Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-07-11

| tablelands, at different times, vast hordes of
| people have descended, and conquered the
| best portions of the earth The Cells, the
| Huns, the GOths, the Vandals and the
t AlanS have pressed down from those re-
| glons, and sweeping all other races before
them, have occupied all Europe. From
those same elevated plateaus, in later days,
! the Aryan conquerors descended upon pop
ulous India and established q great en-
pire In still later times the Mongolians,
under Genghis Khan, swept over the plains
| of Eastern China, and conquered the whole
! of that country. The grandson Of Genghls
! Khan sent vast SwarmS of fierce horse
men and conquered the almost invincible
| CaliphS of Bagdad, and then turning north
| they swept over European Russia, and pen
| etrated into Hungary and Poland.
CONQUEST OF JAPAN
The handful of the invaders of Japan
were as warlike as any of the other con
quering races On the japanese Islands
they found brave, sturdy, fishing and
hunting people-the - hairy Ainos." The
contest for the islands lasted for more than
| 1900 years. At the time Of which | write
all the country north Of the Halloni range
of mountains was still held by the aborigi-
nal people. The present sites of YedO and
| Yokohama were occupied by Aino vii
| 1
natural barriers of the Hakoni mountains,
and. after a bloody war of some years.
drove the Amos still further north.
The country thus conquered embraced
I the peninsula between the Bay of Yedo
and the Pacific Ocean. This country is q
table land, with AN altitude above tide
water of 800 feet. 1t is seventy miles long
and fifty miles wide. 1t is of irregular
| shape, with serrated borders, conforming
to the irregularities of the bay and ocean.
A portion Of its northern boundary is
| formed by the beautiful fresh-water lake
| of Imbannuma. 1t is drained by innumer-
able clear streams, some flowing west into
the bay, some east into the ocean, and
| others north into the lake. 1t has
| thousands of beautiful groves of oaks and
| evergreenS and the country presents
much the appearance of the oak openings
| of Michigan and Kentucky, 1t is covered
| with clover, tecue and rye grasses. 1t was
| determined by the Government to reserve
all this region as pasture, in which 10
| breed horses for the Imperial armies. It
| could have been easily fenced from the
| groves of timber, but that would have LETT
it exposed to the attacks OF the hostile
| Amos, who were still only a hundred or
two miles further north.
AN IMMENSE FORTIFIED FENCE.
An edict YVES issued, and thousands of
villages were transported thither from all
parts of the Empire. TO these settlers the
land along the streams, near the borders Of
the table-land, was given on which to
grow lOw-land rice. Then this vast force
was put to work to construct an immense
embankment around this pasture. 1t was
sixteen feet high and sixteen feet at the
base. Ia order to leave out the rice land
al l,n ctr 4 a n
the serrated edges of the table-lands, it re-
quircd many curves and windings. For
this reason ii was fully twice as long as
would have been required if 1t could have
been a perfect circle or square. As 1t was
built it was 800 miles III length. 1t was
constructed entirely by manual labor,
without the aid of plows, scrapers or
carts The earth was shoyeled into hemp
sacks or mats, and was then carried,
swinging on pole bytwo men up on to the
embankment This was the work Of years,
but where labor has little value and the
word of the ruler is absolute, anything can
be done.
CORRALS AND SUBDIVISIONS.
After this fortified fence was finished,
the work of subdiyiding it into fields
was commenced The subdivision en-
bankments We're twelve feet high and twelve
"
surveyed into circles. In the center the
corral was located. From the corral tri-
angular fields were surveyed each corral
and the surrounding fields were in the form
of a wheel, the corral III the place Of the
hub, the fields occupying the SPACES be-
tween the spokcs ana the subdivision en-
banLments representing the spoies. The
corrals were formed by building embank-
ments thirty and even forty feet high.
The fields varied in area from 3UO to l 300
acres. Each corral division had IT'S Of
fetal in charge, and over all was high
Imperial officer. The aggregate length of
these subdivision entertainments was more
than 1900 meters. The Tycoon who
ordered ali this labor did not live TO see its
completion, but his son and successor did.
When this fortified pasture was ready for
occupation officers were sent to every pro-
vince in the Empire, and the best mares
and horses were bought. ambassadors
were sent to China, COrea and Manchuria,
and the best equine blood OF those Coun-
tries was purchased. In thirty or forty
years after the pasture was occupied there
were 5000 horses pastuTing there. At a
later time ii is said that the number reached
was 100 900 Some years since the writer
was invited to visit this great pasture and
witness the annual horse gathering.
An OLD MILITARY ROAD.
Upon that occasion we left Toxic, the
capital, in company with the Minister OF
the Interior, and large retinue Of other
officials, early on q beautiful spring morn
ing. We Travelled in jinickshas, the ordi-
nary conyeyances OF that country. These
are exaggerated two-wheeled baby wagons
well built, fancifully painted and nicely
upholstered, We had two men 10 each
carriage and we travelled at rate that
would have troubled some California teams
to have equalcd The distance was Al
miles, and we made it in nine hours, in
Guiding one hours stop for dinner. Our
road was around the Bay of \ edo and is
known as the Martha kaidO. 1t is 4 wide
military highway, and has immense rows
of trees on both sides, several hundred
years old, forming a magnificent avenue.
Il is used by the streams of pilgrims that
visit the great temples and shrines al Mar
rita was told that hundreds OF thousands
annually 90 TO these shTines to worship.
Judging from the numbers We saw travel
ing both ways, | could easily believe it.
Whole villages travel together on foot, or,
If able, in these man-carriages. This
stream of travel has given rise to an i'm
mense hotel business all along the road.
THROUGH VILLAGE AND COUNTRY.
In some little villages thirty and forty
hotels can be counted, and some of them
are immense affairs, accommodating from
800 10 500 people each. We crossed two
large rivers, the Sumida-gawa and Toxic
gawa, both navigable to the foot of the
mountains, and filed with boats and junks,
engaged in carrying the produce of the
country. For forty miles there is a success
sion of villages, that occupy nearly, if not
quite, one-haf the distance. On either side
were fields, stretching on the one side
to the shore line of the bay and on the
other to the mountain range and far up its
sides. The cultivation was done by the
spade or mattock, and was the perfection OF
gardening. We met long lines of pack
horses loaded with all the products Of the
fields or with wood or coal, going down to
the head of navigation on the bay. On