THE SINGINGS INSECTS OF JAPAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 65

THE SINGINGS INSECTS OF JAPAN.

(V"i TiiroDor.A Ozmci, in ILO Wide World !

Magazine.)

Sinking birds are piized in all countries, but it i>i only in Japan that the note* 01 insects have been appreciated and the ingeclb named according to their different voices. The love of listening to thtse singing injects !ia« for centuries been an impa^>ioned pastime in Japan, and has avated at last a unique trade and jnaiket. In Tokio, towards the end of ILy, little cages of exaui«ilelv cut bamb to muv be

seen hung up in the veiandahs of houses ; aiitl in the cool of the da%\ n nud sit the close of summer days .strange little whistles and tinklings and trills proceed from the^e cages and make the air resound with their imiMC. Usually it is in the evening, after their baths, that tbe people go .*r.d :-.a in their verandahs to listen to the singing insects which they have imprisoned tlieve. It was late one afternoon towards the end of May. and I Mas moving ficm room to room in the quiet BurklhM tempi 0 , v. Inch is mv home. _ The hush that comes ut the fill of twilight was on all the woild. when my attention v. as suddenly luie'-ted by, a silvery trill, which filled at interval* 'the uliole place. It was delicate and^e'epr. like art etheredlised-'bird's song, and yet oi much smaller volume than' a bird's note. I called the priest" s daughter, and asked her what it was I heard singing. '• Hiat is a ' Suzumushi' singing," she replied: "come, and 1 will show you where it is." She led me to th-e back of the temple, and pointed to the eaves of a cottage opposite. Looking across, I s.iw a tiny reed cage hanging up, and in one corner ;> small black insect, haidly d'scernibla in the d-m light. "That is the insect you heard singing,'' said the pnesi's daughter. "Ib is ca'led a ' fcJuaumi!=hi,' and its voice is beautiful and cool.'

In three days the next en-nichi of Mita j came round — May 24; and Riyo, the' priest's, daughter, accompanied by a ser- , vant and mj-self, wended her way with a ] lantern to the night fair at Mita. The ' whole nighbourhood seemed to have turned ' out to visit the fair, and the cheerful clotter of clogs appeared to lessen the gloom , of the streets and made up for their want of light. In the distance the dull glow oi hundreds of primitive oil lamps put up in front of the stalls set their smoky | mark on the place uhere the fair was held. We po<-f.cd innumerable stalls, which I shall [ not attempt to describe here, as well as stnnje portable gardens of plants, trees, and flowers, and goldfish nurseries. At la^l we came to a stall from which proceeded a shrill babel of inject sounds.

heedless to say it va% impossible to distinguish one insect's cry from another, for the}' all seemed to be chirruping and whistling and trilling one against the other in a frannc and bey ilderin:< way, so that I wondered hoy the "' Mushiya ' could sit so calmly beneath hi* stall waiting for customers. . . . There were so many eager purchasers crowding round the little stall that I gave up the idea of buying the insect I w anted that evening. The insect foncier gave me his t-ddresb. and next morning I made my way through many back streets to his dwelling. It was the never-to-be-forgotten chorus of insects that guided me at last down a little back lane to the spot at the end of a low of one-roomed cots. The cupboards full of insect?, all shut up in their cages, were there, and the old man, opening one of the doors, soon found me a " Suzu-mushi " for four sen, and a pretty cage for it in the shape of d fan for 15 sen, or 3d in English money. He told me that I must not hang the insect up in the draught, but in some cool, ouiet cornei, and thai, furthermore, iX mutt be fed on fresh cucumber every morning. I promised to follow his instructions carefully, and carrying home my insect, hung him up in a corner of my room and waited for the serenade. But for two days the " Su-zu-mushi '' was quiet silent. In vain I put in slice after slice of cucumber ; in vain I whistled and trilled myself at the bars of his tiny cage. He remained nwte. In despair I called for the priest's wife. '" What is the- matter with this inject? It won"t sing to me ! "' she heard me complain. "Be patient.' she answered " The ' Suzumushi' is in a, new cage and will not sing till it is accustomed to its new surroundings. It feels full of .fear and cannot sing. Wait a little. ' So I waited, and the next evening, when the cage was hung up, the little creature began to sing merrily, tinkling a^ay like a tiny bell, as its name implies.