The soil of Japan, being of volcanic origin, was in some places very fertile; but in many parts there were rugged and inaccessible mountains, the sides of which, not admitting the use of the plough, were built up in terraces cultivated by hand. Agriculture formed the chief occupation of the inhabitants, and they had carried it to considerable perfection, well understanding the use of composite manures. The chief crops were rice, which was the great article of food; barley, for the horses and cattle; wheat, used principally for vermicelli; and several kinds of peas and beans. They cultivated, also, a number of seeds, from which oils were expressed; likewise cotton, hemp, the white mulberry for the feeding of silkworms (silk being the stuff most in use), and the paper mulberry for the manufacture of paper. To these may be added the camphor-tree, which grew, however, only in the southwestern parts of Shimo, the _Rhus vernix_, which produces the celebrated Japanese varnish, and the tea-plant, spoken of by one of the early Portuguese missionaries as “a certain herb called Cha, of which they put as much as a walnut shell may contain into a dish of porcelain, and drink it with hot water.” From rice they produced by fermentation an intoxicating drink, called _sake_, which served them in the place of wine, and which was consumed in large quantities. A yeast, or rather vinegar, produced from this liquor, was largely employed in the pickling of vegetables. Their most useful woods were the bamboo, the fir of several species, and the cedar. They understood in perfection the arts of weaving silks and of moulding porcelain, and excelled in gilding, engraving, and especially in the use of lacquer or varnish. They also were able to manufacture sword-blades of excellent temper. As in other Eastern countries, the greater nobles exhibited an extreme magnificence; but trade and the arts were held in low esteem, and the mass of the people were excessively poor. Their buildings, though they had some few solid structures of stone, were principally light erections of wood, to avoid the effects of frequent earthquakes; but this and the varnish employed exposed them to conflagrations, which, in the towns, were very frequent and destructive. These towns consisted, for the most part, of very cheap structures (like most of those throughout the East), so that cities were built and destroyed with equal ease and celerity. Their commerce was limited almost entirely to the interchange of domestic products, a vast number of vessels, of rather feeble structure, being employed in navigating the coasts of the islands, which abounded with deep bays and excellent harbors.