Morris tribune., 1881-06-30
CHINA AND JAPAN.

CHINA AND JAPAN.
The Greatest Discomfort of a Trip Round
the World-Beauty of ORIENTAL Scenery
Celestial Wonders.
Interview with Cyrus W. Field.
What WIS the greatest discomfort Of
our trip?"
Our experience with the custom house
officers when We reached New York. In
travelling around the world had to deal
with officers of the custom houses of Japan,
China, Cochin China, Straits Settlements,
British Burmah, India, Arabia, Egypt, Italy,
France and England, but nowhere was my
baggage opened and examined except at
New York. The treatment people arriving
from foreign countries suffer at the
New York custom house is dis
grace to the country. Why, the officers are
polite enough, but they make you swear
what your baggage contains, and then they
open and examine it to see if there Is moth
ing but wearing apparel in it, just as if
they believed you had perjured yourself.
If baggage is to be examined, then the re-
quirement of an oath should be'abandoned
in order to avoid needless insult to people.
The regulations Under which the custom
house officers do their work need thorough
overhauling."
THE Japanese are as agreeable people
as you saw, are they not?"
"Perhaps so. Do you know that they
are one of the cleaniest people on earth,
personally? But as much cannot be said of
them morally. 1t is the custom Of the
whole nation to bathe daily, but it would
shock you to know that until recently men
and women bathed together, perfectly naked.
The government has established a law
against promiscuous bathing, and the
bathing houses are now made with par
tition to separate the men from the women,
but 1t is not very high. A few years ago
1t was very common thing to see men
and women stark naked taking bath in
front Of their housesj but things are
done in Asia, without any question, which
in America would create a great scandal
TIE relations of the sexes in Japan are un-
fortunate, but no worse than elsewhere in
Asia. The most refined Japanese are ex-
tremely courteous and agreeable people.
We were invited to visit Japanese mer-
chant with whom was much pleased seat
ed in .jinriki- shas, stout, very easy, two
wheeled vehicles, each drawn by hardy
Jap, we proceeded to the house of our host,
where our reception was as curious as it was
the door and enter and make oiir visit in
to three Of his wives. | do hot know how
many more he had. 1t will give you some
idea of the elegance of our entertainment
if tell you that the tea we drank was made
before us in golden teakettle. The taste
of the Japanese in art is often exquisite.
This is true of the common people as well as
the higher class, and their skill in difficult
and dainty works is marvellous. Their
coins are of peculiar interest and collec-
tions of them are extensive among such
Japanese as are rich enough to indulge in
so costly relics. The money used in Japan
is almost exclusively paper, and is much
deprecated. Greenbackers have but to
look at the present currency of Japan to
see the result of the foley they advocate.
The most interesting thing about Japan is
to see the eagerness of the people to adopt
modern improvements.
rs not the scenery of Japan and most
other countries of the east unattracive?"
mo; much Of it is very beautiful. The
| hills, mountains and volcanoes of Japan
are very beautiful. The groves which oc-
cupy so much space in Japanese cities, are
very attractive. The inland sea upon
which we crossed to Nagassak is as beau
tiful as any waterI have ever sailed upon.
Many of the cities of Asia are surrounded
by very fine scenery. Rangoon is one of
them, and Malabar Hill at Bombay, is a
residents. Penang, near the equator, q
Maylayan city, is on an island which Bay
ard Taylor described as the most beautiful
in the world. British Burmah is remarka-
BILE for the variety as well as the beauty of
it's scenery. The least attractive scenery
of my journey was that of some parts of
India, where at the time of the year
we visited the country there were extern
parched plains"
What was your first impression of the
greatest Chinese city you visited2"
"Astonishment at the number Of people
upon the water. In Japan many people
obtain their whole subsistence from the
water, and vast number live upon it
altogether; but at Canton the river was
literally covered with boats Of every con-
ceivable shape. It is about seventy five
miles from the sea up the Pearl river to
Canton, and when you approach the city
the number of boats is incredible. Why,
it is said that as many as 100000 people
live upon the water at Canton. A vast
multitude of the people remain in their
boats all their lives. eating and sleeping
in them, and many children are born in
them. My chief impression of Canton,
however, is wonder at the cleanliness of
the city. It has more than million peo-
pie, and yet it has no sewers. But the
filth is collected very regularly, and Ia
borers bear it away on their backs every
morning to te used as a fertilizer. That
great city Of dark, dingy streets, many of
them not more than ten feet wide, is
nj nd
York. If Canton can be kept clean with
out sewers, what possible excuse can
there be for the filthy condition of New
York, which is situated on an island and
has two tdesevery twenty-four hours to
sweep the filth to the sea?"
In what part of the world was communi-
| cation with home most interrupted?"
There was not an hour spent in any
country of the East that I could not send q
cable message to New York, except when
in the city of Canton. For about four davs
there I was not within reach of the tele-
graph. Elsewhere during my Journey, ex-
| cept when on the sea, could always find
telegraph Office from which could send o
message directly home. It is one of the
marvellous indications of progress in the
East that the telegraph and the railway are
being introduced there. The telegraph is
| conrlDutlng much to the intelligence of
Asia. The telegraph offices are the centres
OF information throughout the Orient, and
Americans and Europeans residing there
would regard the loss of the telegraph
almost unendurable."
did you find China SO filthy that you
think Cinnamon unfit to become residents
of the United States?"
| L have told you about the cleanliness of
anton. Shanghai and Hong Kong are not
lthy, land Saigon, in Cochin China, is clean
er than New York has been in many years.
But the people do not bathe as frequently
as in Japan, and they are not as clean. The
Celestials are slnewy and have great endur-
ance, but they would doubtless look less
sallow and their physical condition would
improve II they were not restricted to such
monotonous diet. Rice is wholesome
| food, but they live almost exclusively upon
rice, and the uOOrer class have hardly