Letters from Japan, China, India (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 189? Excerpt: ...hurrying over. It is a busy sight and strangely different from the dolce far tuente of Japanese life. There everything is so quietly done, no hurry or rush, but as though an eternity lay before them in which to accomplish each particular work. Here, a mad, wild rush, constant quarreling and screaming, and haste, as though life itself depended upon the rapidity of their movements. Even as I write, across the water comes clearly the bright strains of a military band in the public gardens, just a short distance from here, on an arm of the main land projecting into the river. With the busy traffic in the streets, if one might shut ones eyes, one could easily imagine it were a European or American metropolis instead of a city in the far East. And here your two travellers sit, in their own cosy sitting room, which you may be sure I have already decked out with every available object my trunks contained, and which rewards my zeal by looking quite homelike and pretty. Well, as I said, here we are, one on each side of the big center table, each busy with a home letter, the one to Mother, the other to you; our minds and hearts are full of thoughts of our dear home friends, and though the mail does not leave for almost another month, I could not resist giving you my first impressions of this queer country, before they faded from my mind. We have already received one call from a very pleasant gentleman, to whom a friend wrote of us; he came with friendly offers of service in any way, and we both enjoyed his little visit. Later, we expect Gen. Kennedy, our American Consul; so you see we shall not be quite by ourselves. Now, perhaps a brief outline of our trip would not be amiss; we were most fortunate in having delightful weather, following the dreadful typhoon, which I...