aw bow against these works of their
hands."

Throwing down their arms, they surrendered to Yamato when he sprang
ashore, and agreed to pay tribute to the state. Taking their leaders as
hostages for their good conduct, the hero turned homeward, eager to
reach again the capital from which he had been so long away. His route
was now overland, and to entertain himself on the long journey he
invented a form of poetic verse which is still much in use by the poets
of Japan.

As yet all his work had been done on the plain near the shores of the
sea. Now, marching inland, he ascended to the great table-land of
Shinano, from twenty-five hundred to five thousand feet above the sea,
around and within which lie the loftiest mountains of Japan. From this
height could be obtained a magnificent view of the Bay of Yedo, the
leafy plains surrounding, and the wide-extending ocean. Japan has no
more beautiful scene, and Yamato stood silently gazing over its broad
expanse, the memory of his beloved wife, who had given her life for his,
coming back to him as he gazed. "Adzuma, adzuma" ("my wife, my wife"),
fell in sad accents from his lips. These words still haunt that land. In
the poet's verse that broad plain is to-day called Adzuma, and one of
the great ships of the new navy of Japan is named Adzuma-kuan.

It was no light task which now lay before the army and its chief. Even
to-day the mountains of Shinano are far from easy to cross. Then they
were unknown, and their crossing was a work of the greatest difficulty
and risk. There were rocky defiles and steep ascents to climb, river
torrents to pass, rugged paths to mount, without a road to follow or a
guide to conduct, and with clouds and fogs to double the dangers of the
way. Here, to their fancy, in caves and ravines hostile spirits lurked;
every mountain had its tutelary god; at every step the deities of good
and evil seemed to be at strife for their destiny, and with all the
perils of the way the gods were thought to have something to do.

Thus on one day the god of the mountain came to Yamato in the form of a
white deer, with purpose to work him evil. The hero, on the alert
against the hostile spirits, threw wild garlic in the animal's eyes,
causing so violent a smarting pain that it died. At once a dense mist
descended upon the hill-slopes and the path vanished, leaving the army
to grope onward in danger and dismay. But at this moment of dread a
white dog appeared--a god again,