following all the sinuosities of the ground over
which it passes. It is a most remarkable fact that a nation should
have existed 2000 years ago capable of originating and completing so
great a work; but it is still more remarkable that such a nation,
possessing moreover, as it does, a great faculty in decorative art
applied to small articles of use and fancy, should be still leading a
populous and prosperous existence, and yet should have so little to
show in the way of architecture, properly so termed, at the present
time.

Japan, like China, possesses an architecture, but one exclusively of
wood; for although the use of stone for bridges, walls, &c., had been
general, all houses and temples were invariably built of wood until
the recent employment of foreigners led to the erection of brick and
stone buildings. The consequence has been that nearly all the old
temples have been burnt down and rebuilt several times; and though it
is probable that the older forms were adhered to when the buildings
were re-erected, it is only by inference that we can form an idea of
the ancient architecture of the country. The heavy curved roofs which
are so characteristic of Chinese buildings are found also in Japan,
but only in the Buddhist temples, and this makes it probable that this
form of roof is not of native origin, but was introduced with the
Buddhist cult. The earlier Shinto temples have a different form of
roof, which is without the upward curve, but which has nearly as much
projection at the eaves as the curved roofs. Where the buildings are
more than one storey in height the upper one is always set somewhat
back, as we saw was the case in the Chinese pagodas, and considerable
and pleasing variety is obtained by treating the two storeys
differently. Very great skill in carving is shown, all the posts,
brackets, beams, and projecting rafters being formed into elaborate
representations of animals and plants, or quaintly conceived
grotesques; and the flat surfaces have frequently a shallow incised
arabesque pattern intertwined with foliage. The roofs are always
covered with tiles, and a curious effect is produced by enriching the
hips and ridges with several courses of tiles in cement, thus making
them rise considerably above the other portions of the roof. A
peculiar feature of Japanese houses is that the walls, whether
external or internal, are not filled in with plaster, but are
constructed of movable screens which slide in g