How thankful he must have felt when it was over!
The proceedings in the pavilion being now at an end, the Mikado walked
down the middle of the assembly, followed by all his Ministers in
single file, on his way to the luncheon tent. After they had gone, we
inspected the imperial railway carriage, the soldiers, guns, &c., and
just as we were leaving the station yard, to look at the daylight
fireworks they were letting off in honour of the occasion, a salute
announced the departure of the Mikado for Kioto.
We lunched at the Consulate, our gentlemen changed to more comfortable
attire, and then we went to see a Buddhist temple, supposed to be
rather a fine specimen of woodwork. It is specially curious on account
of some monkeys and a white horse, each kept in a sort of side shrine.
Every worshipper at the temple stopped before these shrines, and for a
small coin bought rice or beans to feed them with, through the priest.
Whether it was an act of worship, or simply of kindness, I could not
discover, though I paid several visits to the spot during our stay at
Kobe.
From the temple we went to the shops in the main street of Hiogo, and
full of interest and temptation we found them. The town itself is
quite Japanese, and consists, as usual, of wooden houses, narrow
streets, and quaint shops.
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