“My train numbered some one hundred and fifty persons, composed of guards, norimono-bearers, cooks, grooms, shoe-bearers, cane-bearers, fan-bearers, and last, though not least, a standard-bearer, and a large number of coolies. I had permitted the Japanese to arrange and dress my train according to their ideas of propriety, and what they conceived was due to the representative of the President of the United States. My guards, each with two swords in the girdle, and clad in new silk dresses, as they swelled and strutted about, appeared to be ‘mightily uplifted in heart,’ while they and my bearers and grooms appeared to have ‘broken out’ all over their bodies with ‘spread eagles,’ as the back, breast, and sleeves of their dresses were sprinkled over with the arms of the United States, which were neatly painted on them. I performed the journey partly on horseback, and partly in a norimono, which is the Japanese name for a palanquin. The Japanese norimono will compare with the celebrated iron cage of Cardinal Balue, of France, in which the poor inmate could neither lie down nor stand up. In the norimono the Japanese kneel and place their feet close together, and then sit on their heels; if they wish to repose themselves they lean forward, and rest the chin on their knees, so that the body and limbs form three horizontal folds or piles—a position that they assume and keep without annoyance, from long practice, and from the great flexibility of their joints, but which is almost unattainable by a white man, and is absolutely unendurable. “I had a norimono made for me seven feet long, and in it I put a mattress and pillows, which made it as comfortable as the Indian palanquin; but, of all modes of travelling, the camel, the elephant, and the palanquin are the most fatiguing. “On the morning of Monday, November 23, I started for a long-desired goal of my wishes. Four lads, with small bamboo wands, led the way as harbingers, and their voices sounded quite musical as they sang the Japanese words for ‘clear the way,’ ‘kneel down,’ ‘kneel down.’ Next followed a Japanese officer on horseback; then came a large lackered tablet, bearing my name and titles in immense Chinese characters. The tablet was supported by two huge transparent lanterns, which bore similar inscriptions. (When I halted, the tablet was placed in front of my quarters, and at night the lanterns were lighted and hung up over the gate of the house.) Next came a stout fellow, bearing the ‘stars and stripes,’ with four guards. I followed, either on horseback or in my norimono, and attended by twelve guards. Next came Mr. Heusken (interpreter), and after him I do not recollect how it was arranged, except that the Vice-Governor brought up the rear.