HLI Chronicle 1907 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

62 HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.
of the temple staff are so impertinent as to see
him go and return. The temple, which is
"Shinto," stands at the top of a long and
handsome flight of stone steps, at the bottom
of which is a fine specimen in stone of the
curious-shaped archway, called" Torii," which
forms the approach to all Shinto temples, but
is never associated with- a pure Buddhist
temple. At the top is another smaller torii,
in red-painted wood. The view from the
temple over the town and harbour is very fine,
and in a small garden to one side we saw the
cherry trees in blossom, but the season was
nearly over for their beauty in this southern
pal;; of the islands. We also visited a tortoiseshell
factory and warehouse, where we saw
some lovely work, but most of it was at too
high a price for our purses. Our guides then
took us to a labyrinth of a bazaar, where little
toys and curios were being sold very cheap.
It is so arranged that the visitor is supposed to
pass right through from one end to the other;
but, after about fifteen minutes, as we had
bought all we wanted and seemed no nearer·
the exit, we retraced our steps, and escaped
•by the entrance door, under strong protests
from the stall keepers. A little light refreshment
at an hotel was now very welcome, and
we got off a.gain to our ship about one o'clock,
very much pleased with our first experience
of Japan. In the harbour we saw two of the
Russian ships sunk in Port Arthur harbour,
which had been raised, and were then being
busily repaired by Japanese crews. One of
these showed clearly large holes in her side and
funnels-one of the former caused by a lO-inch
shell from fI. Japanese besieging battery. Our
steamer left the harbour soon after we got on
board, and we had a pleasant coasting trip all
the afternoon up the north-west shore of
Kynshu, the south-western island of tha
Japanese group. Some of the coast scenery
and the lofty islands-especially Hiranowere
very fine, and we passed not far from the
scene of the commencement of the great naval
battle between Admirals Togo and Rozkden­
VEHitsky, which gave the wonderful little Japs
the absolute command of the Eastern Seas.
19th April.-We must have passed through
the Straits of Shimonoseki some time in the
night, for the next morning found us steaming
fast through the placid water of the inland sea,
full of interest at every moment as we threaded
our way through innumerable islands, which,
with the constantly projecting headlands of
the mainland to the north, and the large island
of Shikoku to the south, seemed at times to
lock us in entirely. It was a perfect day ,for
such a cruise-;-a bright sun, blue sky, calm
sea, with a tOl,lch of chilliness in the' air.
Between 4 and 5 p.m. we began to draw near
the end of our journey by sea for a time, and
packed some small portmanteaux for our
immediate requirements, leaving our heavy
boxes to go on on the "Sachsen" to Y okohama.
Another medical inspection had to be
gone through before we could anchor at Kobe,
and it was well after five before we reached the
snore. We regretted that we had not telegraphed
for ·rooms from Nagasaki, for, on
reaching the Oriental Hotel, we found none
available and had much difficulty in securing
. '
one at the Great Eastern, which was the worst
and most expensive of all we stayed in during
our four weeks in Japan.
20th April.-Kobe is not one' of the most
interesting places in Japan, and we began at
once making enquiries about accommodatl