, however, to make any
purchases.

From the market we went to one or two small shops in back streets, and
thence over the bluffs, in the teeth of a bitterly cold wind, to a
nursery garden, to examine the results of the Japanese art of dwarfing
and distorting trees. Some of the specimens were very curious and some
beautiful, but most were simply hideous. We saw tiny old gnarled
fruit-trees, covered with blossom, and Scotch firs