25
ITINERARY OF A JOURNEY FROM YEDO
TO KUSATSU, WITH NOTES UPON
THE WATERS OF KUSATSU.
BY
LÉON DESCHARMES,
Captain 4th Chasseurs d’Afrique, French Military
Mission of Japan.
Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan,
on the 27nd October, 1873.
———o———
The warm springs of Kusatsu have enjoyed a considerable reputation in Japan for many centuries, though it must be left to the subsequent investigations of modern science to determine the value of this reputation. Be it at it may, the coolness and salubrity of the climate of Kusatsu during the hot months of the year are incontestable, and its comparative proximity to Yedo and Yokohama will consequently attract travellers or European invalids who, even though they may neglect the use of waters still little known to our medical practitioners, will find there during several months the temperature and bracing air of the mountainous parts of Central Europe.
I have thought that a short account of the route I took, the resources of the country, and the various information which I have been able to gather from the natives, would not be without value to travellers in Japan.
Regarding the medicinal effects of the waters, I must leave specialists to settle this delicate question. I had but one mercurial thermometer, graduated to 55° (Cent.), a good instrument, it is true, and registered at the Paris
