Book II. Personal experiences, observations, and studies in Japan, 1870-1875

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ...the country round, staying overnight at the village inns. Sasaki and Iwabuchi have been my companions. I have seen the paper manufactories, oil-presses, the saké breweries, soy-vats, iron-foundries, and smelting-furnaces. I have entered the copper mines of One, and "prospected" the coal region, from which the coal I burn in my Peekskill stove comes. While on one trip, as I was leading my horse, Green Willow, down a steep slope, being close behind Sasaki's horse, well-named Devil's Eye, the vicious brute, after squinting sideways at me, and seeing his opportunity, threw out his left hind hoof and kicked me. The soft part between the fetlock and hoof struck just above my knee, giving me a shock, but doing no serious injury. His hoof would have broken my leg. The incident has served to warp and prejudice my judgment of Japanese horses in general. I can not praise them highly; but Green Willow is my ideal of a noble animal. The pack-horses, which I see daily; amuse me. They are ungainly, unkempt brutes, fed on the cheapest food. They carry about eight hundred pounds at a load. Of their moral character I can not speak in high terms. When led or driven tandem, or following each other in Indian file, these equine cannibals indulge in the vicious habit of pasturing on the haunches of the animal in front of them. This grazing process usually results in lively kicks, to the detriment of the teeth or chest of the offender, and the demoralization of the whole line. May 2d.--The farmers are busy making seed-beds for the rice, and in hoeing up their fields. The valleys are full of flowers. The snow has melted from all the mountains except Hakuzan. May 3d.--The presents I daily receive from my students and the oflicials are...