Jeddo, and to negotiate his treaty there, excited
the strongest objections on the part of these
high functionaries, and gave rise to interminable
negotiations. Among other excuses, it
was urged that "an intense cholera was raging
at Jeddo, three thousand persons had died
of it, and three hundred per day were still
dying; it was impossible for visitors to risk
their lives by entering the town at such a
time." Baron Gros answered that the cholera
was nothing new to him, that he had seen plenty
of it in France, and that he was not a bit afraid
of it.

They found in Jeddo, a population of two
millions and a half, and also a multitude of
little wooded heights, covered with bonzeries,
from which there is a charming view over the
rest of the city. Every instant you pass large
gardens, in which the Japanese walk with their
families; for they never go out, except on business.
In Japan, as in China, the magistrates
rarely show themselves to the people, and then
in state costume, and attended by a suite. The
Japanese could hardly trust their ears, when
they were told that Napoleon III. went out in
a phaeton almost daily, alone and unattended,
driving the carriage himself; or perhaps on horse-
back, with a single aide-de-camp; and that the
rest of his time was devoted to business. The
idea of a prince showing himself familiarly to
subjects, shocked all their prejudices; but the
fact of a sovereign attending to the administration
of his dominions, confounded their reason.
Consequently they remarked, with an air of deep
conviction, that it must be very wearisome work
to be the Taïcoun of the French. They were
not far from the truth, perhaps.

When the Emperor of Japan goes out, the
streets must be completely empty; every one
must keep within doors; the city must be silent
and motionless. Any stray individual who may
happen to be abroad, must remain fixed and
stationary, with his forehead bowed towards the
ground; the least infraction of this rule would
be punished with death. However, the inhabitants
of Jeddo are rarely troubled by their
sovereign's presence; he does not leave his
palace more than five or six times a year.

In Japan, horses are not shod with iron;
they wear straw shoes like the men. Moreover,
they are honourably treated, being reserved
solely for the saddle. Carts, at Jeddo, are
dragged by bulls; in all Nipon, there does not
exist a single carriage. Nor is any one who
chooses, at liberty to ride on horseback in the
capital of the Taïcoun; that privilege is
reserved for great functionaries. Jeddo possesses
five hundred wrestlers, of herculean proportions,
who wrestle for hire, at private entertainments.
The embassy had an idea of sending for them
one evening: but, on consideration, it was set
down as an undignified exhibition, and the
project was consequently given up.

Espionage throughout Japan is open, habitual,
legal, and official. It rises to the height of a
political principle; it is part of the government
machinery. One half of the people of Japan are spies
over the other half. During the conferences
with Baron Gros, one of the Japanese
plenipotentiaries, named Kamaï Sakio Kami, was
taciturn, never uttering a word, not even in the
midst of the most earnest discussions. His
business seemed to be to listen, and not to talk; and
no favourable idea of his intellect was formed.
One day the embassy was astonished at learning
the real nature and importance of his
functions. They beheld on his visiting-card the
noble title, IMPERIAL SPY.

A fanciful legend attributes the first colonisation
of the Japanese Archipelago, to a Chinese
emigration. A sovereign of the Middle
Empire, by his violence and cruelty, made every
one around him tremble. Feeling that his
strength began to fail, he consoled himself by
the popular belief that the elixir of immortality
was a possibility, and unconsciously forestalled
a portion of "A Strange Story." One of his
doctors, hoping to save his own head by getting
out of his master's way, undertook to discover
the elixir. "The herb of long life," he said,
"really exists. It grows beyond the seas, in the
valleys of Kiousiou: but its nature is so subtle
and delicate, that its virtues cannot be retained
unless it be gathered by the purest and the
chastest of hands. Give me three hundred young
boys and as many girls, robust and healthy in
constitution, selected from the first families of
the empire. We will cross the sea, and in a
few weeks' time will bring back the precious
plant which will infallibly prolong your
majesty's life."

The cunning doctor went his way, and settled
with his companions in the emerald isle of the
far East; in verdant Kiousiou; founding thus the
fine race of men who have peopled the Japanese
Archipelago for ages past.

Unfortunately, there are several facts which
contradict this romantic origin. The Japanese,
as white as many Europeans, can hardly be the
descendants of the yellow sons of Ham . They
themselves repudiate all community of origin with
the Chinese. As a race, the inhabitants of Nipon
are unquestionably superior to the population of
China. We may reasonably suppose the Japanese
to belong to the great Mongolian family, and to
have originated in an ancient emigration which
came by the way of the Corea.

The Japanese call their country, Nipon, in
common conversation, and in poetical language
the Empire of the Rising Sun. Their
Archipelago consists of four large islands and a
multitude of little islands. The four large are Yeso,
Nipon, Sikok, and Kiousiou. In Nipon, the
most considerable, are situated the three great
political religious and commercial capitals of
Japan: namely, Ye'do or Jeddo, the residence
of the Taïcoun, or civil sovereign; Meako, the
residence of the Mikado, or religious
sovereign; and Oosaka, the commercial
metropolis. The Taïcoun's empire extends over more
than three thousand eight hundred isles and
islets. Every year the Archipelago is the scene
of violent earthquakes, for which reason the
houses are only one story high, and are built