ul daimios. The disaffected united to form a party of
reaction which, in the end, overthrew the tycoon, restored the mikado to
his ancient splendour, and gave Japan to the world. In 1853, an American
squadron, under Commodore Perry, came to Yokohama, and demanded a trade
treaty with the United States. After much circumlocution he obtained
one, thus pioneering a way for the Europeans. England demanded one the
following year, and got it; then followed the other maritime nations of
Europe, but these treaties proved to be of as little value as the paper
on which they were drawn up.

The adherents of the tycoon displayed a bitter animosity against the
foreigner, and especially a most powerful daimio, the prince of Satsuma,
who nourished a detestable hatred to Europeans. Through the machinations
of this party, murders of foreigners, resident in Yokohama, were of
almost daily occurrence, till at last the British consul fell a victim
to their hatred. This brought matters to a head. In 1863, England
declared war against Japan; blockaded the Inland Seas with a combined
squadron of English, French, Dutch, and American ships, acting under the
orders of Admiral Keuper, stormed and captured Simonoseki, and burnt
Kagosima, the capital of the prince of Satsuma. Having brought the
Japanese to their senses, we demanded of them a war indemnity, half of
which was to be paid by Satsuma.

Five years passed. The mikado meanwhile had placed himself at the head
of the reactionary party, pensioned the tycoon, and made rapid
advancement in European manners and customs. In 1868, Satsuma and his
party broke out into open rebellion against the mikado. But the prince's
levies were no match for the imperial troops, armed with the snider, and
the result was the rebellion, after some sanguinary battles, was put
down, the estates of the rebels confiscated, and the chief actors in the
drama banished to distant parts of the empire.

There, dear reader, I am as glad as you that I have finished spinning
that yarn. Now for the legitimate narrative.

Nagasaki, or more correctly Nangasaki, is a town of considerable
magnitude, skirting the shores of the bay, and built in the form of an
amphitheatre. On the terraces above the town, several large temples with
graceful, fluted, tent-like roofs, embowered in sombre and tranquil pine
groves, shew out distinctly against the dark background, whilst the
thousands of little granite monumental columns of the burying gr