We spend a happy afternoon in the curio shops, at Messrs. Kühn and Messrs. Welsh, whom we consider have the best things, and then visit, with Mr. Hall, a nursery garden on the Bluff, for we think of having one of those prim little Japanese gardens at home.
The next morning we leave Yokohama, and make an expedition to Kamakura, a pretty seaside village, to see the great Diabutsu. The approach to the Buddha is through a gateway which bears the following beautiful inscription,--
Kotoku Monastery: "Stranger, whosoever thou art, and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary, remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages.
"This is the Temple of Buddha, and the gate of the Eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence.--By order of the Prior."
And with this grand exhortation in our ears we pass into the quiet garden, with its avenue of cherry and plum trees, lying under the hills in the sunshine, a perfect stillness all around, and where we see the half-opened eyes of the colossal Buddha bent forward, as if in passive contemplation of this quiet scene. There under the stars, amid storm and wind, mist or tropical sun, he has sat for ages, apathetic, but not unconscious. The hands lie on his crossed knees, the thumbs meeting at the finger-tips, and forming two complete circles.
The Diabutsu is cast in bronze. Time and weather, the stress of the elements, have mellowed the bronze to the most beautiful grey blue, streaked with pale green. To appreciate his solemn grandeur, you must visit him again and again, and each time he is more impressive than the last. It is quite impossible to grasp the colossal proportions, but these are the exact measurements:--Height, 49ft. 7in., length of face, 8ft. 5in., width from ear to ear, 17ft. 9in. The round boss on the forehead, which appears like a tiny white spot, is really 1ft. 3in. The length of eye and the elevated eyebrows about 4ft., of the lobe-distended ears 6ft. 6in., and of the nose, with its wide-opened nostrils, 3ft. 9in. The eyes are of pure gold, and the boss is of silver weighing 30lbs. Inside, in the hollow of the image, there is a shrine, and from the gloom of the neck of the Diabutsu stands out in relief a small golden image. The chanting of the priest below, whose rhythmic tones ascend muffled to us inside the image, mingling with the incense of the burning joss sticks, impresses us with a religious melancholy, when we reflect on the ideal religion set before them by this great teacher, and the utter indifference, even to outward forms of worship, manifested by this people.