横浜から小笠原諸島へ

8. From Yokohama to the Bonin Islands.

The Bonin Islands, or Ogasawara-jima, a triple group of green, semi-tropical islands (pop. 6000; area, 32 sq. M.) extending in a northerly direction from the parallel 26° 30′ N. to 27° 45′ N., about 550 M. S.S.E. from Yokohama, are said to have come under Japanese notice in 1593, at which time, because they were deserted, their discoverer (Ogasawara Sadayori) called them Munin, or ‘uninhabited islands.’ They are of considerable historic interest, since at one time they promised to become a touchstone of international polity. Navigators know the most southerly group as Arzobispo (Archbishop), perhaps named by Spanish navigators from Manila. This cluster, known also as Baylies’ (in honor of Francis Baylies, President of the Astronomical Society), was touched at in 1823, by a whaling-ship (the Transit) from Nantucket commanded by Captain Coffin, who named it and who first communicated information of its position to England. With characteristic foresight Captain Beechy, of H.M.S. Blossom, called at the island June 9, 1827, and after naming the 3 large islands of the middle cluster respectively Peel, Buckland, and Stapleton, and the N. cluster Parry’s Group, called the harbor of Peel Island ‘Port Lloyd,’ and nailed against a tree a copper sheathing bearing the following inscription: ‘H.M.S. Blossom. Captain Beechy took possession of these islands in the name and on behalf of His Majesty King George, the 14th June, 1827.’ A mixed company of colonists numbering a score or more came from the Sandwich Is., in 1830, at the instigation of the English consul, and started a settlement. When Commodore Perry visited the islands seeking a coaling station, on the occasion of the first visit of the American fleet to Japan, his action was misinterpreted by the British Foreign Office, and in 1853 Sir George Bonham, the Governor of Hongkong, opened a diplomatic correspondence with the American Admiral on the subject. In due course Japan asserted her claim to the islands, and formally annexed them in 1877. Administratively, they belong to the Tokyo-fu. At present

Stapleton Is. is called Ototo-jima (‘Younger Brother’); Buckland Is., Ani-jima (‘Elder Brother’); and Peel Is., Chichi-jima (‘Father Island’). Baylies’, or Coffin Is., is now known as Haha-jima (‘Mother Island’), while the islets near by are called Nephew, Sister, Niece, and the like. The head administrative office is at Omura, near Port Lloyd in Chichi-jima. Ships of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha keep up regular communication between all the chief islands and Yokohama.

The islands are high, bold, rocky, of volcanic origin and characteristics. The forests that clothe the lower slopes of some of the hills consist mostly of palms,—areca, pandanus, sago, and a species resembling the cocoanut. The mulberry trees attain to considerable height, and the ferns are the size of trees. Sugar is one of the chief exports, while canned pineapple and turtle are shipped to the Tokyo market. Turtles and whales are numerous in the surrounding waters, and are a source of wealth. As bananas do not reach maturity in Japan proper, those consumed are shipped chiefly from this region. A specimen of the huge bats, which here grow to the size of young chickens, may be seen at the Tokyo Imperial Museum. As the islands lie N. of the N.E. trade region, and E. of the monsoons, the climate is remarkably fine; the mean annual temperature is about 70°; it is coldest in Jan.-Feb., when the mean monthly temperature is 55°. It is over 70° from May until Oct., with a mean of 80° in Aug.

Futami Minato, the bay on the W. side of Chichi-jima, about 1½ M. long by nearly 1 M. in breadth, with a depth of 20-25 fathoms over a coral bottom, is visited yearly by whaling-ships. The population of Port Lloyd, its chief port, numbers about 500, chiefly Japanese, with a sprinkling of Sandwich Is. half-castes.—Haha-jima, 35 M. S. of Chichi-jima, largest (7 M. long by 1½ broad) of the Baylies’ (or Coffin) group, is hilly and rocky, the highest point being 1471 ft. high.—Volcano Islands, 75 M. S. of the Ogasawara group, were discovered in 1543 by Bernardo de Torres, and received their name from the volcano on the central island. The N. island is named San Alessandro; the center, Sulphur Is., and the S., San Agustino. The region roundabout is known among seafaring men for its strange submarine volcanoes; at times masses of mud and ashes shoot up from the water, accompanied by rumbling and the stench of sulphur. Sulphur Is. is 5 M. long and has dangerous reefs on its E. and W. side. In Nov., 1904, a rocky island 2½ M. in circumference suddenly poked its head above the sea 3 M. N.E. of San Agostino, and in due time uncovered a pumice-stone beach, but by 1906 it had retired beneath the waves.