. In lotus-land Japan. The sun by day, and themoon by night, play ever-changing pranks of lightamidst the tortured trunks, and the breezes murmursoftly in the branches to the accompaniment of thewaves beating on the shore close by. Shizu-uras beauty is mutable as the weathersmoods, and one day—when I was out in a boat, peeringdown into the depths trying to catch aisoabi—I foundthat the sea was all alive with pretty nymphs. Thesunlight, glinting through each surface ripple, wasdecomposed as by a prism, and as the rays pierced down-ward through the crystal water they turned the oceanbed into som
. In lotus-land Japan. The sun by day, and themoon by night, play ever-changing pranks of lightamidst the tortured trunks, and the breezes murmursoftly in the branches to the accompaniment of thewaves beating on the shore close by. Shizu-uras beauty is mutable as the weathersmoods, and one day—when I was out in a boat, peeringdown into the depths trying to catch aisoabi—I foundthat the sea was all alive with pretty nymphs. Thesunlight, glinting through each surface ripple, wasdecomposed as by a prism, and as the rays pierced down-ward through the crystal water they turned the oceanbed into some beauteous palace of Nereus, in which therainbow colours, all dancing about its rocky halls andterraces, were the Nereides, the Sea Kings daughters. My old sendo was as delighted as I with the sight,for my pleasure warmed anew his interest in a spectaclewith which long familiarity had bred searched out beautiful and still more beautifulspots, till he came to a rugged little island. Here he REFLECTIONS. CHAPTER XVII HIKONE AND ITS CASTLE The province of Omi, one of the most celebrated inJapan, is equally renowned for the beauty of its sceneryand for the web of historical memories and legend withwhich it is interwoven from end to end. Biwa-Ko, thelargest of Japanese lakes, lies in its heart, filling aboutone-fifth of the whole province with its waters. Itslength is thirty-six miles, thrice its greatest width, andthe depth in places is said to be about fifty fathoms, This is the lake which, according to tradition, fillsthe great depression that appeared in the earth duringa violent seismic disturbance one night in the year286 , when Fuji-san burst upwards from the plainsof Suruga. Tradition or fact, such an event in thisvolcanic-studded land, where the thin crust coveringthe eternal fires is always trembling, is likely enough ;and it is only to be expected that a sheet of water whichclaims its origin in such an occurrence should havelived up to the remarkable
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