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

IMPROVEJIENTS IN NAVIGATION. flo
" As I liave before stated," the Doctor coii-
tinnetl, " the Japanese liave made great progress in
military and naval matters. They have ship-yards
at several places, and have bnilt ships of their own
after the European models ; in addition to these,
they have ships that they bought fi'om foreignei's,
tint they are entirely commanded and managed by
their own officers, and equipped with crews entirely
Japanese. The old war-junks of the country have
been discarded for the modern ships, and the young
Japanese are trained in the Western mode of warfare
; their schools for naval instruction liave made
remarkable advancement, and the teachers who were
JAPANESE NAVAL OFFICER.
brought from other countries repeatedly declared that they never had
seen anywhere a more intelligent assemblage of pupils than they found
hei'e. The Japanese naval officer of to-day is uniformed very much like
JAPANJilst: STEAM COliVlOTTE.
his fellow-officer in Europe
or America, and his manners
are as polished as the most
fastidious among us could
wish. The Japanese ships
have made long cruises, and
visited the principal ports
of Europe and America,
and their commanders have
shown that they understand
the theory and practice of
navigation, and are able to
take their ships wherever
they may be ordered to go. The picture of a Japanese war-junk of the
olden time, and that of the war-steamer of to-day do not show many points
of resendjlance. They illustrate the difference between the old and the
new, very mucli as do the eango and the railway car when placed side by
side."
The Doctor thought he had gi\-en the boys cpiite as much information
as they would l)e likely to remember in his dissertation, and suggested
that thejr should endeavor to recapitulate what be had said. Frank
thought the discussion had taken a wide range, as it had included the sta-
tus of the four classes of Japanese society, had embraced the Samurai and
their peculiarities, some of the changes tliat were wrought by the revolu-
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