I have not seen so beautiful
a view in Japan as from the river-bed from which I had
The first
near view of the grand assemblage of tufa cones, covered with an
ancient vegetation, backed by high mountains of volcanic origin, on
whose ragged crests the red ash was blazing vermilion against the
blue sky, with a foreground of bright waters flashing through a
primeval forest. The banks of these streams were deeply excavated
by the heavy rains, and sometimes we had to jump three and even
four feet out of the forest into the river, and as much up again,
fording the Shiraoi river only more than twenty times, and often
making a pathway of its treacherous bed and rushing waters, because
the forest was impassable from the great size of the prostrate
trees. The horses look at these jumps, hold back, try to turn, and
then, making up their minds, suddenly plunge down or up. When the
last vestige of a trail disappeared, I signed to the Aino to go on,
and our subsequent "exploration" was all done at the rate of about
a mile an hour. On the openings the grass grows stiff and strong
to the height of eight feet, with its soft reddish plumes waving in
the breeze. The Aino first forced his horse through it, but of
course it closed again, so that constantly when he was close in
front I was only aware of his proximity by the tinkling of his
horse's bells, for I saw nothing of him or of my own horse except
the horn of my saddle.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 369 of 417
Words from 101328 to 101602
of 115002
