with a shovel dug a grave for him in the steaming sand, then told him to lie in it. He lay down, but immediately jumped out with a howl of pain for the wet sand was almost boiling hot.
All the Japanese heads laughed at him and chattered to each other. He could imagine what they were saying, ‘These foreigners - they can’t stand much.’
The old woman cried shame upon him. She took him by the arm and pulled and pushed him down into the steaming grave and before he could leap out again she began to shovel sand over him. When a neat burial mound had been raised, and nothing remained visible but his red-hot face, she knocked the breath out of him by giving the mound a final whack with the flat of her shovel.
Roger was quite sure he could not stand the sizzling heat for more than five minutes. But by the time the others were buried his pain had merged into blissful comfort, he felt his muscles and nerves untying their knots and time became of no importance. For an hour they all lay stewing happily and were sorry at the end of that time to see the old woman coming with her shovel to dig them out.
‘And now to see the boiling lakes,’ said Dr Dan. ‘Beppu has a dozen of them. The Japanese call them
jigoku, which means hell. And when you see them you’ll think the name fits.’
The first was Blood Hell and it was something to remember. A small lake of blood-red water boiled and rolled, let out great gusts of steam, and threw up jets of red liquid to a great height. ‘Iron sulphide,’ explained Dr Dan. ‘Sometimes it spouts three hundred feet high. And, believe it or not, this bit of a lake is five hundred feet deep.’ He busied himself with his instruments and notes.
Then came Thunder Hell. This was a noisy one. It growled, grumbled, hissed and screamed. Sometimes in the past it had overflowed to bury people and houses under a scalding flood. To prevent it from doing this again, the Japanese had brought in two gods to watch it. On one side of it stood a statue of the Fire God, and on the other, the Wind God.
White Pond Hell was a vivid blue pool six hundred feet deep, continually bubbling with what Dr Dan said was natrium chloride.
A statue of a great dragon stood guard over Gold Dragon Hell. As if this were not enough to keep the waters under control, statues of Buddhist saints had been placed around the pool. The caretaker of the pool took the boys into his house where they saw his wife cooking by steam straight out of the earth.
The snouts of alligators and crocodiles poked up out of Devil’s Hell. The great reptiles were kept in this hot water to speed their growth. When they reached full size they would be shot and their skins used to make shoes and jackets.
In Sea Hell picnickers had let down a basket of eggs to boil them in the bubbling water.
Most curious of all was a boiling waterfall. Bathers stood under it with pained expressions on their faces and let the scalding water beat upon their shoulders and backs. This was believed to be a cure for rheumatism.
Not only humans liked the hot water, but animals as well. The boys were constantly tripping over snakes and toads that lived along the edges of the lakes, and monkeys swarmed on nearby Monkey Mountain. These monkeys were smart. They would come down to the bay, dive in, and catch fish in their hands. One had been taught to operate a small train that ran around a circular track. Dr Dan and the boys took a ride behind the monkey motorman.
It was nearly dark. ‘How about spending the night ashore?’ Dr Dan proposed. ‘Captain Ike and Omo will take care of the ship. Here’s an inn that looks attractive. Kobo, what does it say on that sign?’
The sign was in Japanese. ‘It says the name of this place is The-Inn-by-the-Well-by-the-Cedar-Tree.’
Here they spent the night. The rooms were clean, the food good, and the chief attraction was the great tiled bath full of crystal-clear hot water welling up out of the earth and continually running
All the Japanese heads laughed at him and chattered to each other. He could imagine what they were saying, ‘These foreigners - they can’t stand much.’
The old woman cried shame upon him. She took him by the arm and pulled and pushed him down into the steaming grave and before he could leap out again she began to shovel sand over him. When a neat burial mound had been raised, and nothing remained visible but his red-hot face, she knocked the breath out of him by giving the mound a final whack with the flat of her shovel.
Roger was quite sure he could not stand the sizzling heat for more than five minutes. But by the time the others were buried his pain had merged into blissful comfort, he felt his muscles and nerves untying their knots and time became of no importance. For an hour they all lay stewing happily and were sorry at the end of that time to see the old woman coming with her shovel to dig them out.
‘And now to see the boiling lakes,’ said Dr Dan. ‘Beppu has a dozen of them. The Japanese call them
jigoku, which means hell. And when you see them you’ll think the name fits.’
The first was Blood Hell and it was something to remember. A small lake of blood-red water boiled and rolled, let out great gusts of steam, and threw up jets of red liquid to a great height. ‘Iron sulphide,’ explained Dr Dan. ‘Sometimes it spouts three hundred feet high. And, believe it or not, this bit of a lake is five hundred feet deep.’ He busied himself with his instruments and notes.
Then came Thunder Hell. This was a noisy one. It growled, grumbled, hissed and screamed. Sometimes in the past it had overflowed to bury people and houses under a scalding flood. To prevent it from doing this again, the Japanese had brought in two gods to watch it. On one side of it stood a statue of the Fire God, and on the other, the Wind God.
White Pond Hell was a vivid blue pool six hundred feet deep, continually bubbling with what Dr Dan said was natrium chloride.
A statue of a great dragon stood guard over Gold Dragon Hell. As if this were not enough to keep the waters under control, statues of Buddhist saints had been placed around the pool. The caretaker of the pool took the boys into his house where they saw his wife cooking by steam straight out of the earth.
The snouts of alligators and crocodiles poked up out of Devil’s Hell. The great reptiles were kept in this hot water to speed their growth. When they reached full size they would be shot and their skins used to make shoes and jackets.
In Sea Hell picnickers had let down a basket of eggs to boil them in the bubbling water.
Most curious of all was a boiling waterfall. Bathers stood under it with pained expressions on their faces and let the scalding water beat upon their shoulders and backs. This was believed to be a cure for rheumatism.
Not only humans liked the hot water, but animals as well. The boys were constantly tripping over snakes and toads that lived along the edges of the lakes, and monkeys swarmed on nearby Monkey Mountain. These monkeys were smart. They would come down to the bay, dive in, and catch fish in their hands. One had been taught to operate a small train that ran around a circular track. Dr Dan and the boys took a ride behind the monkey motorman.
It was nearly dark. ‘How about spending the night ashore?’ Dr Dan proposed. ‘Captain Ike and Omo will take care of the ship. Here’s an inn that looks attractive. Kobo, what does it say on that sign?’
The sign was in Japanese. ‘It says the name of this place is The-Inn-by-the-Well-by-the-Cedar-Tree.’
Here they spent the night. The rooms were clean, the food good, and the chief attraction was the great tiled bath full of crystal-clear hot water welling up out of the earth and continually running
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