heard a good deal of whispering and shuffling, which continued for
some time, and, on looking up, saw opposite to me about 40 men,
women, and children (Ito says 100), all staring at me, with the
light upon their faces. They had silently removed three of the
shoji next the passage! I called Ito loudly, and clapped my hands,
but they did not stir till he came, and then they fled like a flock
of sheep. I have patiently, and even smilingly, borne all out-of-
doors crowding and curiosity, but this kind of intrusion is
unbearable; and I sent Ito to the police station, much against his
will, to beg the police to keep the people out of the house, as the
house-master was unable to do so. This morning, as I was finishing
dressing, a policeman appeared in my room, ostensibly to apologise
for the behaviour of the people, but in reality to have a
privileged stare at me, and, above all, at my stretcher and
mosquito net, from which he hardly took his eyes. Ito says he
could make a yen a day by showing them! The policeman said that
the people had never seen a foreigner.

I. L. B.



LETTER XXI



The Necessity of Firmness--Perplexing Misrepresentations--Gliding
with the Stream--Suburban Residences--The Kubota Hospital--A Formal
Reception--The Normal School.