“The roads were all repaired, and cleanly swept, on the whole of my route, before I passed; bridges were put in order, and many new ones built; all travel on the road was stopped, so that I did not see those crowds of travellers, priests, nuns, etc., described by Kämpfer; the shops in all the towns and villages were closed (except cook-shops and tea-houses), and the inhabitants, clad in their holiday clothes, knelt on mats spread in front of their houses; not a sound was heard, nor a gesture indicative of curiosity seen; all was respectful silence. The people were ordered to cast down their eyes as I passed, as I was too high even to be looked at; but this order was only partially obeyed, for the dear daughters of Eve would have a peep, regardless of consequences. The authorities of the towns and villages met me at their boundaries, and saluted me by kneeling and ‘knocking head’; they then led the way through their little jurisdictions, and took leave by similar prostrations. “On Monday, the 30th of November, I made my entry into Yedo. My followers put on their kamishimo, or dresses of ceremony, decorated with any quantity of eagles. “I should not have known when I passed the line which separates Shinagawa from Yedo, had the spot not been pointed out to me, as the houses form a continuous street for some miles before you reach the actual boundary of the city. From the gate by which I entered the city to my quarters was about seven miles. The streets of Yedo are divided into sections of one hundred and twenty yards, by gates and palisades of strong timber. This enables the police to isolate any portion of the city, or any line running through it, and thus prevent the assembling of crowds or mobs. When we approached a gate, it was opened, and as soon as the rear had passed through, it was closed. The gates of all the cross streets were also kept closed. I could see immense crowds beyond the gates, but the people on our actual line of march were those only that occupied the buildings on the route. Notwithstanding all this, the number that assembled was prodigious. The centre of the way was kept clear, and the crowd kept back by ropes stretched along each side of the street. The assemblage was composed of men, women, and children, of all ranks and conditions—the women being the larger number. I estimated the two lines of people that extended along the way, from my entrance into the city to the place provided for my residence, to have been full three hundred thousand. Yet in all this vast concourse I did not hear a word, except the constant cry of the harbingers, _Sátu, sátu!_[?]. “You may think it impossible that silence could have been maintained among so large a number of women, but I assure you it was so.