The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-07-06
JAPAN LETTER.

on the South There were some toler-
ably commodious boats on this line but
the Government pressed them into the
service OF transporting troops and mu-
nItiOns of war to Satsuma, where a vigor-
Gus rebellion is being carried ON against
the present Government. Hence only
the inferior class of boats were running.
8 Little steam tubs from 80 to so feet long.
The trip to Okayama is made in about s
hours in the better class ofboats. Invent
aboard one of the small boats March
Nth at 3 o'clock P NJ, hoping to reach
Okayama by one or two o'clock the next
morning. 1t was very ineommodious
tub and filed to oyerfiowing with jap
anese. The prospects of q pleasant trip
were very unfavorable, but N it | must
go or take a three days journey over
land in jinriksha, and this / had not
the time to do. When / went on beard
they said they would be off in a few
minutes. Isqueezed myselfdown among
the JapS. using my blanket for seat. /
could not sit with my legs doubled up as
the natives do the boat was too low to
stand erect, and there was no room to
lie down. accommodated myself to the
circumstances as gracefully as | could.
resolved to bear 1T patiently for a few
hours. We waited till 6 p NJ and still
the boat was not Off | enquired why
they were waiting so long and learned
that part of the machinery was broken
and they had sent man off to have it
| repaired. i knew that the repairs might
be made in few minutes, and we might
have to wait three days; hence / pro-
! posed to leave the boat rather than wait.
But the captain said he would start Off
! Immediately and hunt up the man who
had gone to have the repairing done, yet
he did not know whether to go to Kobe
or Hioys to look for him. Hepromised
to be back in less than an hour. Iagreed
to wait for him until eight o'clock He
returned q few minutes before eight
could not find the man or the broken
machinery, but said they would start
Immediately without it. They got off
little after nine and had to stop every
five or six miles to oil up and cool off.
This is fair sample of japanese slow
ness. When We got into the bays short
distance, the sea became little rough
for the little boat. When ever a swell
struck the frail thing, the water would
come in between the seams of the planks
and wet us. The passengers became
sea sick; and as they could not get out,
they had to relieve themselves into YES
sles, and being packed so tight one could
scarcely stir, it became anything but
pleasant. About one o'clock the next
morning we came to anchor to the lee
ward of small island, the sea becoming
so rough the captain was afraid to brave
it any longer lest the frail bark would go
down. We were only about - miles
from Kobe, our starting place. Here |
spent the night sitting straight up with
out any sleep. The Japs lay over and
under each other like so many angle
worms, but L preferred the upright posi-
! ton to such intimate association. The
| next morning was clear and beautiful
with but slight swell of the sea. But
the captain, after the last nights expert
ence, was afraid to turn out ofhis retreat.
Some Of the passengers upbraided him
for his cowardice and demanded their
passage money. They came to regular
quarrel of words, and if anything can be
more noisy than dozen or two of half
angry japanese jabbering, it would be to
add another half dozen to them. Inever
saw two japanese fight. They occasion
ly give each other an angry push, or
with long sword cut off their entago-
nist's head and then disembowel them
selves afterward. This war of words kept
up with various degrees Of success till
nine o'clock when the captain again
ventured out to sea. The Japs spent
their time in telling unseemly tales.
They are very polite in their way, but
their politeness is a poiteness Of words
and form only and lacks the true spirit
Of politeness. By prehcing a story with
a few apologies, nothing is too yolupti-
GUS, unseemly or hideous for them to tell
in any company. While associating with
the better class, one thinks them pleas
ant people, but one short trip, such as
this, will cause you to modify your opin-
ion considerably We reached Okaya-
ma about three o'clock, having been ON
the boat about thirty-six hours. After
taking good sleep and getting sOme-
thing to cat, / went TO see Nakagawas
(middle of the river a man who had re-
ceived me very kindly when was there
two years ago. He is third officer in
rank in the Ken. He was very glad TO
see me, and had not talked with me half
an hour, till he said he wanted me to
come to Okayama to live, to spend three
days in the hospital every week and the
rest of the time in teaching the christian
religion. That the Government had no
objections and / must come. Then he
took us around TO see some Ofhis friends
and TO see some of the enterprises he
was engaged in. Chief of which is a
large establishment for the mandatory
of fine crockery ware. Here we saw the
various processes Of the mandatory Of
this ware, from the mixing Of the crude
rock from which the clay is formed to
the finishing touches Of the gaudy paint
ings which profusely coyerit. This large
rests on the Sabbath day,
chiefly through Nakagawas' influence
He then secured a place Of preaching,
while we were TO be in town, in the bus
iness part Of the city. Our meetings
were to commence the next day at ten
o'clock and we we're to have preaching
that night but the mans son in whose
house we we're to have preaching was to
bring home a new wife and the house
would be full Of company. So we had
meeting that night in the Hotel where
we were stopping. Some twenty-five
Young men were present. My assistant,
Kanimore San, one of the young men
from Captain James school, talked. AZ
ter the talk we distributed tracts and /
noticed one particularly intelligent look
ing young man, who fingered to ask
where we were from, how long we were
going to remain, and where he could
have an interview with u.s. The next
evening about nine o'clock the young
nan called. His excuse for calling so
ate was that he was busy during the day
md occasionally in theeyening. He was
Of instruction in one