The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-03 00:00:00

LORD

r.APAN.

--.-
The following interesting letters have been for-
warded to us for publication :

" Aug. 13.
"We arrived at Nagasaki upon the 3d inst. It
is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen,
_ _

the land high and precipitous, some of the hills rising
1,500 feet, covered with fine trees and vegetation of

all kinds, the most' common tree being not unlike a
magnificent Scotch fir. The outer harbour is formed
partly by islands, partly by the main laud, the
islands rising perpendicularly out of the sea.
From the outer there is no appearance of the
inner harbour, till you are almost at the head of
the former, when the inner one suddenly opens

,o the view round some wooded islets, the town

of Nagasaki lying at the further end, built
in a valley formed by two hills, up the sides of
which a few temples and houses have crept. Naga-
saki is the port at which the Dutch have been set-
tled for 2QO years, on a small island connected with
the town by a small bridge ; the island is only
about 400 yards long by 300 broad, and, till within
the last few years, the Dutch were kept rigorously
to it, never being allowed in the town or country.
They, as well as all foreigners, are not allowed to
walk at pleasure about the town and into the coun-

try. Everywhere foreigners are received with the
greatest civility by the people. There are two Em-
perors of Japan, one the spiritual, the other the
working one. The former lives at Miaco, and is the
descendant of the old race who were turned' off the

throne by the ancestors of the reigning Emperor.
The spiritual Emperor has nothing to do with
governing the country, and is partly looked up to
as a heavenly being, one condition of which is
that everything he wears or uses is destroyed each
night, and new clothes supplied the next morning.
It is to prevent any one using the sanctified gar-
ments. The reigning Emperor lives here, and. is
elected, but in what manner I am not sure, but I
believe by The Princes. It appears a mere nominal
election, for the son regularly succeeds the father,
and has done so since his ancestor usurped the
throne. I believe the descent of the spiritual Em-
peror can be traced, names and dates, with many
of the branches of his family, for 2,500 years. The
country is held by Princes, who owe feudal duty
to the reigning Emperor, who obliges them to re-
side for six months in the year at Jeddo, with their
families ; during the other six months he allows
them to visit mei.. ..fates, but keeps their families
hostages in Jeddo. This restrains them, an.d the
practice is intended to prevent the Princes' from
obtaining too Much influence over the people. It is
difficult to discover what the military system of
the empire is; but that it must have the power of
bringing an immense number of men into the field
is beyond doubt—they have numerous and well-
appointed batteries.
" Nagasaki, and everything Japanese, bears a
striking contrast to everything Chinese. You can-
not be five minutes in Japan without seeing it is a
progressive nation—the country towns, houses, and
people, all show this. The streets are wide and
paved in the centre, houses open throughout on the
ground floor, with matting, formed in frames, fit-
ting neatly all over the rooms. On this they sit,
sleep, and, eat, and everything is kept scrupulously
clean. Behind each house is a small garden, with
a few green shrubs, and occasionally
.a fine tree.
Cleanliness seems one great characteristic of the
Japanese—they are constantly washing in the most
open manner. To our great surprise, as we wan-
dered the first day through the streets, we saw two
or three ladies quietly, sitting in tubs in front of
their doors wan themselves with the utmost
unconcern, traffic and the business through the
street going on past them as usual. We understood
afterwards it was a general custom. The Japanese
are eager for knowledge. Never was there a people
more ready to adapt themselves to the changes and
progress of the world than they are. It is curious
that while some of their customs are what we would
deem rather barbarous, and while they are igno-
rant of many common things—while they still rip
themselves up, and shoe their horses with straw
because ignorant of any other method, they have
jumped to a knowledge of certain branches of science
which it has taken nations in Europe hundreds of
years to attain. At Nagasaki they can turn out of
their yard an engine for a railway or steamer ;
Japanese captains and engineers command their
men of war, of which three are steamers ; they un-
derstand the electric telegraph ; they make ther-
mometers and barometers, theodolites, and, I
believe, aneroids. Their spy-glasses and micros-
copes are good, and very cheap. They have a large
glass manufactory which turns out glass little
inferior to our own. They . have a short line of
railway somewhere in the interior, given by the
Americans. Many of them speak Dutch, some
English, all anxious to learn ; everything is done
by themselves, and when it is considered that it is
not much more than ten years ago since they made
this start the advance they have made in that short
time is perfectly. wonderful.
" A yacht having been sent by the Queen to
be given to the Emperor of Japan, we left Na-
gasaki with her for that place, our squadron con-
sisting, besides her, only of the Retribution and a
gunboat. After five days, three of which were
spent in a very heavy gale of wind, we arrived at
Simoda, the port opened by the Americans, and
where their Consul• General It is to be given
up, as it is utterly useless as a harbour, too small
and open, with no trade. After remaining there
two days, and investing in Japanese lacquer ware,
which is the best in the world, we came on here
(Jeddo). The pert of Jeddo is at Kanagawa,
about 15 miles down the Gulf. Great objection has
always been made to men-of-war coming further
up ; indeed, Kanagawa itself has only been open a
few Months. The Japanese said great obstacles
existed to ships coming to Jeddo. We, however,
put it to the test, and without the least difficulty
ran right up, and are anchored within their own
men-of-war, which we did not know were here, and
within a mile of the forts of Jeddo. The town
stretches for miles round the bay. I suppose it is
the largest in the world, for it covers more ground
than London, with between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000
of people; which, if I reccollect right, is more than
the London population. We have been begged to
go further back, which when we declined going
they made no further effort to get rid of us, but
have offered us a residence on shore and requested
us to commence a treaty: The Americans have
made a very good one, and I suppose before many
days we may be doing the same.
"We land probably to-morrow or next day. I
will say no more till I can tell you something
about the inside of the city.
" Sept. 2.
" Jeddo, without exception,, is one of the finest
cities in the world ; streets broad and good, and the
Castle, which includes nearly the centre of the
town, built on a slight eminence. There are three
walls or enclosures round this quarter. Within the
inner, the Tycoon Emperor and heir apparent live.
" The houses of the princes and nobles are palaces,
and you may imagine the size when some contain
10,000 followers. They are built in regular order,
forming wide streets some 40 yards broad, kept in
perfect order ; an immense courtyard, with
trees and gardens, forms the centre of each i
enclosure, n the midst of which is the house
of. the owner ; the houses containing the
followers, servants, stables, &c , form this large en-
closure. They are built of one uniform shape.
The gateways leading to the court-yard are exceed-
ingly handsome, of massive wood work, ornamented
with lacquer and other devices. From the road
that leads by the moat to the second wall is one of
the finest views I ever recollect seeing—on one side
the Gulf of Jeddo, with the high hills rising be-
yond, while on the other is a portion of the great
city 'of Jeddo with its trees and gardens, pictur-
esque temples, and .densely crowded streets, ex-
tending as far as the eye can reach towards the in-
terior ; then there is a view of the trees and green
fields in the distance, far beyond a thickly built
suburb ; but the most striking view of all is that
close by the well-kept green banks of the second
defence, rising 70 feet from the broad moat below,
with grand old cedars over a hundred years of age
growing from its sides. The fine timber, the lay
.of the ground, the water lilies in the moat, the
grandeur, good order, and completenesg- of every-
thing, equal, and in someways far surpass, any-
thing I have seen in Europe, or any part of the
world.
" We made an expedition into the country. The
cottages were surrounded with neatly .lclipped
hedges, the private residences as well rai ed and
kept as any
.place in Engla
ness and finish exist in everything.
" The Botanical Gardens are very good, and well
of I cared for; good nurseries of young pines, cedars,&c".

THE REV. MR. SMITH, THE CONVICT.—The
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Lewes prison, of the Rev. S. Smith. " The rev. convict
has not been in the Lewes prison at all, and if he be dead
his decease must have been sudden, for he was seen a few
days ago in another convict establishment by au officer from
the Lewes prison, and he was then in his usual state of
health."
SERIOUS COLLIERY ACCIDENT.—An accident of
a very serious nature occurred in one of the Coltness Iron
Company's pits at Coltness on Friday last, by which two
men, named Thomas Gibb and William Gibb, uncle and
nephew, lost their lives. It appears that they, along with
a son of the former awl brother of the latter, had been
taking down Pyotshaw coal for some time past. They were
in the act of filling a hutch, when about 20 tons of coal
came away on them, and, of course, killed them on the spot.
The other two were repairing some piece of a road back
from where they were working, or very likely they would
have met with the same fate. We believe William Gibb's
father, who was underground manager to the Coltness Iron
Company, was killed in one of their pits 17 years ago.--
Glasgow Her4K