re here used _jinrikishas_, a mode of conveyance very
agreeable to tourists, which, though introduced only recently, has
already spread to all parts of the country.

[Illustration: JAPANESE LANDSCAPE. ]

Every one with an open eye for the beauties of nature and interest
in the life and manners of a foreign people, must find a journey in
_jinrikisha_ over Usui-toge pleasant in a high degree. The landscape
here is extraordinarily beautiful, perhaps unmatched in the whole
world. The road has been made here with great difficulty between
wild, black, rocky masses, along deep clefts, whose sides are often
covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. No fence protects the
_jinrikisha_ in its rapid progress down the mountains from the
bottomless abysses by the wayside. A man must therefore not be weak
in the nerves if he is to derive pleasure from the journey. He must
rely on the coolie's keen eye and sure foot. On all sides one is
surrounded by a confused mass of lofty shattered mountain tops, and
deep down in the valleys mountain streams rush along, whose
crystal-clear water is collected here and there into small lakes
confined between heights covered with greenery. Now the traveller
passes a dizzy abyss by a bridge of the most defective construction,
now he sees a stream of water rushing down from an enormous height
by the wayside. Thousands of foot-passengers, crowds of pilgrims,
long rows of coolies, oxen and horses bearing heavy burdens meet the
traveller, who during frequent rests at the foot of the steep slopes
has an opportunity of studying the variegated life of the people. He
is always surrounded by cheerful and friendly faces, and the
pleasant impression is never disturbed by the expressions of
coarseness in speech and behaviour which so often meet us in Europe.

It is not until the traveller has passed the mountain ridge and
descended to a height of only 300 metres above the sea that the road
becomes passable for a carriage. While we exchanged, not without
regret, our clean, elegant _jinrikishas_ for two inferior vehicles
drawn by horses, I saw two men wandering from shop to shop, standing
some moments at each place, ringing a bell and passing on when they
were not attended to. On my inquiry as to what sort of people they
were, I was informed that they were wandering players. For me of
course they did not ring in vain. For a payment of fifty cents they
were ready immediately to show in the street itself a specime