mplete isolation, far away from any populous neighborhood; the solemn
silence which surrounds them at all times, shaded by a grove of lofty
cedars surpassed only in size and height by the giants of the Yosemite,
all tend to make them singularly impressive. The approach to the site is
by a wide flight of many stone steps, black and moss-grown with the
rains and dews of centuries, forming a grand example of ancient masonry,
the large, uniform granite blocks so laid and bonded that, after resting
there for ages, a knife-blade could not be introduced between the
joints. On careful examination it appeared that no composition either of
cement or mortar had ever been employed in this masonry, the builders
confining themselves to proper foundation and perfect matching together
of the stones. At Tokio, the Shiba temple, curious, strange, and
interesting as it was, lost effect by the neighborhood of the busy
throng always at hand. To enter the Shiba temple was like visiting a
grand museum of specialties, while these lonely Nikko shrines at once
command the visitor's half unwilling reverence.

Our tea-house at Nikko was a duplicate of that at Utsonomiga. In the
garden was the usual ornamentation so much affected by the people here,
consisting of rockeries, little mounds of bamboo or dwarf pines,
together with small plots of flowering shrubs, and little ponds of gold
and silver fish. These fishes attracted notice as being quite different
from any with which we were acquainted. They were a small species, not
more than three inches long, and generally smaller than that; but they
were supplied with a double complement of tail, and had large protruding
eyes like a King Charles spaniel, and pug noses like a fashionable bull
pup. They were ludicrous little fellows, so curious withal, that at
great trouble and care a few were brought home by one of our party; not
all of those selected, however, survived the exigencies of the long
journey.

On this posting trip, both going to and coming from Nikko, we observed
upon the road, in the several villages and posting stations, many
curious things. Women seemed to perform the most of the out-door work,
ditching and laboring in the rice swamps, with infants lashed to their
backs. When they were met taking articles to market, upon the little
country ponies, they rode astride, man fashion. Hens were seen with hair
in place of feathers, hens as small as domestic pigeons, hens with
plumes on their hea