19

a big tray on legs which serves for a table.
This particular dinner consisted of soup
with a strange seaweed cut up and a slice of
fish floating about. It was clear but tasteless.
As chop sticks were all that was provided we
did not feel sure if it was proper to drink
your soup and to fish many bits was hard
work. Beside the soup 2 plates, one contained
a small square of fried fish, a very large prawn,
a pickled plum and a slab of white-looking mixture
which I was told was pounded porpoise.
The other plate had a bit of raw fish 2 pickles a mushroom
and 3 squares of a sweet paste, a cup of saki &
a bottle of saki between every 2 persons. We tried
to enjoy it but I fancy everyone was glad to
go home. Milly was so white I took her away
and after I had got her to bed, found all
the party having supper. The giesha
party were Mr Hartshorne, Dr. and Mrs. Chill,
Mr. and Mrs. Carleton, Mr. and Mrs. [?] and son
with ourselves. The music was very poor
just a twanging on some strange sort of banjo.
The people have no ear for music and
so the singing gave pain not pleasure.
The dancing consists of dresses and moving
the arms about weaving a sort of -------.