human
Between Japan and Mantchooria is the great peninsula of Corea, remarkable for the coldness of its climate, although in the latitude of Italy. We are told that in the northern parts snow falls in so large quantities as to render it necessary to dig passages under it in order to go from one house to another. It is supposed that the surface of this country being so extremely mountainous is the cause of this curious climate. There are numbers of ponies here not more than three feet high!
gpt
Oh what sweet creatures! how very much I would like to have one; actually not larger than a dog: how very pretty they must be.
human
Around the three great islands of Japan, I observe countless numbers of little ones,--are they in any way connected with Japan?
gpt
Yes, my dear; they all belong to the kingdom of Japan.
human
And what sort of people are the Japanese?
gpt
Very similar in appearance to their neighbors, the Chinese, with a yellow complexion and small oblique eyes: there is this difference, however; their hair is thick and bushy, while the hair of the Chinese is cultivated in a long tail. A Japanese is certainly rather ludicrous, in both manners and appearance. His head half-shaved; the hair which is left accumulated on the crown of his head; his body wrapped (when travelling) in an enormous covering of oiled paper, and a large fan in his hand, he presents an extraordinary figure. These people are very particular concerning points of etiquette, and have many books written on the proper mode of taking a draught of water, how to give and receive presents, and all the other minutiae of behavior.
human
The Japanese have curious notions with regard to the life eternal. They believe that the souls of the virtuous have a place assigned to them immediately under heaven, while those of the wicked wander in the air until they expiate their offences.
gpt
I am very glad _that_ is not my creed, for I should not at all enjoy life with the continual idea of wicked spirits hovering in the air around me. They might as reasonably believe in ghosts.
human
In the Indian and China Seas, and in many other parts of the great tropical belt, the periodical winds called 'monsoons' are found. The south-west monsoon prevails from April to October, between the equator and the tropic of Cancer: and it reaches from the east coast of Africa to the coasts of India, China, and the Philippine Islands. Its influence extends sometimes into the Pacific Ocean, as far as the Marcian Isles, or to longitude about 145º east; and it reaches as far north as the Japan Islands. The north-east monsoon prevails from October to May, throughout nearly the same space, that the south-west monsoon prevails in during the former season. But the monsoons are subject to great obstructions by land; and in contracted places, such as Malacca Straits, they are changed into variable winds. Their limits are not everywhere the same; nor do they always shift exactly at the same period, but they are generally calculated upon about the times I have mentioned.
gpt
Mamma, are not trade-winds something like monsoons?
human
So far similar that they are confined to a certain region, and are tolerably regular in their operations. The trade-winds blow, more or less, from the eastern half of the compass to the western. Their chief region lies between the tropics from 23-1/2º north to 23-1/2º south latitude, although in some parts of the world they extend farther; but it is only in the open parts of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that the true trade-winds blow. These winds shift many degrees of latitude in the course of the year; but skilful navigators usually know where to catch them, and make them serviceable in helping to blow their richly laden vessels 'o'er the glad waters of the bright blue sea.'
gpt
Do you know the cause of these regular winds, papa? You say learned men try to discover _why_ such things are so, and generally find out _causes_ from their effects.