The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-03-15
The City of JeddO.

Nh. EDITOR Il have not the time to give your
readers an elaborate description Of the capital Of
Japan, which just now creates so much interest and
inquiry, as well as the charming islands Of which it
is, both geographically and politically considered, the
great center. Y few notes, however, may crafty
your readers, lncompIeIe anu IIasty a ,i.vy .uay -
The great Bay or Gulf of Jedio IS entered by a
strait about six miles WIDE, the land on each side Of
which IS hilly and broken. and never rising into what
can properly be called mountains. In approaching
the strait, vessels run near the island Oosima, in the
center Of which a mountain rises about 24OO feet
high, from whose top a crater sends up a great vol
ume Of smoke, while al the same time it escapes
through various small apertures near the base. No
flames have issued for many years. The bay opens
in its full extent upon passing the STRATA magnif-
cent sheet Of water, like q little inland sea, being
almost square, and each side, as it is said, from %
to 80 miles long. Nothing can be more picturesque in
n clear day than this bay, with the square sails Of
more than a thousand junks and boats spread to the
gentle breeze, and the towns and villages close down
to the shores. the cultivated fields and the groves
lying back, and the great moun-ain cone Of FUsi-
ana, which rises into the clouds, and above the
clouds, some so miles from the bay and about the
same from Jeddo. 4 great mountain chain extends
from one end Of the island 10 the other. run
ming north and south, some of whose peaks are seen
occasionally covered with snow, while Fusi-1aG, the
"iucomparabIe mountain rises in solitary dignity, as
if disjointeI from the rest, and ashamed in its auto
cratic pride Of being touched by interiors. Some give
12,OOO feet for It's hight, and others 5000. The
summit Is always covered with snow, and for a great
part Of the year the deep ravines are filed with it,
which were furrowel out in ollen times by the tor
rents of descending lava. The summit Is q vast era
ter, once oyerfowing with burning matter, and send
ing it down into the plains: but since the year 1907,
the volcano has teen inactive. The mountain seems
10 be utterly naked, no solitary trees dotting its sides,
and no dark forests overhauging its p~recipices and
cliffs, and even no grass giving life AMI beauty to its
valleys. 1t is a sacred mountain to the japanese,
almost as much so as Sinai and Horeb to the Jews,
far up whose sides they have built temples, to which
the devotees resort in great numbers to fulfill their
vows, and pilgrims to e1piate their sins by acts Of
penance, the rich often going as beggars, clothed in
rags, subsisting all the way there, and while there.
on their return, upon the charities they receive.
Almost all the articles Of porcelain and lacquer, and
their books and pictures, are ornamented with differ
ent views Of FNSi-GmQ. Such sunsets l never saw as
several times I did behind this mountain, when the
skies FOR a vast extent seemed converted into gold,
ike the thick and rich work on the finest Mako arti-
while the sun itself seemed to linger and refuse
% 60 down in the pride Of showing his glory. l.
seemed to me that the japanese must have borrowed
.ome Of their fine ideas Of art from what they 50 often
lee in sunset behind FHsi-qmG.
Jeddo, or rather Yeddo, as the natives always pro-
lounce it, is situated on the western coast of the bay,
nd nearly half way between the northern and south
IN shore. Large vessels are obliged 10 anchor FIVE
? six miles from the city, N account Of the shallow
Of the water, and nothing i seen indicating one
T the greatest cities in the world till, in approaching
t, the Eve massive forts loom up a mile or two from
he shore, assuring one that there must be a city, in
Of q mere forest, as it seems, lying back to be I
efenled. On reaching the shore, a wall Of hewn
tones Is seen built up eight or ten feet high above {
he water, and extending as far as the eye can reach, q
al a. far o. any Of our party extended their walks. .
street level with the top II this sea-wall runs along j
whole length, which IS lined on each side with 1
ouzes, the front part # the lower story being always C
sci - = store or as a shop for mechanical purposes. /
are No jetties, or wharyes, or custom houses,
far as cur walks AMI observations extended; and
hen the tide Is l1w, it requires in some places con- t
ierahle effort to climb the ladders, or cIingiug to c
e neck Of some stalwart japanese boatman, whose %
.ouliers we have mounted, seize and mount plank "a
inning out, supported by props at one end. and r.
sting upon the sea-wall at the other. Such Is the VI
trCsluction into this great city. al
The FIVE forts are nearly in q line. and are said Pa a