Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1852-10-20

perbly built of marble, and adorned with gar
dens, orchards, pavilions, terraces, groves, &C.
The next principal town is Ozeaco. 1t is
deemed the chief seaport is very populous, and
has an army of $4,000 men always ready at the
disposal and command of he Emperor. 1t is
near fifteen miles in circumference.
The kokansa or prison is here. The name
means in the Japanese hell I; it has one hundred
dungeons and cages. The history of these few
cities gives fair outline Of the whole empire.
Their private dwellings are small, but neat, and
ornamented with small gardens; in this they
excel, as they are the very best of horticutu-
rists, A few feet of ground are turned to the
best advantage, as the Japanese understand per-
fectly the art of dwarfng plants, trees, fruits
and flowers. They use neither tables, bed
steads, nor chains, but sit, eat, sleep, like most
of Eastern nations, on mats.
Almost the first accomplishment learned by
them is the art and grace of suicide the child in
the nursery stabs itself with its finger or stick,
and falls back in initiative death the lover cuts
out his intestines before his obdurate mistress,
and the latter pours out her hearts blood in the
face of her faithless lover the criminal exe-
cutes himself; and, in fact, the whole nation,
from early youth, revels in the luxury of sui
eide.
The trade is at present under great restric.
tions, as they only trade with the Chinese and
Dutch, the latter have always fostered, cherished
and increased the prejudices Of the Japanese
against all other nations, particularly the French,
English and Portuguese.
The mechanics and manufacturers in Japan
excel in their different branches, and are even
far superior to the Chinese. Their silks and
cottons are excellent, and their Japan ware and
porcelain unequaed. Their exports are raw
and manufactured Silks iron, steel, artificial
metals, furs, teas, finer than the Chinese, Japan
ware, gold, silver, copper, gums, medicinal herbs,
roots diamonds, pearls, coral shells, ambergrs,
&c. Whatever goods the Japanese want, they
pay for in gold and silver.
The japanese worship the principal two gods,
Xaca and Amida at Macca there is a stately
temple, built to one of these gods; it is of free
stone, as large as st. Paurs, with arched roof,
supported by heavy pillars, in which stands an
idol of copper, which reaches as high as the
roof, and according to description given by
Sir Thomas Herbert, his chair is seventy feet
high and eighty feet long; the head is big
enough to hold fifteen men, and the thumb is
forty inches in circumference. There is anoth-
er statue, called after the god Dabio, made of
copper, twenty-five feet high, in sitting pos
ture. This shows that the japanese understand
the art of working in bronze, and they are far
ahead of Christian nations in this PARTICULAR
They allow polygamy, and they cften strange
female children, but never the males. The no.
bilty extract two front teeth, and supply them
with two of gold.
The principal rivers are the Ujingave and
Askagava, the former so rapid and wide that a
bridge cannot be baiit over it, the terremark-
able for its depth and its perpetual fluctuations
The chief lake is called City, is one hundred
miles long and twenty-one wide. large val
ley exists in the interior, filled with carbonic
gas, and called the Valley of the Upas. 1t is
covered with the skeletons Of numerous wild
and tame beasts and birds. The Emperor, it is
said, often sent criminals to the valley to bring
away a precious gem of inestimable value, and
the bones of men also whiten its deadly sides.
Acidulated lakes and thermal springs are CON-
mon throughout several of the islands.
Their great sources of opulence are their
mines of gold and silver, but they have no an
timony, ca!amine, sal ammoniac, borax, or chime.
bar, (quicksilver). These articles are in de-
mand, and bring high price. Birds and every
kind of duck and poultry are plenty; campbor
trees are abundant, and the cedars are the finest
in the world. Few countries open so fair a
field as the islands of Japan for botanic and ge-
illogical research. 1t is not necessary here to
enter into detailed statistical account of the
commerce of Japan. A direct trade to that
empire would increase the commerce of this
country about S2OO,OOO,OOO annually, if not
more.
1t has always been in contemplation with this
country to make an effort to open direct trade
with Japan. Commodore Porter, so far back as
1915, addressed letter to Mr. Monroe on the
subject. (This letter has been published in the