there a day, and yet there were people who had to spend the entire day




TEA-MERCHANTS IN THE INTERIOR.



TIIK BOY TRAVELLERS.



in the firing-room, and go there day after day besides. Many of them
were women, and some of them had little children strapped to their backs,
and there was a whole lot of children in a little room at one 6Jde of the
shed, where a couple of women were looking after them. How I did pity

the poor things! Fred and I just
emptied our pockets of all the
small change we could find in them
for the benefit of the babies, and
I wish we could have given them
more. But there was hardly a cry
from any of them, and they seemed
as happy and contented as though
their mothers were queens, instead
of toiling over the firing -pan in
that hot room for ten or fifteen
cents a day.

" They put a pound and a half
of tea into each pan, and w T ith it
they put a teaspoonf ul of some col-
oring substance that they keep a
secret. People say that this color-
ing matter is Prussian blue, and
others say it is indigo, and that a
little gypsum is put with it, so as
to give the tea a bright appearance.
The clerk told us it was indigo
and gypsum that his house used,
and declared that it was all false
that any poisonous material was
ever put in. He said they only

used a teaspoonful of their mixture to a charge of tea, and the most of
that little quantity was left in the pan in the shape of dust. When I
asked him why they put anything in, he said it was to make the tea sell
better in the American market. It looked so much better when it had
been 'doctored' that their customers in New York and other'cities would
pay more for it, though they knew perfectly well what had been done.
Then he showed me some of the tea that had been fired and put side by
side with some that had not. I must say that the fired tea had a polished
appearance that the other had not, and I could readily understand why it
sells better.




THE TEA-I'L.VNT.



PREPARING TEA FOR SHIPMENT.



269



" As I have said, they put a charge of a pound and a half of tea into
the pan with a teaspoonful of the mixture, and they have a fire of charcoal
beneath it. The man
or woman that does the
firing stands in front of
the pan and keeps the
tea in constant motion.
It must be kept moving
all the time, so that it
will not be scorched,
and it must be gently
rubbed between the fin-
gers in order to polish
it. It is kept in the
pan eighty minutes, and
then is considered dry
enough for the packing-
cases.

" You know how a
tea-chest looks, so I need
not describe it any more
than to say that the
chest is lined with tin,

and that the tin is carefully soldered, so that not a single particle of damp-
ness can get in while the tea is on the ocean. If it should, the tea would
be spoiled, as the least dampness will injure it, and a great deal will
make it quite useless. They always try to hurry the new crop of tea as
rapidly as they can, since it is the best, and has more and better flavor
than the crop of the previous year. When a ship sails with new tea, she
races for home as hard as she can go, and the quickest voyages ever
made from this part of the world to Europe and America have been made
by ships with cargoes of new tea."

When the party sailed from Yokohama, they found themselves on board
a steamer which was, and was not, Japanese. She was built in New York,
and formerly ran between that city and Aspinwall. Subsequently she was
sent to Japan in the service of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and
was sold, along with several other American steamers, to a Japanese com-
pany. This company was formed with Japanese capital, and its manage-
ment was Japanese ; but the ships were foreign, and the officers and en-
gineers were mostly English or American.




FIRING TEA.



270



THE BOY TRAVELLERS.



The Doctor told the boys that the Mitsu Bishi Company, as this Jap-
anese organization was called, was increasing every year the number of its
ships. It received assistance from the government in the form of a mail
contract, and was evidently doing very well. The steamers ran once a
week each way between Yokohama and Shanghai, touching at Kobe and
Nagasaki, and there were lines to other ports of Japan. The Japanese
were studying naval architecture and making good progress, and they hoped
before many years to construct their own ships. Every year they reduced
the number of foreigners in their service, arid some of their establishments
were entirely under native management.

The second morning after leaving Yokohama, they were at Kobe, and
the steamer anchored off the town. Kobe and Hiogo are practically one

and the same place.

= - ~'~ - : ~ '= _ - - The Japanese city that

stands there was for-
merly known as II io-
go, and still retains
that name, while the
name of Kobe was ap-
plied to that portion
where the foreigners
reside. The view from
the water is quite pret-
ty, as there is a line of
mountains just back
of the city ; and as
the boys looked in-
tently they could see

that the mountains were inhabited. There are several neat little houses
on the side of the hills, some of them the residences of the foreigners who
go there to get the cool air, while the rest are the homes of the Japanese.
There is a liberal allowance of tea-houses where the public can go to be
refreshed, and there is a waterfall where a mountain stream comes rattling
down from the rocks to a deep pool, where groups of bathers are sure to
congregate in fine weather. The town stands on a level plain, where a
point juts into the water, and there is nothing remarkable about it. If
they had not seen Yokohama and Tokio, they might have found it in-
teresting ; but after those cities the boys were not long in agreeing that a
short time in Kobe would be all they would wish.

But they were at the port of Osaka and Kioto, and their thoughts were




HIOGO (KOBE).



TRAVELLING BY JUNK.



271



turned towards those important cities. There was no difficulty in going
there, as the railway was in operation to Osaka, twenty miles, and to Kioto,
thirty miles farther on. But Frank was seized with an idea, which he
lost no time in communicating to his friends. It was this :

" We can travel by rail almost anywhere," said he, "and needn't come
away from America to do so. Now, instead of going to Osaka by rail, which
wouldn't be anything remarkable, suppose we go by a Japanese junk.
I have been asking the hotel-keeper about it, and he says it is perfectly
easy to do so, and that we can sail there with a fair wind in a few hours."

Fred was in favor of the junk voyage on account of its novelty. Of
course, the Doctor was not likely to oppose any reasonable scheme that
would give his young companions an opportunity to learn something, pro-
vided it did not consume too much time. Inquiry showed that the voyage
could be made there with a fair wind, as Frank had suggested ; and, as
the wind happened to be all right and promised to continue, it was agreed
to go by junk on the following morning, provided there were no change.

A Japanese servant, who spoke English, was engaged from the hotel to
accompany the party during their journey. He was sent to find a junk
that was about to leave for Osaka, and in half an hour he returned with
the captain of one. It was soon settled that he was to bring his craft to
the anchorage near the hotel during the afternoon, and be ready to receive
his passengers and their luggage at daylight if the wind held good. The




THE JDXK AT ANCHOR.



2-.
-



THE HOY TKAVKLLKKS.



servant, who said lie \vas named " John " by the first European that ever
employed him, and had stuck to it ever since, was kept busy during the
afternoon in making preparations for the journey, as it was necessary to
take a stock of provisions very much as the party had equipped themselves
when they went to ascend Fusiyama. Everything was arranged in time,
and the trio went to bed early, as it would be necessary to rise before the
sun, and they wanted to lay in a good supply of sleep.

The junk was all ready in the morning; and as soon as the passengers
were on board, her sail was lifted, and she slowly worked her way through
the water. The wind was all right for the voyage to the mouth of the
river where Osaka lay ; and if they had been on a sail-boat such as all New-
Yorkers are familiar with, the journey would have been over in three or
four hours. But the junk was not built for racing purposes, and the most
that could be hoped for from her was a speed of about three miles an
hour. This was no detriment, as they could thus make the mouth of the
river by noon ; and if the bar could be easily crossed, they would be at the
city long before sunset. Life on a junk was a novelty, and therefore

they were not annoyed
to think that their craft
was not a swift one.

Fred thought that
the stern of the junk
was about the funniest
thing in the way of a
steering -place he had
ever seen ; and to make
sure of remembering it,
he made a sketch of the
helmsman at his post.
Frank insisted that he
was not there at all, as
his- post was evidently
the rudder-post, and it
was at least ten feet off,
owing to the length of
the tiller. The deck
where the man stood
had a slope like that of
a house-roof, and it was

THE HELMSMAN AT HIS POST. myStd'y tO tllC




BELOW THE DECK OF A JUNK.



273



how the sailors could stand there when the planks were wet by the spray,
or the sea was at all rough. But there was no denying that they did stay
there, and so the boys concluded that the men must have claws on their
feet like those with which a tiger is equipped. Fred remarked that the
steep incline reminded him of a conundrum he had somewhere heard,
which was as follows :

" Why is a dog with a broken leg like the space between the eaves
and the ridge of a house ?"

Frank could not answer, and the question was propounded to Dr.
Bronson ; the latter shook his head, and then Fred responded, in triumph,
" Because he is a slow pup." It was three seconds at least before Frank
could see the point of the joke..

The boys had too much to do in the way of sight-seeing to spend more
time over conundrums. They proceeded to explore the interior of the
junk, and to look about the decks in the hope of finding something new in
the way of navigation. They discovered that there was considerable space
for the stowage of cargo, in consequence of the great width of the craft in
proportion to her length. The accommodations of the crew were not ex-
tensive ; but as they did not expect much, they were not likely to complain.
As the boys were near the bow of the junk, they came upon two of the
sailors at dinner ; the meal consisting of rice and fish, which they ate




JAPANESE SAILOKS AT 1>INM-,H.



18



374



THE HOY TRAVELLERS,



with the aid of chopsticks. The men were squatted on the deck in front
of their food, or rather they had the food in front of themselves, and they
evidently were the possessors of good appetites, to judge by the eagerness
with which they attended to business and paid no heed to the strangers.

The Japanese are excellent sailors, both on their junks and on the
foreign ships that have been introduced to their service since the opening
of the country to other nations. But the Japanese landsman has a horror
of the water, and cannot be induced to venture upon it. In this respect
the Japanese are not unlike the Italians, who are naturally a maritime
nation, and have covered themselves with marine glory in times that are
past. But the Italian landsman is- ready to suffer any inconvenience rather
than risk himself on the ocean, and not a more woe-begone being can be
found in the world tlian a sea-sick Italian unless it be a sea-sick Japanese.
The sailors on the junk were very prompt in obeying orders, but
they went about everything with an air of coolness which one does
not always see on an American vessel. Ordinarily they pulled at ropes

as though they would
not hurt either the
ropes or themselves;
but it was observed
that when the captain
gave an order for any-
thing,, there was no at-
tempt at shirking. One
of the sailors stood at
the sheet of the main-
sail, and while he held
on and waited for di-
rections his mate was
quietly smoking and
seated on the deck.
When the order came
for changing the posi-
tion of the sail, the pipe
was instantly dropped
and the work was at-
tended to ; when the
work was over, the pipe
was resumed as if noth-
ing had happened. Evi-




JCNK SAILORS ON DUTY.



UP THE RIVER TO OSAKA. 275

dently the sailors were not much affected by the fashions that the for-
ei<mers had introduced, for they were all dressed in the costume that

O w

prevailed previous to the treaty of Commodore Perry r and before a
single innovation had been made in the way of navigation. Tke cap-
tain of the junk looked with disdain upon a steamer that wa& at anchor
not far from where his craft was obliged to pass, and evidently he had no
very high opinion of the barbarian invention. He was content with
things as they were, and the ship that had borne his ancestors in. safety
was quite good enough for him and his comrades*

About. six hours- after the departure from Kobe r the junk reached the
bar of the river on which Osaka is situated. The bar was passed, and then
the unwieldy concern came to- anchor to wait for a stronger breeze ; at
the advice of John a row-boat was engaged to finish the journey as far as
the hotel where they were to stop. The row-boat was- rapidly propelled
by the strong arms of half a dozen men ; and in less- than two hours from
the time they said " Sayonara" to the captain of their transport, the Doc-
tor and his young friends were safely lodged in the house where their
rooms had been previously engaged by letter. In a short time dinner was
ready, and they had it served on a little balcony which overlooked the
water, and gave them an opportunity to study the river life of the city
while they devoured the stewed chicken- and' juicy steaks that the host
had provided for tlrein. Boats passed and repassed, and there was a good
deal of animation on the stream. Just beyond the hotel there was a
bridge which curved like a quarter of a circle, as Fred thought, and be-
yond it was another of similar construction. Crowds of people were
coming and going over these bridges, and Frank ventured to ask the Doc-
tor if there were any more bridges and any more people in Osaka.

" Certainly, my boy," the Doctor answered,. "there are thirteen rivers-
and canals in Osaka, so that the city has an abundance of water communi-
cation. The streets are generally at right angles-, and there are more than,
a hundred bridges over the water-way*. From this circumstance Osaka
has received the name of the Venice of Japan, and she certainly deserves
it. Formerly her commerce by water was very great, and you would see
a large fleet of junks in the river below the town. The opening of the
railway to Kobe has somewhat diminished the traffic by water; but it is
still quite extensive, and employs a goodly amount of capital.

" Osaka is orie of the most important cities of Japan," Dr. Bronson
continued, " and has long been celebrated for its commercial greatness.
If you look at its position on the map, you will see that iit is- admirably
situated to command trade both by land and by water; and when, I tell



276



THE BOY TRAVELLERS.




A WALK THROUGH THE CITY.



277



you that it contains half a million of inhabitants, you will understand that
it must have had prosperity to make it so great. The streets are of good
width, and they are kept cleaner than those of most other cities in Japan.
The people are very proud of Osaka, and are as tender of its reputation
as the inhabitants of any Western city in America are tender of theirs.
There are not so many temples as in Tokio, and not so many palaces, but
there is a fair number of both ; and, what is better in a practical way,
there are many establishments where cotton, iron, copper, bronze, arid other
goods are manufactured. As a commercial and manufacturing centre,
Osaka is at the head, and without a rival so far as Japan is concerned."

Towards sunset the party took a stroll through the city, stopping in
front of several shops, and entering one or two of the larger. The boys
were of opinion that the shops of Osaka were larger than those of Tokio,
and there was one silk-store that was twice the size of any they had seen
in the eastern capital. The goods that were displayed were not mate-
rially different from what they had already seen, and consequently they
were not disposed to linger long on the way. They extended their walk
to the upper part of the city, where several temples are situated, and they
finally reached the famous Castle of Osaka, whence there is a fine view
from the walls. There was some difficulty in entering the castle, but
through the explanations of John the matter was arranged and they went
inside.

One of the wonders of Japan is the wall of the Castle of Osaka, or





THE CASTLE OF OSAKA.



278 T11E BOY TRAVELLERS.

ratlier of a portion of it. During the sixteenth century Osaka was the capi-
tal of the empire, and remained so for many years ; while it was the capi-
tal the emperor commanded. the tributary princes to assist in building the
walls of the imperial residence, and each was to send a stone for that pur-
pose. The stones are there, and it would be no small matter to remove
them. Our friends had no means of measurement at hand, but they esti-
mated that some of the stones were twenty feet long by half that width,
and six feet in depth. They were as large as an ordinary street-car, and
some of them were larger ; arid how they could have been transported over
the roads of Japan and hoisted into their places was a mystery no one
could explain.

The view from the top -of the castle walls is magnificent, and well re-
pays the trouble of making the ascent In front is the city like a broad
map, and there is no difficulty in tracing the lines of the streets and the
sinuosities of the rivers and canals. Beyond the city, on the right, is the
water of the bay, which opens into the Pacific, while on the left is the
plain that stretches away to Kobe and Hiogo. Beyond the plain is the
range of sharp hills and mountains ; and as one turns slowly to the west
and north he can sweep the landscape almost to the gates of Kioto and
the shores of Lake Biwa. To the east, again, there are mountains rising
sharply from the fertile plain, so that one seems to be standing in a basin
of low land with a curving rim of mountains. The sun was about setting
as our party reached the top of the high wall, and they remained there in
full enjoyment of the scene until the shadows began to fall and the light
to fade out from the sky. It was the most delightful landscape view that
had fallen to the lot of the youths since their ascent of Fusiyama.

They regretted the necessity of departing from the castle, but regrets
were of no use, and they descended to the streets just as the lamps were
getting into full blaze.



IN A JAPANESE MINT. 279



CHAPTER XX.

THE MINT AT OSAKA. FROM OSAKA TO NARA AND KIOTO.



the assistance of a gentleman to whom Doctor Bronson
had a letter of introduction, our friends were enabled to pay a visit
to the imperial mint at Osaka.

They found a large establishment, like a foundry, on the bank of the
river, and just outside the thickly settled portion of the city. A tall
chimney was smoking vigorously, and gave signs of activity ; and there
was an air of neatness about the surroundings quite in keeping with what
they had observed thus far in their journey through Japan. They were
met at the entrance by the director of the mint, a Japanese gentleman
who had spent a considerable time in Europe and America, and spoke
English with fluency and precision. They were invited to seats in the
office, and, after a brief delay, were escorted through the establishment.

The mint at Osaka is one of the most noted enterprises which the gov-
ernment of Japan has undertaken, and likewise one of the most success-
ful. When it was founded it was under foreign supervision, and the
most of the employes were from Europe ; but year by year the Japanese
have learned how to conduct its machinery, and have relieved the foreign-
ers of the labor of managing it. The direction is Japanese, and so are
the heads of the departments, and the employes from highest to lowest.
When the mint was established, the machinery for it was imported from
Europe, but at present it is all made by the Japanese, in their own factory
attached to the mint.

"'Just to think," said Frank, "that people persist in calling these
Japanese ' barbarians !' Here are machines for stamping coin and per-
forming all the work of a mint, and it bears the mark of the Japanese.
Here are delicate balances for weighing gold and silver and getting the
weight down to the fraction of a grain, and they are just as sensitive and
as well made as the best specimens from the French or German makers.
If the Japanese can do all this, and they certainly -have done it, they de-
serve to be considered just as good.as any other people in the worl'd."



JSO



THE BOY TRAVELLERS.



The Doctor took from his pocket some of the coin which was in circu-
lation, and with which the boys had by this time become thoroughly
familiar. They had remarked that it was as neatly made as any coin of
Europe or America, and, as a matter of curiosity, they were desirous of
seeing the machine by which each of the different pieces was stamped.

The director kindly point-
ed out the various ma-
chines, and the boys ob-
served that, with a single
exception, they were all of
Japanese make. Then they
were shown through a fac-
tory for the manufacture
of sulphuric acid that is
attached to the mint, and
is run on government ac-
count. They were some-
what astonished to learn
that all the sulphuric acid
used in the mint was made
there, and that in the pre-
vious year thirteen thou-
sand cases were exported

to China. For the benefit of his professor of chemistry, Fred made the
following memorandum concerning the branch of business he was inves-
tigating :

" The sulphur comes from the provinces of Satsuma and Bungo the
most from the latter, and the best from the former ; and the product is
partly for the use of the mint, and partly for general commerce. The
acid is packed in earthen jars which are glazed on the inside, and not in
the carbo} 7 s that are in use with us. Two jars, holding about eight quarts
each, are packed in a wooden case ; they rest on a bed of lime about three
inches thick, and the remainder of the space is filled with coarse ashes and
coal cinders. This manner of packing is considered preferable to the old
one, and, besides, it enables the Japanese to make their own jars, instead
of importing the carboys. The director tells me that thus far the factory
has not been able to supply the Chinese demand for acid, and therefore
no shipments have been made to other countries. With an increased
production, it is quite possible that shipments may be made to America
at no very distant day.




VIGNETTE FROM THE NATIONAL BANK-NOTES.



USE OF TRADE-DOLLARS IN JAPAN.



281




IMPERIAL CREST FOR PALACE AFFAIRS.



"Japan abounds in sul-
phur, and the supply is said
to be inexhaustible. The
copper used at the mint for
making the Japanese small
coins is of native produc-
tion, and so is most of the
silver; but occasionally the
supply of the latter metal
runs short, and then Amer-
ican silver comes into play.
Last year nearly half a mill-
ion trade-dollars were melt-
ed at the mint at Osaka, to
be made into Japanese yens,
and this year a large num-
ber have met a similar fate.
The American trade -dollar

has not yet become a popular coin for circulation in Japan and China,
but is in good demand for the melting-pot. But I suppose we do not
care what they do with our silver money so long as they pay for it ; and
the more they melt up, the better we shall be pleased."

Having finished their in-
spection of the mint, our
friends thanked the polite
director for his kindness
and attention, and bade him
good -day. They returned
to the hotel, where their
lunch was waiting for them,
and sat down on the bal-
cony, where they had feast-
ed and studied the river
scenery the day before.
Their morning's excursion
naturally led them to talk
about the money of Japan,
and on this subject the Doc-
tor was ready with his usual