Very early in the morning, after my long talk with the Kocho of
Kanayama, Ito wakened me by saying, "You'll be able for a long
day's journey to-day, as you had a chicken yesterday," and under
this chicken's marvellous influence we got away at 6.45, only to
verify the proverb, "The more haste the worse speed." Unsolicited
by me the Kocho sent round the village to forbid the people from
assembling, so I got away in peace with a pack-horse and one
runner. It was a terrible road, with two severe mountain-passes to
cross, and I not only had to walk nearly the whole way, but to help
the man with the kuruma up some of the steepest places. Halting at
the exquisitely situated village of Nosoki, we got one horse, and
walked by a mountain road along the head-waters of the Omono to
Innai. I wish I could convey to you any idea of the beauty and
wildness of that mountain route, of the surprises on the way, of
views, of the violent deluges of rain which turned rivulets into
torrents, and of the hardships and difficulties of the day; the
scanty fare of sun-dried rice dough and sour yellow rasps, and the
depth of the mire through which we waded! We crossed the Shione
and Sakatsu passes, and in twelve hours accomplished fifteen miles!
Everywhere we were told that we should never get through the
country by the way we are going.

The women still wear trousers, but with a long garment tucked into
them instead of a short one, and the men wear a cotton combination
of breastplate and apron, either without anything else, or over
their kimonos. The descent to Innai under an avenue of
cryptomeria, and the village itself, shut in with the rushing
Omono, are very beautiful.

The yadoya at Innai was a remarkably cheerful one, but my room was