' It is an extinct crater, of the most perfect form, rising
abruptly from a chain of very low mountains, so that it stands in
unrivalled magnificence. This morning covered with the fresh-fallen
snow, there was not a spot nor a fleck to be seen upon it, from top to
bottom. It is said to be the youngest mountain in the world, the
enormous mass having been thrown up in the course of a few days only
862 years B.C.
We reached the entrance to the Gulf of Yeddo about nine o'clock, and
passed between its shores through hundreds of junks and fishing boats.
I never saw anything like it before. The water was simply covered with
them; and at a distance it looked as though it would be impossible to
force a passage. As it was, we could not proceed very fast, so
constantly were the orders to 'slow,' 'stop,' 'port,' 'starboard,'
given; and I began at last to fear that it would be impossible to
reach Yokohama without running down at least one boat.
The shores of the gulf, on each side, consist of sharp-cut little
hills, covered with pines and cryptomerias, and dotted with temples
and villages. Every detail of the scene exactly resembled the
Japanese pictures one is accustomed to see in England; and it was easy
to imagine that we were only gazing upon a slowly moving panorama,
unrolling itself before us.
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