astonished at the great shipbuilding yards
and docks; they are the largest in Asia, and the _Tenyo Maru_, as well
as other ships as big, have been, for the most part at any rate, built
here. It is hard to believe that it is only forty years since the
Japanese took to European civilization and the inventions of Western
lands. In many respects they have surpassed their teachers.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING JOURNEY FROM SHANGHAI THROUGH JAPAN AND KOREA
TO DALNY (pp. 185-202).]

After a whole day in Nagasaki we steam out to sea again and make
northwards round Kiu-shiu to the beautiful narrow strait at Shimonoseki
which leads to the Inland Sea. Unfortunately it is pitch dark when we
pass Admiral Togo's fleet. He has just been engaged in manoeuvres with
eighty-five of Japan's two hundred modern warships. In sea-power Japan
is the fifth nation of the world, and is only surpassed by England,
Germany, America, and France. A large number of their warships were
captured from Russia during the war, and afterwards refitted and
re-christened with Japanese names. On a peace footing the land army of
Japan contains 250,000 men and 11,000 officers. In time of war, when all
the reservists and landwehr troops are called out, the strength amounts
to a million and a half; 120,000 men yearly are called out for active
service. The Japanese make any sacrifice when it is a question of the
defence of their fatherland. To them affection for Nippon is a
religion.

The area of Japan is about half as large again as that of the British
Islands, and the population is, roughly, a quarter more. But if the
recently acquired parts of the mainland, Korea and Kwan-tung, be
included, 77,000 square miles must be added and the population increased
to 65 millions.

Early on the morning of November 9 we pass through the strait of
Shimonoseki into the Inland Sea, the Mediterranean of Japan, which lies
between the islands Hondo, Kiu-shiu, and Shikoku. The scenery which
unfolds itself on all sides is magnificent, and is constantly changing.
Close around us, away over the open passages and in among the dark
islands, is the clear, green, salt water, edged with foaming surf and
dotted with picturesque fishing-boats under full sail; and as a frame to
the gently heaving sea we have the innumerable islands--some large, some
small, some wooded, others bare, but all sloping steeply to the shore,
where the breakers thunder eternally. A pleasant breeze is felt on the
pro