THE JAPANESE.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 6, 10 February 1860, Page 4

THE JAPANESE .

The following, extracted from a small and very interesting work, called “A. Cruise in Japanese Waters/' by Captain S. Osborne, is some of the latest information relative to the Japanese 1 v ; The Butterfly Trick. —Our Japanese merlin, seated cross-legged, showed a piece of tissue paper, about six inches square, and, by delicate manipulation, he formed it into a-very good imitation of a butterfly, the wings being extended, and, at the most, each was one inch across.'• He placed two candles which were beside him in such a position as to allow him td Wave a fan rapidly, without affecting the flame; he then threw the paper butterfly up in the air, and gradually it seemed to acquire life from the motion of his fan—now wheeling and dipping towards it, now tripping along its edge, then hovering over it, as we may see a butterfly do over a flower on a fine summer’s day; then in wantonness wheeling away, and again returning to alight, the wings quivering with nervous restlessness. One would have sworn it was a live creature. Now it flew off to the light, and then the conjuror recalled it, and presently supplied a mate, in the shape of another butterfly, and together they.rose and played about the old man’s fan, varying their attentions between fleeting with one another and fluttering along the edge of the fan. A plant, with some flowers, stood in a pot near at hand; by gentle movements of the fan the pretty little creatures were led up to it, and then their delight: how they played about the leaves, sipped the flowers, kissed each othef, and whisked off again with all the airs and graces of real butterflies 1 The audience was in ecstacies, and young and old clapped their hands with delight.

The Bazaar at Nangasaki. —At one stall we found microscopes, telescopes, sundials, rules, scales, clocks, knives, spoons, glass, beads, trinkets, and mirrors—all of native make upon European models—and the prices were so ndiculously small, that even at the lowest estimate of the value of labour it was a puzzle how any .profit .eould be realised upon the articles. The microscopes were very neat and intended to be carried in the pocket; an imitation morocco case opened, and contained within it a small but npt powerful lens, and an upright pin to examine the object on, the workmanship being highly creditable. The telescopes were framed in stiff paper cases, sufficiently thick and ingeniously lackered to resemble leather over wood. The glasses, though small, were clear; the magnifying power was not great, but it was a marvel to see such an instrument sold for a shilling! We saw another superior description of Japanese telescope, six feet long when pulled out; it was quite as powerful and as genuine as those real “Dolland’s” which our native outfitters are in the habit of procuring for credulous parents, when equipping their sailor children at seaports. The price at Nangasaki is a dollar, or five shillings but at Portsmouth it is £5. The Japanese clocks exhibited for sale were beautiful specimens of mechanism, and proved what we had heard, that the people of this country are most cunning in the fashioning of metals. One was like those table clocks we see at home under square glass covers, all the works being open to scrutiny; it was six or eight inches high, and about as broad, and it would have been difficult to know it from one of Mr. Dent’s of a like description.. The Japanese day being divided into twelve hours of unequal duration—dependent, so far as we could understand, upon the amount of daylight or darkness in each day—the dial of their clocks was therefore different from ours; in some it was changed every month, and in others the motion of the hands was regulated by an ingenious adaptation of weights and increased or decreased length of pendulum. A good clock of this kind, which, from its elegance, and the beautiful workmanship and chasing of the exterior, would'have been an ornament anywhere, was priced only at about£B. - -

It appears, by the above, t that .Japan is likely to afford to other countries a supply of articles of fine mechanism, and fancy articles generally, which, at the original prices in Japan, would certainly afford , a good margin of profit for mercantile specq» lation. Ingenuity in the Uses of Paper. —lt was wonderful to see the thousand useful as well as ornamental purposes to which paper was applicable in the hands of these industrious and tasteful people: our papier mache manufacturers, as well as the continental ones, should go to Yedo, to learn what can be done with paper. We saw it made into materials so closely resembling Russia and Morocco leather and pigskin, that it was very difficult to detect the difference. With the aid of lacker, varnish, and skilful painting, paper made excellent trunks, tobacco bags, cigar cases, saddles, telescope cases; and we even saw and used excellent waterproof coats made of simple paper, which did keep out the rain, and were as supple as the best Macintosh. The Japanese use neither silk nor cotton handkerchiefs, towels, or dusters. Paper in their hands serves as an excellent substitute. It is soft, thin, tough, of a pale yellow colour, and very plentiful and very cheap. The inner walls of many a Japanese apartment are formed of paper, being nothing more than painted screens; their windows are covered with a fine translucent description of the same material: it enters largely into the manufacture of nearly everything m a Japanese household; and we saw what seemed balls of twine, which were nothing but long shreds of tough paper rolled up. If a shopkeeper' had a parcel to tie up, he would take, a strip of paper, roll it quickly between his hands, and use it for the purpose; and it was quite as strong as the ordinary string used at home. In short, without paper, all Japan would come to a deadlock; and* indeed, lest by the arbitrary'exercise of his authority,' a tyrannical husband should stop his wife’s paper, the sage Japanese mother- , in-law stipulates, in the marriage Settlement, that the bride is to have allowed to her a certain quantity of paper.