s was a Japanese boat which came
alongside, both from her model and the neat way in which she was put
together. Her bows were very sharp, she had great beam, and she tapered
slightly towards the stern. She was built of pine wood, and varnished
without any paint. Her crew, almost naked, stood aft, and sculled her
along instead of rowing, at a very great rate. The official personages
she brought off sat in the fore-part; one of them, armed with two
swords, a mark of rank, stood in the bows, and made a very good
figure-head. We should probably have had to take our departure without
holding any communication with the shore, so anxious were the Japanese
government to prevent any communication of the people with foreigners,
when Hatchie Katsie made his appearance on deck. The account he gave
his countrymen soon changed the aspect of affairs, and we were told that
the governor of the place would no doubt make an exception in our
favour.

Our friend having procured Japanese clothes for us, as he had done at
Loo-Choo, told us that he might venture to take us on shore and show us
something of the mode of life among his countrymen. I have no doubt
that Chin Chi considered it far superior to that of the English, as far
as he was able to judge of them. The Japanese gentlemen were,
generally, finer men than those of Loo-Choo. Their dress also was
different. One of the chief people in the place, if he was not the
governor, wore a gaily-coloured robe of rich silk, with the back,
sleeves, and breast, covered with armorial bearings. He wore a very
short pair of trousers, with black socks and straw slippers. His hat,
something like a reversed bowl, shone with lacquer and ornaments of
gold. I must say, however, that Europeans have no right to quiz the
head covering of any nation in the world, as ours far surpass all others
in ugliness, and in the want of adaptation of means to an end.

Our friend could not take us publicly into the town, so he had us
conveyed to his country-house in kagos, such as were used at Loo-Choo.
On every side, as we passed along, the people were busily employed; some
were lading their packhorses with bags of meal, others with heavy
mallets were pounding grain into flour, while others were hoeing in the
rice grounds up to their knees in water. There was no sign of poverty,
and even the lowest people were well and comfortably clad in coarse
garments, shorter than those of the more wealthy classes. All