I. L. B.



LETTER III



Yedo and Tokiyo--The Yokohama Railroad--The Effect of Misfits--The
Plain of Yedo--Personal Peculiarities--First Impressions of Tokiyo-
-H. B. M.'s Legation--An English Home.

H.B.M.'s LEGATION, YEDO, May 24.

I have dated my letter Yedo, according to the usage of the British
Legation, but popularly the new name of Tokiyo, or Eastern Capital,
is used, Kiyoto, the Mikado's former residence, having received the
name of Saikio, or Western Capital, though it has now no claim to
be regarded as a capital at all. Yedo belongs to the old regime
and the Shogunate, Tokiyo to the new regime and the Restoration,
with their history of ten years. It would seem an incongruity to
travel to Yedo by railway, but quite proper when the destination is
Tokiyo.

The journey between the two cities is performed in an hour by an
admirable, well-metalled, double-track railroad, 18 miles long,
with iron bridges, neat stations, and substantial roomy termini,
built by English engineers at a cost known only to Government, and
opened by the Mikado in 1872. The Yokohama station is a handsome