Untitled

THE MAINLAND OF HONDO. 865
everywhere broken by a succession of hills and dales, so that the combined area of
all the plains scarcely exceeds one-eighth of the whole surface. The mountains,
however, are generally rounded off and of easy access, seldom presenting those
rugged crags and precipitous heights characteristic of most Alpine regions. The
almost total absence of sandstones and limestones, which tend to become broken
into vertical masses, the copious rainfall, and the natural richness of the vegetation,
have given to the Japanese landscapes a preponderance of gently undulating lines,
and moderately sloping valleys watered by rapid but winding streams. Here and
CcfG
Fig.
170. MOUTHS OF THB TO.IB-GAVA.
Scale 1 : 840,000.
to 64 Feet. 64 to 160 Feet. 160 Feet and
upwards.
there the higher crests are streaked with lines of perennial snow, which, according
to Milne, in some places develop miniature glaciers.
In the north-west a low schistose range, separated from the rest of Hondo by
thr deep valley of the Kitakami River, runs parallel with the main axis of the
island. This outer chain, as it may be called, runs northwards to Sendai Bay,
whose shallow waters are studded with the " eight hundred islands " of Matsu-
sima, mostly covered with shrubs and cryptoiaeriac, and forming an aquatic garden,
which the Japanese regard as one of the "three wonders" of their country. The
base of the islands has been worn by the water into natural caves and galleries,
while grottoes have been artificially excavated on the steeper slopes. One of the
peaks
lias ;ilso been carved into the form of a colossal Buddha.
South of the Sendai Plain the range resumes its former direction, but still
remains completely isolated by broad valleys from the highlands of the interior.
Formerly it terminated southwards, also in a gulf. But this inlet has been filled
up by the alluvia of the Tone-gava, which, after watering the plain with its