Norwich bulletin., 1909-05-22

| sion. As the steamer cast OH from | the dock and swung into the bay ana | l took the last fond, lingering gaze at | that host of dear, loving friends, ana I turned to look upon the passengers around me, not one of whom had ever seen before felt in my heart a pans of bitter regret that 1 had undertaken | the journey. As we approached the l Farallone Islands, and the pilot was about to leave us l saw he was an old acquaintance. and went to the ships side to bid him good-by, when he intro duced me to Captain. Pearn, and from | that introduction sprang up a warm friendship which lasted till the day Of 1 the captains death.
 l I soon came to know all on board | whose acquaintance was desirable, | and the voyage across the Pacinc proved a delightful one. On the first | Sunday out it was proposed that we should have divine service. as there were several missionaries among the | cabin passengers. A prominent mis- sionary from Yokohama was invited to conduct the service, but he declined, l giving as reason that he was on his vacation and could not serve. Since we could not have the spiritual director we contented ourselves with the med ical' adviser. The ships doctor read
 the service in a remarkably impress i've manner, and the singing was far
 above the average. Of this latter
 am competent to speak, since l was one of the singers.
 Yokohama made a pleasing first irn- pression on me. As the passengers were leaving the ship. the proprietor of the principal hotel came to me and so- licited the honor of my patronage.
 I assured him that the honor was his,
 and he accompanied me ashore.
 After getting my belongings through
 the custom house. we passed out upon
 the street, and the first sight which
 met my wandering gaze was an as-
 tonishing array of what I supposed
 were baby carriages, and my first
 thought was that all the women in
 Yokohama were out giving their chil-
 dren an airing. When the hotel man
 invited me to get in, felt my dignity
 seriously compromised.
 Get in" said l. What do you
 why" said he, "this is the way we
 ride in Japan"
 So I got in, and as we rode down
 the bund to the hotel I felt about as
 small as they make 'em. The vehicle
 was, of course a .jinrilksha, and such
 an agreeable and comfortable means
 of transportation that I learned to
 make use of 1t whenever circumstances permitted
 When at the hotel I noticed on the
 bill of fare, fried cells" Now, if there
 was one thing above all others that
 was fond of in my boyhood days, and
 in my maturer years, it was fried cells
 and I had not tasted one since leaving my New England home, so I ordered
 fried cells, and didn't order anything else, for they were simply delicious
 Being at the home of Captain Center
 that evening, I made mention of the luxury I had indulged in at the hotel
 Why" said he, I've have eel houses
 here where they furnish eels till you
 can't rest. and tomorrow we will gc
 and see for ourselves"
 lf Next day a party of eight ladies ana gentlemen took jinrikshas and set out for the eel houses. When we arrived . at the entrance we were obliged tC take off our shoes before entering tho
 doorway, and proceed in stocking feet
 What l saw there was a revelation tC
 ire in the way of an eel industry. w
 were first led to a tank about six fee square and half filled with water. Int tank had double floor, the upper on'
 being performed When 1t was raised there were more cells in sight than : had ever seen together before. One O. the ladies, who was an expert, and whc
 had been there before, made the SC
 lection of eleven nice ones for ou , feast, and then the Jap started in t,
 clean them. He sat at little table an( , he would take one of the squirning eel ! stick a kind of awl through its head and by a dexterous turn of the wris and five motions of the knife, the ee would be split open, the backbon' , taken out, the fins neatly trimmed off !, the eel cleaned. cut in two and passet
 over to another Jap. who put abou four skewers into each piece, whel they were ready for broiling. The mal 9 at the charcoal furnace, which is abou 7 three feet long with crossbars runninI ? lengthwise, then takes them. dips then
 into little keg of soy which stands a i one end, and lays them on the broilinl z irons. He stands over them with . fan constantly flaming the coals, turn ' ing the eels. and occasionally dippinl them in the soy.
 After witnessing the transformatiol
 scene from the tank to the griddle. W |. were ushered to a room on the mex II floor of the building which was withou
 a particle of furniture of any kind
 Here we reclined on the clean, sof
 mating drinking saki until our eel ', arrived. There were served by lovel Japanese maiden, who brought ther :. in little chest of drawers each draw 7 CT containing wooden plate of eel: = We had brought our own bread, a the only articles of refreshment in
 Japanese eel house are fried cells an
 saki. I have never in my life taste D anything of the fish kind that woul i. begin to compare with those cell :. Captain Center and ate three apiec . and the ladies ate the other five. Tn II only thing that we ate with them wa f. boiled rice served in bowls. which wa U also nice.
 ', have given this description at som
 length for the reason that in none/c ( ' the works on Japan which I have eve f. read has there been any mention mad IL of the eel horses, and wish my read
 CTS to know that should they eve ;f travel in that country there is a re; V treat awaiting them. Unless thing !, have changed greatly since my tim ti it will be necessary, however, to furnis u bread and whatever else may be de 'a sired as concomitants to the feast
 I met many congenial people whi
 in Yokohama. Gen. Van Buren WE
 very good to me during my stay. an U. I was indebted to him for many pleas le ant experiences.
 ;h After a pleasant stay of three weel - in Yokohama, I left for Shanghs 1 touching at Nagasaki, where we IT ,,e mained two days. and while there Ge Jones, the United States consul, ga, s' me a complimentary dinner. to wFiic were invited all the diplomats ar .u high officials at Nagasaki. The dir ner was given at Japanese restal le rant. but on the European plan, ar h the walters were Japanese maiden IT. quick and attentive, The geishas flu sr nished exquisite music during the IT T. past, and the whole affair was so ne to me that could not but rejoice bo- E; at the attention to me and the novel .u of 1t.
 to On the following day I started O. Ie to call on those who had attended tl