Along The Reiheishi-Kaido, The
Road By Which I Came, It Extends For Thirty Miles, And The Two,
Broken Frequently By Villages, Converge Upon The Village Of
Imaichi, Eight Miles From Nikko, Where They Unite, And Only
Terminate At The Entrance Of The Town.
They are said to have been
planted as an offering to the buried Shoguns by a man who was too
poor to place a bronze lantern at their shrines.
A grander
monument could not have been devised, and they are probably the
grandest things of their kind in the world. The avenue of the
Reiheishi-kaido is a good carriage road with sloping banks eight
feet high, covered with grass and ferns. At the top of these are
the cryptomeria, then two grassy walks, and between these and the
cultivation a screen of saplings and brushwood. A great many of
the trees become two at four feet from the ground. Many of the
stems are twenty-seven feet in girth; they do not diminish or
branch till they have reached a height of from 50 to 60 feet, and
the appearance of altitude is aided by the longitudinal splitting
of the reddish coloured bark into strips about two inches wide.
The trees are pyramidal, and at a little distance resemble cedars.
There is a deep solemnity about this glorious avenue with its broad
shade and dancing lights, and the rare glimpses of high mountains.
Instinct alone would tell one that it leads to something which must
be grand and beautiful like itself.
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