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

FROM NARA TO KIOTO. 287
jured. Frank applied himself to discovering the dimensions of this
statue, and ended by making the following table of figures
Total height of statue, 53 feet G inches ; width across shoulders, 29
feet ; length of face, 16 feet ; width of face, 9 feet 6 inches. It is said to
weigh four hundred and fifty tons, and to be made of a bronze composed
of gold, mercur}', tin, and copper. The head is covered with curls, also of
bronze, and there are said to be 96(1 of them ; then there is a halo around
the head 7S feet in diameter, and supporting 16 images, each one 8 feet
long. The statue is in a squatting posture, like the one at Kamakura, and
is covered with a building so small that it is impossible to obtain a good
view in consecpience of being too near the figure. The expression of the
features is not at all equal to that of the great Dai-Boots at Kamakura, and
the whole design is far less artistic. But it is the second in the empire in
size, and for that reason is worthy of notice as well as for its antiqnit}'.
From Nara the party continued to Kioto, halting for dinner at Uji,
which is the centre of an important tea district. Men and women were
at work in the fields gathering the leaves from the plants, and other men
and women were attending to the drying process which the gathered
leaves were undergoing. They were spread out on matting, on paper, or
on cloth, where they had the full force of the rays of the snn, and were
frequently turned and stirred so as to have every part ecpially exposed to
the solar heat. While the party was at LTji a shower came on, and then
there was some very lively hurrying to and fro to save the tea from a
wetting. During the afternoon the rain continued, and the rest of the
ride to Kioto was not especially cheerful. Part of the route led along the
banks of the river, which forms a navigable way for small boats between
DIKliS ALOKG THE RIVER.