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These support the roof, the main beams of which are formed of very large timbers put in their place in their natural state, and without being squared or cleaned. The covering to the roof consists either of thatch, of tiles, or of shingles alone, and in putting these on the workmen are very expert. There are no diagonal struts between the uprights in the frame of the house, and no other means adopted to strengthen or stiffen it. The roof trusses are formed of one square frame built on top of another of a larger size until the apex is reached.
Thus, with its unnecessarily heavy roof and weak framework, it is a structure of all others the worst adapted to withstand a heavy earthquake shock. I should not forget to mention the fire-proof stores of the Japanese. These are buildings with a wooden framework of a better description, which is covered with sometimes as many as 50 coats of mud plaster, but generally with not more than 25 coats. They sometimes have a plaster roof and sometimes an ordinary tile roof. The plaster is of a thickness of from 1 to 2 feet, and the doors and window shutters are frames of wood covered with plaster in the same way. These stores, as is well known, have been found remarkably efficient in resisting fire.
On account of the simplicity of their construction and their general similarity very little can be said regarding the temples of Japan in a paper such as this, which is devoted merely to a description of the art of building. The manner of their ornamentation and history of their contents would form the subject for a separate and a very interesting paper. The foundations consist generally of square stones on which the uprights rest. These are of kiaké and are connected together at various intervals by longitudinal waling pieces. The roof is formed in a similar manner to the ordinary dwelling house roofs, but the wood in the beams is generally of kiaké and of great size. The roofs, are generally thatched with the hark of the shinoki tree, or with a grass named kai-a which is put on to a thickness of, at times, three feet, in some instances they are covered with sheet copper, and in the case of the smaller
