facing page 116, while in the Public Gardens there are lovely pink- and carmine-tipped ones, as shown facing page 212.
At this time of year, too, the flora of Fujiyama is more than beautiful, and most prodigal. Here we find all sorts of Alpine flowers, prominent among which is the lovely Actæa spicata with its raceme of white flowers, as well as a host of Anemones.
III. AUTUMN
“Faded the clover now, sere and withered the grasses;
What dreams the matsumushi in the desolate autumn fields?
Strangely sad, I thought, sounded the bell of evening;
Haply that tone proclaimed the night in which autumn dies!
Viewing the autumn moon, I dream of my native village.
Under the same soft light,—and the shadows about my home.”
Lafcadio Hearn
On invisible feet slips the stately autumn into summer’s place. Something has come to the air, a hint of change, some glory which cannot be defined into the sky and the leaves. Perhaps it has rained, and the languid, burning heat of the day before has now a sparkle in it; as hot, it may be, but alive, vivid. Perhaps it comes with a chill wind at evening, when faithful little Matsu, sent with coats and a lantern from the hotel to find us, is very welcome. Or it may be that at dawn one feels
