Forests at its feet, and from the top of
another hill there is a remarkable view of windy Hakodate, with its
headland looking like Gibraltar. The slopes of this hill are
covered with the Aconitum Japonicum, of which the Ainos make their
arrow poison.
The yadoya at Togenoshita was a very pleasant and friendly one, and
when Ito woke me yesterday morning, saying, "Are you sorry that
it's the last morning? I am," I felt we had one subject in common,
for I was very sorry to end my pleasant Yezo tour, and very sorry
to part with the boy who had made himself more useful and
invaluable even than before. It was most wearisome to have
Hakodate in sight for twelve miles, so near across the bay, so far
across the long, flat, stony strip which connects the headland upon
which it is built with the mainland. For about three miles the
road is rudely macadamised, and as soon as the bare-footed horses
get upon it they seem lame of all their legs; they hang back,
stumbling, dragging, edging to the side, and trying to run down
every opening, so that when we got into the interminable main
street I sent Ito on to the Consulate for my letters, and
dismounted, hoping that as it was raining I should not see any
foreigners; but I was not so lucky, for first I met Mr. Dening, and
then, seeing the Consul and Dr. Hepburn coming down the road,
evidently dressed for dining in the flag-ship, and looking spruce
and clean, I dodged up an alley to avoid them; but they saw me, and
did not wonder that I wished to escape notice, for my old betto's
hat, my torn green paper waterproof, and my riding-skirt and boots,
were not only splashed but CAKED with mud, and I had the general
look of a person "fresh from the wilds." I. L. B.
ITINERARY OF TOUR IN YEZO.
Hakodate to
No. of Houses.
Jap. Aino. Ri. Cho.
Ginsainoma 4 7 18
Mori 105 4
Mororan 57 11
Horobets 18 47 5 1
Shiraoi 11 51 6 32
Tomakomai 38 5 21
Yubets 7 3 3 5
Sarufuto 63 7 5
Biratori 53 5
Mombets 27 5 1
From Horobets to
Jap. Aino. Ri. Cho.
Old Mororan 9 30 4 28
Usu 3 99 6 2
Lebunge 1 27 5 22
Oshamambe 56 38 6 34
Yamakushinai 40 4 18
Otoshibe 40 2 3
Mori 105 3 29
Togenoshita 55 6 7
Hakodate 37,000 souls 3 29
About 358 English miles.
LETTER XLII
Pleasant Last Impressions - The Japanese Junk - Ito Disappears - My
Letter of Thanks.
HAKODATE, YEZO, September 14, 1878.
This is my last day in Yezo, and the sun, shining brightly over the
grey and windy capital, is touching the pink peaks of Komono-taki
with a deeper red, and is brightening my last impressions, which,
like my first, are very pleasant.
