The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-11-18
He LIKES JAPAN'S PEOPLE
How the Women of the Flowery King
dom Look and Dress.
SENSATIONS OF RIDING IN A IINRICKlSHE
Mr.. HarreIl Finds That Very Many Japanese
Understand and Speak English, the Lam
guage Being Taught in the Schools.
Something of His Trip,
Something Of His Trip,
Especial Cor. News and observer)

NagaSak1, Japan, sept. IL, 19UO.
Twenty-tw two days at sea from San Fran
francisco. Nearly 10000 miles from Raj
eigh! Nothing to relieve the monotony
of blue water, blue sky and swelling
wave save now and then a sail in the far
distance which comes hardly enough with
in our circle to determine nationality or
rig. The time is varied by heavy fogs
of about ten days duration which were
so impenetrable as scarcely to be pierced
by the minute blasts from the steamers
whistle. This ship, the Warren" and
1870 souls on board (about the popula-
tion of two or three pretty little North
Carolina villages) have comprised our en-
tire world for the past three weeks, and
we have known nothing of the events of
the earth or the movements of the ma
tions.
Peace, universal pe9ce, may now reign
supreme on the globe, or the whole world
may be plunged into fercest war, but
only blissful ignorance of all these things
prevails here.
FIRST LAND SIGHTED.
Drr'-r IL r'gkt cr 8 ~tember I'd the
first LAID vas sighted, ana when we turn
ed out i'll the early morning a grand
panorama was spread before us of such
varying loneliness as would charm the
artistic soul of Raphael or an Angelo
Nothing but the brush can truly paint
such picture, as words are inadequate
to describe this beauty which can be
portrayed to the eye alone.
We look upon sea that has taken upon
its surface a tinge of delicate green,
a thousand picturesque islands posing
singly as solitary sentinels of the sea, or
budding into graceful clusters as BASH
full "little Japanese maids from school"
Every island presents to view the COM
bned charm of rocky crag and towering
peak, and vegetation of richest emerald,
while here and there, along the mountain
sides, stand out in bold relief regular
squares of varying shades and hues which
denote fertile farms of grain under high
state of cultivation. While the glasses
sweep the horizon many an exclamation
of pleasure expresses the surprise and
delight which such a vision of beauty
affords us as we get our first view of
Japan, the land of the "Flowery King
DOM and the home of the Mikado.
THE CITY OF KOBE.
The mountains, dales and plains close
in about us as we glide over the smooth
water into the spacious harbor of Kobe.
The picture is now varied by numbers
of towns and villages which snugly nestle
among the foot hills and along the edges
of the Bay. There are now around us
hundreds of small vessels of every de-
scription, while all have the jaunty style
and unique rig sf the Japanese. These
boats are so numerous that it is difficult
for large ship like the Warren" to
avoid running them down, and often we
are so close upon some fisherman that
we hold our breath in expectation of
tragedy just as the skilful Jap clears
our bows and glides alongside as if his
escape was the easiest thing that ever
happened We hail the fellow in two or
three different languages, eager to hear
the sound of a voice other than our own,
and to our surprise we get in reply the
familiar "mucho malo," showing that he
has picked up at least one notable ex-
preston in Spanish from contact with
the American soldiers returning from Ma
nilla.
Having anchored just opposite the city
of Kobe, the captain went ashore for a
pilot and for orders from Washington as
to our next movement. Hundreds of ia
panese trading boats now ran alongside
with every conceivable kind of small ar
ticIes for sale. They are just the kind
of souvenirs which the traveller is eager
to buy, but strict orders that nothing
shall be brought on board deprive us of
the pleasure of gratifying our mania for
buying novelties which are offered so
marvellously cheap.
STUDYING JAPAN FROM DECK.
Orders having been issued by the
colonel of the 9th Cavalry, who was on
board, that no person should go on shore
from the steamer, we were compelled to
forego the pleasure of stroll through
Kobe, much to our disappointment How
ever, the globe trotter" is never at an
end of his resources for inventing amuse-
ment, therefore we soon had the would
be Japanese merchants naked and diving
for small coins that we would throw over
board. The Bay is about thirty feet deep
and the diver would catch the
coin before it had sunk six feet, and
he rarely missed his aim. The water is so
clear that all the movements of the diver
could be seen until he caught the piece
of money The boatman had but little
trouble in getting ready for his dive as
he wore but one garment Ca kind of
loose blouse) and he did not always both
er himself about taking off even this
slight encumbrance.
Kobe is a typical Japanese city of
about 40 900 inhabitants. 1t is built upon
a stretch of plain running along the Bay
for five or six miles. The landscape has
a magnificent background of lofty hills
which are covered with a carpet of dark
green even to their highest tops, and
this gives the scene a completeness that
m IYs
are closely crowded together and are
of distinctly Eastern style of architecture.
Along the sides of the hills are many
beautiful estates where the land is most
artstically terraced, and some of the
larger buildings appear to have been de-
signed by European architects in combi-