THE VENUS EXPEDITION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 10, 12 January 1875, Page 4

THE VENUS EXPEDITION.

AMEBICAN OBSERVERS JN JAPAN.

[From the New YorkffefaJd'] Nagasaki, Japan, Sept. 3. We left San Francisco July 28, on the Paoifio mail steamer Alaska, , and, after a moat delightful voyage of tweniyfthree, days, , saw land on the morning of August. 21. We arose early, and, with the rising of the sun, couldrdjistinguishi the .outline of the Japanese volcano Fusiama. In the course of an hour the complete outline of the laud, and ; the details of the surface became visible. . Eusianaa, the morning haze having disappeared, rose up to a great height, and a beautiful object it was. Ido not wonder that it has been made an object of worship and adoration by. the Japanese. The Cape King light was now passed, and we entered the Bay of Jeddo. In the excitement our breakfast was almost forgotten, arid we were all employed examining the land with our glasses. The wind, all at once, began to blow severely . and continued increasing, careening the - ship over on her- side, and, delaying her progress considerably. It waß the only severe wind we had experienced during bur voyage, and the captain pronounced it to be the remains of a typhoon. , It proved to be so, for Ngasaki suffered from a typhoon the. same date. ,

SCENES IN SHORE.

We now approached quite near to the laqd, = and discovered a beautiful little village nestled oa the sea shore, at the foot of a , precipitous hill. It -was.Ephrain, a Japanese fishing village, rather an odd name for a Japanese town. The ,Jandj now in eight was beautifully green and rich in foliage, and > cor hearts bounded with delight and; gratitude, because of reaching Wkrra-jirma once more. We now Hassed another lighthouse on the south. ■t is beautifully, situated on a high ■Bluff in the midst of greenwoods, and Hhe hill sides are terraced and rich in Mrops of rice. The square white buildBbg, r with its heavy tent-shaped roof, sSolow which on the beach is a fishing willage, in front of which were several Binks at anchor, formed a very picturesque view. Sgi As we passed, the Japanese flag was jnßoisted, and we returned the salute, m A large Dutch, frigate now passed us, Branding out to sea, and we "saluted by [Bpping our colors. Japanese junks became quite numerous; these BSaesela, though not having the graceful IHitline of a yacht, yet appeared to be Hfcod sea-boats. They carry a large square sail, often made of bamboo, have Btraight sides, and" are considerably higher at both ends than in the middle; they are of the natural color of the wood of which they are made; and paint is seldom wasted on them. The rowing boats are of very similar construction, though smaller, and are propelled by long sweeps which are permanently attached to the gunwales and used with a sculling motion. At the time we observed them, there was quite a see > on, and they were tossed about unmercifully, and often hidden from our sight by the waves, yet when they rose again, they always appeared right side up. At a distance they reminded one, in outline, of a gondola.

NEARING THE YOKOHAMA.

We were now hut a very few miles from the city of Yokohama, though an intervening point of land bid the city itself. On this point were situated, among the trees, several villas; they were the residences of foreign officials. The whole spot was beautifully green, the white tops of the houßes projecting above the tree tops, and all indicated that ministers and consuls are not a very unfortunate class of men. Rounding the point, Yokohama situated in a concavity of the land, appeared to our Bight, and from a distance it did not show as foreign an appearance as I expected. We slowly and carefully wended our way through a numerous shipping of all nationalities and finally attached to our buoy. Japanese cities have no, wharves or piers, and all ships anchor gooae distance from the shore. I understand that' the reason is because in a typhoon the sbipß would be veiy much /injured by striking the piers, whereas in the. bay, .there is more room and freedom for actioo. Our ship was imtoediaTelf surrounded by a fleet of " saupans," that is, small open boats, manned by natives, who, though dressed in a primeval oostume of a girdle and a straw: hat, yet did not feel the least embajrassed, which was more than I could safely Bay of some of our passengers.. These boats were rapidly propelled in the Btrong wind by two men; the sweeps,, which were quite long, they used with dexterity. This class, of people appeared to be very muscular and in fine physical condition, a<ad in this respect far surpass the Chinese whom I have seen, who were a debilitated and cadaverous looking set.

GETTING TO LAND.

One of the officers of our ship came and informed us that this was the only means of transportation to the shore; this quite aßtonished us and we rather hesitated, for the shore wsb some distance from, us, to entrust ourselves to such a boat in the heavy sea. The waves tOßsed them to and fro, the prow, then the stern, alternately rising in the air, and coming down and slapping the water, dashed the spray over the deck and orew. HUHTING UP LODGING. I was, of course, the unfortunate individual selected by our chief, Pro-

fessor Hall, t»> go ashore- and select rooms at the hotel for our party, for others were doing the same, and as the hotel wbb undoubtedly limited in extent, I hesitated no longer, but offering up a .silent . praye*. Jor '-. my safety, descended the gangway, and shouting " sinto," as the others did, : though not understanding what it meant, I soon found a boat near me, and watching a favorable opportunity, jumped on board end hastily seized a seat for support. The voyage was short and sweet, and my back was soaked with the spray. I was landed at a place which was evidently the usual landing place, for here the boats were numerous and Hoed the shore, packed in, like sardines in a box, heads and tails. As I got out of the boat one of the boatmen followed me, crying, " boo," and gesticulating violently. I asked him bis price, but the only response was the unintelligible C( boo." A gentleman standing near, who was evidently English, judging from his Lord Dundreary side wiskers, explained and told me that " boo " waß a Japanese coin of the value of 25 cents, so the matter was soon settled in a manner satisfactory to both parties. My means of transportion to the hotel was in a jiuriksha. I would describe it as a two wheeled "perambulator," very similar to those in which city babies are taken for an airing. It is drawn by a coolie dressed in " bear skin." In the night time they illuminate the darkness with a variegated paper lantern. The " men horses " keep up a steady dog trot for miles and are capable of great endurance. It is an easy and pleasant way of travelling, for the vebioles are provided with good springs, and the roads being bard earth, are trodden down and quite smooth, so there is very little jolting.

CITY EXFEKIKNCES AT EAKLY DAWN.

In the morning we went out to see the sights ;,it appeared as if I was in a dream, everything was so strange ; the manners, habits, and customs seem to be just the reverse of ours. This I particularly noticed in the mecchanical arts. For example, carpenters draw the plane towards them, instead of pushing it, as we ; the teeth of their saws are set contrary to ours. It was very new to me, as I strolled along the streets, to find myself mixed up with a crowd of blue-shrouded persons mounted on wooden shoes. The shoes are usually pieces the size of the bottom of the foot raised upon two blocks of wood ; they are fastened like sandals. They ara about four inches high, and are always removed at the threshold before entering a house. The houses are wooden, and the roof, which is tent-shaped and massive, is usually the most ornamented part of the building. The interior usually consists of one large room, which can be divided into several apartments by means of paper screens. Paper in Japan is used for making everything, lanterns, signs, fans, handkerchiefs, &c; they are very lasting, and the paper used is very tenacious and is torn with difficulty.

EVENING REFRESHMENTS.

In the evening we all chartered jiurikshas and went to a Japanese tea garden, where we had an elaborate supper. It consisted of giblets of all kinds, and "saki" (rice whiskey), boiling hot, was freely circulated. The taßte is very peculiar and quite unpleasant to our palate. We removed our shoes on entering, and reclined on our elbows in true Japanese style, becoming naturalised for the time being.

A Moving Mountain. — The Pall Mall Gazette observes that although landed property is as a rule a coveted possession, yet, like many other blessings, it has its drawbacks, and a singular example of the troubles to which landowners are occasionally liable, recently occurred in the North of England, where an estate has actually absconded, and has been discovered on the top ot another estate, where it has comfortably seated itself, and will have to be moved back again at no slight expenditure of money and trouble. The property that has thus played truant consists of a mountain belonging to Lord Faversham, which, having been honeycombed by mines and otherwise disrespectfully treated, has at last vented its annoyance and cut matters short by running, or rather slipping. Instead, however, of betaking itself to some secluded spot where its presence would be welcome, or where at least there is. accommodation for it, it has moat inconveniently deposited itself on a neighbouring property, where it has blocked up a turnpike-road for nearly half-a-mile and. excited considerable alarm in the bosoms of the ratepayers of the township, who urge that its owner is responsible for its vagaries, and bound, if not to take it home, at all events to find it another lodging. This inconsiderate act on the pan of Che mountain has already given rise to legal proceedings, and a lawsuit is coming on at the next York Assizes, wtea the mountain will be profitable to lawyers if to no one else. One of the moat painful features of the affair is that the great unwieldy thing arrives at its home "in bits." Those who are displeased at its presence have not even the poor cousolation of feeling that the worst is over, but are kept in a state of constant fidget by the apprehension that there is " more to come." The Mammoth, — A rumour from Russia to the effect that the mammoth 18 not an extinct animal has set naturalists on the alert ; and should it prove true that living mammoths are now to be seen in the deep gorges of the Lena, in far Eastern Siberia, we may anticipate that expeditions will be sent out to

capture a few of the huge animals for the zoological gardens of Europe. According to the rumour, the discovery was made by one of the convicts who had been transported to that distant region. That the mammoth once abounded in Siberia is well known ; for thousands of mammoths, , whose tusks supply much of the ivory used in the arts, are there embedded in the frozen ground.— Chambers' Journal