Then, last of all, with great shouts of glee from Young America, the little porcelain models from his warm, chubby hands would be put into the picture. His own coolie, with a carrying pole and basket, would be crossing a larger image of his own bridge, and his own little red torii would be set up, to indicate the path to the Shinto temple on the hill. At that point the swarms of Japanese children who were helping us look on, and blocking out the light from the narrow street, would caper and shout too. It was serious business with the serious young man, but we were all thrilled children together.
A grown-up friend, a highly educated Japanese, told me afterwards that there were all kinds of delicacies of the art which this primitive workman knew not of; that to know the different sorts of sand to use, alone, was a science in itself, and required a thorough knowledge of the geography of Japan, and probably of China as well. For the different shades of colour are all indicated: a slaty grey for deep water, chips of granite for rapids, ‘sallow sands’ for beaches, lightish grey sands for shallow water, deep bluish sands for seas, and pure white sands for coaming breakers. Then there are the proper kinds of gravel and cobbles for river-beds and river beaches, and the right sort of rocks for islands and for seaside stones, as well as for ‘Guardian Stones,’ ‘Cascade Stones,’ and ‘Step-
