The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1897-09-27
High Above Nikko Its
Waters are Very Cool.
Road Winds Along Edge OF PreCi-
piCes-City Swept by
Furious Storm.
Especial Correspondence ]

| 1. y.
10 leave Nikko on Friday, September
| 10th But Thursday morning we were
| startled about a. m. by the rush of
wind with such furious strength as to
slam the open blinds against the sash
and break the glass. The rain came in
| furious gusts, and we had good reason
| to believe we were on the edge Of a
! typhoon. And so it proved. One Of
these furious storms had struck the
Bay of Yedo. and had ravaged Tokyo
and the whole region round about.
Trees were blown down, houses unroof-
ed, fences laid fiat, and then came
| flood which submerged 5000 houses
and such a wide extent of country as to
change the river into lake six miles
wide The railroad track at one point
was four feet under water. When we
had got half way to the station, Friday,
we were turned back with the message
that there was no getting to Tokyo
that day. We found that we could
make the trip to Lake Chiuzenji and
return before the o'clock dinner.
The storm had subsided as suddenly
as it rose, and the sun was shining as
serenly as though it did not look on a
scene of desolation, wrought in few
hours duration of the storm. No great
damage had been done at Nikko. The
trees that had been uprooted around
the hotel had been quickly reset and
propped up with long bamboo poles.
The road to the lake was passable, for
quite a number of tourists had come
down from the hotel there on their way
to other places. Each jinrikisha had
three coolies, one in the shafts, one
with rope to pull in tandem style, one
to push. So we started on the eight
miles trip. We found the road for the
first half OF the way comparatively
smooth, the ascent being very gradual.
But when we left the road to the Ash
10 copper mines, we found the road
wild as any mountain road can well be.
In many places it was cut out of the
solid rock, so that the foundation bed
was sure enough though narrow. No
one had removed the loose stones that
had fallen during the storm, nor the
trees that had blown down across the
path But the jinrikisha men picked
their way among the stones and lifted
the vehicle over the fallen trees, and
kept on till they reached a wayside inn,
a halfway station, where they halted
for an half hour, drank tea and smoked
their pipes.
Then we started again up wooded
hillside that projected into the valley
between the channel of the Daiga-ga-
wa, and a fearful chasm on the other
side, clean cut through a bed of grav-
ell 5000 feet deep. The road zigZagged
through the clay soil among the huge
oaks. The loops were as sharp in their
turns as the hairpin loops on the Ko-
hala railroad, and propOrtionately
shorter. One invoIuntarily held ones
breath as the coolies turned the sharp
corners of the zigZag, looking off at
the foaming rapids in the gorge below.
Nor did the road look particularly Sc
cure, as it crossed various landslides
on rude timbers, propping up wattled
platform with foot of earth to make |
it smooth riding. Occasionally we
came to places where the mud must |
have been two feet deep during the |
storm, but sufficiently dry for the cool
les to pull us through with subdued |
cries and grunts as they tugged along |
together. They had nothing but straw |
soles tied on their feet, and two of |
them lost these in the mud.
Half way up they rested at a tea |
house that commanded a fine view of |
the gorge below, and showed clearly |
what an ascent we had made The |
lower half Of the valley up which we |
had passed had been pretty we'll de-
nuded of its forests by the charcoal
burners. whose pits we could see smok-
ing on the mountain sides away below
us. We enjoyed the rest and the tea
as well as the coolies, sitting on the
black striped red blankets with which
the long benches in these Japanese tea
houses are covered. A quarter of an
hour suf1ced to rest the jinrikisha
men, and it was soon evident that we
were nearing the crest of the ridge A
short ride through the grove on top,
and we were soon at the hotel with the
lake spread out before us in all it's
stiffness and beauty
1t is a sheet of water three miles
wide by eight long, at height of 1875
feet above sea level, and a measured
depth of 55S feet. On the right Mount
Nantisan rises in pyramidal form,
wooded to the summit, a height of S, $50
feet above the level Of the sea- In July
Or August, we were told, 10000 pilgrims
come up to make the ascent 1t is a
sacred mountain. AT its top is a shrine.
where muTderers may cast the weapon
with which they committed the crime,
and be assured of the divine forgive .
ness. In October it is said 10 be a mass
If red color, when the maple leaves are
.inted with the autumn frosts ;
We rested for an hour at the hotel, !
curious compound of Japanese and :
Yankee architecture, ate our tifin, and
hen enjoyed a half hours boat ride on {
he lake. The lake is irregular in shape. {
)ut the hillsides that form the rim of :
he basin are wooded clear down to I
he waters edge. As the ridges project
md recede there is vista of mystic 4