“Kiō, or Miyako, signifies in Japanese, a city. (Klaproth says, great temple or palace.) It lies in the province Yamato[16] in a large plain, and is, from north to south, three English miles long, and two broad from east to west, surrounded with pleasant green hills and mountains, from which arise numbers of small rivers and agreeable streams. The city comes nearest the mountains on the east side, where there are numerous temples, monasteries, chapels, and other religious buildings, standing in the ascent. Three shallow rivers enter, or run by it, on that side. The chief and largest comes out of the Lake Ōtsu;[17] the other two from the neighboring mountains. They come together about the middle of the city, where the united stream is crossed by a large bridge, two hundred paces long. The Dairi, with his family and court, resides on the north side of the city, in a particular part or ward, consisting of twelve or thirteen streets, separated from the rest by walls and ditches. In the western part of the town is a strong castle of freestone, built by one of the hereditary emperors, for the security of his person during the civil wars. At present it serves to lodge the Kubō, or actual monarch, when he comes to visit the Dairi. It is upwards of a thousand feet long where longest; a deep ditch, filled with water, and walled in, surrounds it, and is enclosed itself by a broad empty space, or dry ditch. In the middle of this castle there is, as usual, a square tower, several stories high. In the ditch are kept a particular sort of delicious carps, some of which were presented this evening to our interpreter. A small garrison guards the castle, under the command of a captain. “The streets of Miyako are narrow, but all regular, running some south, some east. Being at one end of a great street, it is impossible to reach the other with the eye, because of their extraordinary length, the dust, and the multitude of people. The houses are, generally speaking, narrow, only two stories high, built of wood, lime, and clay, according to the country fashion.