63
Japan, and eye diseases are quite common. Next comes a sedan chair or palanquin, called here a norimon. It is suspended on the shoulders of four men, two before and two behind, very much as a wild beast might be slung in a cage for safe transport. This vehicle is elegantly decorated with lacquer work and gilt, and its bearers wear a sort of uniform, It is doubtless the state carriage of some high dignitary, as it is accompanied by half a dozen two-sworded yaconins on horseback. It passes us so quickly that we can barely catch a glance a the occupant. If may be “my lady” out for an airing. The Cango is a more simple vehicle, and is quite frequently met on the road. It is carried by two men, and looks like a wicker basket without sides, slung near the ground upon two poles ten feet long. It is used for long journeys by the middle class, and kept for hire at the inns on the main road. A quilt is laid on the bottom, and with legs curled up under him, in what seems a very cramped and uncomfortable position, the occupant will ride for hours or even whole days without apparent fatigue or discomfort. A Japanese when tired, drops on his heels and squats with no other support than his legs and heels can afford, just as naturally aa a European drops into a chair. It is said that as soon as the baby leaves its mothers arms, the first thing it learns is not to walk or run, but to squat on its heels in this baboon fashion.
A travelling dentist next attracts our attention. He indulges in the rare luxury of a beard, and is quite a venerable looking old fellow. His instruments, which are of very primitive discription, doubtless inflict the full amount of torture which may be expected for a fee. They are carried in a basket, which also contains charms as well as medicines of various descriptions for sale. As a class the members of this profession in Japan are not above tricks of jugglery and necromancy, and will extract teeth, cut out corns, and even descend to amusing the children with tricks, like swallowing swords, &c., when not otherwise employed. It may be to their credit, however, that the teeth of the men and also of the women before marriage when they make “open sepulchers” of their mouths by varnishing them jet black, are remarkably white and regular.
Our road winds along towards the head of the bay, and occasionally we come to spaces on the roadside unoccupied by houses
