first of my four autumns in Japan was almost as fine. The second and third, however, were less settled. Indeed, in Japan as in England, the seasons vary considerably in different years. In a single day there are sometimes remarkable fluctuations in temperature. The 13th of May, 1877, was an extraordinary example of this: at 9 A.M. the thermometer indicated 81° Fahr., at 10 A.M. 85°, at 3 P.M. 62°, and at 9 P.M. 49°! In most parts of the country the period of vegetation lasts from the middle of March or the beginning of April until the beginning or middle of October. By the end of October the deciduous trees have shed their leaves; but the warm sun, developing the buds of such evergreens as the camellia, makes it possible, a few months later, to see flowers and snow on the same branch.

Rain may fall in any month of the year, but it is most plentiful immediately before and after the hot season. The yearly mean rainfall has been estimated at 71.5 inches at Nagasaki, 587 at Tôkiyô, and 57:2 at Hakodate. This is considerably greater than that of Great Britain, which I find set down as from 25 to 28 inches in places where hills do not interfere, and from 45 to 65 in such mountainous districts as Wales and the Western Highlands. The difference must be due to the generally greater violence of the Japanese showers; for, there can be no doubt,

that Japan is favoured with many more rainless days than are bestowed upon England. The prevalent winds are north and west in winter, and south and east in summer. The violent revolving storms called typhoons are liable to occur in June, July, or September. Thunder-storms are

neither common nor violent, and autumn fogs are equally rare.

There are few places in the empire that are not more or less subject to earthquakes. During my residence in Tôkiyô many slight shocks occurred every year; but none did any considerable damage, if we except one which overturned a chimney in Yokohama. Mr Hattori, in an able paper on 'Destructive Earthquakes in Japan,' calculates that during the last fourteen centuries there has been on an average one destructive earthquake every ten years. The most recent serious convlusion occurred in 1855. In that year the Russian frigate 'Diana' was, while lying in the harbour of Shimoda, spun round fortythree times in thirty minutes, and finally wrecked; and in Yedo 15,890 buildings were destroyed. In reference to this latter fact, however, I would have the reader remember the fragility of most Japanese houses, as well as their susceptibility to fire, which doubtless was the immediate cause of most of the destruction. There are still standing in Tôkiyô many buildings, and these of but moderate strength,

which have survived uninjured the great earthquake of 1855.

The climate of Japan agrees very well with most Europeans, and the country has already come to be regarded as a sanatorium for the inhabitants of Hong Kong and Shanghai. The moisture of the early summer is apt to be enervating, and in the autumn and winter precautions have to be taken against chills; but the climate is, in the main, remarkably healthy, at least for Asia. To compare Japan as to climate with England, the former has a hotter summer, but a clearer and drier winter; a heavier rainfall, but fewer rainy days; a spring comparable to that of England, and an autumn far surpassing anything England can show, at least at the same season and for the same length of time; in short, a climate which, if barely so healthy, has the advantage of being more thoroughly enjoyable.

The Japanese empire has a population of more than thirty-four million souls. These are spead over nine great circuits, including eighty-five provinces ; or, to adopt the more recent division for administrative purposes, over three fu, or cities, and thirty-six ken, or prefectures. The fu are Tôkiyô, or Tôkei (formerly called Yedo), the modern capital, with a population of about 1,000,000; Kiyôto, or Miyako, the ancient capital (290,000); and Ôsaka (400,000) a great seat of commerce. Nagoya (114,000) comes

fourth, and Kanazawa fifth, in respect to population; and among other important towns are, beginning at the south, Kagoshima (87,000), Kumamoto (44,000), and Nagasaki, all three in Kiushiu; Kochi in Shikoku; and Hiroshima, Shidzuoka, Fukui, Niigata, Sendai, etc., etc., in the main island. The island of Yezo (generally called by the present government Hokkaidô), although larger than Ireland, has a population of only 211,304; its principal towns are Hakodate and Sapporo, the latter a recently created centre of administration for the whole island, which is under a special state department of colonization. The ports open to foreign trade are Yokohama (substituted for Kanagawa), Kôbe (Hiyôgo), Nagasaki, Tôkiyô, Osaka, Hakodate, and Niigata.

If we except the 12,000 Ainos of Yezo, a hairy race supposed to be a remnant of the aborigines of the country, the population of Japan proper consists of a thoroughly homogeneous people. In appearance, language, mode of life, and national traditions, the Japanese are one. There are, of course, very considerable variations of dialect, but not greater than may even yet be found in England; and it is true that the semi-independence enjoyed under the feudal system by the different provinces has developed in each clan traditions more or less distinctive, while the inhabitants of widely separate districts may differ somewhat in physique; still, in all essential

Appearance of the People.

25

points the race is one. Everywhere there is prevalent the same Mongolian cast of countenance: the face oval, the cheek-bones prominent, the eyes dark, often oblique, and always narrow; the nose flattish; the lips usually somewhat heavy; the hair dark, and generally straight; the complexion sallow. The eyes very often look as if their owner had been born blind, and two narrow slits had afterwards been cut to admit the light,-an impression caused by their narrowness, and by the disappearance of the eyelash within the folds of the eyelid. Oblique eyes are most prevalent among the aristocracy, and are by the Japanese considered a mark of beauty; they are often accompanied by clearer-cut features than prevail among the masses, the bridge of the nose being narrow and well elevated. Sometimes, indeed, there are seen faces of almost a Jewish type. Among the masses, however, heavy flattish features prevail. The forehead is usually of good height. The complexion varies from the almost Caucasian fairness of some of the more beautiful ladies, to the brown with which the sun has tanned the skins of out-door labourers. The average stature is considerably below that of our own race, although occasionally, especially among the labouring class, one may see men approaching, or, more rarely, even reaching six feet. The men of certain provinces, particularly Satsuma in Kiushiu, excel in height and strength. As a rule,