best effects
with the simplest means. This sacred entrance arches the path wherever
any Japanese foot approaches hallowed ground. It is, however, over
all consecrated portals and lands, and does not necessarily indicate
the nearness of a temple. You find it everywhere in your wanderings,
over hill and dale, at the entrance to mountain paths, or deep in
the recesses of the woods, sometimes it is on the edge of an oasis
of shrubbery, or in the very heart of the rice fields, sometimes in
front of cliff or cavern. Pass under its arch and follow the path it
indicates and you will reach--it may be by a few steps, it may be by
a long walk or climb--a temple sometimes, but more often a simple
shrine; and if in this shrine you find nothing; close by you will
see some reason for its being there. There will be a twisted pine or
grove of stately trees, to consecrate the place and perpetuate some
memory. Perhaps the way leads to the view of some magnificent panorama
of land or sea spread out before the gazer who, with adoring heart,
worships the beauty or the grandeur of his country. Wherever there
is a Torii, there is a shrine of his religion; and wherever there is
an outlook over the land of his birth, there is a temple of his faith.
As we left Nagasaki for Shanghai, I noticed on this occasion, as
on four later visits, the great activity of this port as a coaling
station. It has an immense trade. Men, women, and children form
in line from the junk which is drawn alongside of our huge ships,
and then pass baskets of coal from one to the other. Many of the
women and girls have babies strapped on their backs, and there they
stand in line for hours passing these baskets back and forth. As I
was watching them one day, for I saw them loading many times, for
some reason not apparent, they all pounced upon one small man, and,
as I thought, kicked him to pieces with their heavy wooden shoes and
strong feet. After five minutes of such pummeling, as I was looking
for a few shreds of a flattened out Japanese, he arose, shook himself,
got in line, and passed baskets as before.
One day from my comfortable bamboo chair I watched some coolies
getting some immense timbers out of the bay near where I sat. It
did not seem possible that these small men could manage those huge
timbers, which were so slippery from lying in the water that they
would often have to allow them to slip back, even after they had
got them nearly on land. I expected every
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