street of Hiogo, and
full of interest and temptation we found them. The town itself is
quite Japanese, and consists, as usual, of wooden houses, narrow
streets, and quaint shops. To-day all was _en fete_, in preparation
for the illuminations to-night.

Kobe, the foreign settlement, is, on the contrary, bran-new, spick and
span, with a handsome parade, and grass and trees, planted boulevard
fashion, along the edge of the sea. It is all remarkably clean, but
quite uninteresting. To-night, however, it looked very well,
illuminated by thousands and thousands of coloured paper lanterns,
arranged in all sorts of fanciful devices. It was dark and clear, and
there was no wind, so that everything went off well.

[Illustration: a family group]

_Tuesday, February 6th_.--My cold being still bad, Mabelle by no means
well yet, and Tom very busy, we at first thought of keeping quiet
to-day. But our time is so short, that we could not afford to waste
it; so half our party started early for Kioto, it being arranged that
Tom and Mabelle should follow us by an early train to-morrow. It was a
wet cheerless day, and the country did not look its best. Still, the
novelty of the scenes around could not fail to make them interesting.
The Japanese have an intense horror of rain, and it was ludicrous to
see the peasants walking along with scarcely any clothes on except a
pair of high clogs, a large hat, and a paper umbrella. We crossed
several large bridges, stopped at a great many stations, where heaps
of native travellers got in and out, and finally reached Kioto at
half-past two o'clock. It was still raining, and all the _jinrikisha_
men wore their large rain hats and rain cloaks, made either of reeds
or of oiled paper. Most of the _jinrikishas_, too, had oiled paper
hoods and aprons.

The drive to our hotel, through long, narrow, crowded, picturesque
streets, seemed long and wearisome. It was still a holiday, and
remains of the previous night's illuminations were to be seen on all
sides. The large paper lanterns still remained fastened to the high
poles, with an open umbrella at the top to afford protection from the
rain.

Kioto is a thoroughly Japanese town. I do not suppose it contains a
single European resident; so that the manners and customs of the
natives may be seen in perfection. Its theatres and jugglers are
famous throughout Japan. In the suburb, where the two hotels are
situated, stand numberless tea-houses and other places