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 Sweet Buzz Van-Lam Nguyen |
 ONE HUNDRED FAMOUS VIEWS OF EDO (TOKYO) NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR |
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| New Fuji, Meguro |
| This view is appealing enough as a landscape, but it is more remarkable as a document of the late Edo practice of constructing miniature replicas of Mount Fuji.
The first such mini-Fuji was built in 1779 in Takata (now the site of Waseda University) by a practitioner of Fujiko, a popular religion that worshipped Mount fuji as a transcendent god. The idea was to provide a chance to climb fuji for those normally unable to do so: women, children, the elderly, and the infirm. The mini-Fuji we see here was built in 1819 on the estate of a shogunal retainer named Kondo Juzo, well known for his exploration of the northern island of Hokkaido. The idea was said to have been Kondo's own, but he was assisted by local Fujiko organizations. The mountain depicted here is much smoother and more uniform than most mini-Fujis, which generally were built of rough lava transported from the skirt of Mount Fuji itself and presented a rather lumpy appearance. The zigzag path we see up the slope was typical, however, mimicking the switchbacked route up the real mountain. |
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| BOMBARDMENT OF FORT HATTERAS AND FORT CLARK |
| The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries, sometimes known as the Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark, was a small but significant engagement in the early days of the American Civil War. |
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| FORT HATTERAS |
| On August 26, 1861 an amphibious expedition led by Major General Benjamin Butler and Flag-Officer Silas Stringham embarked from Fort Monroe to capture Hatteras Inlet, an important haven for blockade-runners.
Beginning on August 28, the ill-equipped and undermanned forts were forced to endure bombardment by seven Union warships, to which they were unable to reply. |
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| FORT CLARK |
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| SURRENDER OF FORT HATTERAS |
| Although casualties were light, the defenders chose not to continue the one-sided contest, and on the second day they surrendered. |
| As immediate results of the battle, Confederate interference with Northern maritime commerce was considerably reduced, while the Union blockade of Southern ports was extended. More importantly, the Federal government gained entry into the North Carolina Sounds.
Several North Carolina cities (New Bern, Washington, Elizabeth City, and Edenton among them) were directly threatened. In addition, the sounds were a back door to the Confederate-held parts of Tidewater Virginia, particularly Norfolk. The battle is significant for several reasons: It was the first notable Union victory of the war. Following the embarrassment of First Bull Run (or First Manassas), 21 July 1861, it encouraged supporters of the Union in the gloomy early days. It represented the first application of the naval blockading strategy. It was the first amphibious operation, as well as the first combined operation, involving units of both the United States Army and Navy. Finally, a new tactic was exploited by the bombarding fleet: by keeping in motion, they did much to eliminate the traditional advantage of shore-based guns over those carried on ships. |
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| The gallant achievement of Lieutenant Fiske, who swam through the breakers at the risk of his life to deliver General Butler's orders to the forces. |
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| ORPHEUS WITH ANIMALS IN A LANDSCAPE |
| Orpheus was the son of Calliope and either Oeagrus or Apollo. He was the greatest musician and poet of Greek myth, whose songs could charm wild beasts and coax even rocks and trees into movement. He was one of the Argonauts, and when the Argo had to pass the island of the Sirens, it was Orpheus' music which prevented the crew from being lured to destruction. |
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| BRAD PITT (Caricature) |
 | One of the most fascinating yet enigmatic figures of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was William Clark's slave York. As with many members of the expedition, little information survives about York to present his life in a great amount of detail. The presence of York on the expedition also raises many philosophical questions about African-American heritage and the treatment of African Americans throughout our history.
Artwork by Michael Haynes http://mhaynesart.com |
| YORK - PART TWO |
| Little vignettes of York's attributes began to appear as the expedition was ascending the Missouri River. On June 5, he swam to a "Sand bar to geather Greens for our Dinner," revealing that he was involved in preparing the captains' meals, and that he could swim, which several of the men could not do.
Sergeant Charles Floyd, who died August 20 of an apparent ruptured appendix, was first reported gravely ill on August 19. Clark wrote, "[E]very man attentive to him, york prlly [principally]." This brief entry is not expanded upon, but it suggests that York assisted in easing the young soldier's last hours. Floyd was the only expedition member to die during the mission. On September 9, Clark "Derected My Servent York with me to kill a Buffalow." This points to the inseparable lifetime relationship between Clark and York, who had grown up together in the woodlands of Kentucky. Slaves had been prohibited by statute to handle firearms except if they lived on the frontier and had been issued a license by a justice of the peace, which was applied for by their masters. Whatever the case, York appears regularly in the journals as a hunter. August 25, the captains, together with nine men, including York, hiked nearly 20 miles to examine "Spirit Mound," a place of "little people" feared by superstitious Indians. |
The outing, made on a hot, muggy day, was commented upon by Clark in an entry that is totally at odds with York's traditional image of having been a giant of superb physique and stamina. Clark wrote, "[W]e returned to the boat at Sunset, my servent nearly exosted with heat thurst and fatigue, he being fat and unaccustomed to walk as fast as I went was the cause."
An added dimension to York's personality was his play-acting, which often took the form of dramatic practical jokes. On October 10, while among the Arikaras, Clark recorded a grotesque scene, describing York's antics before the Arikaras. The Arikaras "were much astonished at my Black Servent, who made him self more turrible in thier view than I wished him to Doe, telling them that before I caught him he was wild & lived upon people, young children was verry good eating." That York's performance was intended as a joke is borne out by Clark's comment, "he carried on the joke," implying he went too far. That York had sincere concern for the safety of the expedition members, particularly Clark, is illustrated in an episode involving Clark, Sacgawea, her son, and her husband, Toussaint. The four were nearly washed into the Missouri when they were caught in a flash flood. Believing the four had become lost, York disregarded his own safety during the height of the storm and searched for them. Clark wrote that they reached the rim of the canyon "safe where I found my servent in serch of us greatly agitated, for our wellfar." |
| Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.
- - - Van Wyck Brooks, American author (1886-1963) |
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| Herring Gull or Western Gull ? |
| Herring and Western gulls really aren't very similar. Nevertheless, because the northern race of Western Gull is not depicted in many field guides, mistakes are made. Many new gull watchers, familiar with the darker southern race of Western Gull or the Lesser Black-backed Gull, identify the pale Western Gulls as Herring Gulls.
Above is a Western. Below is a Herring. |
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| ADULTS |
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| Above is the adult Herring Gull in winter. Below is the adult Western Gull in winter. |
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| Notice how white and unmarked the head and breast of the Western Gull is. Pure Western Gull adults always show unmarked heads; apparent Western Gulls with winter head streaks are likely hybrids with Glaucous-winged Gulls. Pure Western Gulls are rare inland, away from the immediate coastline. The winter Herring Gull is perhaps less heavily mottled on the head and breast than is typical for early winter, but more typical for March.
Both of these large gulls have flat foreheads. The bill of Herring Gull is stout, but rather uniform in thickness throughout its length. The bill of Western Gull is massive, with a pronounced hook. The gonys (on the lower mandible where the red spot is) is swollen, and angles up sharply to the bill tip. The bill of Western is colored orangish ("school bus yellow") while the Herring Gull's bill is straw-colored. (The Herring Gull shows a pinkish tinge to the bill, perhaps indicating this is a fourth-winter bird. Gulls live 25 years or longer.) |
| FIRST WINTER |
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| First-winter Western Gulls are big and dark. They are the darkest gull on the beach in winter. The primaries and secondaries (usually not visible on the folded wing, but this bird is holding its wing so that they are exposed) are blackish, as is the tail. The wing coverts have dark brown centers and brown edges. The head, breast, and belly are evenly brown. The bill is large, heavy, and black. |
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| In contrast, the first-winter Herring Gull is much paler, especially about the head. The wing coverts are brown, but have whitish edges and internal bars. By late winter the base of the bill usually becomes pale pinkish. |
| SECOND WINTER |
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| By the second winter the eye of Herring Gull has turned pale. The longish bill is pink with a black tip. |
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| The massive bill of the Western Gull is still mostly black. The backs of both birds have turned adult gray; the gray back of Herring is much paler than the dark gray back on the Western Gull. |
| THIRD WINTER |
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| Herring Gull - Third Winter |
| Third-winter gulls look quite similar to adults with the following exceptions: the bill usually is not yellow with a red gonys spot. Rather, it is pinkish with black tip. The body plumage is more mottled on the head and breast. The tail is mostly white with a few remnants of a smudged tail band. The wings lack the large white mirrors and apical spots or, if present, they are much smaller than in adult winter plumage. |
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| Western Gull - Third Winter |
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| A PAIR OF WESTERN GULLS |
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| HERRING GULL ON DOCK AT CANYON FERRY LAKE TOWNSEND, MONTANA |
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| WESTERN GULL Click HERE to see this picture in a larger version. |
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| IMMATURE WESTERN GULL |
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| YELLOW-STRIPED CARDINALFISH |
| The cardinalfish is surrounded by sea squirts. Notice the parasitic isopod on the fish. |
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The Quakers receive credit for inventing lemon custard in the late 1700s. Do you know who invented Lemon Meringue Pie, when and in what city?
PASS YOUR MOUSE OVER THE QUESTION MARKS FOR THE ANSWER! |
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| CHINA'S THREE GORGES DAM |
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| Eighteen floodgates are opened at the Three Gorges dam, 22 July 2007 in Yichang, in central China's Hubei province, to release flood waters approaching the warning level line. |
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| YICHANG, July 19, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Flood waters are sluiced at the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, July 19, 2010. The water influx into the Three Gorges Reservoir reached 58,000 steres (stere, metric unit of volume equal to one cubic metre, or 1,000 litres) per second on Monday morning, setting a new record in this year's flood season. |
| DISCLAIMER: Material used in Bitts and Bytes is gathered from various sources--mainly the World Wide Web.
Authorship cannot always be credited nor the source defined. Authenticity of material is assumed to be correct, but is not guaranteed. |  |