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

270
THE BOY TKAVELLEES.
The Doctor told the boys that the Mitsu Bislii Company, as this Jap-
anese organization was called, was increasing ever}' 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
]S^agasaki, 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, and some of their establishments
M'ere entirely under native management.
The second morning after leaving Yokohama, tliey were at Kobe, and
the steamer anchored off the town. Kobe and Pliogo are practically one
HIOGO (koBE).
and the same place.
The Japanese city that
stands there was for-
merly known as Hio-
- 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 wateris 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 inhalnted. 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 teadiouses 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 tine 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 tliey were at the port of Osaka and Kioto, and their thoughts were