Excerpt from Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan, Vol. 2 of 2: In the Years 1857, '58, '59 The scenery on the opposite shore is of the same character, but on a grander scale. It trends away in a series of deep bays and beetling cliffs, upon the rugged base of which the waves wage an incessant war, and surge and moan fretfully in deep caves and fissures, as though lamenting their fruitless efforts to undermine them. In charming contrast with these sterner features are grassy slopes and rice fields rising in terraces on the green hill-sides, and shady groves with blue smoke curling above them, denoting the existence of snug hamlets. Securely moored in secluded creeks, or hauled up on little patches of sandy beach, are quaint-shaped native craft others are glancing about these calm inland waters, ferrying across from islands to the main passengers and cargo. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.