That, however, was not our affair; we had nothing to conceal, for the Tycoon’s Government knew perfectly well what was the object of our visit, and that we should do all in our power to bring about the opening of Nanao to foreign trade. The Kaga people used the old arguments. They were perfectly ready to admit foreign trade, but they could not agree to their harbour being made anything more than an anchorage where goods might be landed; the rest would follow—but they repeated that they were in deadly fear lest the Tycoon should make an attempt to seize it. By the time the envoy left we had become excellent friends, and Satow had made arrangements for carrying on communications with Kanazawa from Yedo. A great point gained, for as I have said, the clan was one to be held in reckoning. Satow even went so far as to offer to take two Kaga men as pupils; two of the clan, we heard, were already studying in England. As soon as our official interview was over we set out to see the town, a huge place, hilly and picturesquely planted, of which the size had not been exaggerated. It was said to hold 500,000 inhabitants. We found some excellent shops where silks and lacquer and fans (for which the town is famous, the sticks being the special secret of a family called Suba) were to be had at exorbitant prices; but I managed to secure a very ancient piece of lacquer, one of the three or four best specimens that ever came in my way, and one or two other treasures. Kutani (“The nine valleys”) is close to Kanazawa, and as a matter of course we had to buy a few specimens of the curious red ware for which it is famous. We also found some capital book-shops. The civility and kindness of all the people whom we met was beyond praise. In the evening we received a message from the _machi-bugiyo_, the Governor of the city, begging us to prolong our stay and to make some excursions in the neighbouring country. The invitation was so pressing that we could not well refuse, and so on the following day, after a morning of shopping at prices enhanced by the intermediary of the inn servants, who could not resist the temptation of a small squeeze, we started on horseback for Kanaiwa, an open roadstead about four miles off. Our saddles, of European fashion, made of paper in imitation of leather, and the bridles, were something that must be seen to be believed. The unshod ponies were as bad as usual, but Japan is not a horsey country.