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19th Century American Whaling

Bonin Islands

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      Art. IV. The Bonin Islands: their situation, productions, &c., as noticed by the Japanese in 1675, and subsequently; by Captain Beechey in 1827; more recently by a correspondent of the London Metropolitan; and in August, 1834, by Mr. Edwards.

      These islands, which are about twenty-nine degrees east of Canton, and eight south from Yedo, 'are most conveniently situated for watching the trade of China on the west, the Philippines on the south, and Russia on the north; and if any intercourse is soon to be opened with the Japanese, they form the position from which it could be most easily effected.' The earliest account which we find of the Bonin Islands is contained in Kaempfer's History of Japan. "About the year 1675," says the historian, "the Japanese accidentally discovered a very large island, one of their barks having been forced there in a storm from the island of Fatsisio, from which they computed it to be 300 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. And because they found no inhabitants upon it, they called it Bunin sima, or the island Bunin, [in Chinese woo jin, 'without people,'] i.e. the uninhabited island. On the shores they found an immense number of fish and crabs, some of which were from four to six feet long."

      The following description of the islands is from a Japanese work published in Yedo in 1785. 'The group is composed of eighty-nine islands, of which the most considerable are two large ones, two of middling size, and six smaller. These ten are spacious, and covered with herbs and trees; their plains offer an agreeable residence for man. As to the other islands, they are nothing but steep, sterile, and uninhabitable rocks. This archipelago is in latitude twenty-seven degrees north; the climate is warm 'and the valleys, situated between the high mountains, are fertile and watered by rivulets. The islands produce vegetables, grain of all kinds, great quantities of sugar-cane, with extensive pastures. Some of the trees are large, and the wood is hard and beautiful. Palm trees, the cocoa nut, betel nut, camphor, red sandal-wood, mountain fig, mulberry, cinnamon,

the tallow, and the wax trees, are found there. Among the plants are the Smilax china, and others used in medicine. Few quadrupeds are seen; but birds are in abundance. There are several kinds of parrots, also herons and partridges. The chief productions of the mineral kingdom are alum, green vitriol, stones of various colors, petrifactions, &c. In the sea are whales, great lobsters, enormous shell-fish, and sea eggs. The largest of these islands is about forty miles in circuit, another is thirty-two, the other eight are from six to twenty miles around.' (Canton Register, March 20th, 1833.)

      In his voyage to the Pacific, Captain Beechey, while steering eastward from the Lewchew islands, on the 8th of June, 1827, had the satisfaction to descry several islands extending north and south as far as the eye could reach. They all appeared to be small, yet they were high and very remarkable, particularly one near the centre. On the 9th, the Blossom entered a secure harbor, and came to an anchor in eighteen fathoms, almost landlocked. "This harbor is situated in the largest island of the cluster, and has its entrance conspicuously marked by a bold, high promontory on the southern side, and a tall quoin-shaped rock on the other. It is nearly surrounded by hills, and the plan of it upon paper suggests the idea of its being an extinguished crater. Almost every valley has a stream of water, and the mountains are clothed with trees, among which the Areca oleracea, and fan-palms are conspicuous. There are several sandy bays, in which green turtle are so numerous that they quite hide the color of the shore. The sea yields an abundance of fish; the rocks and caverns are the resort of craw-fish and other shellfish; and the shores are the refuge of snipes, plovers, and wild pigeons. At the upper part of the port, there is a small basin, formed by coral reefs, conveniently adapted for heaving a ship down; and on the whole it is a most desirable place of resort for a whale ship." By a board nailed against a tree, it appeared that the port had been entered in September, 1825, by an English ship named the Supply. Captain B. could not allow so fair an opportunity to escape of taking possession of the islands; and accordingly, in due form, he "declared them to be the property of the British government by nailing, a sheet of copper to a tree, with the necessary particulars engraved upon it." The harbor he called Port Lloyd, 'out of regard to the late bishop of Oxford,' and the island in which it is situated he named after sir Robert Peel.

      They continued in Port Lloyd till the 15th of June; and enjoyed frequent opportunities for examining the surrounding country. Peel's Island is entirely volcanic, and there is every appearance of the others to the northward being of the same formation. Basaltic columns were noticed in several parts of Port Lloyd, and in one place they were divided into short lengths as at the Giant's Causeway. Many of the rocks consist of tufaceous basalt of a grayish or greenish hue, frequently traversed by veins of petrosilex, and containing numerous nodules of chalcedony or cornelian. Zeolites were not wanting; and the stilbite, in the lamellar foliated form, was

abundant. Olivine and hornblend were also common; and the druses were often found containing a watery substance, which had an astringent taste not unlike alum. Coral animals have raised ledges and reefs of coral around almost all the bays. The hills about the anchorage were wooded from the water's edge nearly to the summit. They found among these trees, besides the cabbage tree and fan palm, the tamanu of Otaheite, the Pandanus odoratissimus and a species of the purau; also some species of Laurus, of Urtica, the Terminalia, Dodonaea viscosa, Eleocarpus serratis, &c. Wood for building boats was found, which answered well for knees, timbers, &c. They saw no wild animals of the mammalia class except the vampire bat. Of birds, besides the herons, plovers, snipes, and pigeons, they saw rails, the common black crow, a small bird resembling the canary, and a grosbeak, — all very tame. The sea abounded in fish, some of which were beautiful. "We were," says the Captain, "surrounded by sharks so daring and voracious that they bit at the oars and boat's rudder, and though wounded by the boathook, returned several times to the attack. At the upper end of Ten Fathom Hole (a part of the above mentioned basin, which was so named in consequence of there being ten fathoms of water all over it), there were a great many green turtles; and the boat's crew were sent to turn some of them for our sea stock. The sharks, to the number of forty at least, as soon as they observed these animals in confusion, rushed in among them, and to the great danger of our people, endeavored to seize them by the fins, several of which we noticed to have been bitten off. These turtle weighed from three to four hundred weight each, and were so inactive that, had there been a sufficient number of men, the whole shoal might have been turned."

      Captain Beechey, unable to visit the southern islands, confined his observations to the northern group, which 'consists of three clusters lying nearly N. by E. and extending from the latitude of 27° 44' 35" N., to 26° 30 N. and beyond, but that was the utmost limit of our view to the southward. The northern cluster consists of small islands and pointed rocks, and has much broken ground about it, which renders caution necessary in approaching it. I distinguished it by the name of Parry's group. The middle cluster consists of three islands, of which Peel's Island, four miles and a fifth in length, is the largest. This group is nine miles and a quarter in length, and is divided by two channels so narrow that they can only be seen when abreast of them : neither of them are navigable by shipping, The northern, I named Stapleton, and the other, Buckland. At the southwest angle of Buckland Island, there is a sandy bay, in which ships will find good anchorage; but they must be careful in bringing up to avoid being carried out of soundings by the current: I named it Walker's Bay. The southern cluster is evidently that in which a whale ship commanded by Mr. Coffin anchored in 1823, who was the first to communicate its position to this country, and who bestowed his own name upon it. These clusters of islands correspond

so well with a group named Yslas del Arzobispo, in a work published many years ago in Manila, entitled 'Navigation Especulativa y Pratica,' that I have retained the name, in addition that of Bonin; it is extremely doubtful from the Japanese accounts of Bonin sima, whether there are not other islands in the vicinity, to which the latter name is not more applicable. In the Japanese accounts, the two large islands are said to be inhabited, to contain several villages and temples, and to produce leguminous vegetables, and all kinds of grain, besides a great abundance of pasturage, sugar canes, lofty palm-trees, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits; also sandalwood and camphor. But the group which we visited had neither villages, temples, nor any remains whatever. There were no cocoa-nut trees nor sugar canes, no leguminous plants, nor any plains for the cultivation of grain, the land being very steep in every part, and overgrown with tall trees.' Captain B. found two individuals on Peel's Island, who had resided there about eight months. They were a part of the crew of the William, a whale ship belonging to London. They informed the captain, that in winter there is much bad weather from the north and north-west; but that as summer approaches, these winds abate, and are succeeded by others from the southward and south-eastward, which prevail throughout that season, and are generally attended with fine weather, with the exception of fogs which are prevalent. They stated also that earthquakes were frequent during the winter.

      To the learned editor of the London Metropolitan it appears that nothing more is required to add both the Sandwich and Bonin Islands to the British colonies, 'than to send out a frigate to each group of islands, with a large proportion of artificers in each, and their wives to be permitted to go out with them, — the captains of the frigates to be the governors of the islands. In a very short time, more would be effected by this means than by the usual expensive system of colonization, which up to the present time has been resorted to.' His correspondent maintains the same opinion, and regrets that such a measure was not adopted in 1824; for then 'discovery, civilization, and Christianity, would have been more effectually advanced, and British commerce would long ere this have supplanted that which is now almost exclusively carried on by our more enterprising friends, the Americans. The two positions are of great importance, as they are situated in the line of communication between Western America and China. Eventually, I little doubt, that the mails from China, when Mexico shall have become a settled state, will find their way by this route; viz: —

'Thus the passage to Canton will occupy only sixteen weeks.

      'The passage cannot be performed in much shorter time than one hundred and twelve days. By this conveyance the trade winds can be depended on throughout the whole distance, and the wear and tear of a packet will be trifling.' The correspondent of the Metropolitan is quite safe in saying that the passage, according to the present mode of traveling, cannot be made in much shorter time than sixteen weeks. We are assured by good authorities that three weeks would be considered a quick run from San Bias to the Sandwich Islands; and that it would require a still longer time to sail from ihe latter to the Bonin Islands. During the most favorable seasons, passages round the Cape of Good Hope have been made from England and the United States in 98, 104, and 110 days; and passages to the same places have been made in 96, 100, 104, and 110 days (perhaps sometimes, even shorter than these); but in the favorable seasons, no one ever thinks of sending by San Bias or the Red Sea. How quick the passage will be performed when steam vessels are made to traverse the Pacific, and rail roads are built across the continent from Europe to Eastern Asia, we will not venture to predict.

      Our latest and most authentic information concerning the Bonin Islands, is from an English gentleman, who visited them last autumn, and who has very obligingly furnished us with the following particulars; some of which corroborate, and others contradict, those contained in the foregoing statements. Port St. George, or Lloyd as named by Beechey, he found by careful and repeated observations to be in latitude 27° 6' 30" N. and longitude 142° 16' E. He says:

      "In August, 1834, the American barque Volunteer touched at the Bonin Islands to procure supplies. Having been informed at the Sandwich Islands that the settlers had gone to the south island, we made for that first, and after a fruitless search for them of three days, we found them on the south of the North island. On the 24th of August, under the pilotage of Mr. Mazarra, we worked into the harbor, named by Captain Beechey Port Lloyd, but by the settlers Port St. George. Mr. M. is the person who fitted out a vessel at the Sandwich Islands, and brought the present settlers from thence to the Bonin Islands, about six years ago. We found the harbor large and safe, there being two reefs which form a breakwater, and perfectly shelter vessels from the south-west winds, from which point the harbor is most exposed. The upper part of the harbor forms a basin, in which vessels of light draught can moor in perfect safety. The harbor is capable of containing from thirty to forty sail.

      "The settlers cleared, and now have under good cultivation, large tracts of land, on which they raise Indian corn, yams, sweet potatoes, melons, plantains, onions, beans, salad, and pumpkins. They have had cabbages and Irish potatoes, but they did not thrive. For all these vegetables the settlers find a ready sale, when the whale ships visit the islands. During the seasons 1833 and '34, sixteen of these vessels arrived. The settlers have also a great many hogs; and in a year or two more, goats will be plentiful. On their arrival, they turned a bull and a cow into the woods; but there is every rea-

son to suppose the bull was maliciously shot by a runaway sailor from one of the whalers. Abundant supplies of water and wood are procurable, and at very moderate prices. The following are the prices we paid for our supplies :—

      "The settlers have built themselves snug wooden houses; and considering the short period they have been on the island, they deserve much credit for the exertions they have made in clearing the ground, it being very thickly wooded with considerable underbrush. The cabbage tree affords them excellent material for fences, &c. The greatest difficulty they had to encounter, was the transporting of timber from the woods to the places where they wished to use it, a distance of three or four miles. For the first two years, they had only four natives of the Sandwich Islands to assist them; they have now eleven males and nine females. But this number is totally insufficient, should the whale ships continue to resort there for supplies of vegetables, wood, and water. — The settlers have been put to great inconvenience by the masters of some of the whale ships turning refractory seamen on shore. These men, having no employment, and being generally too lazy to work, have become a heavy tax to the quiet settlers, who have been obliged to furnish them with food. In 1833, the whaler Cadmus turned fifteen men on shore, among whom were several daring characters, who put the settlers at defiance. But not being inclined to work, eight of them attempted to cross over in a whale boat to the south island, a distance of twenty-five miles; but they all perished, the boat having been upset by the strong tide ripples; the remainder have since left the island in different vessels.

      "Port St. George is admirably situated for the whalers who go to the coast of Japan, being immediately in their way; and they are on the fishing ground at the very entrance of the harbor. There is no doubt that in a very few years, when the port becomes more frequented, vessels which, after the whaling season is over on the Japan coast, have had generally to repair to Guam one of the Ladrone Islands, or to the Sandwich Islands, to refit and procure a supply of vegetables, &c., will find Port St. George to afford them every facility, and save much time and expense. It usually takes about five weeks to reach the Sandwich Islands, after the season is over. Many masters of ships have thought the place unsafe, from the circumstance of the loss of the William, in 1826. But it is very clear she

was lost through neglect. Vessels having good ground tackle need have no apprehensions for their safety. We remained in the port forty-two days, and had two strong gales in September, which the vessel rode out well. There are generally one or two gales every year; but they are not regular as to time. The settlers look for bad weather in May and October. The sea yields a good supply of fish, and plenty of green turtle during the proper season. It would be a great safeguard to the settlers, should government deem the place of sufficient consequence to induce them to send out a person vested with authority, who would put a stop to the masters of ships leaving any of their crews behind, as they have hitherto done. There are twenty-six Europeans on the islands, English, American, and Portuguese, exclusive of the Sandwich Islanders mentioned above. The tree, to which a sheet of copper was nailed by H.M.S. Blossom, in 1827, stating that the islands had been taken possession of on behalf of His Britannic Majesty, having been cut down, the copper is now affixed to the house built by Wittrein and his companions, after the loss of the William, in 1826."

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