THERE are few Japanese dwellings of the middle class which have not .their little . private gardens, quiet retreats for sleep, for reading, fishing in the tanks, or indulging in libations of tea and saki. The chains of hills which traverse the quarters to the south and west are remarkably rich in rocks, little glens, grottoes, springs. and ponds, which the small proprietors combine in the most ingenious manner, so as to give the features of a varied landscape in a limited space. When there is an entrance from the garden to the street, a rustic bridge is thrown over the canal before the portal, which is carefully concealed under spreading trees or thick shrubbery. We have hardly crossed the threshold, when we find ourselves apparently in a wild forest, far from all habitation. Masses of rock, carelessly disposed in the manner of a staircase, invite us to ascend, and from the summit a charming view is suddenly spread out below. An amphitheatre of leaves and flowers incloses a picturesque pond of water, bordered with lotus, iris, and water lilies; a light wooden bridge is thrown across it; the path, which descends to the latter, passes by windings through clumps of bamboos, azaleas, dwarf palms and camellias, then by groves of small pines and slopes of turf or flowers.