£ 09
J A P A N .
'H E remainder o f the north o f Afta has been defcribed in
my A r c t i c Z o o l o g y , what I have faid in this, ferves to
give all I can collect refpecting that vaft continent. The iflands
to the north of Formofa muft now be added, the omiiiion would
render this volume incomplete, for we fhould not only lofe the
account o f the important iiland o f Japan, but break into the
great chain, which extends quite from the firft o f the Malayan
to the Kuril iiles, already defcribed in the above work.
T h e iflands, called b y Mr. Arrowfmitb the Tatpin, form a nu- T a t p i n I s i . e s ,
merous group of fmall ifles dependent on thofe we are juft going
to mention; they lie not remote from the eaftern fide o f Formofa,
with the tropic of Cancer paflingover thefouthern end.
T h e ifles o f Liquejo, or as they are called by the natives Riuku, I s l e s o p
are the next; they are feventy leagues to the north-eaft o f For- LnLDE-ro-
niofa; the moft confiderable, Kintfchin, which lies north and fouth,
between Latitudes 26" 28', and 25° 45', is about fifty leagues long,
and fifteen broad : the eaft fide and fouth end ikirted by numbers
of little ifles and rocks; the inhabitants are chiefly Cbinefe,
who fled from the ’Tartars at the time of the I aft revolution.
They were well received by the natives, who fpeak a broken
V o l . III. E e Cbinefe,
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