In 1786, the reigning Shōgun, Iyeharu, died, and was succeeded by an adopted son, Iyenari, who was his distant cousin, being a great-grandson of his great-grandfather. This prince was married to a daughter of the prince of Satsuma, and that is stated to have been a principal reason for his adoption, it being the policy of the Shōguns thus to secure the attachment of the most powerful princes. The reigning family is thus allied to the princes of Kaga, Satsuma, Yechizen, Nagato, and Ōshū, while the houses of Owari, Kishū, and Mito are descended from the sons of Gongen, from among whom, in case of failure of heirs, the Shōgun is selected. These princes of the first class, notwithstanding the jealous supremacy of the emperors, still retain certain privileges. According to Titsingh, they enjoy absolute power in their own palaces, with the right of life and death over their dependents; nor, in case they commit crimes, has the emperor any authority to put them to death. He can only, with the Dairi’s assistance, compel them to resign in favor of their sons. In 1788, a terrible fire occurred at Miyako, by which almost the entire city, including the palace of the Dairi, was destroyed. The particulars of this event were communicated to Titsingh by his Japanese correspondents. Early in 1792, the summit of the Onsen-ga-Take (High mountain of warm springs), in the province of Hizen, west of Shimabara, sank entirely down. Torrents of boiling water issued from all parts of the deep cavity thus formed, and a vapor arose like thick smoke. Three weeks after, there was an eruption from a crater, about half a league from the summit. The lava soon reached the foot of the mountain, and in a few days the country was in flames for miles around. A month after, the whole island of Kiūshiū was shaken by an earthquake, felt principally, however, in the neighborhood of Shimabara. It reduced that part of the province of Higo opposite Shimabara to a deplorable condition, and even altered the whole outline of the coast, sinking many vessels which lay in the harbors. This is the event of the latest date mentioned by Titsingh. A plan of the eruption, furnished by one of his Japanese correspondents, also one of the eruption in Shinano in 1783, is given in the “Illustrations of Japan.” The matter upon which Titsingh throws the most light is the marriage and funeral ceremonies of the Japanese, as to which he gives a translation, or rather an abridgment, of two Chinese works, received as authority in Japan, as to the etiquette to be observed on these occasions, at the same time noting the variations introduced by the Japanese.