V u l c a n o e s :
E a r t h q u a k e s .
“ fmoke which was obferved continually to arife from it, and of
“ the feveral fpe&res, and other frightful uncommon appa-
“ ritions, people fancied to fee there in the night, it was believed
“ to be a dwelling-place o f devils, till at lâft a refolute and cou-
“ rageous man offered himfelf, and obtained leave accordingly
“ to go and examine the ftate and iituation o f it. He chofe fifty
“ refolute fellows for this expedition, who upon going on fhore
“ found neither hell nor devils, but a large flat fpot o f ground
“ at the top, which was fo thoroughly covered with fulphur,
“ that wherever they walked a thick fmoke iflued from under
a their feet. Ever finee that time, this ifland brings in to the
“ prince of Satzuma about 20 chefts o f filver per annum-, arifing
“ only from the fulphur dug up there, belides what he gets by
“ the trees and timber growing along the fhore.”
V u lc a n o e s are to be found in many parts o f the empire,
which in general abounds with their-great pabulum, fulphur and
metallic bodies. Some have burnt incelfantly for ages; others have
ceafed, or only emit flames periodically. The moll: noted is the
mountain Feji, in the proyince o f Surugu, equal in height to the
pike o f Feneriff, and capt with everlafting fnovv, ■■
No country is more fu b je tto earthquakes th an Japan ; fo
frequent are they, that the natives regard'them with as little
terror as & European would a florin ; yet no annals can produce
filch tragical relations o f their fad effets. 1 That in 1586, told
by Father de Froes, preferved by Kaempfer, is one, but dreadfully
furpaffed by the earthquake'of 1704, when the, whole city of
Jeddo was deftroyed, and two hundred thoufand of its inhabitants
perifhed in the ruins,
6 In
. In many places are fprings o f water moft intenfely hot ; fome H o t S p r i n g s .
boil up with fuch violence as to fling up the largeft ftones which
are laid over them , we are not told to what height. T h e y are
faid to be periodical, fo I fu fp e t them to be o f the fame nature
with the Geyfers o f Iceland. Thofe o f a gentler heat are ufed as
baths for feveral diforders, Thofe o f the boiling heat were formerly
applied (as I ihall have occafion to mention) for the moft
cruel purpofes.
T he empire o f Japan conflits o f three greater iflands ; the N i p o n ,
largeft, Nipon, which gives name to the whole, is o f .a curvated
form, and approximates at the fouthern end to the -fouth-weftern
extremity o f Korea. Between both are the ftreights o f Korea, .
and within is the great gulph o f the famé name, bounded on
th e eaftern fide by th e concavity o f Nipon. According to
M. D’Anvilles fcale, that ifland is above fix hundred miles in
length.
T he next ifland is tha t o f Sikolf, or the country;of four, be- Sikokf.
caufe divided into fdur provinces. It is irregular in its form, and
lodged between two large projetions o f Nipon ; its length is-two
hundred miles'.
B e t w e e n its eaftern end and the weft o f the falient part o f a w a d .
Nipon, is a fmaller ifland named Aivad.
T h e third, or more foutherly ifland, is feparated from the
weftern part o f Sikokf by a narrow ftrait, and is named Saikokf, Saikokf or
■or the Weftern country, and Kiujiu, or the country o f nine, be- Kiusiu.
caufe divided into nine provinces.
A round moft o f thefe greater iflands are innumerable fmall
ones, inhabited or uninhabited ; among them F.irando and Gefima
are