The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-10-17

lle mus lue stOIShSNF~ ~
smoke, waiting for customers. The store:
) of Yokohama consist in a great part oil
so.called curio.stores, and foreigners
especially late arrivals, usually resort herr
To look ut the wares. Entering a store
the foreigner sits on the mats, and thu
storekeeper exhibits everything he has fol
sale in the politest possible manner, and /
after staying there half an hour the for
eigner leaves without purchasing any
thing, he is dismissed, or rather he leaves
receiving kind smile from the proprie
tor, who evinces not the least appearance
of chagrin. Some OF them understand Q
little English, and they all seem to know
q late arrival. The Japanese are very
Clearly in their persons and houses. The
men are generally short Of stature, but are
well and prOpOrtionally built, the labor
ing classes sometimes showing high de-
gree of muscular development. l cannot
say that | admire the appearance OF the
women Of Japan, that is the married wo
men. For upon their assuming the duties
and responsibilities of wilehood they
blacken their teeth and shave off their eye.
brows, which makes them look almost
hideous. But did see some very pretty
girls, who had not yet so disfgured them
selves, and 1t is the greater pity that such
a custom prevails, Tor as rule the ia
panesc male and female have as fine teeth
us any people | know Of
would like to describe their dress, but
| am afraid | could not give you such a
description as would enable you to COM
prehend, Suffice 1t to say that their
clothing, Il am speaking of tho middle
and lower Classes) is made of good cot
ton material, and loose, allowing them
the utmost freedom of motion, and is
really becoming,
In the space of short letter. am al-
ready afraid this one will be too long,-I
cannot attempt to give you oil my impress
sons, or tell you all that / saw here to
wonder at during my ten days stay.
Everything issO different from what | had
ever seen before, or that had expected to
see, will, therefore, merely state few
things that observed, and which struck
me.
In the houses Of japanese, there is no
furniture; the thick mats that IRE laid
on the floor sulllCing for chairs, beds md
tables, These mats are kept sCrupulous-
ly clean, and to me they look preferable
to carpets. Their food consists of vege.
tablcs-mosIly rice, fish, eggs and fowl.
Before the advent OF Europeans, meat
was unknown, and very little Is eaten
now by the natives. Men here do SER
vice for beasts of burden, and carry
much rs they DO in China.--the
Omniprcsent bamboo serving rs poles.
A cart is hero in use which would
be an object Of curiosity in any of
our countries. II Is very much like
one OF our drays-the wheels, however,
being very hlgh-made entirely of wood,
without any tire or single nail. -Four,
five or six men move this cart, which
carries an enormous amount
of freight, two or three men in front, and
the rest behind, keeping step by chanting
in tones the most dOlOrous and disagree.
able that IL was ever my lot to hear.
Horses are never used by japanese to
are used for riding, by some
Japanese, and occasionally us paCk-ani-
mails. People are carried from place to
place either in u kind Of sedan chair
called n Cango, which Is suspended from
II long pole, and carried by two men, one
in front and one behind, or in n chair on
three wheels something like our baby car
riagcs, drawn by one man-called jin-rik-
shah, man.Clrriage). In tho latter one
can travel at II lair rate--say three miles
per hour for the whole day. But ! cannot
devote any more space in this letter to |
these matters. will conclude by brief
description of trip to YedO, the capital
of Japan.
This city lies at the head Of YGdO Bay. |
It can be reached either by land or water
from Yokohama. Invent up by boat, the
Journey taking about four hours. The
water round Yedo is very shallow, and
large vessels have to anchor at Sinagama
about five miles from YedO. Here u |
chain Of forts has been built right across |
the bay completely defending YcdO, and
itspart above mentioned. We were land.
cd at the foreign concession of Yedo call.
ed Skidgi. Here there Is splendid
hotel onrhe European style which has been
built and Is now run by the Japanese for
the accommodation Of all. YGdO Is one
of the largest cities In Japan, Il not the
largest. The population Inns been set
down rs high rs three millions, but from the
number of uninhabited houses that saw
! doubt ifthe number exceeds one million.
1t Is certainly of vast extent-and the
streets are little wider, but present the
same appearance--namely no sidewalks
and the shops all open on the street. YedO |
was the former residence of tho Tycoon
and now contains on the same side the I'M.
perialPalaCe of the Mikado. This residence
Is really n magnificent fortress with
five distinct walls or lines of tor.
tiilcation. Each OF these walls is
from eighteen to twenty-five feet high,
about three thick, all built Of huge
stones placed together without mortar,
yet are the sides rs even as you can i'm.
agine. Each wall Is surrounded by n
ditch crossed by good specimen Of the
archcd bridge-but there Is no draw.
bridge. The whole fort covers about
three square miles. Then We visited the
old TycOon's bdrying ground. In Japan
they burn the dead and bury the ashes in
an urn OF bronze, which varies in size
and magnincence according to the rank
and wealth Of the deceased In this
ground all the Tycoons for the last four
years arc buried, and the bronzes
this ground contains are truly magniii.
cent. There are also several very hand.
some temples, one Of which contains
over two hundred idols.
Here in Yedo are made most of the
bronzes and ivory curios for foreign
sale. There is also established school,
presided over by foreigners, for teaching
the laps the English language.
No more for the present.
TOURIST.