1908
Friday, October 9, 1908
The stateroom is not commodious, considering that three women, two trunks and two grips have to occupy it. The dimensions are about 7 x 10, two berths on one side and a couch on the other, with a wall washstand between, and on the foot of the couch. There are three racks, three hooks, and three life preservers, so we are ready for any emergency.
Fortunately, Mrs. Foster, of the upper berth, and Mrs. Kendrick, of the couch are good sailors, or good fighters, anyhow. In my mind I have named them the Spartan and the Amazon. They walk the deck, dress for dinner, and do all the proper stunts. I can’t understand why I don’t fight it off. I can’t understand why it isn’t better to lay on my back, and be comfortable, instead of prancing around and throwing all of my internal machinery out of gear.
The sea is rough, and the boat rocks and plunges, but it is beautifully clear, and the water blue as a sapphire. I get plenty of fresh air, and occasionally get up, wash my hands or face, gaze out the window, run down the hall, or turn a few hand-springs, and as the “gone feeling” returns, crawl into bed, and read or write, as I am doing now. Fortunately I have not been hungry, so my poor over-worked card-party-demoralized stomach is having a rest. This morning I had quite a breakfast—a cup of hot water, six prunes, a French chop, and half a slice of toast. So far, it has behaved in a quiet lady-like manner.
This is really a fine vessel, and the service is very good. All the stewards are Chinese, and the cleanest, best-looking lot you ever saw. They all wear their queues hanging and skullcaps, and the ones in the dining room have the blue blouses down to their heels. They wear the Chinese shoes, and move about s quietly as ghosts. I’ve been to the table twice.
Wednesday, up to noon, we had come 310 miles, and at noon yesterday 357; today it is 340. So you see we are getting on. If I were a good swimmer, there have been several times that I would have lit out for home. When I write my book, the title will be “Seasick around the World”.
1:30 P.M. (about 4 P.M. at home)
Have just lunched on vegetable curry and rice which is all sorts of small pieces of vegetables—beans, cauliflower, carrot, celery, etc.—cooked, I suppose, with the curry and served on the rice. The hotness of it has warmed up my internals, and I feel so fine that I think I’ll dress and go on deck. Mrs. Kendrick, when she feels uncomfortable, drinks a glass of water, and runs her finger down her throat. That does the business for her. For me, it gags and gags, but no result. My greedy stomach holds on to what it gets and then grumbles, and keeps me laying on my back for the sake of peace.
Our menu cards all have postal cards attached, and I have just bribed the room steward to get me a dozen. Will send them from Honolulu to the various friends and relatives.
Saturday, October 10, 1908
Stayed up until nine o’clock last night. The sunset was gorgeous, and the moonrise perfectly lovely. The moonlight shone on the wave-tips and looked like a thousand dancing lights. I hung over the rail and talked with a Miss Anderson, a music teacher from Ohio, going to Singapore to do mission work. Three missionaries are a self-sacrificing lot and deserve credit for what they think they want to do.
I am going to send the book Jessie gave me to Lizzie, and you can all read it. Tell Jessie that the story cheered by berth-spent hours. Each berth has an electric light, so we can read any time.
Sunday, October 11, 1908
Morning. The sea is calm, and it is so warm that everybody is out without wraps. There was service in the Social Hall, conducted by the purser, Mr. Allen. Did not go in. for the room was too close.
Vessel passed on the way to San Francisco. The Korea saluted but we could not hear the reply. Everybody was out with glasses trying to make out what it was. The Transport “Thomas” that left S.F. Monday is ahead of us. All the morning we have seen the smoke on the Western horizon. We are slowly gaining on it.
Monday, October 12, 1908
Yesterday P.M., I wrote up postals torn from the menu cards, wrapped up two books to send home, and felt quite home-like digging into my trunk for something to wear to dinner. This morning, while dressing, Mrs. K. suddenly exclaimed, “What is this reflected on our window”, surely it is land. And that was what it was, the headlands of Oahu a few miles ahead. We hurried into our clothes, which, of course, were hidden in every impossible place. My belt hook insists on being in the last place I look, though now, I have Florence’s pincushion pinned up, and have one corner set apart for the accommodation of that pin. One corner is devoted to invisible hairpins, for they seem to be the most needed and most losable articles of toilet.
The Doctor came aboard and inspected the passengers, and about ten o’clock, we were allowed to land. Mr. Holmes, our Conductor, got carriages, and we all drove out to the Pali, and had a grand view over the 1200 ft. cliff to the country below and the ocean beyond. Drove back to Waikiki, and had lunch at the Moana Hotel. Wrote some postals there, and went to the “roof garden” where not a sign of a garden was visible, but where a grand view of the whole garden of Honolulu was seen. The aquarium was the most interesting thing we saw. It was hard to believe that some wily native had not been at work with brush and paint to charm the eye of the unsuspecting tenderfoot. I sent a fish book home to Donald, and its only fault is that the coloring of the fish is too dull.
We went to the old palace, now the Capital, and in the Throne Room sat on the chairs once, we were told, occupied by the Hawaiian Royalty. The walls were decorated with dead and gone “Kamehameha’s, and portraits of Emperors and Generals of foreign nations, that had been presented to these “dead and gone”.
As we left the pier at 5 P.M., all of Honolulu seemed to be congregated there, making a brilliant picture of pretty gowns, white costumes and many colored leis, or flower wreaths. They gave them to departing friends and many of them are thrown back as the vessel moves away. Scores of native boys were on the steamer, and jumped overboard when we were quite a way out, and capered in the water like a lot of porpoises. We threw them small pieces of money that they would dive for, and out of the bunch, one would come up with it in his teeth. I thought it quite a feat until a gentleman near said that the coin sank very slowly, and they caught it before it got far down.
The sunset was fine, and the moonrise finer still. Now to my bunk, for tomorrow I may be pining for home, and I must get rest while I can.
Tuesday, October 13, 1908, 11 AM
AM on deck, and the peef tea boy has just been around, and I have taken some, for the first time. Have not cared for it before, but this was hot and good. Am surely getting my sea appetite. About ten o’clock we passed Bird Island, the rocky top of a mountain rising out of the water 200 feet. There are no living creatures on it but birds, unless shipwrecked people find refuge there.
They are getting up a three days tournament on board, and several have been asking us to take part in potato races, and other games. I decline with thanks. I believe it is to end with a grand ball. There is to be a baby show that will likely be amusing.
I am feeling fine and gambol about the deck, and as really quite a sailor. I believe it is to end with a grand ball. There is to be a baby show that will likely be amusing.
I am feeling fine and gambol about the deck, and am really quite a sailor. I didn’t buy a thing in Honolulu but a dozen post cards, and the book for Don.
At 12 o’clock today, we were told that we were on the Tropic of Cancer. Nothing happened unusual. The flying fish kept on flying, and the birds from Bird Island kept on diving just the same. I slept most of the afternoon, and just as I was getting up. the gong sounded for fire drill. All the Chinese crew ran to the upper deck, and most of the passengers too. When I got there, ten Chinamen, with an official in command, were lined up in front of each lifeboat. They went through the drill of loosening the ropes, and lowered the boats a few feet. I wonder how they would act in case of a real fire.
Eight days from home, and it seems as many years. The ocean is smooth and blue, and one day is like another, but for the amusements the passengers make for themselves. They began their three-day tournament with the procession of Horribles, at 11 o’clock this morning. I took two snap shots and hope to have a good picture to send home. I intend to send them home as fast as I have them printed, and will make things lively if they are not taken care of. They are having some games on the upper deck now, but there is a crowd there, and somehow I am among the lazy ones, and a few of the contests satisfied me. The women were blindfolded and given a piece of chalk to put the eye in a pig sketched on the deck. It seemed more amusing to the audience than the performers. I spent most of the afternoon rending “One Way Around the World”, the book Mrs. Guy Dyer recommended. I will send it home from Japan, for I will want all the room for other things, though I don’t intend to buy much. The sunsets are always the most gorgeous things because there are always clouds around the horizon, from the vapor arising from the sea. Nearly every evening there is heat lightning off in the east, and often we see where rain is falling and a bright rainbow stands out, but here it is clear and calm, and the water blue as indigo. I am not a bit sick and am having a fine time. The people in our party are all very nice so far.
Thursday, October 15, 1908
The games are going on today, fast and furious, and even I have become enthused, though not enough to join in the potato race, nor the fat woman’s. They had an obstacle race that was pretty good. Half a dozen men, in bathing suits, took part. They first climbed over two great rope nets, something like the ones they use on the beet wagons, and reaching from the deck floor to the ceiling: then crawled through a canvas tube about 12 feet long, then through a barrel hung about four feet from the floor, and finally through a life preserver in the swimming tank, and back to the starting point. It was very exciting, and was won by a young German who took first prize in the procession of Horribles yesterday. They have had some Japanese wrestling and I watched it for a while and am waiting now for the Japanese and Chinese baby show. There are to be two tug-of-war contests, one Japanese and one Chinese. The Captain won’t allow them to take part together for fear of a race war on board. They may give up the baby show for the same reason.
Saturday, October 17, 1908
Sometime during the night we crossed the 180th meridian and woke this morning to find it Saturday instead of Friday. So from now on, instead of being behind you in time, we re starting from where the day begins and will be a day ahead of you. Our days are from twenty minutes to half an hour longer than yours, for we are tagging after the sun just as fast as we can wobble. And wobbling we are today, for the sea is rough and it has been showery all day. I was talking with a missionary, Mrs. Grant, this morning, and she says this is the pleasantest time of all the year for the trip, and we are less apt to have rough weather than if we had started last month. This is her third trip to China, and she has spent 22 years there. There are 27 missionaries on board, and it is interesting to talk with them.
Lots of people are sick today, but I am all right so far—knock on wood. I am keeping very quiet and not doing any show-off stunts. If any one asks if I am homesick, say, “Yes”, but I am going around the world just the same, unless something worse overtakes me.
Sunday, October 18, 1908
Stayed in bed all day and kept from being sick. Ate sea biscuits and dried beef, and tonight had half a dozen raw oysters. Have not been sick, but would have been if I had tried to get up. The Spartans make fun of me, but I know best what I can do. It has been very rough and the stewardess says more than half are in their berths. Both of my Spartans have lain down, but they said it was just for a nap. I wonder why they don’t take a nap other days. All the Missionaries, most of them, are sick, and there were not enough Christians aboard this morning to have service. Mrs. Kendrick says that all the good people were sick, but the sinners were all right. They say the waves were grand, but I did not have courage to get up to see the sight. Every time a great wave broke, there would be a rainbow in it, for the sun was shining.
Monday, October 19, 1908
I slept nearly all day yesterday and all night, and feel fine this morning. My Spartan friends are both grumpy and have headaches. Our room has an outside porthole, and when it and the door are open, the wind blows through like mad, so we have plenty of fresh air. Fortunately we are all fresh air fiends, so we have it all open day and night. The sea is quite calm and the sun is shining and everything is lovely. I am lonesome, of course, and would like to see everybody, but that doesn’t count.
****Pictures “In the Gardens of Fujiya Hotel, Miyanoshitsa, Japan
****Picture “On the way to Lake Hakone. Cane in background.
****Picture “ A stormy Day at Sea”
On account of losing a day last week they didn’t get through with their games, so have been finishing today. Tomorrow they will award the prizes. I watched them play shuffleboard today for a while, it was the finals in the tournament, and Mrs. Kendrick was in it, but lost, so our room did not carry off the honors.
Tuesday, October 20, 1908
The wind is blowing this morning and the sea is very rough. I dressed and had breakfast on deck, and have been out ever since. The ship creaks and groans, and you’d think it was going to be twisted into kindling wood. The great waves break over the lower decks, and we get some of the spray up here. Every breaking wave has a rainbow in the spray, and when the stern of the boat drops down, we can see the long line of foam and “mountain high” waves behind us. I tried to get a snap shot, but am afraid it won’t be good. I can’t understand why I am not sick unless it is because I got used to the motion in bed day before yesterday. I say it is, anyhow.
I take a salt-water bath every morning and this morning it was a cold one. I am going to write postal cards today, so as to get them off if there is a steamer leaving Yokohama when we get there. All the menu cards have postal cards attached, and I tipped one of the stewards to get me some. You will see samples of them.
Wednesday, October 21, 1908
Sea has been calm, and everything quiet today. Have read a book through, written up some notes in the club book Mrs. Bunting sent me, and had a nap. This morning the prizes were given for the tournament, and then a Mr. De Forest gave a talk on Japan. The prize part was amusing, but the talk was stupid. I wished I was in bed.
**** Pictures “War Vessels in the Harbor at Yokohama”
**** Enlarged picture from previous page
**** Enlarged picture from previous page
Thursday, October 22, 1908, 10 PM
Have just come to bed, and looking at my watch, (the one I have not changed). I find it is 3 o’clock with you, and I think it must be 3A.M., for since we skipped a day we must be that much ahead of you. I am not sure of it, so study it out for your selves.
Today has been quiet, but there was not much enthusiasm over it. Then the rain came and leaked through where the canvas was joined. And they welcomed an excuse to end the festivities.
We have all been busy today getting our things together, and packing our trunks. They say we will get into Yokohama about one or two o’clock tomorrow. We ride in Jinrikishas from the boat to the hotel. Mr. Holmes says that sometimes the rickshaw men start off like mad. Imagine me hanging on to my hat with one hand and the rickshaw with the other, and trying to look serene and unconscious as the landscape skims by. My effusions will probably be less voluminous after this, when our “Cooky-man” gets us started off in good earnest.
Friday, October 23, 1908
There has been so much happening today that it is hard to find a good starting point. The first thing this morning we saw the hills of Japan, and it reminded me of some parts of the coast coming by water from Los Angeles. We all flew about getting our baggage ready for immediate departure. Putting on hat and gloves so as to lose no time. Then we sailed on, sometimes losing sight of the land, sometimes seeing it on one side, and then the other. At last it was on both sides, and the sampans, or fishing boats, appeared with their funny square sails. We passed fortifications on artificial islands and as we came into the harbor, here were our own battle ships, The Fleet. We had not expected it to be here, but were happy for Miss Meigs as well as for ourselves, for she came from S.F. to be married to the 1st officer of the Vermont, whom she expected to meet in Manila. Capt. Fletcher, Commander of the Vermont, was on board and I guess he was glad to see the Fleet too.
We had to go down the stairway at the side of the boat and get on a launch to come ashore. To get to our launch we had to go across another one first and it was no fun when all of them were bobbing about in different directions. When we got ashore, the whole lot of us got into Jinrikishas (rickshaws, for short), and came up to the Grand Hotel. It faces the Bund, the street running along the waterfront, and I have a lovely front room on the second floor, opening out on a wide balcony. It is a decided change from our last experience.
After lunch we went in rickshaws, out to see some Shinto Temples, and for a ride through the principal streets. Every street and house is decorated with lanterns and flags of both nations—Japanese and American— and everything is very gay and festive. There are some pretty children here. This afternoon, the High-School boys were lined up on the street, and they were a fine looking lot of fellows. They had rifles, and are getting a military education. We went the finest shop here and I had a mind to buy everything as long as my money lasted. I remembered the months before me and the possibility of there being other opportunities to spend my money, as I just bought a hat pin that I needed, and felt quite prudent, but I won’t promise for next time I go in there. They gave us tea.
Tonight Miss Meigs and her officer were married, and they had a supper in a private dining room here at the hotel. It was a lively affair judging from the shouts and singing and yells that we heard. About 20 officers from the Vermont were there, and the band from the ship played out on the porch until ten o’clock. The Fleets were all illuminated, and there was a grand display of fireworks. We were told that the school boys we saw today were waiting for General Toga to drive by on his way from the station, so we stopped and rubbered. It turned out to be Admiral Sperry instead.
Saturday, October 24, 1908
There is so much to tell that there seems to be no beginning, nor end to it. We started out in rickshaws this morning and visited a carpenter’s shop and a pottery. Everything is done by hand, with the men squatting on the floor. It was interesting, but the houses and the people are more so. Both places we were treated to tea and cakes. Then, coming back we stopped at some of the stores, and I bought a few things so I wouldn’t forget how. Everything is so lovely that I could never tear myself away if it were not for the rickshaw waiting outside. It is more fun than a “box of monkeys”, though my back ached a little at first.
After lunch, we drove, with an ordinary hack, out to Mississippi Bay. I don’t know now where it is, but it was a fine drive, and we had a grand view of the harbor. We passed the racecourse where they were exercising the horses for the races next month. The Japs take kindly to horse racing, and they had them nearly all the time, but the Government put a stop to it, and only allows two racing seasons a year in the Spring and Fall. Our guide said he lost $300, the first one he attended, so he stays away from them now. They drove us around the Bay, past rice fields and vegetable gardens, to a Japanese house where we had tea and sponge cake. There was a fine view too. Then we were taken through native streets, and past some fine homes, to a teahouse where we had tea again with rice cakes. This is the Tea House of 101 steps. Part of us walked down the steps and landed at the foot of the bluff and walked back to the hotel through the narrow streets with funny little shops on both sides. They take down the sliding shutters in the morning, and the whole shop opens on the street. The vegetables are generally in glass cases, and the fruit and vegetables are so clean and fresh looking that they must have been scrubbed. The fish is fine, and it looks very stylish arranged in trays in neat rows, in the shops.
The Fleet and City were beautiful again tonight, and they had fire-works out on the water. The band played on the porch and a juggler performed, and all was bright and gay. I am enjoying every minute and forgetting to be homesick.
Sunday, October 25, 1908
Should have gone to church, but Mr. Holmes, Mrs. Foster and I went, in rickshaws, to hunt up Hideo. He lives on the outskirts of town, and it was nearly an hour’s ride. Where the streets were hilly, we got out and walked and looked at things in the shops. They do not keep Sunday, so everything was open. It was all Japanese where we went. The Americans and Europeans are in a colony in another part of the City. Hideo was not at home, but we saw his wife and four boys. She brought cushions out on the porch for us to sit on, and then out came the tea and cakes. She sent for a young man who spoke English, and he explained that Hideo went to the boat but could not find me, and said if he got back from Tokyo in time, he would come over this evening. Mrs. Hideo brought out the pictures of the whole Beard family and told me the names of all the children. Clara’s was her baby picture, and she seemed quite surprised when I said that Clara is as tall as her mother now.
This afternoon I have repacked my trunks I wish I had left half the trunk at home.
The Fleet left this morning at 8 o’clock, and we were all out to see it. The Bay looks lonesome without it. There were daylight fireworks to give them a good send off, and from the rockets dropped various paper figures, a Jap lady, and American and Jap Sailor shaking hands, American and Japanese flags, etc.
Later --- Hideo came to see me this evening. He was so tickled that he giggled most of the time. He said he inquired at the hotel, and at Cook’s office for Mrs. Patterson. He looks about as he did. He wants me to take a small package to Mrs. Beard, probably pictures of the four kids. If it is anything I can send by mail, I will send it home, but Lizzie must not write and thank him for it until I get home.
Tokyo
Monday, October 26, 1908
This was field day for the public schools of Yokohama. We started from the hotel for the train, an hour ahead of time, so we could stop and watch the games for a while. When we entered the grounds the band, or an excuse for one, was playing “Marching through Georgia”, for the children to march by. The boys kept fairly good time, but the girls were wandering along any old way. The boys had hopping races, and three legged races, and running to pick up things and put in a bag, and the one that made the round back to the starting point received a flag which he presented at a table and received a prize. The girls ran to a line, picked up a tray with a cup of tea and then back to the starting point. There were callisthenic exercises that I’ve seen better done, but it was very interesting and we were sorry when we had to leave for our train.
Of course, we were served with tea and cakes.
The car with plush cushioned seats down the sides. Some of the tall people complained that the seats were too low, for they are made for Japs, not for the lengthy limbed American.
We passed rice fields on both side nearly all the way. One curious thing was the pear trees. They are trained on a trellis about five feet high so that the fruit hangs through and will develop evenly. At a certain stage a paper bag is put on each pear to keep the insects out. It is only a half-hour’s ride from Yokohama to Tokyo, and then rickshaws to the hotel. So far the hotels are fine, and the cooking good. After lunch we rickshawed around all the afternoon, past the Imperial Palace with its moats and stone walls, through a woodsy park, without any lawns, to the museums, with stuffed birds, animals, carvings, costumes, etc., and back to a store where I didn’t buy anything. There was brocade silk there as thick and stiff as this cardboard ($10 a yard). The women use it for obis. A stuffed rooster in the museum had tail feathers 14 ½ feet long.
I almost forget the Chrysanthemum Show. They no longer pick off all but one, but now the style is to see how many they can make one plant produce. 1000 is the number aimed at, and they said some of the plants had that many on, and they looked so, though I didn’t attempt to count them. They were quite large too. I have some pictures of them.
Tuesday, October 27, 1908
Have been on the jump all day. We went out in rickshaws, as usual. There is a fine streetcar system here, but that is too ordinary. I’d like to take one of these boys and a baby carriage, (that is what it looks like), home with me. I guess we would make even the autos shy. Poor Daisy would go into spasms.
We went to an industrial school for girls. They learn to sew, make paper flowers, and knit, and all sorts of things. There are 1500 girls in this school, and they pay tuition of 20 or 30 yen a month. A yen is half of one cent.
We crossed over the outer moat into the grounds of the Imperial Palace, over a quarter of a mile of open space, to the second moat, (there is a high stone wall just inside of each moat). And gazed in awe upon the bridge over which no one ever crosses but the Mikado. One of the party was going to take a snap shot, but the guide stopped him. No one is allowed that privilege.
The parks and streets have cherry trees all through them, and it must be a lovely sight when they are in bloom. There are lots of crows in the parks, and they caw and keep up a great racket.
We visited the war museum, rode past the government and parliament buildings, and the Russian and American Embassies, and then came back to lunch. They call it tiffin. This afternoon we visited a pearl factory, and ivory and Satsuma works, and then went to other stores and bazaars. I invested in most postal cards, and a few other things. In the war museum, or armory, were flags, guns, etc., captured in the Chinese and Russian wars. I suppose they think they will be showing ours next.
Do you wonder that I am ready for bed now? It is 11 P.M. here, and about 6 A.M. with you. I suppose you are all getting up to see the sunrise, and “catch the worm”.
Wednesday, October 28, 1908
The procession started at 9A.M. Mr. Markley, who weighs 280 pounds and is 6 feet 2 inches tall, leading as usual. He has a man to push his rickshaw, as well as to pull.
This City is nearly ten miles each way, and covers nearly 100 square miles, so we have to travel miles to get anywhere. We don’t mind, for there is so much to see on the streets, and it is great fun to hear the rickshaw men shout and yell when any one or anything gets in the way. One of the ladies dropped her umbrella today, and there was as much excitement as if a star had fallen.
We visited temples and tombs and chased through parks, until I am sure I don’t know what we saw. One fine piece of lacquer, the largest gold lacquered piece in the world, is over the tomb of the 2nd Shogun. It is round, or octagonal, about five feet high and 8 inches in diameter, and has historical scenes done in gold lacquer. It is on a granite pedestal aped like a lotus flower. We visited the graves of the 47 Ronins, who committed hari-kiri (suicide) after killing the man who caused their master to commit hari-kari. It is a thrilling tale, and I’ll send it home by mail.
**** Photo “Our Rickshaw men at graves of the 47 Ronin, Tokyo, Japan.”
**** Photo “ Monument showing Buddha on the way to Nirvana.”
After lunch we went to another temple grounds, which is now the Coney Island of Tokyo. It was not very interesting, so we didn’t stay long. I gave an old priest a yen (1/2 cent) and he gave me a paper with my fortune on it. The guide said it was very good, that in the moonlight I was to find great good fortune, a gold mine, or something very valuable. Am waiting anxiously for the moon. Mrs. Markley got one, but the guide wouldn’t read it for he said it was no good. He hung it on a limb to avert the evil.
We stopped at a brewery and went into a beautiful old garden back of it. After a while the proprietor brought some beer out and treated the crowd. He pointed to the brewery with great pride and said, “This is the new Japan”. Then turning to the garden, “and this is Old Japan”. Tokyo is going to be a beautiful city, for they are widening the streets, and beautifying it in every way. They have dozens of parks, for every temple had large grounds, and now they are all public parks. There are some fine big trees, something like our redwoods, and the cherry trees are everywhere. It must be a great sight when they are all in bloom. Now they are a fine sight too, for the leaves are in autumn colors, though not bright like the maples. They have fine government buildings of stone brick, or brick and stone combined. The House of Parliament is wood and plaster, but they are going to put up a fine new building soon.
Thursday, October 29, 1908
It was a little drizzly this morning, but after our trunks were packed, Mrs. Bates and I went to one of the shops and got some postals and photographs. There is a little joke about it that I’ll relate to a select few when I get home. At 12:20 we get in our little special car and started for Nikko, 90 miles North, and 2000 feet up in the air. We went through rice fields where the rice was being harvested, by the women, generally. The land looked very rich and dark, and seemed to be divided into little patches like ours used to be for the Chinamen. There were patches of taro, radishes, onions, etc., mulberry trees five or six feet high, and ten plants not over three feet. They, the tea plants, were in blossom and the flower looks something like an orange blossom, only thinner petals. The men were working with funny long shovels, three feet long I should think, with handles about seven feet long. They were wood but seemed to be tipped with some metal. Everything is done by hand. This shovel is used something like a plow, and wheat and everything is planted by hand. They throw the wheat in the furrow as we plant potatoes, only closer.
We had our lunch on the train, all put up in little boxes, and the cleanest best lunch you would ever want. In every box were two slices of ham, two of chicken, and two of beef. Each had two boiled eggs and a roll. Then from another box we had two kinds of cake and some nabiscos. Apples and bananas and mineral water finished the feast. At 4 o’clock, another repast of tea and cakes was served. This came from the hotel, the Kanaya. You see, I am not likely to reduce any.
Our car was switched on to another train at Utsunomiya (an ample name to pronounce), and while we were waiting there we saw the ceremony of the introduction of an officer’s wife who had come up on the train, to a lot of other officers and their wives. Such bowings and shaking hands with themselves, you never saw. They must think us a very unceremonious people.
**** Photo “ The Sacred Bridge, Nikko, Japan”
The country grew more woodsy and mountainous after leaving this place, were beautiful all the way up. There is a fine road from Nikko, 25 miles long, with great trees on both sides that were planted 250 years ago. They are the Cryptomeria and look like our redwoods. It was too dark to see them well.
I have a pleasant room, and from the window can see the outline of mountains and hear the roar of a stream somewhere near. It is cold here, and there is a little charcoal fire burning. They bring us a pitcher of hot water night and morning. No running water.
Nikko
Friday, October 30, 1908
This morning we visited the temples and tombs of the 1st and 3rd Shoguns. The tomb of the 2nd is in Tokyo, and has the finest and largest piece of gold lacquer in the world. These temples are very elaborate, and have handsome panels of woodcarving and beautiful lacquer work. Near the gate of the 1st Shogun temple is a large bell that is sounded every hour. It has a deep mournful tone, and struck in their slow way, it is decidedly doleful. There is a stable in which is kept a sacred horse, and for a penny you can by a handful of beans and he devours them like any ordinary mustang. The one kept there now was the property of a general in the war with Russia. He was brainy, all right, for when he saw us coming, he began pawing and stamping and knocking the basin in front of him with his nose. When he had eaten what I gave him, he began his capers again, so he got a second feed. His stable is of red lacquer, with woodcarving. One of the panels is the three monkeys we so often see with their hands over their eyes, ears and mouth. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
There is a beautiful pagoda here, and when I wanted to climb to the top of it the guide nearly fainted, for it is sacred and no one ever sets foot on it only to make repairs. I asked if the Emperor could climb it, and he said he supposed he could, but he would not want to. For the sum of one yen we had a drink from a sacred well, which braced us up for the day.
The lacquer in the temples was very fine, and I admired it and tried hard to appreciate it, but the woodcarving took my eye. Some of the ceilings were lacquer and some carved, and some a combination of both. There were big panels of carved wood all around the sides, generally of flowers and foliage, with a bird in the center, and no two alike. Over one gate, the center is a sleeping black and white cat. The guide said they shut the cat’s eyes so it would not run away. Another gateway is so perfect in design and workmanship that they had to turn part of the design of one column upside down. Anything absolutely perfect is too good for this world, so they had to do this in order to keep the gate from being transferred to a better world. Sometimes the carvings are whole strings of birds, flying.
In one temple, a priestess, for a few yen, performed a dance that were a few low bows, a few sways and a whirl or twirl or two, all accompanied by a rattle in one hand and a fan in the other. She had on a red petticoat and white kimono and sort of Napoleon hat, also white.
One of the Shogun tombs was at the top of a flight of 200 steps. I declined to ascend, pleading my grand-motherhood as an excuse. Afterward I went up 210 steps to a temple, without a murmur. Just forgot that I was a grandmother.
Sunday, November 1, 1908
Yesterday was rainy all day, so we call it Sunday and rested and read and wrote. About 3 o’clock Mrs. Foster and I put on our overshoes and sallied forth for a walk. I went about half a mile down the one long street of the town, and then came back, but she went on and didn’t get back until dark. I tried to uphold the credit of California, but had to let Illinois carry off the palm for sprinting—in the rainy weather anyhow.
This morning, being Saturday, (even our good Omaha Presbyterian deacon consented to the transfer of dates), we all started out in rickshaw for Lake Chuzenji, eighty miles from here and 6000 feet higher. It is a hard road for it is nearly all up hill, and each rickshaw had three men, one to pull, and two to push. We were 4 ½ hours going and 2 ½ coming down. The last part of the trip is up the side of a mountain, and we zigzagged 32 times. The turns were as sharp that it seemed as if the poor little men, rickshaw and all would go over the bank into unknown depths.
The scenery was beautiful, and the lake was very charming, set down in the tops of the mountains. There is a good hotel there, and several houses of the Embassies are along the wooded banks. It is a summer resort for the people of Tokyo and other cities.
I saw some people making telescope baskets. They use split bamboo that has been soaked in water.
**** Picture “On the way to Station from Nikko”
Monday, November 2, 1908
We left Nikko at half past nine, and rode in rickshaws to the next station. It was a lovely ride of four miles, through the avenue of Cryptomeria trees that were planted 300 years ago. The trees were planted so close that some of them have grown together, generally two or three, but there is one group of seven in a solid trunk. The trees look like our Sequoias. We saw the usual native sights, children in all stages of dress or undress, seeds out to dry on pieces of matting, ponies carrying all sorts of big loads on their backs, bales of rice straw rope, baskets of vegetables, brooms, hay, barrels, or anything that could be piled on. You never see the native riding as they do in Mexico, but he leads the horse by a rope in the bit.
The ride on the train was not particularly interesting, though at one place where we changed cars, there had been some sort of a picnic and five little Jap princes got into a special car. We tried to catch a glimpse of them, but the guards made us stand so far away that we couldn’t see their sacred persons. There were a lot of high officials at the station, and we gazed at them as we passed. Our guide could not get a special car for us, so we changed four times, getting back to Yokohama. We had lunch on the train again, and that helped to pass the time.
Tuesday, November 3, 1908
This morning we were up at 5:20, had breakfast at 6:15, and rode across the city to catch the 7:10 train for Tokyo. The occasion was the Emperor’s birthday, and we had tickets admitting us to his review of the troops. The rickshaw boys from the Imperial Hotel were at the Tokyo station, and the one I had had while there saw me and made frantic gestures until I went to his “baby-carriage”. He was a fine big fellow, so I was glad he remembered me. I suppose my 50 yen (25cents), which is a big tip here, had helped his memory.
The review grounds was a big enclosed field, not any too smooth, and at one side was a pavilion for the Emperor and seats for the dignitaries, and on the other side of the entrance was an awning and chairs for the guests. When the Emperor arrived, we all stood up and rubbered, like good Republicans that we are. The first carriage to arrive contained the crown princes of Japan and Korea. The Korean prince is a little fellow about as big as Ken, though he may be older. He is being educated here. After a while the Emperor arrived in a fine carriage with red and gold trimmings and a bay team with gold trimmed harness, and coachman and two footmen in black and red and elaborate gold trimmings. He and the gorgeously gold trimmed officials rode around the grounds once, and then stopped on a freshly sanded square to review the troops. There were a lot of diplomats there, and they were all their finery and decorations, and were all on horseback.
There were about 20000 men in the procession that filed by him, infantry, cavalry and artillery, and they were a well trained, fine looking lot. Once in a while the Emperor would call out a general from the head of his battalion, (I wonder if battalion is the right word), and speak to him which I was told is a great honor. It was a great show, and I’m glad I got up early and went. We had the whole afternoon here in Yokohama, but alas, the shops were closed for the Emperor’s birthday.
**** Picture
**** Picture “Hotel and grounds, Fuguya Hotel”
We took a train this morning out to Kamakura, and then went in rickshaws to old temple, (Temple of the Zar-God); where they have a lot of relics of old time armor and weapons. Once a year these are carried out in half dozen sedan chairs, which were once very elaborate affairs, but now dilapidated, and the gold, and other lacquers, worn off. There were tame pigeons all about the temple, inside and out, that would eat corn out of your hand.
From there we went to the statue of Daibutsu, the great Buddha, and were photographed in a group in front of it. I forgot to take off my glasses, so will look as if I have two holes in my head. That is one disadvantage of traveling alone. There is no one to tell you when your hat is off on one ear, or your skirt unhooked, or a piece of lunch on your shirtfront, or the proper time to remove your glasses. This statue is one of the finest, though not the largest in Japan. It is 49 feet high, and is hollow inside, and was once used as a temple. It is bronze, with a silver knob in the forehead, that they say weighs 20 pounds. The thumbs are a foot in diameter and are worn smooth and shiny from people’s sitting on them. We had lunch at a good hotel right by they sea. It is a summer resort, and kept in good style. The village, or rather city, spreads over a good deal of ground, as all Japanese cities do, for their houses are never more than two stories and generally only one. The house in the towns have tiled roofs, but in the country they are nearly all thatched, and as they seem to put one thatch on top of another the roofs are often two feet thick. Then on top, where the ridgepole should be, there will be flowers, or grass planted. The way that originated, so the story goes, was that there was a great famine once, and the people were forbidden to plant anything in the ground that was not necessary for life. The powder the women use is made from the iris, so, since they couldn’t raise it in the ground, the ladies planted it on the roofs, and got the powder to beautify themselves. I forgot to say that when the relics are carried in the processions, they put long poles under the chairs, and 100 men take each chair, and they are carried into the water on the beach. I forgot to ask what for. It is part of the ceremony.
The extent of my purchases was a little china fox for 5 yen (2 ½ cents). The fox represents the God of rice, and when people want good crops they buy one of these and put it in a shrine, and say your prayers. I’ll set mine up somewhere and see what effect it will have on American soil.
We took an electric car to another town, walked out on a strip of sand and across a bridge to an island where there was another town. The stores all had frightful dragon-faced, stone tigers with wide-open mouths, which I would certainly have bought if it had not been so heavy, or I’d been nearer the end of my journey. We had tea at a ten house at the station.
I almost forgot to write about our interest in election. Mr. Markley from Cincinnati, and Mr. Lancaster from Oakland, are Bryan men. At the teahouse we were given newspaper “extras” announcing Taft’s election. I sent one to Henry. Bryan-ites are in the dumps.
We trolleyed and trained back to Yokohama in time to do a little packing before dressing for dinner.
Picture
Picture “Hotel and grounds, Fugiya Hotel”
Miyanoshitsa
Thursday, November 5, 1908
We left Yokohama about eleven o’clock this morning, by train as far as Koau. We had brought lunch from the hotel and ate it at the teahouse where, of course, we bought some tea. Then we took a trolley to the end of the line, Yamoto, and then four miles by rickshaws, up a canyon, and over gulches, to this hotel the Fugiya. It is said to be the finest kept hotel in Japan, and some say, the finest in the world.
The scenery all the way was very fine. First were the rice fields, with occasional patches of other vegetables, and the houses grouped together is villages, with the thatched roofs. Some of them had old hen-and-chickens planted all over the roof, and really looked very pretty.
The mountainsides are terraced, and there are tea, and mulberry plants, and mandarin orange groves, and various vegetables planted there. They have a way of using bamboo in nearly all their work. Today we saw it woven into a loose tube shape, 20 feet long and about a foot through and filled with rocks. These things were laid along the bank of the river to keep it from washing away. Then there was a footbridge across the river, and its piers were these bamboo baskets filled with stone.
We caught a glimpse of Fuji Mt. this morning, but it was so cloudy that it was not distinct. We had a fine view of it going up to Nikko. This place, Miyanoshitsa, is the prettiest location you ever saw, and our rooms are large and light and prettily furnished, and a fire was burning in the grates when we got here. I will send a book of the place and put a mark on the back of the hotel picture where my room is. I can look out through the trees, down the canyon. We have electric lights and hot and cold running water in the rooms. At the other hotels, they brought big copper pitchers of hot water to us night and morning. The bath is what “takes the cake”. There is a natural hot spring, and the water is brought into the hotel. The bathtub is marble, and sunk until the sides are only about 2 inches above the floor. When I got my 160 displacement weight in, the water was ready to run over the sides, and I was submerged to the chin. Everything is so clean and well ordered that I feel like camping here until it is time to go home. The bed is the best since I left home (am in bed now) and there is plenty of covering for the first time since I’ve been in Japan.
Miyanoshita
Friday, November 6, 1908
November 6th.
We are not booked for anything this morning, so some are out for a walk, but I am enjoying the “comforts of a home” by the fire in my room. Have done some mending, and mauled over my trunk, and enjoyed myself generally. We are here a day ahead of our schedule, and now find we have to stay a day longer, for the Emperor is to be in Shizuoka Tuesday, and all the hotel rooms are engaged for his suite. As there is nothing much to see there, we will stay here until Tuesday A.M., and take an express train through to Nagoya. We are all glad, for it is so comfortable here.
Sunday, November 8, 1908
Now I will write up yesterday’s doings, and then nothing more until I get to Kyoto, for we are having two days with nothing special to do. I believe we stop at Nagoya, so there may be something worthwhile there.
Yesterday morning was pleasant, so we had rice straw sandals tied on to our shoes with rice straw strings, and got into our bamboo sedan chairs, with their long bamboo poles, and with four men each, started on our trip to Lake Hakone where we expected to see Fuji Mountain in all his glory. The trip was up and down hill, over stones and muddy trails, then out through lovely scenery. We hung on for dear life when the chair stood nearly on end, but our boys “held on with their claws” as Donald says, and got us through all right. We had to walk a few places, and the sandals were to save our shoes in the stony places. They were about worn out when we got back, and so wet and disreputable that we decided not to keep them for souvenirs. We met a man leading some cows, and they had sandals on too. They looked too cute for anything.
Our carriers were two in front and two behind and every five or ten minutes each pair would change sides, to bring the pole on the other shoulder, with stopping their little dogtrot. Every step they gave a grunt that made you feel as if you must weigh a ton. We found out tat that was part of the program, and then kept our sympathies for some other occasion. Part of our ride was through dense pine forests that have been planted by the government. Everywhere, the government is setting out trees on the hillsides, maples, Cryptomeria, and pines. The Japanese are progressive, all right, and very proud of their progressiveness. They are very devoted to the Emperor, and the Americans here say he is very popular, and a remarkable man.
One drawback to the scenery was the whisky signs along the way. They were in plain English so we could guess what people they were put up for. There were big Japanese signs too, but as we could not read them, and the characters are rather picturesque, we could take them as part of the landscape.
We had lunch at a teahouse at the lake, and walked up a road with big Cryptomeria on both sides, to the Emperor’s summer palace. It is quite plain, and the grounds not very elaborate. The emperor has never been there, as he decided that the place is too damp for him.
They took us, with our chairs, across the lake in sampans, with two men at the back end rowing with big heavy oars fastened to the boat. They stood up to row. The mountainside running down to the lake was a mass of trees in all the shades of brown and green and yellow, with an occasional blotch of bright red. The Maples that grow wild here are like that one the Shinns have in their garden.
We should have had a fine view of Fuji, but it was cloudy, so we only caught glimpses of her as the clouds parted. After we landed, we got in our chairs again, and were taken through all sorts of wild and romantic by-ways until we came to a mountain that emitted a sulphurous odor, and all down the canyon the steam was rising from hot sulphur springs. It is called Big Hell, and we thought we’d got there sure enough. We had to go down through it, and most of us walked, for the path was narrow, and it looked a long way down to the bottom. These chair-men are very sure footed and got down all right, but I preferred to trust my own feet. Mrs. Dempster stayed in her chair, but lay back with her eyes shut all the way down. At the foot of the trail she remarked in an injured tone, “I never saw a thing all the way down.” We smiled.
Picture “Lake Hakone”
This hotel is not nearly so good as Miyanoshitsa. This morning we were taken though the Japanese part of the hotel, and it was enough to make an American housekeeper turn green with envy. The floor is covered with matting padded about two inches thick and they always take off their shoes outside the door. There are a few cushions on the floor to sit on and sometimes two or three ornaments on a fancy shelf. They sleep in the same room on comforters on the floor, and all the bedding, during the day, is folded and put on shelves behind sliding screens. Everything is so clean, and so little chance to get dirty. I’ve a mind to build a house in this style.
In one room were some wedding presents for a bride in the house. One was a “ship of plenty”. It was a boat-shaped affair, filled with goods for the lady; and the other was white crepe fixed over a frame in folds, so that it was the shape of a stork. The bill and some spots of colored cloth were fastened on to give it a more lifelike look. They told us that there was crepe enough in it for two kimonos.
The garden around the hotel is quite like the tea gardens we have at home.
We went to an old castle, built 300 years ago, with moats and stonewall around it, and with holes in the walls to shoot arrows through. There was nothing at all in the castle. It is pagoda shape, and I climbed all the way up to the 5th story. Am getting so that a few hundred steps, more or less, do not faze me at all. The castle was stone and the inside, oak. It was natural color, but looked like our fumed oak. Then we went to a palace that has nothing in it but the painting on the panels that are by their old artists, Kana and others.
Visits to two cloisonné factories finished up the morning, and we took the 1:40 P.M. train for this place, Yamada, arriving 5:30 P.M. On the way there were a lot of flag and lantern decorations out, and things looked very gay and festive. It was for a lot of soldiers who were coming home, for the first time since the Russian War. One place they had tables under an awning in a park, so they were to have one feed, anyhow.
Thursday, November 12, 1908
My, but we’ve had a day of it! I don’t see why we come here, unless it was because it is a more Japanesey hotel than we have been at before. The walls are all the sliding panels, and there is no lock on the door. The girls are sliding in at all hours. We have a charcoal fire in a brazier in the middle of the room, and a girl comes in to fix it often. Three times a day they bring us a pitcher of hot water, and then come back to carry it out after you’ve washed your hands. Tea and toast or cakes, you can have at any time, and they are always popping in to see if you want it, or anything else. The furniture of our room is American, and the cooking European. The table is very good.
Last night was the 29th anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Bates, and she had ordered dinner for the party. It was very swell, with eight courses, and champagne, and all the frills going. When the pheasant was passed to me first, with the plumage on top. I nearly disgraced myself by shrieking but Fukuda, the guide, sat next to me and told me to lift the feathers and there were the slices of breast all nicely arranged. A small piece was enough, for it took away my appetite. The birthday cake (it was Mr. B’s birthday, too) was a three-story work of art.
Today we have visited two temples, a museum, and the husband and wife rocks. The pamphlet I send will explain them well enough. We saw the carpenters getting the wood ready for the new temple. They are not allowed to go out into the world but once a year, when they have a month’s vacation. Then they return they have to be purified before they can go to work again. They did not say how.
There was a sacred horse that pawed and rattled his chain, and opened his mouth at us until we bought some soaked beans and fed him. They would not let us touch him, for he was a vicious scamp. He had belonged to the Emperor, but was too obstreperous to ride. So was presented to the temple. We rode 18 miles in the rickshaws today, chasing up temples and things. I’ve decided that I haven’t lost any temples, never, no more. The parks where the temples are have some fine big trees that look like our redwood forests, so they are all right. Every park has cannons captured from the Russians and Chinese, and monuments for the soldiers.
On our ride we passed by rice fields most of the way. All the work is done by hand. It grown in hills, and each bunch is out with a sickle. After it is dried, they pull it through big combs, and then pound it with wooden mallets to get the hulls off. Most of them drop it from their hands and let the wind blow the hulls away, but I saw them using a sort of fanning mill in one place. The straw is tied in bunches. The usual way of carrying it is suspended from a pole over the shoulder, but some of them had a handcart to carry it, and the really prosperous ones had a real horse and cart.
They are always drying fish, but today I noticed a new caper. The little round-bellied fish were on wooden skewers, a skewer full of them, and arranged in a central bunch of bamboo, as we make a cluster of flags for the 4th of July decoration. It looked quite stylish and fetching.
Lots of the cats have short tails. I remarked to some one, a few days ago, that all Japanese cats had short tails. Of course it wasn’t five minutes before an old yellow thing strolled by with nearly a yard of tail trailing behind her.
Friday, November 13, 1908
This morning I remarked to Mrs. Foster that getting up to take a 7 o’clock train was a good beginning for the date. We had a cold ride for they have no way of warming the cars. We stopped over three houses at Nara to see the great wooden image of Buddha and a few temples thrown in for variety. We had trouble getting rickshaws, for it was a holiday and the Emperor was reviewing troops. He has been getting in our way pretty often of late. We did not see him, for the officers shooed us away, so we went to see Buddha instead. He (Buddha) is a disreputable looking creature, what we saw of him, but is the largest statue in Japan—52 feet high—I think they said. There was scaffolding all around him, as they are repairing his temple. There is a large bell near the temple, a beam about 20 feet long that is suspended, so that an end is toward the bell. For a few cents you can push the beam and hit the bell, and make things hum. But we were not allowed to amuse ourselves with it, as it “might scare the Emperor”. There he was, “butting in” again.
We went through a beautiful park, where there were a few more temples, which I didn’t see, and had tea and cakes at a little teahouse. Leading up to one set of temples there were bronze lamps, or lanterns, about six feet high and no one knows how old. There looked liked thousands of them, - hundreds, anyhow, on both sides of the avenue. The parks are all the old temple grounds, and are covered with fine old trees. There is one kind of pine that does not grow so very tall, but its branches spread out so that they have to have supports under them. On one of the trees the men said the limbs were 75 feet long. There were hundreds of deer in the parks.
We got into Kyoto at 7 P.M. I have a room about 18x24, with the ceiling about 14 feet high, and a great big bed with a beautiful red silk embroidered cover. There is a fire in the grate, and I feel mighty comfortable after this long, hard, cold day.
Saturday, November 14, 1908
This has been a pretty good day, though we did have a couple of temples to keep us from forgetting how they look. On the way to the first, as a sugar coating for the pill, we went through a little street where there were little shops of porcelain ware on both sides. There were all sorts of animals and gods, and other things, big and little, and we were allowed to get out of our rickshaws and investigate and purchase. We were like a lot of kids let loose. You can imagine the collection on my mantel this evening. There are three monkeys, two cats, a pagoda, two houses, two turtles, 25 gods, etc., etc. And the whole collection cost one yen (50 cents). The rest were about as frivolous as I, so we had enough fun to make the temple go down easy. This was the temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy who has 40 arms and 1000 hands, which she doubtless finds useful in her vocation. There is a shrine there with 3333 Gods. If any one wants anything, they pray to one of the Gods, and put a bib or apron around his neck. The effect, where they are thus arranged, is unique, if not more so. This temple is on a hillside, and the grounds now a park, are lovely. There are trees everywhere, many of them maples, with their bright foliage.
We visited a geisha school, and heard and saw them play their instruments, and sing their songs, and saw two girls dance. The music is weird and not what we would call attractive but I suppose it is all a matter of taste. The dancing was all posing, and very gracefully done. The girls were rather too ancient to be classed as beauties.
At one of the stores we saw them making lacquer work. It surprised us to see that there were fifteen to twenty stages of work in one piece. I don’t see how they can sell it so cheaply.
This afternoon we started in with a temple, but it was a different set, and they were having a sort of special meeting or celebration, so we found it quite interesting. It is the Jodo sect, and they are aiming at perfection – something like the holiness people. There were 80 of them, and the performance consisted of sinking down on their knees, with hands folded in prayer, bowing almost to the floor and getting on their feet again, and going over and over the same thing, chanting all the time. They all moved together, and were oblivious to the outsiders gawking at them.
After the temple, we went to a fine curio store where things ranged from 5 yen to 2500. A little box with an inlaid top about as big as a saltcellar, was 55 yen. A screen that I liked pretty well was 180 yen ($90), and a cabinet I really admired was 2000. They served tea and cakes, and yet we didn’t buy the cabinet. A Damascene factory, and a bamboo store, finished up the day.
After dinner I was introduced to a Lieut. Napes and his wife, from Manila. He said he knew John Holt, but I think he was lying. He made me think of Ray Cornell a little.
But of all the day, was when Mr. Holmes sent me three letters from home, from May P., May H., and Nellie. They were postmarked Oct. 26, so were 19 days old, but made my heart glad just the same. The children’s’ pictures are fine, and I am so glad to have them.
Monday, November 16, 1908
We have had a busy day, and interesting. No temple the whole livelong day.
Yesterday, I went to the Union Church with Mr. and Mrs. Markley, and just bummed the rest of the day. It was such a relief to stay in the hotel. It rained some, so was a good day for staying in. I met a Miss Denton at church, who is from San Jose, and whose sister is principal of the training school at the Normal. I suppose Elma knows her.
Today we went first to the Imperial Palace, and wandered through several acres of matting covered rooms. There are some fine specimens of painting on the walls, but no furniture. As the Emperor has not visited the palace for 40 years, there has been no occasion for furnishing it, even as Japanese furnish their houses. The room where the Emperor sat to receive visitors has a canopy over his seat. The curtain was dropped low enough so the people could only see the lower part of his face.
Near the palace is a kindergarten school for Jap. children and we visited it. It was the cutest thing you ever saw. There were about 60 children and all busy, and happy, and dirty-nosed. They went through their little motion songs, just like any other school, only that it was in Japanese. The head of the school is an American woman, but the teachers that we saw were all Japanese.
The next place we went was the Nijo Castle, which was founded by the Shoguns. This is not occupied, but is kept beautifully clean. We had to take off our shoes and put on some flannel slippers, for our shoes would pollute the sacred building. There is the greatest amount of gold covered walls that you can imagine. It is not gilt, but real gold leaf. There are some very valuable paintings, and woodcarving in this building. On the way back to lunch, we stopped at a silk store and looked at embroidered bedspreads from $100 up. I didn’t buy any. The extent of my purchases was a necktie for Harry for Christmas.
After lunch we went to see them making bronze things. They chisel out the pattern, and then hammer in the copper or silver, or whatever they use. Then we took in pottery, and saw some beautiful cloisonné things. It was a temptation to buy, but I didn’t. From there we went to a school for training boys in fencing and wrestling. All the schoolboys have to take this training, and there were some little fellows there not more than eight years old. They wore masks and all sorts of protectors, and then they went at it “tooth and nail”, all shouting or perhaps chanting, and waving their bamboo swords. The fencers, I’m talking about now. They wore the long kimono, a sort of divided skirt, is this case, and you would think it would have been in their way, but they get around very easily and gracefully. I suppose, to any one who understood the art, it would be very interesting. We enjoyed it, too, but it seemed more funny than scientific.
The wrestlers had on only shirts and short pants, with the sash, that they hold on by. That must have been scientific, too, for the men were interested in it.
This evening we have been to a geisha dinner, and that finished the day, and us too. We went in rickshaws to the restaurant, up two flights of stairs, into a room with matting on the floor, and cushions around the sides for us to sit on. When we were seated (there was a cushioned arm rest at every place) the girls got on their knees in front of us, Japanese fashion, to wait on us. The maids brought each of us a little stand with a tray of food on it, and set it in front of us. There was a bowl of soup with a big piece of lobster and some vegetables in it, a stew of chicken and vegetables, slices of cold omelet that looked like cake, boiled chestnuts, sweetened rice, slices of raw fish and horseradish, and some sauce that they said was awfully hot. A little bowl of sake was served with this. On the floor they set a tray with a dish of fried fish, some little fritters, a peeled persimmon, and some fancy sugar flowers and leaves in a pretty little basket. We had to eat with chopsticks and I was surprised to find that I could do it. I ate some of the lobster, and the chestnuts, and tasted nearly everything but the raw fish, even took a sip of sake. Those who couldn’t use the sticks were fed by the geisha girls. They seemed to enjoy the fun as much as the rest.
After we had eaten awhile, the girls went out and came back with the musicians, and danced for us. They wore the long kimono and yet did not seem to be hampered by them. The dance is really but a series of poses, with an occasional little hop and skip. The feet only show a little as they step forward. The dancers are to illustrate poems. One was of a girl going to Fuji Mountain. Another was the victory over the Chinese. Their pride and joy is in the obi, and these girls had beautiful ones on. We priced some of the silk, and it was 8 and 10 dollars a yard, and so thick that it would stand alone. Our guide says that they often pay a hundred dollars for their obis, have them made order with the family name woven in.
Tuesday, November 17, 1908
We have been to Kameoka, 15 miles from here, and went down the rapids of the Kodri River, about 6 miles, It was very exciting, though they said there was no danger. The boats are flat bottomed, about 25 or 30 feet long and 5 or 6 feet wide, and the sides are 2 ½ feet high. We sat in chairs, and it was so cold that we had blankets wrapped around us. They were red, so we must have looked like wild Indians. Two men managed the boat both on the same side, one steered, and another had a pole and stood at the front of the boat to keep us off the rocks. They were very skillful, but if ever the boat had struck one of the rocks, I guess it would have been “happy hunting grounds” for some of us. The mountains on both sides were covered with trees, and the autumn colors made a fine scene. We didn’t see much of it though, for we had to watch the men with the pole, for fear he’d forget to shove us away from the rocks.
We went through seven tunnels getting to Kamnoka, as you see how mountainous it is. There were regular forests of bamboo, and on the river there were rafts of it. We passed some of them when we were shooting the rapids. The men tow the boats back up the river, one in the boat to steer, and two pulling from the shore.
There was a picnic of school children at one place. You should have seen the hair ribbons. One girl had a combination of pink, blue, green and purple.
Wednesday, November 18, 1908
This has been another temple day, but there have been diversions, so it was not so bad. The examples were very fine ones, too. The first was Nishi Hongwanji, which means either Eastern or Western temple, I’ve forgotten which. It is an immense thing, all put together without nails, and the timbers so well fitted that you can hardly tell where they are joined. The temple burned down 200 or 300 years ago, and the women, to show their devotion, cut off their hair, and had it woven into ropes to lift the timbers with. We saw one of the 35 coils. It is about like the cable they throw over the post from the ferryboat, and was in a pile about four feet high and three feet in diameter. I’ve forgotten the length of feet. When we want to build a new church we will know how to manage it. There were beautiful carved and gold lacquered panels in this temple.
There was another temple with the head and shoulders of an immense wooden Dai-butsu, or Buddha, whose copper plating had been made up in some time of war or famine, or other need. We had to go up about 20 steps to be on a level with his 6 foot ear.
I think I wrote of the 3333 god temple that I thought we’d visited, but find that there were only 1001 there. The mistake was pardonable, I hope, since I didn’t stop to count them. Today we visited the real thing, with the Goddess of Mercy with her thousand hands, and rows upon rows of gilded Goddesses on both sides. They were about four feet high, and their crowns were made up of small Goddesses, so there were doubtless the full 3333 in the bunch. The rest of the party went to the museum, but I drew the line there, and went off in quest of rainbow scarfs, which I didn’t find. After lunch we had a fine rickshaw ride, four miles across the city, to several acres of temples to the gold pavilion. You can read that up in the booklet I’ll send, -- if you are interested in temples. They gave us tea there made of ground tea leaves, which was quite a flavor, but it was horrid. This was one part of their “tea ceremony”; I swallowed mine down, for politeness. There was a beautiful garden there, with a pine tree trained into the shape of a sampan, also a small lake full of gold fish.
This evening we went to the theater and saw some very tragic acting. The play was about the Shogun wars. Our guide tried to explain it to us. There is a gallery of boxes all around the building and we had three of these boxes. The funniest part of the affair was, that one of the actors had been playing in S.S. and Seattle, and he made a speech and described some of the American customs. The guide told us some of the things he said. He showed how the women walk and talk, and told how a man tied his wife’s shoe when it came untied on the street. The guide said they, the Japs, would not do that. He wigwagged his fingers at his nose and explained that that was uncomplimentary in America. It is quite the reverse here.
One thing I forgot to mention, and that is a big mound out near the Goddess of Mercy temple, with a monument on top. It is made of the noses and ears of the C[K]oreans killed in one of their wars a few hundred years ago. It was a nice appetizing tale to go to lunch on.
Thursday, November 19, 1908
We began the day with a ten-mile rickshaw ride to Lake Biwa. It was a beautiful morning, and there is a fine road all the way. It is uphill most of the way, and we each had two men on our rickshaws. They went tandem, the head one having one end of a rope tied around his shoulders, and the other end tied to the rickshaw shafts. We went through several villages, but it was hard to tell where one began and the other left off, for one overlapped the other. At one teahouse, where the men were resting, we were told that the Emperor’s special train would pass soon, so we all prepared to rubber, since he would run into our party again. The teahouse was on rather high ground, and the guard (there were guards stationed all along the road) herded the Cooky-ites down to the lower part of the road. Mrs. Bates and I were in the garden back of the house and missed being herded, and didn’t know that it is bad manners, or perhaps a crime, to stand on high ground when Emperors pass by, so when we heard the train coming we rushed out, across the road, and hung over the fence like true democratic Americans. We saw him all right, and nothing has happened to us so far, but if you hear of our being hurled into a dungeon, or losing our ears and noses, you will know the reason why.
The road was fine, being part of the great highway from Tokyo to Nagasaki. We passed the usual assortments of immense loads on long bodied carts, drawn by horse, ox or man power, through fields of rice and vegetables, and through villages where every house had mats spread before it, with rice, beans, peppers, sliced radish and other vegetables drying. We walked through a temple grounds, up a hill and had a fine view. We lunched at a teahouse near the sacred pine, which is an immense old gnarled and crippled thing. It is not more than 25 feet high, but the branches spread out 100 feet on every side. The long branches have supports under them – crutches, one of the ladies said – and there are dozens of them. The currents are quite swift, and we went down the canal in fine style. There was nothing much to see but the stone sides of the canal and the boats being towed up the stream. There are three tunnels lighted by electricity. One is a mile and a half long; the second is 400 feet, and the third about half a mile. It was a fine trip, but no excitement. At the end of the canal there is an electric road, and the boats are raised on to trucks and run over to another canal that connects with the river. The freight boats are taken that way. We had to take rickshaws back to the hotel. We were over an hour later than we had expected to get back, so I had to do some hustling to get the things ready for the man who came to pack the box for home.
Friday, November 20, 1908
This day was to be a free day, but we want to see the Emperor’s garden, a five-mile ride, where there were some fine maples and other trees. The rest walked up a hill to get the view, but I have had some trouble with my knee (the one I “went to bed with” several years ago) so am not climbing hills and steps very much now. They were going to another temple, so I just naturally struck out in the other direction for the hotel and packed my trunks. At the Emperor’s garden there were pine trees trained into different shapes. One of the favorites seems to be to make it spread out flat and round when about two feet high. They are curious but not beautiful. There was one hedge of four different shrubs, of different shades of green and red, and it was very pretty.
Saturday, November 21, 1908
We get off about half past eight, and reached Osaka at 10 A.M. I was very much surprised to find it a large city – the second in Japan. I had not thought much about it, and when we rode four or five miles across the city to a temple and the biggest bell in Japan, I grew quite respectful. The bell is 26 feet high and weighs 114 tons.
There was a pitiful sort of ceremony at one of the temples. Friends of dead people went to a priest and got the names of the dead. (“die people”, our guide called them), written on little strips of wood. This they took to an enclosed well and slipped it into a dipper with a long bamboo handle, and held it under a spout where a little water trickled down. When the name got wet, they dropped it into the well, uttering prayers all the time. As the water ran out of the well, the slip was carried on, and the soul of the person was supposed to go on to paradise with it. There were crowds of people sending their “die people” on in this way.
We met a funeral procession, two gorgeously arrayed priests leading. Then came some musicians, and the coffin carried by four men. It was about square, as the body is in a sitting position. A few women were following behind.
We went down a street full of vegetable, fish, and toy booths, and then down Theater Street, gay with flags and banners. It was a festival day, so the streets were full of people.
Picture “Harbor at Kobe, Japanese War Vessels”
We came to a Kobe, and are at the Oriental Hotel. It is the best yet, with hot and cold running water, a big French window opening on a balcony, fine view of the harbor, furnace heat, and everything comfortable. I wish we could look for as good accommodations as we go on.
Sunday, November 22, 1908
Went to church and heard very good sermon. Minister’s name was Thornton, and reminded me of Douglas Cornell.
After lunch we went, in rickshaws, to Kobe College to have tea with some missionary ladies we met at church. We went first to a fine hotel, up on a hill. There was a fine view, but I like this downtown hotel best. One of the young ladies, Miss Gordon, graduated from Berkeley in 1908, when Lucy Robinson did. There are 200 Japanese girls in the school and it was all interesting.
Monday, November 23, 1908
The first object of interest was a bronze Dia-Butsu that did not appeal to us for his beauty, nor the elegance of the shrine in his interior, not of the old priest in charge. I bought his picture and will admire him properly after I get home. Then we chased up a temple, but found a chain across the entrance, and guards there to keep us from climbing the chain. They were having special services for the Emperor and no one could enter. It was one time that the most of us were rather glad to have the Emperor “butt in”. Every time we stopped we were surrounded by a lot of natives, for we are real live curios to them. They are good-natured, and not beggars, so we didn’t mind. They took us to a park where, by climbing a quarter of a mile of steps, we could get a view. As we had been on the roof of the hotel, by way of a good elevator (one of the two of which Japan boasted) and had the same view, I declined dragging my lame knee up the heights. I told the guide that I was going shopping and two others plucked up courage and came along. The guide looked cross-eyed, but I did not see him. Next time I travel, it won’t be with a temple fiend. The day was their harvest festival time, and one of the features are bargain sales. All the shops on the main street had their goods hanging out marked 20 percent off. We rode down the street to see the display, but made no purchases. Everything was gay with flags and banners, and the streets full of people crowded around the bargains. Just like our own part of the world. A gorgeous procession passed, with palanquins of flowers and people with banners, laughing and skipping along. We couldn’t make out whether it was a funeral or a wedding. After lunch we went to a pretty waterfall, just at the edge of the city, and I went to a store for Xmas cards, which I have addressed and have ready to post. Now, for trunk packing.
Tuesday, November 24, 1908
We have had no program today, but everybody has been busy getting ready for our departure. The “China” got in before noon, and we found letters from home at our plates at the lunch table – my share made my heart glad – nine letters, a postal, and a roll of papers.
At 5 P.M. we took a launch for our Steamer, and were soon located in our cabins. There are so few passengers that we all have rooms alone, and it is real luxury after the abominable crowding on the “Korea”. The rooms are larger, though the boat is much smaller. There are only about 30 passengers on now, so it seems quite like a family party.
Wednesday, November 25, 1908
We have had a very quiet day passing through this inland sea. It was too cold to be on deck much, and we were only out for a little while when we were passing the narrowest part. There were towns on both sides and we could see fortifications both on the main land and on the islands side. Both sides are mountains, and covered with small trees. We have heard so much of this beautiful island sea, but it does not compare with San Francisco Bay, or Puget Sound, or the Alaskan coast.
It does seem so good to have the room to myself. I have spread my things all about for we will be six days getting to Hong Kong.
Thursday, November 26, 1908
We spent yesterday in Nagasaki, going ashore on a launch about nine o’clock. We were trotted off to a temple, and to a Die-Butsu, and to the top of a hill to get the view. This last was really fine for we saw the whole city, and the little land locked harbor filled with vessels. The town is on the mountain slope and the houses all about the same height with the tile roofs. The buildings along the waterfront are stone or brick, three stories high and quite imposing.
We went four miles across a mountain to a fishing village, Mogi, for a fish dinner. The road was smooth, with an easy grade, and as we each had two rickshaw men we did not have to suffer any pangs of sympathy. The mountains on both sides were terraced and pleated with vegetables, or else covered with trees with various colored foliage. It was a delightful ride and we were hungry enough to enjoy the
Picture
Picture “Coaling at Nagasaki”
Lobster, fried fish, chicken, etc., that they gave us at the little Japanese hotel. There were a lot of fellows there with trinkets for sale, and we amused ourselves buying things for ten yen that they asked 40 or 50 yen for, and then Mr. Holmes said we paid too much for them. But we had the fun of seeing who could strike the best bargain.
When we got back, the sea was pretty rough, but we got out to the vessel all right. They were loading coal from barges, and we watched the work until we were nearly frozen. Men and women work together passing the baskets of coal from one to another, like a bucket brigade. It was surprising how fast they worked. One woman had a baby strapped on her back, and worked right along with the rest.
They had a turkey dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving, but I only got as far as the table when my appetite fled and I retired to my berth. We had started at 4 P.M., and were well out on the China Sea, and it was rough, good and plenty. Several others left the table hastily. Have been in my berth all-day and slept most of the time. Have not been sick as long as I lay still, so I have hardly raised myself off my back. Am lying down writing now.
We will spend tomorrow in Shanghai – am not sure of that spelling. I wish I were going home from Hong Kong, but perhaps it would be as bad to cross the Pacific now as to go on. It is a hard trip, but I would never have been satisfied without taking it, so I’d better not growl. However, I won’t do it again, and don’t anybody waste time envying me.
Saturday, November 28, 1908
We got into Shanghai, that is, at anchor 14 miles below the city, at 2 A.M. About 8 o’clock a launch came out and took us up the Yangtze River, as the ship did not go any nearer. It was a pleasant trip, though cold, and we enjoyed the quiet water after the stirring up we had yesterday. There were all sorts of boats on the river, but the oddest were the junk war vessels. They were clumsy things with high pointed bow and stern, and a cannon mounted in the middle, also big eyes at the sides near the bow making them look like some of their queer fishes. Some one asked why the eyes were there, and a Chinese explained, “junk hab no eye, no can see; no can see, no can saby; no can sabe, no can go”. These junks go up the river to protect trading vessels from pirates. They are not used, however, in modern civilized warfare, but are for chasing and punishing the pirates that flourish up the river.
The country is flat, and the riverbanks low quite unlike Japan. Along the river are mounds, which are family graves, and in some places are new coffins were standing by the mounds waiting for burial. The changing course of the river had washed away parts of mounds and left the coffins exposed on the banks. Rather gruesome, but part of the show.
Well, Shanghai did surprise me. On the riverfront, and all of the modern city, are fine brick 3 or 4 story buildings, and it had all the appearance of a European city. When I remember how San Francisco used to look as we landed from the ferry, I think it was high time for the fire to come and burn up those old shacks. The streets are wide, and there is a fine electric car system. We rode in rickshaws, but they have cabs with very good horses, automobiles, and even the abominable motorcycles. Most of the police officers are tall turbaned East-Indians, and they cut imposing figures on the street. We saw one marching a prisoner along the street. He, the prisoner, had a big square board collar on his neck.
We rode down the street for about a mile past some fine residences, with large gardens, to the Bubbling Well, which in Japan would be surrounded by temples and shrines. It is like our springs with gas bubbling up, and it was full of leaves and had a generally neglected air. We were taken to a Chinese garden where there were two or three pavilions with chairs and tables, and a space for the dancing girls. The garden part was sort of a maze of rough, grotesque stone wells, with trees and plants and little pavilions, and an immense cement dragon along the top of the outside wall.
The sprinkling carts are square tanks larger than the ones in Japan, and drawn by a horse instead of a man. But the funniest thing, in the midst of the stylish turnouts, was to see a man wheeling a big wheelbarrow, on each side of which were seated two people and their belongings. It looked rather interesting and I’d like to try one – on a back street.
The stores are fine, and I could hardly tear myself away from the lovely silks and laces. But then I remembered in time that there were other stores to come, and I hadn’t much cash with me. I got off all right.
After all this, we went through the thick brick wall of the old native city, where they still close and lock the gates at night. We had to walk, as the streets are so narrow they won’t let rickshaws in. It was like stepping into another world. The streets swarmed with men, women and children, and beggars followed us everywhere. The shops all opened on the street, and the people carried on their vocations, whether chopping up sausage meat, or sawing lumber, at the opening. There were jade and pearl shops, and perhaps next door, roast ducks for sale. It was a grand conglomeration of everything and everybody. We went into a Joss House, but it will not as elaborate as I’ve seen at home. Then we went into another garden that our guide said was the Mandarins’ Club. There was a long table with three chairs on each side where the Mandarins sit to discuss business, etc., and on a platform at the back of the room is a chair, sacred to the memory of the Mandarin who founded the Club, and his picture hangs back of the chair. The guide informed us that the 1st Mandarin (in rank) can have five wives, and the 2nd three wives, or as he expressed it, “five piecee wife and three piecee wife”.
We came back to the steamer at 6 P.M., tired, old and hungry, and glad that we each had our own room to go to. This is a snide boat, but not having a roommate makes up for some disadvantages.
Sunday, November 29, 1908
Sea quiet, and everybody resting from yesterday’s exertion.
Monday, November 30, 1908
Sea is rougher today, but am not sick. We will be in Hong Kong in the morning. Nothing doing, and everybody writing, reading, gossiping, or snoozing.
Tuesday, December 1, 1908
We could see a faint outline of mountains when we came out from breakfast, and there were fishing boats about in the water. It was misty, so nothing showed clearly. By ten o’clock we were passing between the Island of Hong Kong, and the mainland, and on both sides could see the fortifications. The harbor was full of vessels, and the English ships were all decorated with flags. The occasion for it was the Queen’s birthday. We seem to be always stumbling upon the birthdays of royalty. We are at the Hong Kong Hotel, and very comfortably fixed. As far as I have been able to judge, I have about the best room of any, so am not “kicking”. It is on the corner, and has two windows, while the others only have one. It has rained all the afternoon and all we did was to go around and look in some of the stores. Most of the buildings have arcades along the front, so we got along without getting much wet. The silks and embroideries are beautiful, but what’s the use of getting them to cart around the world, and then pay duty on them to get them home. There were two girls on the steamer who were going to Manila to be married, one to a soldier, and the other to the school superintendent at Luzon. The soldier boy met his ladylove here, and then they found it took so much red tape to get married here, and less was required at Canton, so they have gone on to that city. The girl’s mother is with her. The other girl is going on to Manila in a few days. She has been teaching in Montana. I told her about Miss McVenn, and told her if she met her to tell her she saw Henry Patterson’s mother. I thought she might not know me by any other name.
Wednesday, December 2, 1908
It was rainy this morning, so we didn’t go out on any excursion. We have been doing the shops, and I am wild to buy everything in sight. I have to keep reminding myself of Java, and India, and other places to come, or I would have my trunks overflowing in no time at all. Next time, I’ll leave most of my clothes at home and come with empty trunks. You can get anything you want here, and cheaper than at home. They will make up a coat or suit in a day or two, and it is done well. It was the same in Japan.
This afternoon we have been out in sedan chairs, and had the most beautiful views imaginable. The city is built right up the mountain, and there are only two level streets, that are the business part of the town. The mountain is terraced, and the public gardens, and the fine gardens of the private residences, climb all the way up the mountain. The roads zigzag and crisscross, and run straight along the mountainside, so you can go in any direction. They are smooth and hard, and an easy grade where they go up or down. The views are perfectly beautiful, and the damp climate keeps everything green. We could see all of the harbor, with all sorts of ships, and the mountains on all sides.
We went into the cemeteries coming back, and it was not so uncheerful as you might think. They were like parks, and the flowers reminded me of Los Angeles. The poinsettia and Hibiscus were gorgeous. The Parsees had their dead in cement or stone coffins above ground.
We saw a football game in progress, and it looked very quiet and gentlemanly. As long as we could see it, there was no piling up and waving of legs in the air.
We came back through the Chinese part of town where things looked very much like the old San Francisco China town, excepting for the rickshaws and chairs, and absence of horses and wagons.
Thursday, December 3, 1908
It was rainy this morning, so we didn’t go on any excursion, but chased around to the stores, packed our trunks, and fixed up things generally. We need a half-day occasionally to get things straightened out. After lunch, we took sedan chairs, and went to the cable road and took the car up the mountain. It is a longer distance than the one on below and somehow did not seem so secure. Perhaps it was because the seats are straight, like an ordinary car, instead of being made to fit the slope like those on Mt. Lowe. We had a fine view of the city and harbor, and when we got to the top of the mountain we could see over on the other side of the island. The ocean did not look very attractive, but we are going out on a little trip tomorrow. Mr. Holmes says we will have to make strenuous efforts if we succeed in being seasick going to Canton.
It was pleasant when we left the hotel, but began to rain before we got back. It is very damp here, and the vegetation luxurious. The flowers are like those in Southern California. There are ferns everywhere, and poinsettia grows out of doors like any ordinary flower.
Friday, December 4, 1908
They routed us out this morning at 6:30, so as to get out baggage out by 7. It was too early for breakfast, and we had a cup of tea, and toast, in our rooms. We had rickshaws down to our steamer, the “Beungshan”, and got there nearly half an hour before starting time. We didn’t mind for there were so many interesting things to see that we didn’t know.
Picture “Canal, Canton, China. View from my window”
We were hungry until called to breakfast at 9 o’clock. The boats on the Bay have the big square sails on the bamboo frames, and most of them have a lot of patches. Some are full of holes, and we wondered how they held enough wind to make the boat go. We started at 8 and were not out of sight of land at any time, for there are islands all through the China Sea. They looked barren and did not seem to be cultivated. They may have been government property, for there were cannon on some of them.
As we came up the river the land on both sides was flat and nearly all was in rice or where rice had been. There were all sorts of queer boats, in odd shapes and painted in gay colors. I have invested in some pictures so won’t attempt to describe them. Some tall five-story buildings were pointed out to us as pawnshops. The people pawn anything they have, and the practice is so popular that they have to build these big storehouses. There were nine-story pagodas that showed up conspicuously on the landscape, and several smaller ones. Near Canton the river was full of sampans, and as we came up to the wharf they surrounded the boat, and almost climbed over each other, the occupant were so anxious to get the baggage and freight to carry. It was perfect bedlam on the wharf, but our guide from Cooks met us and piloted us safely to the hotel, the Victoria. The guide is a fine looking, businesslike Chinaman, and speaks good English. He has never been away from Canton, was educated in the high school here, and speaks several languages. We got in at 5 P.M., and as soon as we reached the hotel, they served tea and cakes, as we don’t have dinner until 7:30, and we are very glad of this snack.
This hotel is on the island given over to the Europeans, and the streets here are wide and clean. It faces a canal, with the houseboats two and three deep along the farther side. Families live there on the boats with all their worldly goods. Sometimes there is a chicken yard on the back end, consisting of a big basket with a dozen or so of chickens chirping away cheerfully.
We walked across the bridge into the Chinese city, and went to silk stores, and ivory and other stores, until I felt that I’d have the only thing that restrained me was the lack of room in my trunks. The streets are only four or five feet wide, so we had to walk single file, and they are paved with flat stones. The dirt, and the smells and the sights, made us anxious to get back and patronize the bathtub.
The bathtub is a large edition of our yellow mixing bowls, about 3 or 4 feet across the top and 2 feet deep. There is a hole in the bottom to let the water out, but it has to be filled by hand – that is, water brought in buckets. I tackled it tonight but think a sponge bath will do me the rest of my stay here. Somehow, I felt as if something might dip in with a spoon and stir me into the water.
Saturday, December 5, 1908
Well, we have had a day of it. We started out in sedan chairs at nine o‘clock, and have just got back – 4:20 P.M., and have seen so many things that my head swims when I think of it. We have been in and out of these narrow dirty streets, I should think, at least 20 miles. The chairs are easier than the ones in Japan, but the three carriers keep up a sort of half grunt, half howl, until you feel that they are half killed. The guide says that it doesn’t mean any thing, and looked disgusted when we wanted to walk to rest them. I think we dropped several degrees in his estimation.
Picture “Canton, China”
There was everything imaginable for sale on the streets, that is, in the shops that are all open to the street, all sorts of dry goods, feather fans, toys, jade jewelry, fish (both alive and dead). Dried meats of all kinds, even rats (live rats too), roast pigs, ducks and chickens, lacquer ware, sandal wood were, and a variety of things too numerous to mention. We were herded into places where they were weaving silk (two men make but two or three yards a day), to places where jade and ivory stores, and to where they have beautiful second hand embroideries that they get from the pawnshops. The rich people pawn then when they get hard up. The poor people pawn their winter clothes in summer, and their summer clothes in winter, not a bad scheme, either.
Of course we took in a few temples. The first was the temple of the God of Medicine. This has carvings on the walls of the court that are cut in the brick wall. The bricks are fine and hard. There are well carved granite columns, too. The altar is carved and gilded wood, and the big God is also gilded. People pray to this God when they are sick, and the priest gives them medicine.
Another temple has 60 idols, or gods, sitting around the sides of a room, each numbered, and the stunt is to pray to the one whose number corresponds with your age. It is a “dead give away” of course. When any one is over sixty, they start in again at number one.
The next temple was that of the 500 disciples of Buddha, and they were rather pleasant looking lot of much bewhiskered gentlemen.
The temple of the five genii, or protecting spirits of Canton, had five benign, life-sized, wooden gentlemen, with long whiskers, seated behind the altar. The story is that they rode into the city on rams, and promised to stay here, and see to it that there should always be plenty of rice, and general prosperity.
Another temple, I’ve forgotten which, had two fierce, giant war gods on each side of the entrance, and inside a white marble pagoda about 16 feet high, seven stories, with seven gods at the seven windows of each story. It was impressive, but I can’t remember what it meant.
We had lunch at a teahouse that was once the home of some grandee, but there was nothing commendable about it but the fine view of the city from the balcony. It was across the city from the hotel, and near the great wall of the city. After lunch we went up the hill and up on the wall. On the other side is the cemetery. But it was unlike anything I ever saw. The lots seemed to be leveled off on the hillside in horseshoe shape, and the high side cemented up. We could not see very well, but the guide said the dead were buried under ground. There were neither monuments nor flowers, but I suppose there was food there, which perhaps is just as sensible.
From this cheerful scene we went to another temple, the Court of the City of the Dead. Here the place is divided into rooms, and the dead, in wonderful lacquered coffins, some coating $2000, are kept until the priest finds a “lucky” place to bury them. Only the rich can afford this luxury, for they have to pay a good round price for the room they occupy. One that has waited 15 years pays $40 a month rent.
These priests are not without guile. The coffins are hermetically sealed.
After that we went to a Catholic Cathedral that might have been in New York or San Francisco, and then to a Club House where there was a banquet room, a platform for the singsong girls, and a nice garden.
Another place that I almost forgot to mention was the city prison. All there was to it for us was to look through a latticed window and see half a dozen prisoners with chains on their legs. As soon as they see us they came and poked their hands through the lattice, begging for money.
The children here are awful beggars, and we are followed by troops of them wherever we go.
We visited the temple of Confucius, where the old gentleman himself presides. He sat up on a pedestal, or throne, and had fierce mustaches sprouting out of the corners of his mouth. He looked the picture of wisdom, of course.
Monday, December 7, 1908
I am being as lazy as possible today for we have a lot of things planned for tomorrow. Have taken a walk around this island about a mile, I should think, and took some snap shots of the canal and river. There were seats under the trees, so we, Mrs. Foster and I, sat down and rested quite often, and spent two hours on our tour. Some of the good people went to church, and two went shopping. I was too tired for either dissipation. Am going to read and write the rest of the day.
Tuesday, December 8, 1908
We were asked to be ready for the morning’s tour at 8:20, but, of course, some were late, and we did not get off until nearly nine. We rode along the canal for a little way, and enjoyed the usual sights, women rowing boat loads of vegetables or other freight, with their youngest offspring on their backs and families performing all their household duties in the houseboats, throwing refuse into the canal, and dipping water from the same source for family use. Their laundry work is quite simple, dropping the garment overboard and sousing it out. The children and chickens are tied with strings so they can be fished out if they fell overboard.
I selected chair carriers that had blouses on so my eye would not be offended by the sight of the corns on the back of their necks and shoulders, but as they got warmed up, they shed their garments, and the one nearest me—there are two in front and one behind – had not only the usual collection of corns, but 15 big scars on one arm, and his back, and the other are was one big scar. It was real appetizing. We trotted along through the streets, reeking with dirt and smells, to the execution ground which seems to be their special pride. It was simply a vacant space, where the criminal is made to kneel down while his head is chopped off. The executioner showed us his sword, about two feet long and three inches wide, and swung it around, explaining quite gleefully how he did the work with one blow.
Then we went on through some more dirty streets and under a wall with a cannon mounted on top, and through some cleaner streets, with blacksmith and carpenter shops, and basket and woodwork, and dry goods stores, to the Emperor’s temple. He never visits it, but it had a carved altar with procession spears and things on both sides, and a red and gold lacquered throne at the back. The carving and ornaments are mostly dragons.
Next was the Chamber of Horrors, which represents their idea of hell. The places were partitioned off, with a picket fence in front, and each one showed a different style of punishment. In the first the sinners were being changed into animals, and their faces could be seen below the animals. In the next they were being boiled in oil and turned over with a pitchfork. Another was where they were being sawed in two, and various other pleasant performances were shown.
Then we passed through some comparatively clean streets where there were drug stores, shoe stores, books, chinaware, photo galleries, and candy and canned goods. Perhaps the next turn would bring us into all sorts of filth. The windings and turns of the streets are a
Be wildering, and I don’t see how they ever find their way around.
We were all anxious to see the water clock, and cheerfully climbed along flights of stone steps to reach it. It was four bit buckets, one placed above the other, and the water dripping, drop by drop, from one to the other. In the last was a float, with a rod through the bucket over, and the hour and quarter hours marked off, so they showed as the water in the bucket rose, and pushed up the rod. At the end of 12 hours the water in the top bucket is renewed, and so it goes on, as it has for several hundred years. We were not greatly impressed, but we can say we saw it.
The last of the morning’s task was a really fine temple all decorated with porcelain figures, great dragons, and dolphins and lions and mandarins innumerable, besides birds and other creatures. It is the temple of the house of Chan, and there are memorial tablets on the walls that must run up into the thousands. They are about a foot long and three inches wide, and the name is on in Chinese. Those that they know are dead are of a yellowish color, but the ones that are doubtful are red.
Picture: At the Chinese Nursery, Canton
Picture: Our Party on Sampan, Canton. Cum John, our guide, at right.
After lunch, we had a ride in a sampan, up the river, to a Chinese nursery. There was nothing much to it but the beautiful camellias. Some shrubs were trained in the shape of lions, dolphins and people, and big eyes put in, and heads and hands on the bodies, so they looked like monsters. I snapped them with my Kodak, so may have some pictures. We left Canton on a Chinese steamer at 5 pm. It was pretty fierce.
Wednesday, December 9, 1908
Arrived at Macao early this morning and got up to this hotel, the Macao, about 8:30. It was raining and kept it up all day. We had breakfast and then went in rickshaws to an opium factory, a tobacco factory, the Fisherman’s Temple, and to an old Cathedral where only the front is standing. Here Mrs. Dempster, Miss Allen and I “drew the line” and refused to go on to the Chinese garden in the rain. We came back to the hotel and, of course, the rest are bragging about the beautiful house and garden they saw.
The opium factory had shut down on account of the countermanding of a big order they had from San Francisco, so we didn’t see much. At the tobacco factory they showed us how each leaf is spread with peanut oil, then a lot of them put together in a press. Then, the bunches are taken out and shaved up into smoking tobacco. The guide had us smell of it to see how good it was. In one room women and children were stripping the leaves off the main ribs of the leaf. Some of the women had babies on their backs, and there were little ones toddling around in that reeking atmosphere. They looked healthy and happy in spite of it.
The Fisherman’s Temple is down near the wharfs and against a rocky mountainside. A sailing vessel with the big eye is carved on a big rock and painted in vivid red, blue and yellow. In the temple proper is an image of Buddha with several disciples, a carved and painted war junk, and various other highly ornate figures.
Really the whole show isn’t worth mentioning and it made me tired to be dragged around in the rain to see things we wouldn’t cross the street to see at home. We stayed in all the afternoon, and I was glad to get out of seeing things. I didn’t even look out the window.
Thursday, December 10, 1908
It rained this morning so we did not get out. I was glad of it. At two PM we left Macao and arrived in Hong Kong at six. It rained all the way and was pretty rough, but I didn’t mind for I just curled up on a lounge and slept most of the way. Mrs. Bates threw a coat over me, or I might have taken cold. It is raining here, but it seems mighty good to be back again.
Friday, December 11, 1908
Spent the morning packing as things had to be changed about in my trucks to suit the Java climate. I will only take my steamer trunk with me. This afternoon Mrs. Bates and I wandered up and down the Chinese streets looking for little Chine toys, and when we had been at it two hours, and had given up the idea altogether, we ran across them a block and a half from the hotel.
We had nothing on the program today or tomorrow morning, but are going out on a launch after lunch. Saturday we will start for Java. There is some rough weather down that way now, but it will be over by then I hope.
Our program for December 25th is to take the train from Garoet, Java, at 6:40, and at 7:30 change to another road and at 12:40 change again, have lunch on the train, and at 4:20 get off at Djokdjakarta, and after a drive about the town, stay at the hotel over night and leave at 6 AM.
It sounds cheerful doesn’t it? We have decided not to have any Christmas, but play it is some other day. I shall have my fruitcake anyhow, and the box of glace fruit Ella gave me.
Saturday, December 12, 1908
Spent yesterday mending clothes and getting things separated for repacking. After lunch some of us, who were not having clothes made, went out for a launch ride. We went over to a Chinese village on another island, and saw more dirt and rice and vegetable fields. There were sweet potato fields that they told us would ripen in the Spring. There is no frost here so they grow right along all Winter. I ought not to have gone for it took me until 12 o’clock to get my packing done.
This morning they came for the trunks at 8 o’clock, so after breakfast I wrote a note to Henry, and then proceeded to spend the $20 I had left of Hong Kong money. It was only $8.40 in our money but it bought a spoon, a silver bracelet, some lace, and several other things.
At 11 AM we came out to the ship, the “Devenha”, in a launch. There are not many passengers, so we have separate cabins. They are half as large again as those on the Korea, and everything clean and convenient. The bathroom is near, so I’ll have a salt bath every morning. The sea is smooth and the Captain says it is likely to be this way all the way to Singapore. I did not sleep well last night, so slept most of the afternoon. I ate salad with onion in it for dinner last night, and my stomach protested all night.
Sunday, December 13, 1908
This has been a quiet day and too sultry for any unnecessary exertion. The morning excitement was the inspection of the crew. They wear their native costumes of white, and bright colored turbans. Different shades of magenta seemed to be most popular. One lot had a straw crown with the turban wound around it. Their white jackets were fastened with silver buttons, with more or less of silver chain connecting them. Some had silver chains around their necks.
In the evening we saw a light a long way ahead of us, and of course there was much discussion as to whether it was a lighthouse or another vessel. It proved to be a vessel going the same way that we are, but much slower, so we passed it. The ships signaled each other, but didn’t tell us what they were talking about.
Monday, December 14, 1908
The first thing we saw this morning were mountains in the West that we found to be the coast of Annam. Land looks good, if it is only two days since we left it. This is a very comfortable ship, and the service so much better than on that awful “China.”
They had a fire drill this morning, and the sailors did good quick work. They are barefoot, most of them. The officers are all Englishmen and very gentlemanly. Yesterday morning they had the Episcopal service in the cabin, the Captain read it. About half the passengers are English and just are pleasant and nice as can be. This evening I have distinguished myself playing cribbage, and no one will believe that I am such a poor player that no one ever asks me to play at home. “Verily, a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.” The run of luck we had was funny enough, especially when we were playing against experts. I think I’d better not try it again.
About 9 PM, It began to rain in sheets, just like it does in the East. It was so thick that they kept the whistleblowing for two hours, not all at one stretch, just as if there was a heavy fog. There was lightning off on the horizon, but the rain made such a clatter that if there was thunder we didn’t hear it.
Tuesday, December 15, 1908
I spent all the morning writing letters, and talking with a Mr. Allen, who is from Jersey City and knows the Holts. I’d bring him along and introduce him to some of the eligible maids in the family and neighborhood.
It had been very sultry and we put in our time doing nothing very industriously.
In the afternoon, I taught Miss Allen, the maiden lady who looks like Mary Mooren, to play 500, and in the evening she and I bent her brother-in-law, Mr. Dempster, and Mr. Jersey City Allen, three games. She plays bridge, so was an apt pupil.
Wednesday, December 16, 1908
There were islands in sight all the morning and about noon we saw the main land of the Straits Settlement, which is an English colony. We got into the harbor of Singapore by 3:30 PM, but did not land until nearly 5. It is a beautiful harbor, with islands covered with tropical trees, and there were all sorts of boats on the water. The nearly naked boys came out in canoe and invited us to throw them dollars to dive for.
We came to the Hotel de Europe, instead of Raffles, as we were scheduled for. I don’t know why the change was made. They say one hotel is as good as the other.
Mrs. Foster and I have a room together, but the room is large, so we don’t mind. The dining room is open on both sides, with arcades and arches along the open sides, and about a hundred fans going all the time; so they keep it cool enough to make eating possible. It is very sultry, which is not strange since we are only 60 miles from the equator.
Mrs. Foster and I walked two blocks up the street at 5 PM and come to a large Episcopal Cathedral. We heard music and went in and found the choir practicing, so we sat down and listened awhile. It seemed good to hear English voices.
Thursday, December 17 , 1908
We rode out to the Royal Botanical Gardens this morning. The carriage we rode in was like a stunted hack, and the man perched on a little seat in front and drove the one little pinto pony with skill and dignity. The vehicle is called a gharrie. There are autos here and fine horses and carts, or carriages, but they are not for the Cooks tourists. There are rickshaws, too, but they are wide and carry two. The rickshaw men wear very little clothing, and their shoulders and legs look like bronze.
Our hotel faces a large grass covered recreation ground and it was crowded last evening with tennis players, and men playing other games, but there were no women out. The only ones we saw were in carriages.
The gardens are very fine with beautiful orchids and all sorts of tropical plants. There were several palms I had never seen, which is not strange, as there are 2000 varieties of palms, Mr. Homes says. It has been too warm this afternoon for any exertion except what was necessary for changing some of my things from one trunk to the other. This trunk packing is driving me to nervous prostration. First it is get out warm clothes, and then cool ones, and now they tell us we will need both in Java, as we go to a volcano up in the mountains where it will be cold.
I was awake at 4 AM and went out on the balcony and saw the Southern Cross. It is five stars arranged like this The crosses are bright, but the dot is a very dim star. We have heard so much about the beautiful Southern Cross, but it is not so bright as Orion, or some other of our constellations.
Friday, December 18 , 1908
11 AM I have just been out in a gharrie and bought a white cotton umbrella with a green lining. The sun was shining and I was so hot that I ordered a glass of ginger ale and then stepped out on the balcony to take a snap shot of the view. As I was turning the camera about to see just what view I wanted, it began to grow dark and in about half a minute the rain was coming down in a perfect deluge. It was comical to watch them scamper for shelter. The rest of the party, excepting Mrs. Foster, has gone by train about 20 miles to Johor. There did not seem to be much but gardens to see, so I said I’d stay in out of the sun. If it is raining like this in Johor, I am glad I am here.
Saturday, December 19, 1908
We came out to the S. S. Mossel at 3:20 yesterday, expecting it to sail at 5 but there were delays and we did not get off until nearly 9. It is a small boat with only accommodations for 30 first class passengers. It is a Dutch vessel and everything is clean, and the food plentiful and well cooked. Some of the men are congratulating themselves on this last fact, as they say they could not get enough to eat at the hotel in Singapore. The meals are all late, Breakfast at 9AM and dinner at 8PM. In the morning you can have coffee or tea and toast in bed, but I prefer to wait for breakfast. All of the meals are late on steamers or at hotels, that is, later than we have them. On the Korea, dinner was 7:30, but we could always have tea and cake from 4 to 5.
On the breakfast table this morning were five kinds of bread, all cold and four cold meats. They brought ham and eggs hot, and coffee.
I have a stateroom to myself, and am as comfortable as I can be, considering the sultriness of the weather. We crossed the equator about 8 o’clock this morning, and didn’t feel any jolt. This is one of the many jokes cracked at the expense of the equator. Another was that they put the boat on rollers to run over it. Any old chestnut goes on a sea voyage. The Sea is like glass, and the only motion we feel is the vibration from the engines. There are only five passengers beside our party, so we feel as if we were on our private yacht… Our latest acquisitions to our party are not altogether agreeable. Mrs. Layton is a pleasant enough woman, and wears the prettiest kind of clothes; But Mr. L. is too noisy and familiar.
Sunday, December 20, 1908
Five days more to Christmas. I’ll be glad when it is passed. The box of glace fruit that I’ve saved and packed around all this time got full of little red ants, on the last steamer, and I gave it to the cabin boy. All I have left now is the slice of fruitcake. I suppose there will be cockroaches in it when I open it next time.
We are at anchor today off the island of Billington, and they are unloading a lot of freight. We wont get away until tomorrow morning. It is red hot here, and we are melting on deck. Some of the party had the courage to go ashore in a launch that came out, but most of us stayed aboard the ship. W hen they come back they will have wonderful tales to unfold. An English man on board says there is nothing to see but a Chinese village, and goodness knows we’ve seen enough of them.
Later: The launch party came back, sunburnt, but declaring they had a lovely time. I notice that most of them are curled up in their chairs fast asleep now. One of them told me privately that there was nothing to see that we had not already seen in Singapore and China, so I am gladder than ever that I did not go.
I have slept some this afternoon in spite of the racket, and as ready to go to bed now. We had a heavy shower about nine o’clock that cooled the air some.
Monday, December 21, 1908
This is your shortest day, and I can’t but think how delightfully cold it may be. Tomorrow it will be 12 weeks since we left San Francisco. It seems 12 months at least. More than half the time to Cairo is gone, but the hardest part of the trip is still before us. Fortunately, it will be nearly over by the time you get this. We had a regular sewing bee on deck this morning. We were all mending shirt waists. They beat our clothes all to pieces in the washing, so we have to keep mending to have anything to put on. The sea is perfectly calm, and the motion of the boat gives us a breeze, so we have had quite a comfortable time.
We played 500 awhile this afternoon, and I had one good hand during the whole time. The bridge players were settling up their accounts this evening. Mrs. Bates had lost about $2 and Mrs. Layton 5 cents. They think cards without stakes very tame.
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At 11:30 we took the train for Buitenzorg, getting there at 2 PM. Had lunch at the hotel and then drove to the Botanical Gardens, said to be the finest in the world. They have 2400 varieties of trees and plants. There are grand big palms, and all up the trunks where the leaves have been taken off, ferns and orchids have taken root. Every thing grows so luxuriantly, and things are so clean and green. This is the rainy season and we had a taste of a tropical rain. It came down in sheets, but we were under shelter, so kept dry.
At 3:35 PM we took the train for Saekoboemi and arrived at 6. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains that were woods above where they were cultivated. The ground was rolling or hilly all the way, and terraced and planted in rice. There is rice everywhere and it looks as if they raise more than Japan. I wish you could see these terraces, divided into little patches, and all under water, and the nearly naked natives planting the rice.
There were several tea plantations, and fields of tapioca, and corn, and immense bamboo and palm trees, and bamboo houses with thatched roofs. We reached Saekoboemi at 6 PM, and drove from the station in funny carriages with ponies that they keep on a jump all the time.
Wednesday, December 23, 1908
We didn’t see much of the place for we left at 8 AM and rode until 2 PM, when we reached Garoet. We had a car that seated 14 people, single seats on each side of the car, 8 on one, and 6 on the other. The little dressing room occupied the space of the seats. The seats were upholstered in leather, and had high backs. The windows had screens on the inside and blinds outside, besides the glass pane.
Our lunch was served onboard, but the waiters got sadly muddled. They brought me tea in a quart beer mug, and no one got any salad. Mrs. Foster drew four plates, two knives, three forks, one spoon, and a glass of water. I got a small platter of steak, some potatoes and beans, and a fork, but no plate, knife or spoon. We divided up and managed to survive until we got to the hotel. They gave us tea and crackers when we arrived and they tasted pretty good. We drink as little water as possible, so are always ready for our afternoon tea.
Our trip was through the usual rice fields or terraced hills, tapioca, bananas, cocoanuts, palms, and all sorts of tropical luxuriance. There were trees that looked like our cottonwood, sycamore, acacia, and others, but, of course, they have different names here. There was one long tunnel. The roadbed by a deep ravine with the largest river in Java at the bottom, but the ferns and palms were so thick we could see no water. The mountains were all around us, and we could see four that are active volcanoes. That is, they smoke and steam occasionally. After we had our tea, we had a ride of five or six miles out to Lake Begandit. We had small carriages with two ponies that the driver kept on a jump the whole way. They crack their whips like mad, but seldom touch the horses. It was a good road, though narrow, with trees on both sides most of the way.
At the Lake there is a native village, and they all turned out to greet us, and beg, and followed us to the boat landing. Six boys and girls came out with their bamboo musical instruments, and followed us out on the lake, and kept up their monotonous aire all the time. They are curious instruments, and you wonder how they get any notes out of them at all. Our boats were little pavilions about 7 by 9, resting on two or three dugout canoes about twenty feet long. On the ends of each one sat a native with a short paddle, and we got over the water in great style. It was a delightful ride. Cool and novel.
Thursday, December 24, 1908
The day before Christmas, and up at 4 am, a cup of coffee in our rooms, and then the start for the volcano crater of Papanajan. We rode in two seated carts with three ponies. It was dark and a drizzling rain fell until we got nearly to Tjisoeroepan, 12 miles, (You can practice pronouncing these names, oe is oo), where we had breakfast. Naturally we expect good Java coffee here. What we do get is coffee extract, about a tablespoonful in the bottom of a cup filled up with hot milk. Mr. Markly said he could get better Java coffee in Cincinnati, and Mr. Bates agreed with him and said the coffee would probably come from Brazil.
After breakfast some took ponies, and the rest of us sedan chairs, and started on the seven-mile ride up the mountain. The carts of our early morning rides had shafts, and one horse was between them, with the others on each side. All the way up the mountain, until the last mile, it was through coffee, bananas, tea, and tapioca plantations, or the native jungle of ferns, palms, bamboo, and beautiful shrubs and wild flowers. I had five collies for my chair, and as they were husky fellows I let them carry me most of the way, only walking a few of the steep places. There was a good trail, and most of it on an easy grade. The crater is on the side of the mountain and is a great deposit of sulphur, with holes here and there where the steam is puffing out and making considerable commotion over it. It was interesting, but not to be compared with Yellowstone. They were carrying the sulphur away in baskets for the market. One place the force of the steam threw the rocks back that we tossed in. We came back to the Ville Pauline where we had eaten breakfast, and had lunch, and then drove back to Garoet. Got there at 4 pm and they brought in our tea right away. We are getting to be regular tea topers. It rained all the way back. This is the rainy season. The houses of the natives are made of bamboo mats with thatched roofs. Generally they are the ordinary pitch, but the ones we saw on this trip were pointed, with projecting ends, like old Dutch houses.
There were some grand big canarium trees in a little park, and an avenue of the royal Poinciana with the tops full of red blossoms. This is certainly a beautiful country, and we had a cool trip to the mountain. We have become so used to naked children that we do not notice them unless to envy them. Even a woman bathing in a stream near the road did not disturb us any more than it did her. She did not even turn her head to see us drive by.
Friday, December 25, 1908
We all wished one another a Merry Christmas and then agree to think of it no more. We were routed out at 5 am, and left on the 6:30 train. The first part of the trip was along the mountainsides and we had fine views down into the valley. Near us were the trees and flowers and coolness. Down in the valley and the lower mountainsides were the rice fields. They are at every stage of growth from the transplanting to the harvesting. The fields are all under water and there are irrigation ditches along the mountainsides.
We ran around the mountain down into the valley where we had seen the rice fields, and then up hill again, and at 4:30 reached Djokja. I’m getting a little ahead of my story for we are so warm and had such an uncomfortable afternoon that I want to forget it. But I must tell about the lunch. It came from a hotel along the road and was brought into out car and served on the tables that are in each section. They are the kind that are hung on hinges and drop down. They had things on soup plates, and my portion was a generous piece of roast beef and some sprouts on one plate, a big piece of steak and peas, on another, boiled potatoes on one, and fried on another, and a mixed salad on another. Every portion was enough for two people, so there is no danger of starving. The desert was three bananas and another fruit that I didn’t like. There was no drink, so I got a bottle of apollinarus.
It was raining when we got here, but we went for a drive just the same. The streets are wide and there are fine trees, but the houses are all low, and very much run to porches. We passed the Sultan’s house, but did not see him or any of his twenty wives. His name, which I did not try to remember, means “One who holds the universe in his lap”. A son, who is to be married next month, has a name that means “The center of the universe”. We will have to brush up on names if we want to keep up with the Javanese. We rode to the racetrack, and to a fine arts industrial school where we saw the work of the natives. There were some fans and other things made of buffalo hide that was beautiful work, but their prices were very high as they always are at those places.
We were up at 5 a.m. and took the 6 o’clock train out about 18 miles, and then took carriages, with four ponies, a driver, and a whip cracker, and went off on a jump to the ruins of a Buddhist temple. It was a fine ride, for it was cool and the country was lovely, as it all is here. There were rice, tapioca, corn, cane, bamboo, and indigo fields, and all the different kinds of trees, and everything such a fresh bright green.
We were told that we would be taken to the foot of the temple walls, and have no walking except about the temple. At about half past nine we came to a river where the bridge was washed away five years ago. We were ferried across on a bamboo raft resting on three canoes, and invited to walk just a little way. There were trees on both sides, so we started off blithely enough. Well, we walked and walked, and some places there were no trees and it was so hot and we were so tired. At the end of a mile and a half we reached the hill on which the temple stands. I dropped down on a stone and declared that I could go no farther, but was persuaded to make one more effort. I got to the temple wall, but things began to swim and I felt sick at my stomach, so I stopped under a little bamboo shed, and the rest went on. I was awfully disappointed, for it is a fine temple, with carvings, and terraces, and bell towers and Buddhas galore, and I had crawled out at 5 o’clock to get to see them. Well, so much for being a fool and coming with Cooks. There is no reason why I shouldn’t travel alone, and I have a mind to leave the party and paddle my own canoe. I would if I could think up a good excuse so as to get my money back. Mr. Holmes never stopped to see why I didn’t go, nor has he asked me anything about it. This is a good way to learn something of human nature.
We had a lunch at a little hotel near the temple, at 11 o’clock, the thermometer was 90, and started back in a carriage to the ferry at 11:30, and got back to the hotel about 2:30.
On the way out we saw the mountains very plainly, and could see the smoke rising from one of the volcanoes. There were several large tobacco warehouses, and the guide says they raise a great deal of tobacco here. They must need it, for I have seen little tots, both boys and girls, not more than six years old, smoking. According to the guide, the country is as down trodden as that of the Turks. The Dutch own the island, and the natives are heavily taxed.
They do not use all the rice straw here as they do in Japan, for there are so many grasses that they don’t need it. They use banana leaves for wrapping up thing, and for thatching their cottages they use the bamboo.
There are lots of water buffalos here, and they seem to enjoy life wallowing in the mud and water with the children. They use them for plowing the muddy rice fields, but I guess it is really fun for them. They are in their native element anyhow.
Sunday, December 27, 1908
We left the hotel at Djokja at 8:30 and drove about town for an hour. We went to the market which covers about two blocks one way, and a block the other. They have everything to sell, clothing, fruit, meat, vegetables, notions, birds in cages, and everything you could imagine. We bought some fruit to have on the train. I got mango steens. They are the best things you ever tasted.
I have spent about 40 cents here. We have been on such a tearing gait that I haven’t had a chance to get even a spoon. No more Cooks for me, I never worked so hard in my life.
The trip today was about like the other days, rice fields, tobacco, naked children, etc. Nothing special happened, and we had a much more comfortable trip than we had expected for it was not unbearably warm. We are at the hotel, as per envelope. We could not get in at the other better hotels, as everything was full. A Cook’s trick I guess. It is raining and thundering, but not such lightning yet. The mosquitoes are pretty bad. All the beds have nets over them. There are lizards crawling all over the walls, and various bugs share our rooms with us. The rooms have stone floors and matting mats. Our beds have no covering, not even the upper sheet.
We passed tobacco warehouses today, of bamboo matting and thatched roofs. It would make a lively blasé if it should catch fire.
Monday, December 28, 1908
We didn’t get to see the town of Soerabais last night on account of the rain, so they called us at 5 am and brought coffee to our rooms. By six we were kiting through the town in carriages, and seeing the fine residences and grounds. The buildings are only one or two steps from the ground, which seems strange for so damp a climate. Nearly all have lovely wide porches and vines and trees. We got back to the hotel for breakfast, and at 8 all got aboard rowboats and were taken down the river and out into the harbor to our steamer, the Camphuija, -- Camporioe for short. As there is but one passenger beside ourselves, we feel quite “set up”. All through Java, we had a special car that was switched off at the stations until we were ready to go on. The sea has been smooth as glass, and everything seems to quiet and restful after our strenuous week.
I am afraid I will regain the ten pounds I have lost, for this Dutch cooking is mighty good. I would like to adopt the native dress while in this warm climate, but am afraid it would not be becoming to my style. It is a strip of fancy cotton goods called a sarong, (I am not sure of that spelling). It is about a yard wide and 1 and half yards long, and they wrap it around from the waist down, lapping in front, so that it is tight across the back. The slender ones don’t look so bad, but the fat ones! Oh, my! Sometimes they wear a thin dressing sack and sometimes not, and always the feet are bare.
I am wearing my high shoes, for I found that my ankles were swelling badly. Some of the others had the same trouble. They say it is the heat. It has not been so very warm today unless we sir about, and then we perspire copiously. It rains every day for this is the rainy season. The shower generally comes at 3 or 4 o’clock. But it was later this evening, and now at 8 p.m. it is coming down in torrents. There is no wind and we enjoy the coolness it brings.
Tuesday, December 29, 1908
A loafing day and a little mending, a little reading, a game or two of cribbage, so later on, and a nap or two. We had breakfast at 8:20, a raspberry ice at 11, lunch at 1, tea and cakes at 4, and dinner at 7. There has been a cool breeze and the water calm as a millpond. We cannot realize that we are on the South side of the equator.
Wednesday, December 30, 1908
More mending, some writing and reading. Quite rough about 10 a.m. but did not get sick, though some of the party took to their berths.
Thursday, December 31, 1908
I began to brag too soon, for before lunch I, too, was on my back. I spent the afternoon sleeping on a deck chair. Skipped dinner and slept until ten o’clock. Then I went down stairs, managed to get my clothes off and rolled into my berth and slept all night. This morning the sea is calmer and I ate a little breakfast and am keeping very quiet. Am not sleeping so know that I am not seasick, though my “innards” don’t feel quite right yet. The wind has kept the ship back so we will not get into Singapore until 5 or 6 o’clock, when we should have been in before this. It is 10 a.m. and they say we are crossing the equator and are where we should have been at midnight. It is too bad, for we needed today to get ready for the long trip through Burma and India. We expect to leave Singapore at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
Yesterday morning at 4 o’clock, I slipped up on deck and had another look at the Southern Cross. It is overrated, and I won’t put myself out again to see it. We have been passing islands all the morning, so it does not seem so lonesome. Have only seen one sail since we left Java.
Continued in Part 2