The characters in "The Boy Travellers" are fictitious; but the scenes that passed before their eyes, the people they met, and the incidents and accidents that befell them are real. The routes they travelled, the cities they visited, the excursions they made, the observations they recorded—in fact, nearly all that goes to make up this volume—were the actual experiences of the author at a very recent date. In a few instances I have used information obtained from others, but only after careful investigation has convinced me of its entire correctness. I have aimed to give a faithful picture of Japan and China as they appear to-day, and to make such comparisons with the past that the reader can easily comprehend the changes that have occurred in the last twenty years. And I have also endeavored to convey the information in such a way that the story shall not be considered tedious. Miss Effie and "The Mystery" may seem superfluous to some readers, but I am of opinion that the majority of those who peruse the book will not consider them unnecessary to the narrative.

In preparing illustrations for this volume the publishers have kindly allowed me to make use of some engravings that have already appeared in their publications relative to China and Japan. I have made selections from the volumes of Sir Rutherford Alcock and the Rev. Justus Doolittle, and also from the excellent work of Professor Griffis, "The Mikado's Empire." In the episode of a whaling voyage I have been under obligations to the graphic narrative of Mr. Davis entitled "Nimrod of the Sea," not only for illustrations, but for incidents of the chase of the monsters of the deep.

The author is not aware that any book describing China and Japan, and specially addressed to the young, has yet appeared. Consequently he is led to hope that his work will find a welcome among the boys and girls of America. And when the juvenile members of the family have completed its perusal, the children of a larger growth may possibly find the volume not without interest, and may glean from its pages some grains of information hitherto unknown to them.

T. W. K.
New York, October, 1879.

CONTENTS.

[CHAPTER I. The Departure.]
[CHAPTER II. Overland to California.]
[CHAPTER III. On the Pacific Ocean.]
[CHAPTER IV. Incidents of a Whaling Voyage.]
[CHAPTER V. Arrival in Japan.]
[CHAPTER VI. First Day in Japan.]
[CHAPTER VII. From Yokohama to Tokio.]
[CHAPTER VIII. Sights in the Eastern Capital of Japan.]
[CHAPTER IX. Asakusa and Yuyeno.—First National Fair at Tokio.]
[CHAPTER X. Walks and Talks in Tokio.]
[CHAPTER XI. An Excursion to Dai-Boots and Enoshima.]
[CHAPTER XII. Sights at Enoshima.]
[CHAPTER XIII. On the Road to Fusiyama.]
[CHAPTER XIV. The Ascent of Fusiyama.]
[CHAPTER XV. Executions and Hari-Kari.]
[CHAPTER XVI. Amusements.—Wrestlers and Theatrical Entertainments.]
[CHAPTER XVII. A Study of Japanese Art.]
[CHAPTER XVIII. Something about Japanese Women.]
[CHAPTER XIX. From Yokohama to Kobe and Osaka.]
[CHAPTER XX. The Mint at Osaka.—From Osaka to Nara and Kioto.]
[CHAPTER XXI. Kioto and Lake Biwa.]
[CHAPTER XXII. The Inland Sea and Nagasaki.—Caught in a Typhoon.]
[CHAPTER XXIII. First Day in China.]
[CHAPTER XXIV. A Voyage up the Yang-tse-kiang.]
[CHAPTER XXV. The Tae-ping Rebellion.—Scenes on the Great River.]
[CHAPTER XXVI. From Shanghai to Pekin.]
[CHAPTER XXVII. Sights in Pekin.]
[CHAPTER XXVIII. A Journey to the Great Wall of China.]
[CHAPTER XXIX. From Shanghai to Hong-kong.—A Story of the Coolie Trade.]
[CHAPTER XXX. Hong-kong and Canton.]
[CHAPTER XXXI. Sights and Scenes in Canton.]

ILLUSTRATIONS.

[A Japanese Swimming-scene. Reproduced from a Painting by a Japanese Artist]
[Mr. Bassett has Decided]
[Mary]
[Mary Thinking what she would Like from Japan]
[Overland by Stage in the Olden Time]
[Overland by Rail in a Pullman Car]
[Cooking-range in the Olden Time]
[Cooking range on a Pullman Car]
[Change for a Dollar—Before and After]
[Kathleen's Expectations for Frank and Fred]
[Effie Waiting for Somebody]
[Good-bye]
[Watering-place on the Erie Railway]
[The Course of Empire]
[Valley of the Neversink]
[Starucca Viaduct]
[Niagara Falls, from the American Side]
[Entrance to the Cave of the Winds]
[From Chicago to San Francisco]
[Omaha]
[Attacked by Indians]
[Herd of Buffaloes Moving]
[An Old Settler]
["End of Track"]
[Snow-sheds on the Pacific Railway]
[View at Cape Horn, Central Pacific Railway]
[Seal-rocks, San Francisco]
[Departure from San Francisco]
[Dropping the Pilot]
[The Golden Gate]
[In the Fire-room]
[The Engineer at his Post]
[The Wind Rising]
[Spouts]
[Whale-ship Outward Bound]
[Captain Spofford Telling his Story]
[New Bedford]
[Sperm-whale]
["There she blows!"]
[Implements Used in Whaling]
[Whale "Breaching"]
[In the Whale's Jaw]
[Captain Hunting's Fight]
[A Game Fellow]
[A Free Ride]
[Captain Sammis Selling Out]
[Shooting at a Water-spout]
[Frank Studying Navigation]
[Working up a Reckoning]
[View in the Bay of Yeddo]
[Japanese Junk and Boats]
[A Japanese Imperial Barge]
[Japanese Government Boat]
[Yokohama in 1854]
[A Japanese Street Scene]
[Japanese Musicians]
[Japanese Fishermen]
["Sayonara"]
[Japanese Silk-shop]
[Seven-stroke Horse]
[Female Head-dress]
[The Siesta]
[A Japanese at his Toilet for a Visit of Ceremony]
[A Japanese Breakfast]
[Mutsuhito, Mikado of Japan]
[Landing of Perry's Expedition]
[The Last Shogoon of Japan]
[Third-class Passengers]
[Japanese Ploughing]
[Japanese Roller]
[Manuring Process]
[How they Use Manure]
[Mode of Protecting Land from Birds]
[Storks, Drawn by a Native Artist]
[Flock of Geese]
[Forts of Shinagawa]
[A Jin-riki-sha]
[Japanese on Foot]
[An Express Runner]
[A Japanese Coolie]
[Pity for the Blind]
[View of Tokio, from the South]
[Japanese Lady Coming from the Bath]
[Fire-lookouts in Tokio]
[Too Much Sa-kee]
[Sakuradu Avenue in Tokio]
[Japanese Children at Play]
[The Feast of Dolls ("Hina Matsuri") in a Japanese House]
[A Barber at Work]
[A Transaction in Clothes]
[Ball-playing in Japan]
[Sport at Asakusa]
[Spire of a Pagoda]
[Belfry in Court-yard of Temple, showing the Style of a Japanese Roof]
[Shrine of the Goddess Ku-wanon]
[Praying-machine]
[Archery Attendant]
[A Japanese Flower-show. Night Scene]
[A Christening in Japan]
[A Wedding Party]
[Strolling Singers at Asakusa]
[View from Suruga Dai in Tokio]
[A Child's Nurse]
[Lovers Behind a Screen. A Painting on Silk Exhibited at the Tokio Fair]
[Blacksmith's Bellows]
[A Grass Overcoat]
[A High-priest in Full Costume]
[A Japanese Temple]
[A Wayside Shrine]
[The Great Kosatsu, near the Nihon Basin]
[Blowing Bubbles]
[Father and Children]
[Caught in the Rain]
[A Village on the Tokaido]
[A Party on the Tokaido]
[Beginning of Relations between England and Japan]
[Pilgrims on the Road]
[Threshing Grain]
[Peasant and his Wife Returning from the Field]
[A Japanese Sandal]
[The Great Dai-Boots]
[Salutation of the Landlord]
[The Head Waiter Receiving Orders]
[A Japanese Kitchen]
[Boiling the Pot]
[Frank's Inventory]
[How the Japanese Sleep]
[A Japanese Fishing Scene]
["Breakfast is Ready"]
[Interior of a Tea-garden]
[The Path in Enoshima]
[A Group of Japanese Ladies]
[Specimen of Grotesque Drawing by a Japanese Artist]
[Bettos, or "Grooms," in Full Dress]
[A Japanese Loom]
[Artists at Work]
[Coopers Hooping a Vat]
[Crossing the River]
[Mother and Son]
[A Fishing Party]
[The Man they Met]
[Travelling by Cango]
[Japanese Norimon]
[Frank's Position]
[Hot Bath in the Mountains]
[A Japanese Bath]
[The Lake of Hakone]
[Antics of the Horses]
[A Near View of Fusiyama]
[In a Storm near Fusiyama]
[Ascent of Fusiyama]
[The Four Classes of Society]
[Two-sworded Nobles]
[A Samurai in Winter Dress]
[Beheading a Criminal]
[Japanese Court in the Old Style]
[Japanese Naval Officer]
[Japanese Steam Corvette]
[A Japanese War-junk of the Olden Time]
[A Japanese Wrestler]
[A Pair of Wrestlers and their Manager]
[The Clinch]
[Japanese Actor Dressed as a Doctor]
[The Samisen]
[Playing the Samisen]
[Scene from a Japanese Comedy.—Writing a Letter of Divorce]
[Scene from a Japanese Comedy.—Love-letter Discovered]
[Telling the Story of Bumbuku Chagama]
[Frank's Purchase]
[Japanese Pattern-designer]
[Fan-makers at Work]
[Chinese Cloisonné on Metal]
[Japanese Cloisonné on Metal]
[Japanese Bowl]
[Cover of Japanese Bowl]
[Chinese Metal Vase]
[Modern Japanese Cloisonné on Metal]
[Japanese Metal Cloisonné]
[Chinese Porcelain Cloisonné]
[Group Carved in Ivory]
[Japanese Pipe, Case, and Pouch]
[Japanese Artist Chasing on Copper]
[A Japanese Village.—Bamboo Poles Ready for Market]
[A Japanese Lady's-maid]
[Bride and Bridesmaid]
[Merchant's Family]
[Mysteries of the Dressing-room]
[Lady in Winter Walking-dress]
[A Girl who had never Seen a Dressing-pin]
[Ladies' Hair-dresser]
[Ladies at their Toilet]
[Japanese Ladies on a Picnic]
[Ladies and Children at Play]
[Flying Kites]
[A Village in the Tea District]
[Tea-merchants in the Interior]
[The Tea-plant]
[Firing Tea]
[Hiogo (Kobe)]
[The Junk at Anchor]
[The Helmsman at his Post]
[Japanese Sailors at Dinner]
[Junk Sailors on Duty]
[View from the Hotel]
[The Castle of Osaka]
[Vignette from the National Bank-notes]
[Imperial Crest for Palace Affairs]
[Imperial Crest on the New Coins]
[Old Kinsat, or Money-card]
[Ichi-boo]
[Vignette from Bank-note]
[Vignette from Bank-note]
[Men Towing Boats near Osaka]
[Mode of Holding the Tow-ropes]
[The Ferry-boat]
[The Hotel-maid]
[A Japanese Landscape]
[Dikes along the River]
[Night Scene near Fushimi]
[Women of Kioto]
[Ladies of the Western Capital]
[Restaurant and Tea-garden at Kioto]
[An Artist at Work]
[Lantern-maker at Kioto]
[A Japanese Archer]
[Temple Bell at Kioto]
[Reeling Cotton]
[Japanese Temple and Cemetery]
[Handcart for a Quartette]
[Horse Carrying Liquid Manure]
[The Paternal Nurse]
[Picnic Booth Overlooking Lake Biwa]
[A Maker of Bows]
[The Inland Sea near Hiogo]
[Approaching Simoneseki]
[Dangerous Place on the Suwo Nada]
[Pappenberg Island]
[Women of Nagasaki]
[A Christian Village in the Sixteenth Century]
[Monuments in Memory of Martyrs]
[A Path near Nagasaki]
[Hollander at Deshima Watching for a Ship]
[The Rain Dragon]
[The Wind Dragon]
[The Thunder Dragon]
[A Typhoon]
[Course of a Typhoon]
[Caught near the Storm's Centre]
[The Woosung River]
[Chinese Trading-junk on the Woosung River]
[Shanghai]
[A Coolie in the Streets of Shanghai]
[A Tea-house in the Country]
[Smoking Opium]
[Opium-pipe]
[Man Blinded by the Use of Opium]
[Chinese Gentleman in a Sedan]
[Canal Scene South of Shanghai]
[A Chinese Family Party]
[A Gentleman of Chin-kiang]
[Chinese Spectacles]
[Ploughing with a Buffalo]
[Threshing Grain near Chin-kiang]
[Carrying Bundles of Grain]
[A River Scene in China]
[A Nine-storied Pagoda]
[Little Orphan Rock]
[Entrance to Po-yang Lake]
[Tae-ping Rebels]
[General Ward]
[The Gate which Ward Attacked]
[General Burgevine]
[Fishing with Cormorants]
[A Street in Han-kow]
[Wo-chang]
[The Governor-general and his Staff]
[Attack on the Pei-ho Forts]
[Temple of the Sea-god at Taku]
[A Chinese Beggar]
[Signing the Treaty of Tien-tsin]
[Mode of Irrigating Fields]
[The Doctor's Bedroom]
[Part of the Wall of Pekin]
[A Pekin Cab]
[A Composite Team]
[A Chinese Dragon]
[A Pavilion in the Prohibited City]
[Temple of Heaven]
[Pekin Cash]
[Traditional Likeness of Confucius]
[God of War]
[God of Literature]
[God of Thieves]
[A Mandarin Judge Delivering Sentence]
[Squeezing the Fingers]
[Squeezing the Ankles]
[A Bed of Torture]
[Four Modes of Punishment]
[Standing in a Cage]
[Hot-water Snake]
[Carrying Forth to the Place of Execution]
[Just Before Decapitation]
[Military Candidates Competing with the Bow and Arrow]
[Walking on Stilts]
[Juggler Spinning a Plate]
[Gambling with a Revolving Pointer]
[Fortune-telling by Means of a Bird and Slips of Paper]
[Fortune-telling by Dissecting Chinese Characters]
[Chinese Razor]
[Barber Shaving the Head of a Customer]
[Bridge of the Cloudy Hills]
[The God of the Kitchen]
[A Lama]
[The Hills near Chan-kia-kow]
[Specimen of Chinese Writing]
[Four Illustrations of the Chinese Version of "Excelsior"]
[Barracoons at Macao]
[Coolies Embarking at Macao]
[Enraged Coolie]
[A Deadly Fall]
[Firing Down the Hatchway]
[The Writing in Blood]
[The Interpreters]
[Hong-kong]
[Fac-simile of a Hong-kong Mille, Dime, and Cent]
[Fort in Canton River]
[Gateway of Temple near Canton]
[Street Scene in Canton]
[Five-storied Pagoda]
[Horseshoe or Omega Grave]
[Presenting Food to the Spirits of the Dead]
[A Leper]
[A Literary Student]
[A Literary Graduate in his Robes of Honor]
[A Sedan-chair with Four Bearers]
[A Small Foot with a Shoe on it]
[Peasant-woman with Natural Feet]
[A Tablet Carved in Ivory]
["Good-bye!"]