CHAPTER III.

VISITS TO NAGASAKI AND ITS ENVIRONS.

Excursions permitted.-Drawbacks.-Town of Nagasaki.

Houses. Gardens.-Fire-proof store-rooms.-Scenery.— Temples.-Tea-houses.- Education and extraordinary estimation of courtesans.-Visits. - Religious festivals. -Japanese Demons. - Hunting procession. - New Volcano.

It has been said, that the Dutch cannot pass either of the gates of Dezima without the express permission of the governor. This permission is, indeed, seldom, if ever, refused; but it is clogged with such conditions as tend to prevent its being indiscreetly solicited.

When any member of the factory wishes to obtain a little recreation or relief from the monotony of his seclusion at Dezima, he causes a petition, soliciting liberty to take a walk in Nagasaki and its environs, to be presented, four-and-twenty hours beforehand, to the governor, through the intervention of the proper interpreter. Leave is granted, provided the captive be accompanied by a certain number of interpreters, and of subaltern police

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officers, called banyoos, as also by the comprador, whose business it is, upon the occasion, to defray whatever expenses or purchases the indulged foreigner may incur during the trip of pleasure. All these individuals are again attended by their several domestics, until the followers amount to twenty-five or thirty persons.

So cumbersome a train might seem in itself a sufficient drawback on the enjoyment of a ramble, especially when it is added, that all the boys within reach assemble and pursue the party wherever they go, incessantly shouting, Holanda! Holanda! or Horanda! Horanda! which appears to be the more usual pronunciation of the Japanese. But, even so, the train is still far from its complement. Every official attendant holds himself entitled to invite as many of his friends as he pleases to join the party, the whole of which the temporarily-liberated Dutchman is bound to entertain. Nor can the heavy expense, thus rendered inseparable from every excursion, be lightened by partnership; as, in case of two members of the factory obtaining a joint permission for a stroll, the number of attendants is doubled.

The usual objects of these expeditions are to explore the neighbouring country, to banquet in a temple, to ramble through the streets of Nagasaki, or to visit its tea-houses. Each of these demands a few words, and it may be best to begin with the

town itself, through which, whatever be the excursion designed, the promenaders must pass.

Nagasaki spreads up the side of a hill: like every Japanese town, it is regularly built, and, as every house has its garden, large or small, offers a pleasing coup d'œil. The houses are low, none containing more than one good story, to which is added in some a sort of cockloft, in others a low basement. The height of the street-front, and even the number of windows, are determined by sumptuary laws. All are constructed of wood, and a mixture of clay and chopped straw, much resembling the pisé of Europe; but the walls are coated with a cement, that gives them the appearance of stone. In the windows, very fine and strong paper, unoiled, and protected from bad weather by external wooden shutters, supplies the place of glass. The windows to the street are further provided with Venetian blinds, and every house is encircled by a verandah, into which all the rooms open.

The front of the better class of houses is occupied by a large portico and entrance, where the palanquins, umbrellas, and shoes of visitors are left, where servants and persons on business wait, &c.; and which is connected with all the domestic offices. The back of the house is the part inhabited by the family, and it projects into the garden triangularly, for the benefit of more light' and cheerfulness. These gardens, however diminutive, are always laid

out in the landscape-garden style, with rocks, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and trees, and uniformly contain a family chapel, or oratory. Absurd as such would-be pleasure-grounds may seem, when confined in extent, as must be the garden even of a wealthy householder in the heart of a city, this intermixture of verdure, nevertheless, contributes greatly to the airiness and gay aspect of the town itself. And we are told that the very smallest habitations possess similar gardens, yet more in miniature, sometimes consisting of what may be called the mere corners cut off from the triangular back of the house, with the trees in flower-pots.

But the most remarkable part of a Japanese dwelling is the provision against fire. To each belongs a detached store-room, or warehouse, such as those which Siebold mistook at a distance for the mansions of nobility. In these, tradesmen keep their stock of goods, and private families their most valuable effects, as pictures, books, collections of rarities, &c. These store-rooms are built of the same materials as the houses; but the whole woodwork, doors and roof included, is covered with a foot-thick coating of clay; the apertures for windows are closed with copper shutters; and, for further security, a large vessel of liquid mud is always at hand, with which to smear over every part of the building in case of danger; that is to say, in case one of the conflagrations for ever

occurring amidst such combustible houses should break out in the neighbourhood, or the wind drive the sparks and flames of a distant fire in a menacing direction. These fire-proof store-rooms answer their purpose so well, that President Doeff, in describing a conflagration, which spread into such fearful vicinity to the bridge between Nagasaki and Dezima, that the governor allowed the scared inhabitants of the factory general egress by the water-gate, and which consumed eleven whole streets of Nagasaki, partially destroying others, explicitly states that not one of the store-rooms was injured. Neither did Dezima suffer; the flames having, at length, been extinguished, before they crossed the bridge. But to return to the excursions of the Dutchmen.

When the town is passed, the promenader comes upon exquisitely beautiful scenery, commanding, from innumerable different points, the most enchanting views over hill and dale, land and sea. Nay, so bewitching are said to be the various prospects which successively greet the eye in the course of every ramble, that the spectator, we are assured, entranced in their contemplation, entirely forgets every drawback upon their enjoyment. This is an indulgence that the Japanese are the more prompt to grant their guests, because they themselves fully sympathize in its delights, being passionate lovers of beautiful country and fine prospects.

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