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CHAPTER XVI.
AT THE SIGN OF THE BIG GOLD-FISH.
THE quarter of great Yedo in which Honda Jiro
was lodging was at the base of the highland
at the north of the castle enclosure. This plateau is
called Suruga Dai, or the table of Suruga, because
one seemed to be in that province while looking at
Mount Fuji, as if it were set on a table near by. A
few steps from the inn took one up to the highland,
where the glorious mountain stood revealed from
base to crown. The moats, walls, ramparts, drawbridges,
and towers of the castle extended to this
quarter of the city, forming the extreme north-western
angle of the circuit. Two great double gateways
with their ponderous iron-banded, rivet-studded
gates, copper-clad towers, and named respectively the
Pheasant and Pure Water gates, were within sight.
The high, grassy counterscarp, the parapet of gray
stone masonry, and the white rampart of plaster
and tiling were mirrored in threefold richness of
color in the deep moat of fresh running water.
Here in the crystal depths swam, unharmed, hundreds
of huge silver and golden carp, many of them
two feet long. Farther round to the west, where the
water was shallower, millions of wild fowl of various
species enjoyed summer sunshine in the lotus-beds or
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