The Boy Travellers in the Far East [Part First]: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and ChinaKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East [Part First]: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China
Knox, Thomas Wallace
China -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Japan -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
The boys tried all possible positions in the cangos, in the hope of
finding some way that was comfortable. Frank finally settled down into
what he pronounced the least uncomfortable mode of riding, and Fred soon
followed his example. They had taken open cangos, so as to see as much
of the country as possible and have the advantage of whatever air was in
circulation; and but for the inconvenience to their lower limbs, they
would have found it capital fun. Frank doubled himself so that his feet
were as high as his head; he gave his hat into the care of the
conductor, and replaced it with a cloth covering, so that he looked not
much unlike a native. His bearers found him rather unwieldy, as he
frequently moved about, and thus disturbed the equilibrium of the load.
To ride properly in a cango or a norimon, one should not move a muscle
from the time he enters till he leaves the vehicle. This may do for the
phlegmatic Oriental, but is torture for a foreigner, and especially for
an American.
Doctor Bronson was a tall man, and could not fold himself with as much
facility as could the more supple youths. He rode a mile or so and then
got out and walked; and he continued thus to alternate as long as they
were travelling in this way. He was emphatic in declaring that the way
to ride in a cango and enjoy it thoroughly was to walk behind it, and
let somebody else take the inside of the vehicle.
Their journey brought them to Hakone, which has long been a favorite
summer resort of the Japanese, and of late years is much patronized by
foreigners. Those who can afford the time go there from Yokohama, Tokio,
and other open ports of Japan; and during July and August there is quite
a collection of English and Americans, and of other foreign
nationalities. The missionaries, who have been worn down and broken in
health by their exhaustive labors in the seaports during the winter,
find relief and recuperation at Hakone as the summer comes on. There
they gather new strength for their toils by breathing the pure air of
the mountains and climbing the rugged paths, and they have abundant
opportunities for doing good among the natives that reside there.
[Illustration: HOT BATH IN THE MOUNTAINS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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