e now led, by a mountain pathway, into the great plain of
Eastern Japan, afterwards known as the Kuanto, which extends from the
central ranges to the Pacific coast. Reaching the shores of the Bay of
Yedo, he looked across from its southern headland to the opposite
peninsula of Awa, whose hills seemed very close at hand.

"It will be easy to cross that channel," he said: "it is but a trifle.
Let the army embark."

He did not know how treacherous was the navigation of this strait, whose
weather is never to be trusted, and whose winds, tides, and currents are
baffling and perilous. Embarking with his followers, he looked for an
easy and rapid progress; but a terrible storm arose, tossing the boats
so frightfully that death seemed their sure fate.

Yamato was not at a loss to know what was amiss. He was familiar with
the ways of the gods, and knew that some hostile deity was at work to
ruin him. His contemptuous remark about the ease of the passage had
given deep offence to the Japanese Neptune, the god of the Sea, who was
punishing him for his lack of reverence. There was only one way by which
the angry deity might be appeased,--the sacrifice of a victim to his
wrath. But who among them was ready to yield life for duty? The question
was answered by Tachibana, the youthful wife of the chief, who was in
the boat with her lord. With a hurried farewell, the devoted woman
sprang into the wild waves, which in a moment swept her far away. It was
an acceptable sacrifice. The winds fell, the waves went down, the clouds
broke, and soon the sun was serenely shining on ruffled sea and tranquil
shore.

All that Yamato saw again pertaining to his wife was her perfumed wooden
comb, which floated ashore and was dedicated by him as a precious relic
in a shrine which he built to the gods. A shrine still stands on the
spot, which is within the modern city of Tokio, and there to-day
fishermen and sailors worship the spirits of Yamato and his sainted
wife.

Thence the hero sailed along the shore, subduing the tribes as he went,
until the northern boundary of the empire was reached. Here the leaders
of the Ainos had gathered a great army to repel the invader. But on
seeing the ships, which were new objects to their eyes, awe and
consternation overwhelmed them.

"They are living things," they said,--"strange moving monsters who glide
over the sea and bring our foes to our undoing. The gods must have sent
them, and will destroy us if we dr