The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-11-04

it was fine for almost another month.
But in this lane Of disappointments
the 9th wcdged itself between with one
of the least favorable days for all
eclipse possible. About four clock
| awoke to hear t raining. This was
rather hopeful, thought, remember
ing the old American adagc, Grain
before seven, clear beforc eleven. y
But unhappily ] was then in Japan.
not America. The down-pour con
tinucd till nine, when a rift in the
east gave flash Of tic sun. This
was very hopeful. The said flash,
however, soon gave place to fresh
delugc, which lasted till near noon.
This was not unexpected. for it Often
rains hardest Just before the close,
and specially if it be near the hour of
noon. And SO it actually promised at
one time. Between twelve and one
the floods ceased, the clouds grew
lighter, and for second time tho sun
appeared all instant. Now we will get
ready our smoked glass, and strike an
attitude for tic best angle Of vision.
F fortunately We had our umbrellas
with us, for in less time than | am
now writing it the floods again came,
aud We were all scampcring into tho
house. From that instant smoked
glass was for sale at tremendous dis
count. IF it ceased to pour the rcHt
of the afternoon and until away into
the night, | do not now recall it. The
passage of fair Luna over the disc of
the sun was claimed by the astrono.
mcrs TO he due at Sapppro at half-past
one, ending aboHt three o'clock fol-
lowing. But how any QUO in Sapporo
could prove this was beyond US. In
fact, at the moment Of totality the
sky was not materially darker than |
have often seen it at home just before
furious thunder storm. So VIC got
some revenge by concluding that it
was not much Of an eclipse after ALL
Still, | had to confess to bitter dis
appointment, for | had taken this long
Journey to kokkaido chiefly for this
great sight. An even ladder feature,
however, was the equally dismal fail
urc Of the American scientific ezpcdi-
tous Which had planted their instru-
mcnts about two Hundred miles furth-
rr north in the island, where the con-
dilions arc normally far more favora
bic for fair weather. Returning from
Iczo VIC met on tho steamer Capt.
James. who hal SO generously placed
his yacht at the disposal of Prof.
Todd, Of Amherst, and his party, who
tpld us Of the failure to get a solitary
satisfactory negative. As Prof. Todd
did not succeed much better with the
last eclipse in these parts eight years
ago, it is doubtful il the uokkaido
will sec him soon again. Indeed, we
shall not have another total obscura-
tion here for the next forty years. SO
that he need not trouble.
After such ignominious treatment
at the hands of the weather bureau in
Sapporo, | resolved to speedily leave
tho place. This was strengthened by
a sudden appearance of two friends
from Elondo, who were making a fly
ing trip through the island. Together
wc turned our faces towards Mororan
homcwards. But we all concluded to
stop over day at small Aine vii
lagc called Horobctsu, little north
Of Mororan, and so study at first hand
more of the aborigines. It is town
of hardly two hundred houses, all sit
mated on or near the enc long street of
the place. Possibly there were as
many Japanese there as Amos, how
ever. Here for thirteen years had
heen the scene of the labors cf Rev.
John Bachelor, of the Church of
England, who is now the first living
authority on the Ainu question. We
entered several of their houses and
observed their manner of living. All
the houses are of thatchcd straw, as
with the poorer japanese, though
those of the Ainu differ in some pc
culiaritics Of finish. You enter a
small court when you arc ushcrcd into
one large room, and the only one.
The floor consists Of mother Garth. y
broad, shallow excavation constitutes
the kitchen, or the place Of cookery,
for suspended from crane is the sole
pot which contains the sole mixture
Of bread, fish, vegetables that are
boiled together for the common meal.
Out of this pot all partakc, sitting
around it, directly dishiug out the
contents from mouth to mouth. ln
one corner is little raised platform
of boards, which is the family bed
room where they likewise sleep in
common. Opposite this il another
corner given up chiefly to family
utensils and household gods. The
roof is mass of SCOT aud dirt, and
the whole house is so offensive that
our visits were never bore on the
score Of a lingering delay. Poverty
seemingly could drop no lower than
among these people, yet they have
contcntmcnt which many millionaire
might envy. The women dye their
lips with 4 plant in scmicirclcs above
and below, which gives the appear
anco Of black egg lynn across the
mouth. But this is far handsomcr
than the japanese wives who hide
nusly dye tleir teeth. Some Of these
women are extremely handsome
others decidedly not The men are
generally of finer physique than the
japanese, and very much more bclll-
cosc. looked into our Church there.
whose exterior did not differ much
from the average dwelling. Butvith
in it was quite commodious and con-
veuient. 1t had the recess clanccl,
lecturn, altar, reading desk but Of
course without pews or chairs. as with
the japanese. We have made some
gratifying progress in the conversion
Of the children and women, but the
obstacle in the way of the men is the
sake drinking-thc great national
beverage Of Japan-aud the equally
great curse. This difficulty is intcns-
flied among the Amos because of the
association of this drink with their re-
lisious fcasts. 10 thoroughly convert
an adult from the error Of such way
is certainly great triumph for Chris
tianity. We shall long remember our
day and night in Horubetsu. You
must stop at such places to realize the
cnu,lor which obtains moi ONLY in the