The Decorative Japanese

Gardens excepted, there are no ontward maui;stations of the old poetry of Japanese life ro remarkable as those snmmer bouses occupying all the picturesque sites of the country. Wherever there is a view worth going to see yon will alraoat certainly flnd a summer house built to commaud it, no matter how wild or poor the district. You will flnd suinmer houses clingiDg to sea cliffs over the thunder of breakers, nestling in shadows of gorges over the roaring of rapids, strutted out over the precipice fronts like eagles' nests at the verge of dead craters, for in Japan there will always be summer guests wherever there is summer beauty, travelers happy to please their eyes and rest their feet and to leave some coppers in paymeut for the privilege of the visión and the repose. The summer house at which I am now staying is typioal of the class, a skeletou structure of two stories, simply and strongly built after the manner of peasants' dwellings and at a cost of perhaps $60. Tirnber is cheap here. On the other side of Japan such a building could not be put up for $300. It stands on the edge of a lofty cliff and overlooks a little bay near ancient Moinoseki. From ground floor to roof it is open ou three sides, and on the seaward side shelter from the sun and wind is given by trees rooted in the cliff below, bnt towering far above the eaves - enormous pines, with branches many feet iu girth. Betweeu the zigzags of those niigbty limbs there are glimpses of the sea and flshiiig sails (canvas or straw) flittiug like white or yellow butterflies, and the far pale thread line of the Hoki coast, and Diasen's cone thrnsting into the clear sky like some prodigious blue crystal, or, looking directly down over the needie foliage of younger pines, you see the wimpling of the bay aud bathers laughing among the rocks, and children playiug with seaweed and shells. You view the world as a flshhawk views it. thongh I presume with vastly different sensations. After a swim it is delightful to sleep here, the sharp, sweet sea wind iu your hair. You are furnished with a bathiug dress, sandals, a big straw hat of curious shape to keep off the sun, barley tea and cakes, a smoking box aud a pillow, and the price per day of this entertainment is - 8 cents! The guest is expected to bring his own food with hini and to provide himself