land.

[Illustration: AERIAL TRANSPORT; BASKET SLUNG ON ROPES, PROVINCE
OF HIDA
FROM A PRINT BY HIROSHIGE]

I cannot leave a consideration of the means of communication in Japan
without making some reference to that somewhat peculiar vehicle which
is by so many persons deemed to be essentially characteristic of the
country, although, as a matter of fact, I believe it is of
comparatively recent introduction, having been introduced either by a
European or an American; I refer, of course, to the jinricksha. Before
Japan became to so great an extent the objective point of the
globe-trotter, and Europe, through the medium of numerous books, was
rendered conversant with everything relating to the country, nothing
more struck the imagination of the new arrival in Japan than the sight
of this extraordinary vehicle--a kind of armchair on wheels with two
shafts, pulled by a man scantily clad and with extremely muscular
legs. Whoever was the individual responsible for the invention of the
jinricksha, he certainly conferred a great boon on all foreigners
resident in Japan before railways and tramways and other means of
communication became as prevalent as they now are. The long distances
traversed by the man between the shafts of a jinricksha and the speed
he attained and maintained were almost a marvel to the foreign
visitor. It was possible to get about the country in one of these
vehicles quite as fast as any horse-drawn vehicle could convey one,
and quite as comfortably. I have heard it stated that the men who pull
these vehicles unduly develop their legs at the expense of other
portions of their body, and that the speed at which they run and which
they certainly keep up for extraordinarily long periods has extremely
injurious effects on their constitution, so that they are, as a rule,
not long-lived. I am not aware, nor have I been able to ascertain,
whether such statements are mere theories or have any foundation in
fact. This much I will say, that the Japanese jinricksha-runners are
an extraordinary class in reference to the speed which they attain
dragging a goodly weight for a very long distance. It does not seem
likely that the jinricksha, acclimatised as it has been in Japan, will
be ousted by other modern contrivances for getting about the country.
It is still very much in evidence, and it is universally admitted by
those who have had experience of it to be a most comfortable means of
locomotion. Why it h