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narrow and confined valleys are rice cultivated. The villages are poor. The country, however, improves on approaching Yoshioka, which is situated in a valley having a small river running through it. A fine mass of mountains lies away to the westward having some detatched pyramids standing out into the lower country. From an elevated position on the road I could trace these mountains stretching onwards as far as a north bearing, while some distant highland is visible about east, but the country between these points of the compass was clear of mountains. In fact, I presume it is the valley of the Kita-kami to be afterwards mentioned.
From Yoshioka the road passes three ri over a rough scrub-wooded country, having a few pine trees scattered about. The form of the hills, which are nowhere of any height, has all the appearance of a confused sea, there being no prominent elevations, while the crests of all the ridges and mounds are about on a level. The road follows mostly the crest of these ridges, and its tortuous course may be traced by the lines of pine trees skirting it. Suddenly coming to the northern edge of these rugged uplands, we overlooked a great plain, stretching away north as far as we could see, but bounded on the north-west and west by distant mountains. From the latter direction a large river called Narusi kawa skirts the foot of the highlands, flowing eastward. Where the bridge crosses it in entering the village it is from 100 to 150 yards wide, but owing to its being in flood, I could not judge of the depth. I saw, however, large sized cargo boats on it. I was informed that it discharged into the sea at Nobiru, and from what I can make out from an inferior Japanese map, its mouth is a little west of that of the Kita-kami.
Sampongi is a large village on the north bank of this river. The whole valley at least fifteen miles in width is alluvial soil and planted with rice. There are clumps of trees about the homesteads. A little over one ri further north we came to Furukawa, another good sized village, from which an outlying double-topped mountain
