, resting on
its glassy and reflecting surface; the town, sweeping around the shores
of the bay; and, afar, the majesty of hill and vale; such, dear reader,
is a weak and very imperfect word picture of the charming bay of Omura.

Recent events in Japan have taken such a remarkable turn, that history,
neither ancient nor modern, presents no parallel with it. That we may
have a more adequate conception of the Japan of to-day, it is absolutely
necessary that we make some acquaintance with the Japan of the past.

Of the origin of the people we can gleam very little, except from the
questionable source of tradition. Several theories are advanced to
account for their existence here. One authority discovers in them the
long-lost "lost tribes of Israel;" according to another, they are a
branch of the great American-Indian family; both of which statements we
had better accept with caution. Their own theory--or rather that of the
aborigines, the Ainos of Yeso,--a race whom the indefatigable Miss Bird
has recently brought prominently before the world--states that the
goddess of the celestial universe, a woman of incomparable beauty and
great accomplishments, came eastward to seek out the most beautiful spot
for a terrestrial residence, and at length chose Japan, where she spent
her time in cultivating the silkworm, and in the Diana-like pursuits of
the chase; until one day, as she stood beside a beautiful stream,
admiring her fair form in its reflecting surface, she was startled by
the sudden appearance of a large dog. Tremblingly she hid herself, but
the dog sought her out, and, to her surprise, entered into conversation
with her, and finally into a more intimate alliance. From the union of
these two opposite natures--according to this account--the Ainos are
descended.

One other tradition I will mention--the Chinese--which perhaps has
something of the truth in it. According to it, a certain emperor of
China, ruminating on the brevity of human life, and of his own in
particular, thought it possible to find a means whereby his pleasant
existence might be indefinitely prolonged. To this end he summoned all
the physicians in his kingdom, and ordered them, on pain of forfeiting
their heads, to discover this remedy. After much deliberation, one at
last hit upon a plan which, if successful, would be the means of saving,
at least, his own head. He informed the emperor that in a land to the
eastward, across the Yellow Sea, was the pana