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19th Century American Whaling

Bonin Islands

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Whaling Terms

Dana's Dictionary of
Sea Terms

THE

ASIATIC JOURNAL

AND

MONTHLY REGISTER

FOR

British India and its Dependencies:

VOL. V.

FROM JANUARY TO JUNE 1818

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR BLACK, KINGSBURY, PARBURY, AND ALLEN,
BOOKSELLERS TO THE HONOURABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY,
LEADENHALL STREET.

1818.

DESCRIPTION
OF
AN ALMOST UNKNOWN GROUPE OF ISLANDS
SITUATED
BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE MARIANNE ISLANDS.

[Compiled from Japanese Accounts by M. Abel Remusat, M. D, Member of the French Institute and Professor of the Chinese and Mandchu Tartar Languages in the Royal College of France.]

      The immense progress the discoveries of navigators have made in geography rendering evident the imperfection of the charts compiled by the inhabitants of even the most civilized countries in Asia, have inspired an indifference for them not always well merited. While the sea has not been ploughed in every direction, the coasts followed and examined in all their extent, the interior of the countries surveyed by intelligent observers, the unoccupied spaces in our charts, will present a void that is perhaps deceptive. The indentations of the coasts, the concatenation of the mountains, the sinuosities of the rivers, the grouping of the islands, will remain merely ornaments too frequently arbitrary, and we may borrow the verbal or figured descriptions furnished by the natives without blushing, and appreciating their testimony by the knowledge acquired of their ability and exactitude, employ it for enriching the science in those parts our voyagers have not yet sufficiently investigated. If it was not known that attention and patience can supply all deficiencies, it would be difficult to conceive the precisions of the conclusions attained by Asiatics, destitute of the assistance geometry lends to geography. The large maps of China translated by Martini are two centuries anterior to the labours of the Jesuit mathematicians; it is, however, remarkable that the survey by the latter has not occasioned any material reform in the relative position of the cities of this great empire. It would certainly be very useful to possess the particular surveys of the coast preserved in the archives of every maritime province in China. It will be long before Europeans obtain permission to undertake a work that may be substituted for them, and if some parts of it were executed privately, the local knowledge which the natives alone are qualified for collecting could not be dispensed with.

      The Japanese, a people who, though faithful disciples of the Chinese, show less prejudice against opinions not produced in their own minds, by adopting the methods of graduation and projection from the European charts, appear to have acquired peculiar claims to our attention when they apply these valuable instruments to the representation of their own or of neighbouring countries. The large map of Japan, forty-nine inches and a half by thirty one, compiled in this manner, and reprinted with corrections, in 1744, is a magnificent geographical monument. Mr. Titsingh, formerly ambassador to China, brought several copies of this chart from Nangasaki, and it is probably from this excellent model Mr. Arrowsmith has traced the coasts of Japan in his map of Asia. It is to be regretted that by inability to read the Japanese or Chinese names in the original, this estimable geographer has been obliged to limit himself to repeating the divisions, and the few details marked by Kaempfer. I have a copy on which Mr. Titsingh has written references to a table of Japanese names he had without doubt compiled, and that should be found attached to some other copy of the same map. It would be vexatious for this important work, as well as the other historical and geographical works death obliged Mr. Titsingh to leave imperfect, to remain in oblivion, without benefiting the public, or increasing the author's glory.

      Another work also brought to Europe by Mr. Titsingh, and come into my possession since his death, is a description of the countries near Japan, published at Yedo in 1785. This description is in Japanese,^* accompanied by five charts, less beautiful indeed than the large map I have mentioned, but yet designed with much care, and submitted to graduation. It contains the following subjects.

      1st. The general chart of the countries near Japan, representing Kamtshatka, the land of Yeso, the island Tchoka, the coast of Tartary, the peninsula of Corea, the coast of China to Formosa, the islands of Japan and Lieou-Khieou, with another groupe of islands to which I shall return immediately.

      2nd. The particular map of Yeso with the neighbouring part of the continent and the northern point of Japan. This map furnishes curious details of all the southern part of Yeso often visited by and since dependent on the Japanese. The north is least charged with names, and there are visible traces of the attempts made by the Japanese geographers to reconcile their own knowledge with the notions borrowed from Europeans of the island Tchoka, the mouth of the Sakhalian-oula, &c.

      3rd. The chart of Korea. It is known that the map. compiled by P. Regis, which D'Anville has included in his Atlas, is merely founded on the descriptions given by the Chinese and Mandchus to this missionary. Great differences may therefore be expected to be found between the two maps. That of the Japanese, is very detailed and apparently very exact; the distinction of capital and secondary cities, of towns, fortresses, encampments, &c. is carefully marked by appropriate signs, and the distance of the principal cities from the capitals of provinces is expressed in day's journeys. Unfortunately the names are only written in Chinese, except the capitals, to which the Japanese name is added; so that we do not yet possess the vernacular name, as the Corean pronunciation would express them very differently from the others.

      4th. The chart of the Islands Lieou-Khieou, Madjikosima, and Thai-wan or Formosa, with those of the south west point of Japan. The number of islands composing these groupes is much more considerable than in our most recent charts, even in that compiled in 1809, from the Journal of the Frederic of Calcutta. The distance between the principal islands and the courses from Japan to the Chinese continent, are marked in Ri or Japanese miles.

      5th. The chart of a small archipelago not named in our charts, or rather which has not yet been inserted in them. The Japanese, who appear very well acquainted with these islands, call them Bo nin Sima, or Mo nin Sima, uninhabited islands; not that they are now actually destitute of inhabitants, but they were known to be so for a long time, and because those they contain now are colonists come at a known time from the south-

east point of Ni-fou. As most geographers do not place any islands in this part, and as those who place them there do it from vague and insufficient accounts, I have considered it useful to collect what the Japanese have communicated relative to them. They bear a character of exactness which renders them worthy of some attention. Some errors of detail may have glided in, but it is impossible that the substance should not be generally true. It is for voyagers who visit these seas to teach us how far the Japanese accounts may be depended on, and, if I dare say so, to verify the discovery made at Paris, of a new groupe of islands in the eastern ocean; not but that navigators and geographers have been long advertised of the existence of these islands, and have had some confused ideas on this subject, even from the time of the first navigations in these latitudes. If, as there is reason to believe, the volcano islands discovered by the ship San Juan in 1544, are the same as the Sulphur island of Cook's third voyage, the uninhabited island found by that vessel thirty leagues further north-east, called Forfana in Galvaom's account, should have made part of our groupe. The Spanish chart Admiral Anson took on board the Acapulco Galleon in 1743 placed here the islands of St. Alexander, Farallon, Todos los Santos, and an unnamed groupe which Mr. Brice has quite recently restored to his charts with a note dictated by a wise reserve, that they are islands whose existence is doubtful. That communicated to Mr. Peyrouse at Monterey added to the island St. Alexander, those of Fortuna, Volcano, St. Augustin, and a groupe entirely corresponding with ours, under the name of Islas del Arzobispo. These Archbishop's islands, supposed by Tuckey^* to form the northern point of the Mariannes, and by Zimmerman^† to agree with the Grampus of Meares, have experienced various fortune in modern charts. Some French geographers have retained them with their name; Mr. Arrowsmith has suppressed them in his map of Asia, but figured them in his general map; under the form of a small pointed groupe without a name, and in his large map of the world in sheets has added to them from the voyage of the Nautilus in 1801. Disappointment and Moore's islands, which correspond with the S.W. and N.E. extremities of the Bonin islands, and since G. Delisle nearly all geographers have retained the islands St. Roch, St. Thomas, and St. Matthew, which, may have made part of the Bonin islands and should have been seen by Fondrac in 1709, in his voyage from Macao to California in the French ship Le St. Antoine de Pade.^‡

      These different accounts do not appear sufficiently exact to admit the existence of a groupe of islands in this place as being demonstrated. But I believe a different opinion will be formed when they are found to be completely confirmed by the Japanese. To shew that the description given by them is not at all opposed to what our most modern navigators communicate, I will briefly state the courses of the most celebrated in the Japanese seas. The Castricom, after sailing round the island of Fatsisio, did not descend southward below Blue island; the Resolution, returning from Kamtshatka in 1779, ascertained the position of Sulphur island and of another very elevated island about eight leagues north of it, which perhaps agrees with one of the most southern of our groupe. Captain Meares must have passed very near it in 1788; but from the 29th degree of latitude this navigator experienced continual fogs, which were sometimes so thick as to prevent seeing from one end of the ship to the other; yet towards the point corresponding with the Bonin islands he met with land birds, herbs, and other signs generally regarded by seamen as indications of the vicinity of land. Colnett passed to the north of Fatsisio. Broughton followed the same course in 1796, and stood close by the coast of Ni-fon, in returning the following year. Admiral Krusenstern sailed to the south, but only at a short distance from Fatsisio; his course in 1805 was as southerly as that of the Resolution in the longitude of our islands. All these navigators, therefore, have passed too far north or south, to fall in with the Bonin Islands. The space left between their courses, in this part, includes seven degrees of latitude, that have not been

examined, which is more than sufficient for the Archipelago described by the Japanese.

      Kaempfer is the only author who has collected any particulars relating to them, but his statements are so inexact, that it is impossible to derive any adventage from them. About the year 1675, he says, the Japanese accidentally discovered a very large island, one of their barks having been forced there in a storm, from the island Fatsisio, from which they computed it to be three hundred miles distant towards the east. They met with no inhabitants, but found it to be a very pleasant and fruitful country, well supplied with fresh water, and furnished with plenty of plants and trees, particularly the arrack tree, which, however, might give room to conjecture, that the island lay rather to the south of Japan than to the east, these trees growing only in hot countries; they called it Bune Sima, or the island Bune; and because they found no inhabitants upon it, they marked it with the character of an uninhabited island. On the shores they found an incredible number of fish and crabs, some of which were from four to six feet long.^*

      There are many inaccuracies in this account, as we shall immediately shew; — besides the position of the discovered island being so vaguely indicated, that without additional information it would be impossible to make use of the discovery. This agrees with Capt. Burney's opinion expressed in his large and magnificent work on the history of the Pacific Ocean, where, after having cited the passage from Kaempfer, he adds: — "it would be useless to make any conjecture on the situation of this island, except that the miles are probably Dutch measure, fifteen to a degree. The crabs, from four to six feet long, no doubt were turtle.^† What an author so able and so profoundly versed in these subjects considers impossible, would certainly be so for any other person, and I should never have thought of examining this point in geography, if accident had not thrown the original chart I have mentioned into my hands, as well as the description accompanying it. I shall employ both in extending and rectifying Kaempfer's relation.

      In the first place, this learned traveller speaks but of one large island, while the Japanese geographer counts eighty-nine, the largest of which does not exceed the size of the island Fatsisio. The relation of the German traveller places the island discovered the Japanese three hundred miles east of Fatsisio, and appears to connect itself with the fables reported of the gold and silver islands, which common opinion places in this direction. The original description places the Bo nin islands exactly to the south of Fatsisio, at a distance of about eighty leagues, which confirms and justifies one of Kaempfer's conjectures. The name Bunesima is corrupted; it should be written Bonin Sima, or Mo nin Sima, that is uninhabited islands, literally islands destitute of men. To render the description I have extracted and translated from the Japanese, more intelligible, I have annexed a sketch of part of the general chart, comprehending, in addition to the new archipelago, the southern coast of Japan and Lieou Khieou to show the relative situation of these Isands. I have not deemed it necessary to correct or add any thing to the original by using our knowledge, but have preferred enabling others to judge of the knowledge of the Japanese. The only change made is, extending the graduation over all the chart which is only marked on the edges in the original. It is seen from this, that the space occupied by all the islands extends from the 25th to the 29th parallel, which appears very unlikely at the first glance, and is opposed to the general calculation` of distances, and to the particular chart where the latitudes are marked on the two principal islands. This last chart also presents differences in the configuration and position of the islands. I have deemed it proper to preserve these also, and have placed an extract from the particular chart, which appears to merit most confidence, at the side of the general chart as an illustration.^‡

      It is probable that the first distance, that taken from Fatsisio, is nearly correct, and that the errors of the general chart arose from the geographer not knowing how to reduce and retain his design within the prescribed limits. This circumstance also explains the reason why Capt. Gore and Admiral Krusenstern did not perceive and fall in with the Bonin groupe after leaving Sulphur Island — it is that they did not reach the 25th parallel of south latitude — as I have been obliged to represent it for the sake of conformity with my original. According to Kaempfer, Fatsisio, where state criminals are confined, is the most southern Japanese island on the eastern side. The green colour, which is appropriated to the Japanese possessions, is extended on my chart to some islets situated southeast of Fatsisio, of which Ardo Sima, or the Blue Island, is the chief. From Fatsisio to the first islet marked red, that is belonging to the groupe of uninhabited islands, the distance to the south is estimated at one hundred and eighty Ri, making about eighty leagues. Eight Ri from thence to the second islet, then seven to the third, then three to an island without any particular name, although five Ri circumference. This island is mountainous, and overgrown with wood. To the south is another woody island, seven Ri in circumference, on whose western side is a stream of fresh water. From thence is a passage into the principal island called the Northern Island, whose very irregular contour is estimated at fifteen Ri, or seven and a half leagues. In the eastern part is a temple dedicated to the Spirits. On the northern side the coast advances, following a chain of mountains, with a large village on the west side: this habitation has no other name. Towards the middle of the isle, on the northern part, is a village named 0-moula. The rest of the country is covered with trees and valuable plants, except a square and level tract, four ting in extent, on the western point. 0-moula is situated in latitude twenty-seven and a half.

      From the northern to the southern isle, twenty Ri is reckoned; this is ten Ri in circuit, and is exactly under the twenty-seventh parallel. It is mountainous in almost every part, and covered with very large trees, except toward the south, where there is an open plain. To the south and south-east are two other islands, one two, the other three Ri in circumference, both covered with trees. Besides these, there are a multitude of islands, whose magnitude and relative distance are not noticed; most of them are covered with wood, and many are merely summits of very high rocks. The number of islands called uninhabited, is eighty-nine, large and small. The Japanese description reckons two large, four of a moderate size, and four small. The rest are not particularly designated, merely consisting of shelves and very high rocks, such as our navigators have remarked in all these seas.

      According to the same description, in the ten islands of some extent already mentioned, there are a great number of trees and plants, and wherever the country is level, there are houses and inhabitants. In the seventy others (seventy-nine should be stated), the earth is too uneven and rugged, the mountains too steep, and vallies too confined for habitation; but there are small arms of the sea well supplied with fish, and the inhabitants of the adjacent islands visit them for collecting their productions; that is, to fish there.

      These islands, situated in the twenty-seventh degree, enjoy a mild temperature, which occasions the mountains and vallies to produce all kinds of legumes and grain, wheat, rye, small rice, &c. The wood, called black mortar wood by the Chinese, and Nasaki faze by the Japanese, is found there. Wax is also collected, and the fisheries and hunting are very abundant, and make large returns.

      The author of the description details

the different kinds of trees and animals found on these islands. Among the first is the Kian-mou or hard tree, which he says is the most precious; another very high tree, whose Japanese name I do not know; the Areka, Roycouyer; White Louan, Katsiyasi, Sandal, Camphor, a large tree with leaves shining, as if varnished, and a number of others. He afterwards describes the principal plants, birds and fishes, which are very, abundant there, but which I deem it unnecessary to notice.

      The Japanese pretend to have known these islands a long time, under the name of Siao li youan,^* which was the name of a man who formerly discovered them; but it appears that they have sometimes confounded them with the Mariannes, particularly when they state that two hundred years ago Megaraniyous (Magellan), an Italian, discovered them at the same time he discovered the new world. They add, that on the Dutch charts they are named Oui sou to Yeirand, that is the great or sterile land, for the Chinese name has both these meanings. Perhaps Woest Eyland, that is the desert island, in Dutch. But it is to the third Year, Yun phao, that is, 1675, as Kaempfer states, we must remount for the discovery of these islands, at least for founding the establishments that have peopled them. We may suppose that at this epoch they began to be well acquainted with, and to distinguish them from the other countries situated southward of Japan. It was then that the names they bear still were given, though that of uninhabited islands has long ceased to be appropriate. The author I have followed relates, that a merchant of the province of Fitsen, sailing from the point of Idsou, accidentally touched at these islands, and thinking that their products would repay the expense of establishment, returned afterwards with thirty men, and furnished with a patent or seal which guaranteed the possession to him. The only difficulty he experienced in going there from Idsou was a very rapid current setting from east to west, which sometimes changes its direction. This current, situated to the north of Fatsisio, between that island and the island Mikouri, is called Kourosigawa, or the black current.

      It appears that the colonists who are established in the Bonin islands, devote themselves to fishing, the cultivation of the earth, and collection of the medicinal substances and valuable woods that grow there. The Japanese government has not taken possession of them formally, and the limits of the empire are still at Fatsisio; yet it is very probable that they would not see the establishment of Europeans there without displeasure. Better informed persons may decide, if the situation of these isles in the vicinity of a nation closed against commerce, may attach some importance to them. I thought that the preceding notice might at least be interesting to geographers. The peopling these islands at so recent a period is in itself an unimportant fact, yet calculated to assist in elucidating the peopling of the Oceanic islands, and of the new world.

     JEAN PIERRE ABEL REMUSAT (1788-1832), French Chinese scholar, was born in Paris on the 5th of September 1788. He was educated for the medical profession, but a Chinese herbal in the collection of the Abbe Tersan attracted his attention, and he taught himself to read it by great perseverance and with imperfect help. At the end of five years' study he produced in 1811 an Essai sur la langue et la litterature chinoises, and a paper on foreign languages among the Chinese, which procured him the patronage of Silvestre de Sacy. In 1814 a chair of Chinese was founded at the College de France, and Remusat was placed in it. From this time he gave himself wholly to the languages of the Far East, and published a series of useful works, among which his contributions from Chinese sources to the history of the Tatar nations claim special notice. Remusat became an editor of the Journal de savants in 1818, and founder and first secretary of the Paris Asiatic Society in 1822; he also held various Government appointments. He died at Paris on the 4th of June 1832. A list of his works is given in Querard's France litteraire s.v. Remusat