Page:Eliza Scidmore--Jinrikisha days in Japan.djvu/340

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Jinrikisha Days in Japan

mildewed odor that belongs to so many things Japanese, and is so inevitable in the rainy season. From all the foliage mosquitoes swarmed by myriads, and a candle-flame attracted winged things that only an entomologist could name; insects so small and light that one breathed them; gorgeous golden-green beetles, rivalling their Brazilian congeners; and huge black stag-horn beetles that dealt one a sharp blow with the force of their coming. At night, too, the domestic rat asserted itself, and this pest and disturber of tea-house life ran riot in the empty chamber between the beautiful wooden ceilings

IN THE TEA-HOUSE

324