[Gutenberg 54591] • An English Girl in Japan

This volume is from 1904.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

The following sketches of life in Japan and the voyage there and back are taken from a diary which I kept during my travels.

As Japan and its wonderful little people have come so much before the world during the last few years, and especially at this time are one of the chief factors in the crisis in the Far East, I thought that these reminiscences and anecdotes taken from

real life might be of interest.

I am indebted to the editors of the Cornhill, Sketch, Sunday, and the Buenos Aires Standard for the reproduction of some of the following sketches.

1904\. Ella Hart Bennett.

Chapters:

Chapter I: - On the Way

I Start on my travels — A fair Theosophist — Life on an American liner — Arrival at New York — Delmonico's

— The Hotel Waldorf— Niagara Falls — Across the Lakes — The prairies — A quiet Sunday

Chapter II: - In the Rockies

First sight of the Rockies — Stay at Banff - Indians and salmon — Arrival at Vancouver — The Empress of India — Chinese passengers — The missing day — A court-martial — First sight of Japan

Chapter III: - Early Days in Japan

A new friend — A Japanese dinner — Japanese temples —

An earthquake — A fire in Yokohama

CHAPTER IV: - A Japanese Harrogate

A trip to the Japanese Harrogate — A curious travelling

companion — A Japanese inn — A mountain ride — At the sulphur springs — A sulphur bath — A night in a tea-house — Sad news

CHAPTER V: - An Imperial Garden Party

Silk dresses and frock-coats — A disappointed Colonel — The Royal procession — The chrysanthemums — I am presented — A Japanese play — Japanese royal sport — The Mikado and his subjects

CHAPTER VI: - Japanese Ladies

Their habits and ways — Home life — The Honourable Bath

— Count Ito and his wife — Old Japan — Loyalty to husbands — A mixed marriage — Curious customs — Japanese sayings

Chapter VII: - Japanese Children

Boys and girls— Games — The Feast of Dolls — School life

— The ' Hina Matsuri' — The Feast of the Carp — The

' Bon Matsuri' , the festival for dead children

Chapter VIII: - Servants in Japan

Their politeness— Frequency of their baths — Always ready

for a nap — Mrs. Peter Potts

Chapter IX: - Some Festivals and a Funeral

The Imperial Silver Wedding — Parade of the troops — The

wedding feast — The Chinese ball in Tokyo — A gay assembly — A Royal funeral— Strange customs

Chapter X: - Chang, My Chow

His first appearance — Adventures and mishaps — Companions in the Hospital — Chang goes to church - Facing the enemy

Chapter XI: - Further Adventures of Chang

The tale of a tub — Sayonara— Board-ship acquaintance —

Queer company

Chapter XII: - Paul and Virginia

Life on a tea-estate— My animal friends — Two brown bears — Brutus, the monkey — Always in mischief— The Brazilian macaw

No illustrations are included in this Kindle version.