usion of his person. It is said that his ancestry can be
traced in an unbroken line from nearly 700 years before the Christian
era.

The Mikado never goes beyond the precincts of the Imperial residence,
which occupies a large portion of the city of Miako, comprising
numerous palaces and gardens; and connected with it are the schools
alluded to in the last chapter, which are established on the plan of a
university, and are much resorted to by the children of the nobility.

[Illustration: A MINISTER OF THE MIKADO ON A RELIGIOUS EXPEDITION.]

Whenever this great personage wishes to take an airing, he is carried
by fourteen men in a large norimon with latticed windows, through
which he is able to see without being seen; and even when granting an
audience he is said to be concealed from view by bamboo screen-work.
His court consists of the members of his own family and certain great
officers of State appointed by the Tycoon, who nominally receive and
promulgate his commands; but, in ordinary times, he has no real power
in the temporal affairs of the empire, and only refuses to confer
legality on the acts of his lieutenant under the pressure of intrigue,
or of undue family influence.

To relieve the wearisome monotony of his life, as well as to prevent
the possibility of the sacred race becoming extinct, he is allowed
twelve wives, who are chosen from the most beautiful daughters of the
chief princes of the empire. These ladies occupy separate palaces in
the immediate vicinity of his, where they are attended by their own
retainers; but only one of them enjoys the rank of empress, although
they are all treated with the deference due to royalty. He is also
said to have an unlimited number of concubines, who reside within the
bounds of the Imperial establishment.

The distinctive mark of the members of the Mikado's court and of the
ladies of his family consists of two black patches placed on the
forehead, and in the arrangement of the hair, which is gathered up in
a long cue and curved over the head by one sex, and worn dishevelled
and without any kind of ornament by the other. Though the Mikado has
little influence in the secular affairs of state, his authority in
religious questions is supreme; but it is doubtful if he personally
takes any part in the solemnities which are constantly occurring at
Miako.

The subject of illustration represents one of these sacred
observances: the procession is coming from the Mikado's pa