A word may be said of the peculiar music to be played, of which the most interesting piece is the Ruika, the oldest dirge in the history of Japan, written in language to the modern Japanese. This dirge originated as far back as the vecond century of the Christian era when Prince Yamatodate died in the Ise province on ay home from a triumphant expedition to the east, The instruments used in connexion with the funeral ceremonies conist chiefly of three kinds of flutes and three kinds of drums, of the latter of which one is, properly speaking, a bronze gong, while another is strung with braces of silken cords.
The Imperial orchestra consiste of twenty-eight musicians all of whom have been maintained by the Imjai Court, as such bands have always been maintained, and fully educated in the best style of Ja-
Panese music.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.