who also used exclusively the arm rests which every visitor to
an inn may now command. Besides arm rests I have frequently had
kneeling cushions of the white brocade formerly used only for the
_zabuton_ of Buddhist priests.

In the county through which we were passing the fine water grass,
called _i_, used for mat making, is grown on an area of about 78
_cho_. It is sown in seed beds like rice and is transplanted into
inferior paddies in September. (The grass is better grown in Hiroshima
and Okayama.)

I saw a beautiful tree in red blossom. The name given to it is "monkey
slip," because of the smoothness of its skin, which recalled the name
of that very different ornament of suburban gardens, "monkey puzzle."

During this journey we recovered something of the conditions of
old-time travel. There were chats by the way and conferences at the
inn in the evening and in the morning concerning distances, the kind
of vehicles available, the character of their drivers, the charges,
the condition of the road, the probable weather and the places at
which satisfactory accommodation might be had. What was different from
the old days was that at every stopping-place but one we had electric
light. Part of our journey was done in a small motor bus lighted by
electricity. Like the automobile we had hired a day or two before, it
was driven--by two young men in blue cotton tights--at too high a
speed considering the narrowness and curliness of the roads by which
we crossed the passes. The roads are kept in reasonably good
condition, but they were made for hand cart and _kuruma_ traffic.

We passed an island on which I was told there were a dozen houses.
When a death occurs a beacon fire is made and a priest on the mainland
conducts a funeral ceremony. By the custom of the island it is
forbidden to increase the number of the houses, so presumably several
families live together. In the mountain communities of the mainland,
where the number of houses is also restricted, it is usual for only
the eldest brother to be allowed to marry. The children of younger
brothers are brought up in the families of their mothers.

We passed at one of the fishing hamlets the wreck of a Russian cruiser
which came ashore after the battle of Tsushima. Two boat derricks from
the cruiser served as gate posts at the entrance of the school
playground.

A familiar sight on a country road is the itinerant medicine vendor.
He or his employer believes in pushing