. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 131 points for the ascent, earnestl\' warned us against the attempt. " For," they suggested, " the goddess of the mountain is not at home to visitors before the official Yama-biraki (mountain-opening), in the middle of July," and with dire forebodings we were warned to " look out for squalls " if we persisted. No sooner had we reached our bivouac in the forest on the edge of the snow-line than a typhoon burst over the mountain and kept us prisoners for three â days. At length, on a cloudless morning we were set free and reached the
. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 131 points for the ascent, earnestl\' warned us against the attempt. " For," they suggested, " the goddess of the mountain is not at home to visitors before the official Yama-biraki (mountain-opening), in the middle of July," and with dire forebodings we were warned to " look out for squalls " if we persisted. No sooner had we reached our bivouac in the forest on the edge of the snow-line than a typhoon burst over the mountain and kept us prisoners for three â days. At length, on a cloudless morning we were set free and reached the summit in a climb of seven hours, â¢deserted b}^ all our coolies sav-e one. Traversing the peak we descended on the opposite side to Gotemba, so that our friends of Omiya saw us no more. A week or two later, the leading Japanese newspaper in Tokyo came out with the following account of a terrible disaster: " The foreigners who recently started to ascend Fuji with four coolies have not since been heard of . . they were urged to postpone the attempt, but they were determined to go. As the\' have not since been heard of, it is feared they have either suc- cumbed to the fury of the gale, or died of starvation. Their nationality is unknown, but it is surmised that they are British for the reason that the people of that nation like to do that which is distasteful to them and glory in their ; A possible explanation of the fear of vengeance on the part of the offended divinity of the mountain is suggested by the name " Fuji," which is probably derived either from the Ainu word push, " to burst forth," or from " Huchi," the name of the Ainu Goddess of Fire. Other place-names in the neighbour- hood are also of Ainu origin and take one back to the days when, before they were driven northwards by invaders, those hair}- aborigines dwelt at the foot of the greatest mountain in Japan and, watching its fiery activities with mingled awe and terr
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