The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

110 THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
space in front of the station a liberal number of conveyances ready to
take them wherever they wanted to go. There were carriages and jin-
riki-shas from which they could choose, and it did not take them long to
decide in favor of the jiu-riki-sha. It was a novelty to them, though not
altogether so, as they had seen it in Yokohama, and had tried its qualities
in their journey from the hotel to the station in the morning.
" What is tlie jin-riki-sha *" the reader naturally asks.
Its name comes from three words, " jiu," meaning man ;
" riki,'' power;
and "sha," carriage: altogether it amounts to "man-power-carriage." It
is a little vehicle like an exaggerated baby-cart or diminutive one-horse
cliaise, and has comfortable seating capacity for only one person, though it
will hold two if tliey are not too large. It was introduced into Japan in
1870, and is said to have been the invention of an American. At all
events, the first of them came from San Francisco ;
but the Japanese soon
set about making them, and now there are none imported; It is said that
there are nearly a hundred thousand of them in use, and, judging by the
abundance of them everywhere, it is easy to believe that the estimate is
not too high. The streets are full of them, and, no matter where you go,
you are rarely at a loss to find one. As their name indicates, they are car-
riages drawn by men. For a short distance, or where it is not required to
keep up a high speed, one man is sufficient; but otherwise two, or even
three, men are needed. They go at a good trot, except when ascending a
hill or whore the roads are bad. They easily make four and a half or five
miles an hour, and in emergencies can do better than the last-named rate.
Frank and Fred were of opinion that the jin-riki-sha would be a slow
vehicle to travel in, but asked the Doctor for his experience of one in his
previous visit to the countrjr.
" On my first visit to Japan," replied Doctor Bronson, " this little car-
riage was not in use. We went around on foot or on horseback, or in )io-
rimons and cangos."
"And what are norimons and cangos?"
" They are the vehicles in which the Japanese used to travel, and which
are still much employed in various parts of the country. We shall see
them before long, and then we shall have an excellent opportunity to know
what they are. We shall probably be travelling in them in a few days,
and I will then have your opinion concerning them.
"As to the jin-riki-sha," he continued, "my experience with it in ray
last visit to Japan since its introduction gives me a high opinion of the
Japanese power of endurance. A few days after my arrival, I had occasion
to go a distance of about forty miles on the great road along the coast.