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 all thought of the weather to the mind of the master of our ship. Even the men who were not accustomed to the sea became very sad, and still more the women, who rested their heads on the bottom of the ship and did nothing but weep. The sailors, however, seemed to think nothing of it, and sung the following boat-song.” Tsurayuki gives few lines of it, and then proceeds. “There was a great deal more of this kind of stuff, but I do not write it down. Listening to the laughter at these verses, our hearts became somewhat calmed in spite of the raging of the sea. It was quite dark when we at length reached our anchorage for the night.”

Three more days leisurely travelling brought them to Murotsu, a port just to the west of the eastern of the two horns which the island of Shikoku sends out to the southward. The morning after their arrival here, a slight but constant rain prevented them from starting, and the passengers took the opportunity to go on shore for a bath. In the entry for this day, Tsurayuki mentions a curious superstition. He tells us that since the day on which they first embarked no one wore scarlet or other rich colours or good silks lest they should incur the anger of the gods of the sea. The next day the rain continued. It was a Buddhist fast-day, and Tsurayuki kept it faithfully till noon, but as suitable food for fast-days was not obtainable on board, he bought with rice (not having any copper cash) a tai which one of the sailors had caught the day before. This was the beginning of a trade between him and the sailors, saké and rice being exchanged for fish. There was no change in the weather till the 17th, the fifth day from their arrival at Murotsu. On that day they started early in the morning with the moon then a few days past the full, shining over a waveless sea which reflected the sky so perfectly, that, as Tsurayoki said, the heaven above and the ocean beneath could not be distinguished. He composed the following stanza on this occasion.

“What is this that strikes against my oar as the boat