countenance, and style of dress peculiar to the Japanese; they have,
however, a way of doing their hair, all their own. The men gather all
theirs into a tuft at the poll, where it is secured with a silk marling,
the extreme ends forming a sort of fringe, like a plume of feathers. The
very fine, long, and glossy hair of the women is rolled jauntily on the
top of the head in a loose spiral coil, resembling the volutes of a
shell. Through this rather graceful head-dress they stick a long silver
pin, in some cases a foot long.

They appear a very timid race. This is particularly noticeable on board.
Whether it was because they saw none of their own sex amongst us, I know
not; but I doubt if the women saw much of what they had come to see, as
most of their time was passed in eclipse under their husbands' lee, and
whose hands they never once loosed from the time of entering the ship
until they left us again. We treated them to sailors' fare, allowing
them the free run of our bread barges, and endeavoured all we could--but
without success--to set them at their ease. They were all highly
perfumed with the penetrating odour of garlic. I noticed that the
married ladies, in common with Aino women, tattoo the backs of their
hands, though not their mouths.

One king generally suffices a people,--and even one is often found too
much--but this race tolerates _three_, or did until very recently; one
of their own; the emperor of China, whom they call father; and the
mikado of Japan, whom they style mother. To both their "parents" they
pay an immense tribute, which annually absorbs two-thirds of their
produce. It will be inferred from this that the condition of the lower
classes is very unfavorable.

Since we have been on this station these islands have been a bone of
contention, between China and Japan, as to which shall possess them; the
old "father" and "mother" farce being recognised as played out by mutual
consent. The Japs, in 1877, took the initiative, and sent an expedition
to Napa, and forcibly made the native king prisoner; and before the
Chinese were aware of what was taking place, the Japanese were
administering the laws in all parts of the little kingdom, and gradually
absorbing it into their empire. The question between the two nations is
far from being settled yet, and may at any future time prove a _casus
belli_.

The appearance of the houses on shore has given rise to not a little
speculation. All that we are enabl