with handsome houses, &c.  We passed over the first moat, and rode up to the second.  When we came up to the second we discovered a spectacle which was really very grand.  The moat was some forty or fifty yards wide; beyond it a high bank of grass nicely kept, with trees rather like yews every here and there dropped upon it.  The crest of the bank seemed to be crowned by a temple, surrounded by trees.  The stone wall was on a grand scale, and well finished.  In short, the whole thing would have been considered magnificent anywhere.  After China, where everything is mesquin, and apparently en decadence, it produces a great effect.  I did not see a single beggar in the streets; and as in this ride of yesterday we took our own way, without giving any notice, we must have seen the streets in their usual guise.

My poor, dear friends, the Japanese, object to everything and always give way.[1] It is a bad plan, because it forces one to be very peremptory and overbearing.  Nothing can be milder than their objections, but they lose time.  I have told them that I must see the Foreign Minister to-day, and that I must have another house, as the situation of this one is not sufficiently aristocratic.  I do not know, however, whether I shall press the latter point, as it will put myself to much inconvenience.

August 19th.—­In the evening, I visited the Foreign Minister, or rather, the two Foreign Ministers (I believe there are three, but one is unwell).  I took my whole staff, but only my secretary and interpreter remained in the room when we came to talk of business.  There has been a change of Government, and the present Foreign Secretaries seem stupid enough.  The Government seems to be a sort of oligarchy in the hands of the hereditary princes.  Count Putiatine, who has just been with me, tells me that he does not consider the officers, with whom we are negotiating, princes at all.  They have the title of Kami, but it is not hereditary, and they are altogether inferior to the others.  Both have the title of Kami, but the hereditary princes are also called Daimios.

[Sidenote:  Conference.] [Sidenote:  A country ride.]

August 21st.—­On the 19th, the Plenipotentiaries appointed to treat with me came.  They are six in number.  We exchanged our full powers, and I made some difficulty about theirs, but was satisfied by their explanations.  After the seance, I went out riding through the streets.  I had not given notice, and we went through a densely peopled quarter, which gave me an opportunity of seeing something of the popular feeling.  We were followed by immense crowds, among whom some boys took to hooting, and by degrees to throwing stones.  This got rather disagreeable, so at length we took to stopping at the gates, turning right about, and facing the mob with our horses, until the gates were shut.  It proves to me, however, that it is not prudent to