o be appointed to the Mikado's
establishment, before the European costume becomes generally adopted.

I could not help thinking that the two or three old conservative
Ministers who had stuck to their native dress must have congratulated
themselves on their firmness, when they saw the effect of the
unaccustomed garments upon their _confreres_. The old court dress of
the Daimios is very handsome, consisting of rich silks and brocades,
with enormously long loose trousers trailing two or three feet on the
ground, and with sleeves, like butterfly wings, of corresponding
dimensions. A small high-peaked black cap is worn on the head, to
accommodate the curious little cut-off pigtail, set up like a cock's
comb, which appears to be one of the insignia of a Daimio's rank in
Japan.

As soon as the people had arranged themselves into three sides of a
square, Sir Harry Parkes read an address, and presented his five
compatriots to the Mikado, who replied in inaudible but no doubt
suitable terms. Then the Governor of Kobe had to read an address, and
I pitied the poor man from the bottom of my heart. His knees shook,
his hands trembled, and his whole body vibrated to such an extent,
that his cocked hat fell and rolled on the floor of the dais, and
finally hopped down the steps, while the address nearly followed its
example. How thankful he must have felt when it was over!

The proceedings in the pavilion being now at an end, the Mikado walked
down the middle of the assembly, followed by all his Ministers in
single file, on his way to the luncheon tent. After they had gone, we
inspected the imperial railway carriage, the soldiers, guns, &c., and
just as we were leaving the station yard, to look at the daylight
fireworks they were letting off in honour of the occasion, a salute
announced the departure of the Mikado for Kioto.

We lunched at the Consulate, our gentlemen changed to more comfortable
attire, and then we went to see a Buddhist temple, supposed to be
rather a fine specimen of woodwork. It is specially curious on account
of some monkeys and a white horse, each kept in a sort of side shrine.
Every worshipper at the temple stopped before these shrines, and for a
small coin bought rice or beans to feed them with, through the priest.
Whether it was an act of worship, or simply of kindness, I could not
discover, though I paid several visits to the spot during our stay at
Kobe.

From the temple we went to the shops in the main