foliage of surrounding hills-like Chuzenji, several miles above Nikko-are extremely pretty.

The largest sheet of fresh water is Lake Biwa, a few miles east of Kyoto. It is fifty miles long, and twenty miles wide at its widest point. This lake is also subject. to floods that may raise the water nine or ten feet, submerging the fields and villages upon its shores. The outlet is so narrow that after a great flood the lake is two or three months in regaining its ordinary level.

4. The coast-line of Japan is indented by many bays that afford good harbors; though the western coast of the main island is somewhat deficient in havens adapted to large vessels. The main islands are separated from one another by narrow straits. The Inland Sea, separating Hondo from Shikoku and Kyushu, furnishes a convenient highway for commerce and is justly celebrated for its fine scenery. Indeed, mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas unite in making Japan a country of unusual beauty.

V. Climate.-1. Temperature.-The climate of Japan is mainly governed by the monsoons. The southwest monsoon, which blows from May to August and is accompanied by heavy rains, produces a hot and damp summer; and the northeast monsoon, which lasts from October to February, makes the winter cold; but the extremes are not so great as are experienced on the neighboring continent. In winter, changes of temperature are great and sudden, and severe night frosts are common after warm and sunny days. The climate varies very considerably in different parts of the country, owing to the extent of latitude covered and the influence of ocean currents. At Sapporo, in Yezo, the average temperature for the whole year is less than 46° F.; at Tokyo it is 57° F.; and at Nagasaki it is nearly 62° F. In general, it may be said that the average temperature of the coasts bordering on the Pacific Ocean is about the same as that of places in the same latitude on the eastern coast of America. The Kuroshio, or "Black Stream," exerts an influence much like that of the Gulf Stream. The western coast of Japan is considerably colder and has heavy falls of snow.

2. Americans living in Japan complain much of dampness, which makes both the heat and the cold more oppres

sive. Summer seems like a long succession of "dogdays," when books and clothing mildew, tools rust, and the least exertion induces perspiration. There is much rain from the first of April until the middle of September, though sometimes there will be a drought in July or August. June is almost sure to bring heavy rains. In most parts of Japan the pleasantest season is the autumn, the weather from the first of October to the middle of December being comparatively tree from rain and wind.

3. It is said that the proportion of ozone in the air is only about one-third of what is found in most western lands. It may be for this reason, in part, that most foreigners find the climate debilitating and that they are able to accomplish much less work, especially of a mental nature, than in their own land. The young missionary who commences to study the language is inclined to make light of the advice given by his elders who tell him to spend what seems only a small amount of time in study; but he soon finds that both prudence and inclination demand a shortening of the hours devoted to intellectual activity.

4. High winds are common in Japan. The most dreaded, especially by those who are on the sea, is that known as the typhoon. This is a circular storm that starts in the tropics and sweeps up along the coasts of China, the Philippines, and Japan. In the open sea the most powerful boats are hardly able to cope with its fury; while those lying in exposed harbors may be thrown far up on the shore. On land the wind overthrows houses, fences, and trees, while villages along the coast are likely to be inundated. The salt spray driven by the wind sometimes withers the foliage of trees growing a mile from the shore.

5. The dampness and changeableness of the climate cannot fail to affect the health of residents. Lung diseases, dysentery, and rheumatism abound. The climate seems favorable to children of European parentage, and it is not necessary, as in India, to send them away at an early age. Most adults from western lands find the climate trying to their health. For some unknown reason persons having a tendency to nervous diseases are almost sure to suffer in Japan, nervous prostration and mental disorders being of frequent occurrence among foreigners.

VI. Seismic Disturbances.-Japan is a land subject to terrible disasters of various kinds. The ruin wrought by floods, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons has already been described. Still more to be dreaded are the earthquakes, which without a moment's warning destroy whole cities and kill thousands of people. In 1855 Yedo was thus overthrown; and in October, 1891, the earthquake that destroyed Ogaki, Gifu, and many villages, killed or wounded 22,000 persons, besides leaving over a million homeless. It was probably a seismic movement occurring in mid-ocean that in June, 1896, set in motion a high wave which swept along the northern coast of Hondo, killing 30,000 people.

VII. Productions.-1. Minerals.-Japan has considerable mineral wealth. Gold and silver are found. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese and Dutch exported considerable quantities of these metals; and much was also sent out of the country when trade with western lands was renewed during the present century. Copper and antimony have now become important articles of export. Though there is some iron, a sufficient quantity for modern needs has not yet been found near supplies of fuel for smelting it. Upon the western coast of Hondo there is petroleum; but not much of it is refined, as the markets are so cheaply supplied with oil from America and Russia.

2. Agricultural Wealth. The true wealth of Japan consists chiefly in its agricultural resources, even though, owing to the mountainous nature of the country, only about one-eighth of the land is under cultivation. The soil is fertile, and in most places yields two crops a year,

The culture of rice has led to a careful system of irrigation. So soon as the drainage of a valley produces a little runlet of water, the farmers commence to build up walls of stone and earth so as to make small plats of level ground which can be flowed with water. One terrace follows another in a series of steps that lead down to the plain. If the land continues to have sufficient slope, the same gradation extends to the seashore, each terrace being a few inches lower than the preceding. Artificial canals bring water from the rivers or from reservoirs constructed among the hills. On some of the plains water is raised

from wells by means of well-sweeps almost exactly like those formerly used with the old oaken buckets of western lands.

Through the winter and spring the ground is usually occupied by wheat, barley, rape, beans, radishes, and other such crops. When these have ripened they are quickly harvested, the ground is ploughed, flowed over with water, and then harrowed so as to convert the soil into a mass of muddy ooze intended for rice culture. Companies of men and women wade through the fields, transplanting the young rice-plants which have been growing in little plots of ground where the grain was thickly sown several weeks before. The plains that were recently brown with ripening wheat now form a vast shallow lake divided by narrow embankments that separate one field from another, the tender plants of transplanted rice giving a slightly greenish tint to the landscape. During the summer and until the rice is nearly ripe the fields must be supplied with water.

In seasons of drought the peasants of different villages often have bitter quarrels and sometimes pitched battles in trying to decide who has the best right to draw supplies of water from rivers and reservoirs. Recourse is often had to prayers and incantations in order to produce rain. The stone images of Buddhist saints placed beside the road are sometimes tied up with straw-rope, the promise being made that they shall be released so soon as they send refreshing showers. Sometimes the farmers throw a stone image into a pond, where it must lie until ready to grant the request for rain, when it is dragged forth, replaced upon its pedestal, and worshipped as before.

Millet, tobacco, radishes, melons, sweet potatoes, turnips, onions, and other vegetables are extensively cultivated.

Silk and tea are the chief articles of export to western lands. The former is now produced in most sections of the country that are not too cold for the industry. The care of the worms, the reeling of the thread, and the weaving of fabrics furnish employment for many men, women, and children. The annual export of silk amounts to about $30,000,000. Forty million pounds of tea are exported, most of it being sent to America, as Japanese tea has never gained popularity in Europe.

The principal fruits of Japan are excellent oranges, apricots, loquats, persimmons, figs, and plums; passable grapes, poor peaches, and a coarse pear that is more esteemed by Japanese than by foreigners. Good apples are produced in the north.

3. Trees and Flowers.-The country is well supplied with timber. Pines, firs, and giant cryptomerias cover many of the mountains with their evergreen foliage, or shade the highways along which they have been planted. Oak and other hard-wood trees are valuable for building; the trees that furnish camphor and vegetable wax add much to the national wealth; while the delicate foliage of the maple, green in summer and brilliantly tinted in autumn, adds to the beauty of the landscape.

66

The wild camellia is a tall tree that in spring bears a profusion of large, single flowers. More highly appreciated by the Japanese are the cherry-trees that in spring beautify the mountains and parks with their pure blossoms. Among flowers, the cherry; among men, the warrior," is an old saying which shows what the Japanese most esteemed in blossoms and in men. Dwarf varieties of the cherry bear large flowers of various hues; but the fruit of these, as of the wild trees, is worthless. The Japanese preserve cherry blossoms in salt; and cherry-tea, made by placing one or two of these in a tea-cup of warm water, is sometimes presented to an honored guest. The plum blossom is much prized for its simple beauty, its perfume, and because it blooms so early while the branches are still covered with snow. The moats of old castles are often used for the cultivation of the lotus, whose roots and seeds are used for food, and whose pink or white blossoms delight the eye. The use of the flower in Buddhistic symbolism comes from the fact that it rises in such sweet purity from the foul mud that surrounds it. The chrysanthemum, wistaria, azalea, peony, and iris are some of the other plants whose blossoms are most prized.

In speaking of plants it will not do to omit the bamboo, though there may be some hesitation in knowing where it should. be classed. It might be reckoned among the edible vegetables, since the young shoots are an important article of food; it might be included among useful timbers, since it is so much used in building and for