Their opportunities, therefore, except in the oase of Siebold, have been very
limited for acquiring, from personal observation, a knowledge of anything
on the island of Kiu-siu beyond what they could see from their prison.
As to Nippon, on which is Yeddo, the capital of the kingdom, they have
had the opportunity of seeing more. This has resulted from the fact that
periodical visits, with presents, have been made to the Emperor at the capital
by the chief Dutch commissioner at the factory on Dezima; and on these
visits he has been accompanied by his physician and a small number of his
subordinate officers. I t is, therefore, to the chief commissioners and their
medical attendants that we have been indebted for all we have been told
since the establishment of commercial relations with the Dutch. Titsingh,
Doeff, Fischer, Meylan, were all chiefs of the factory, while Ksempfer, Thun-
berg and Siebold have all been the physicians. These visits were formerly
annual, latterly they have been less frequent, and a more jealous surveillance
has been exercised over the European travellers. Still they have evaded
restrictions as far as possible, have seen all they could, and told all they saw.
But they were, of necessity, obliged to gather much of what they relate
from the information of the Japanese; how far it is to be considered as in
all respects accurate neither they nor we are able to say. Yet the Dutch
residents undoubtedly knew for themselves more about the island of Nippon
than they did concerning Kiu-siu, in one of the harbors of which was their
prison.
As to Yesso, or Jesso, it is confessedly very imperfectly known. One
of its ports is Matsmai, and here Captain Grolownin, of the Russian navy,
was kept as a prisoner for two years. In an effort which he made to escape,
he wandered over a part of the island; but as he was not seeking on this
excursion materials for description, nor studying at his leisure the habits of
the people, his statements are, as might be expected, altogether unsatisfactory,
and yet we have none better from an European eye-witness. Ksempfer,
Thunberg, and Siebold are our most valuable sources of information since
the days of the Dutch commerce.
At an earlier period, and before Japanese jealousy of foreign influence
had prompted them to adopt their system of exclusion, the opportunity was
far more favorable for the acquisition of information by the personal observation
of strangers. The Portuguese missionaries and some early English
navigators, therefore, afford us on some points a knowledge such as no
European during the last two hundred years could possibly have procured.
Of the physical aspect of these principal islands former writers give
different accounts. Thunberg represents them as composed of a succession
of mountains, hills, and valleys, while Ksempfer says that he travelled over
several plains of considerable exent. The country is undoubtedly very hilly,
and in general the hills come down near to the seashore, leaving but narrow
strips of land between the water and their bases; it is, however, not improbable
that level plains of some extent may be found in the interior. The
hills, however, are not sterile; and covered, as most of them seem to be,
with the fruits of cultivation up to their summits, bear witness alike to the
numbers and industry of the population. Mountains, however, are to be
found as well as hills, nor is it surprising that some of them should be
volcanic.
Westward of the bay of Yeddo rises to the height of some twelve
thousand feet the Fudsi Jamma, with its summit whitened by perpetual
snow; it was once an active volcano. The northern part of Nippon also is
known to be traversed by a chain of mountains, from which rise several
isolated peaks, the craters, in some instances, of extinct volcanoes, while
others, still burning, are to be seen on the islands scattered in the gulfs of
Corea and Yeddo.
In such a country the rivers cannot probably be long; while the rapidity
of their currents indicates that their sources must be considerably elevated.
I t is said that over some of them no bridges can be built, as none would
resist the force of the stream fed by the waters of the mountain torrents.
Some of the rivers, however, are navigable by small boats for several miles
from the sea into the interior. The Japanese, from the nature and position
of their country, ought to be a maritime people; they can have but few
natural facilities for inland trade. Their ingenuity and industry have,
however, been taxed to open modes of communication with the interior;
roads and bridges have been constructed, and in some instances canals have
been made to unite their rivers and lakes.
Of the climate of Japan it is not possible to speak with much certainty.
In the southern part of the Kingdom it is said to be not unlike that of
England. Some winters are remarkably mild, without any frost or snow,
though generally such is not the case; when however these occur, they last
but for a few days. The heat in summer is said to average 98° of Fahrenheit
at Nagasaki. This, which would otherwise be excessive, is much
moderated by the breeze which, in the day time, blows from the south, and
at night from the east. There is what the Japanese call satkasi, or the
rainy season, in June and July; by this, however, it is only meant that the
rains are. then most abundant; for, in point of fact, they are frequent all the
year round, and the weather appears to be variable. No part of the ocean
is subject to heavier gales than the sea around Japan, and the hurricanes
are terrific ; fogs also are, as might’ be expected, very prevalent; thunder
storms are common, and earthquakes have more than once destroyed a great
part of the most populous towns. Kempfer remarked, also, that water-spouts
were of very frequent occurrence in the seas around Japan. Yet, notwithstanding
all these things, the country cannot, we think, be deemed insalubrious;
for the Japanese are in general a healthful people, and the country is very
thickly inhabited.