Diary

Milly got my cheque so took my trunk with her. After we had tea, Ronald started off with hers & the keys to join her. We will go & see about one cabinet in the morning. We take Miss Holmes as a guide but I am not sure how it will answer. After dinner, George and I went to call upon her & tell her we were ready to start st 4 p.m. tomorrow, We thought we could find our way back but the Bluffs proved very confusing & it took us nearly an hour & a half to return to our hotel. We never met a single European and walked quite a long way. After looking at cabinets we think it better to see what we will find in Tokio. Got some letters for Mrs. Chill.

Monday Nov. 1 - We wondered about but did see anything we were very much charmed with. Captain Brown came in & lunched with us. Assorted some of my Trunks. Miss Holmes came in good time but I fear she is not quite what we needed. She let George carry her bag & did offer to about tickets or luggage - too fine a lady.

[Nov.1 in left margin] Arrived at Tokio about 5:45 p.m. an hour from Yokohamma. This seems to be a flat place, long streets low buildings & not well lighted. Smells on every side. I should not care to stay very long. Found Milly quite used up. She & Ronald had lost their way & she over walked herself & was a white as a sheet. The Hotel Metropole was at one time the French Legation. It was very full so they made us up a bed in the second diningrooms. We found Dr. & Mrs. Chill, Mr. & Miss Hartshorne , Mr. & Mrs Carlington from the Empress all the people are very civil but the Hotel food is poor, not [Nov 2 in left margin] enough variety. We visited a very strange temple in the morning in the Ueno Park at one shrine were offerings of hair cut off in long strands. You said yr prayer, offered yr hair the gods prevented any more hair falling from your head; this temple, reminded me of the temple we read of, where Jesus turned the money changers out & said it was a den of thieves. The temple is called the Thousand Handed Kwannon Immense stone lanterns are always found near these temples Also had some bronze ones all much alike.

[in margin] Nov 2nd In the afternoon Milly was not well so laid down & we George and I called on Mrs. [Aitchi???] & her daughter at cottage in the American legation's grounds. Mrs. Hurd was very polite, but I fancy we will not see much of them. Steamer friendships are often short. We called upon Mrs. Brindley 3 as [asked?] We had a lot of trouble to find just where she lived as in Tokyo you can walk miles without meeting a single English speaking person. We at last found the house and in it the Father and Mother very plain people with no attempt at refined ideas the son is the most presentable & I fancy the daughter in law will soon get to be one of them. She had been to call upon us, but we will not see more of them altho she Mrs. Brindley was very sweet. We went to the Maple leaf Club to have a Geisha dinner at a regular tea house, each party here to order their dinner some hours before and pay a portion in advance say 5 yen. For a party of twelve - you sit on the floor beside a small charcoal fire. A mat is provided & after a long wait, yr dinner is brought in by the maids

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 -------.

Nov. 3 - A fine day. In the morning we made a very early start and go to the and see the tomb of the 47 Ronins and then in the afternoon which was the Mikado's birthday we went to the great chrysanthemum flower show. This shows what wonderful gardeners these people are. Figures of bamboo are made life size, representing favourite actors or better still a whole scene from a play is made of bamboo. The flower roots are then put inside the figure and the arms frills, trimmings and folds in the draperies are shown in different coloured chrysanthemums. We saw 2 scenes on a revolving stage. One had a horse, the other a dog all done in leaves and flowers. It is not pretty but represents much patience. The cut flowers were not as good as we have at home but the dirty crowds would spoil any place in the world. Hundreds of people. The distance here is very great and one is tired before you get to the sight you have in view. But worse than all are the smells. I shall be glad to get away. We will I think go back to Yokohama on Friday as we did not get our cards for the Imperial Gardens as we had hoped.