The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1895-02-16
JAPAN'S SUMNER RESORTS.

JAPAN'S SUMNER RESORTS.
Life Made Enjoyable at a Small Price on
Enoshimo Island.
One Of the most picturesque spots
in the flowery land is the little island
of Enoshima. which lies in the bay
Of Tokyo. Perhaps it hardly de.
serve the name of an island, for at
low tide you IA walk acros on the
damp sand and need hardly go on
the low, rickety structure of a bridge
which connects the island with the
opposite beach. But when winter
storms + raging waves dash al
around the little island, and tId
bridge is not infrequently swept
away. It is merely a few planks and
bamboos, SO the inhabitants cheer.
fully set to work to rebuild it. Emo.
shima has the great advantage for a
foreigner Of being within treaty
limits"
The inhabitants of the island make
their living by fishing, gathering
edible seaweed and making sheJ
ornaments. The sea is literally alive
with fish, some of which are ura
known in English waters. Others
are well known to our fishermen,
among them the perch, the funny
fish, the mullet and a kind of sar.
dine. The women carry on a large
trade in shells, which are of all
sizes, from the beautiful Venus
ear, as large as a plate, to the many
tiny nameless shells which they use
largely for the manufacture of kan
SASH, OF hair ornaments, which are
worn by every woman in Japan.
The amount of labor and ingenu-
ity to be had for the sum of / sen,
equal to l farthing, is quite wonder.
full. You may buy a grasshopper
with a body made of shells and legs
of fine green twisted silk. 1t is deli
cately poised on a blade of grass and
the whole fastened to a hairpin. O..
you may have a tortoise with lega
that shake at every touch and Oh
whose shell back is a stork marvel.
ously manufactured out of six shells.
This is a favorite 30 miyage," or
honorable return home present,
for the tortoise and the stork are
emblems of long life.
The chief sight of the island is a
long narrow cave which is approach
ed by a platform built against thu
rock. a wizened old man, wizenei
as only a Japanese can be, gives yo1
a taperat the entrance and leads YOU
between the little shrines to the
shrine of Benten, the goddess OF
luck, under whose protection the is.
land is placed. The cave is dark and
dripping and does not seem a tempt,
ing place to come and worship, but
they tell you that Nichiren, one Of
the great Buddhist saints, came there
to pray so long that he left an i'm
preston on the stone where hi
stood; also they say that the frs
person to enter the cave was the ia
nous Kobo Daishi, a Buddhist sain'
who was also noted as preacher
painter, sculptor, ~calligraphist ant
traveller"
Life OF the island is cheap if you
cal sleep on futons Quilted mats
and eat Japanese food. Otherwise
you must bring your own provision
II ~starve, for not a mouthful o
English food is to be had. The tea
houses supply dinners which vary i,
price from 10 sen (21 pence) to 2
sen or possibly 100 sen. Higher thai
this it seems impossible to go. Fo
20 sen you get an excellent Japanes
dinner-soup, two kinds of fish AM
many little mouthfuls of mushroom
bamboo root, ginger, ETC., which tn
Japanese love so much.-Londol
Queen.
Tears as a Medicine.
The Persians are the only peopl
in the world that still adhere to tn
old custom of bottling tears. In tina
country it constitutes an importan
part in the funeral ceremonies pei
formed over the dead. Each of tn
mourners is presented with a spong
with which to mop the face and eyes
and after the burial these are takel
by a priest, who squeezes the tear
into bottles. Mourners' tears are be
lieved to be the most efficacious rem
edy that can be applied in severa
forms of Persian diseases. The Gus
tom of bottling tears is mentioned il
the Bible. See Psalms lvi, S.-St