樺太

23. Saghalien.

Saghalien, the Tarakai of the natives, and the Karafuto (an Ainu name) of the Japanese (who own the lower half of the island from lat. 46° to 50°), extends nearly N. and S. abreast the coast of Tartary for 520 M., and has a width varying from 15 to 100 M. Its N. part forms the E. side of Amur Gulf, and farther S. the E. shore of the Strait of Tartary, while its S. extremes, Cape Siretoku and Kondo-zaki, are separated from Yezo Island by La Pérouse (or Soya) Strait (22 M. across and with an average depth of 20-40 fathoms).

Travelers from Yezo usually land in Saghalien at Sakaemachi, 1 M. from the former capital of Otomari (the some-time Russian penal settlement of Korsakovsk), at the head of Aniwa (or Higashifushimi) Bay, overlooking a smaller bay called by the Russians Lososei, and by the Japanese Chitose-wan. Aniwa Bay, 45 M. long and 53 M. broad, extends along the southernmost part of Saghalien, between Kondo-zaki and Jizo-zaki, the former a peninsula extending into La Pérouse Strait. From Sakaemachi trains of the Karafuto Railway Line (3 ft. 6 in. gauge; operated by the Karafuto-cho, the vernacular name of the local gov't) run N. to 57 M. Sakaehama on the E. coast (daily trains in about 4 hrs.; 2d cl. fare, ¥3; 3d cl., ¥1.62 — no 1st cl.), passing through 24 M. Toyohara, the present capital (formerly Vladimirovka) where the administrative buildings are. Communications with the E. side of Saghalien is kept up during much of the year by dog-sledges, which the Ainu are expert in driving.

Trustworthy early records regarding Saghalien are lacking; it attracted the attention of the Japanese early in the 18th cent., and in 1785 the Tokugawa Gov't ordered Hidemochi Matsumoto to organize an expedition thither and report on the island. That it was masterless is shown by the fact that later the feudal lord of Matsumae, at Yezo, was entrusted with the administration of it and it was acknowledged a Japanese possession. Still later, when the Muscovites began to cast covetous eyes upon it, the ruling barons of Sendai, Aizu, Shonai, and Morioka were instructed to send colonists thither, who were later placed under the direct control of the high commissioners at Hakodate. Soon after Russia put a sign on the land affirming that the N. half belonged to her, the controversy over it reached an acute stage, and in 1852 a

Russian commissioner was sent to Japan to help mark the border-line. In 1859, Muravieff came for the same purpose, but as no definite agreement could be reached, Japan sent (in 1862) a special envoy to the Russian capital, but the settlement hung fire. The treaty concluded between Russia and the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867 was unsatisfactory to Japan, since she held the shadow and Russia the substance. By the terms of the Portsmouth Treaty, however, the S. part (about 20,000 sq. M.) of Karafuto below the 50° was restored (1905) to Japan. The island (pop. 80,000) has long been celebrated for its fisheries. Whales are found off the E. and S. coasts; salmon and herrings abound, and in the deep bay of Aniwa on the S., into which two large streams fall, the Japanese have established an extensive salmon-fishery; the largest is at the head of Patience Bay. The fishing season commences in April and closes in Aug. Of the 27,000 of the Japanese population, four tenths are engaged in agriculture, the remainder in fishing.

The forest-belted mts. of the island are disposed in parallel ridges, running with the meridian, separated by marshy valleys and forming the prolongation of similar ridges of granite and metamorphic schists in the Hokkaido. Here, as there, strata of the Upper Cretaceous age, inclosing coal-seams, reveal themselves against them, on the W., while on the E. side strata of the Tertiary formation predominate. A marked difference in the geology of Saghalien, compared with that of Yezo, consists in the scarcity of eruptive rocks in the former — which are limited to places on the W. coast. In this connection it is noteworthy that the zone of volcanism which follows the W. coast of the Japanese archipelago, ends in the upper Hokkaido, while a branch diverges over the Kuriles to Kamchatka. The W. mt. chain skirts the coast from N. to S. and has a mean elevation of nearly 3000 ft.; its summit, in the center of the range, attains a height of nearly 4900 ft.; and Mt. Lopatinski (Bernezet Peak), in about lat. 47° 38' N., is 3890 ft. high. The passes in this range are in some places less than 600 ft. high. Eastward of the main range there are parallel ranges with a mean elevation of about 650 ft., with gently rounded crests. Mount Tiara, in about lat. 50° 10' N., is an imposing peak about 1950 ft. high, and the only mt. of much elevation in the E. ranges. These mts. never reach the perpetual snow-line, but several rise above the limit of vegetation.

The virgin Forests are of an extent unequaled in any other part of the Japanese Empire. The most valuable of the trees are the several varieties of pines, the larch, white birch, willow, etc. Many chemical substances are obtained from them — resin, wood-alcohol, turpentine, etc. The forests are situated mainly on the high plains or in valleys with a slight inclination

toward the sea; numerous small streams float the felled logs to tide-water. Coal is the chief product of the mines; next to it comes placer-gold, copper, and iron. Oil is found in paying quantities. The coal-fields (under the control of the Saghalien Administrative Office) are numerous, with thick, regular seams. The N. fields lie along the E. slope of the mt. axis of the island and stretch from the mouth of the Poronai River to the Russian frontier. Wash-gold is found in abundance in the beds of the rivers which flow from the Taraika, Susuya, and Shiretoko ranges. Iron pyrites is found in great quantities on the Notoro Peninsula. It is believed that silver and amber exist. Rice is not cultivated because of the short summers, but the other vegetable-products are those of countries with a climate like that of Canada. The bear, wild reindeer, and sable are hunted, and the magnificent Manchurian tiger often visits the N. extremity of the island, crossing over when the Strait of Tartary is icebound. Cattle and horses have been introduced from Russia and Japan.

The Saghalien Climate is characterized by extreme humidity, fogs, rains, and snow. Spring, summer, and autumn occupy 2 months each and the winter 6 months. At Kusunai, on the W. coast, the foggy and rainy days average 253 in the year, and this locality is considered to be in a favorable position for fine weather; the number of foggy and rainy days on the E. coast is considerably in excess of those on the W. coast. The rainy season is from mid-Aug. to mid-Oct., when destructive floods occur at times. By the end of Oct. the streams and the coast are beset by ice and the whole island is covered by snow 3 ft. deep, which remains until the following April. The leaves begin to come out at the end of April, and the following 5 months are warm or hot; in the height of summer it is light from 4 A.M. till 9 P.M. The principal river is the Poronai, which rises in about lat. 50° 30' N., winds through a broad plain at the foot of the W. range, and enters the sea in the middle of Patience (or Shichiro) Bay, on the E. side of the island. The Tuimi River rises near the source of the Poronai, runs N., and discharges its waters into the Sea of Okhotsk. Each is navigable by a small boat for about 100 M. The winter winds which blow down the valley of the Poronai River are bitterly cold, and the temperature of Patience Bay in Jan. is said to be quite 20° colder than in the same latitude on the W. coast. The ice along the shores of this bay will bear sleighs as late as April. The great cold of the E. coast is caused in a measure by the ice which comes in from the Okhotsk Sea and packs up along it. Broken masses sometimes remain heaped round the E. headlands until July.

The inhabitants of the Russian end of the island consist almost entirely of immigrants: Russian (many of them released exiles), Giryaks (Tartars), Ainu (from Yezo), and Oroks.

The chief occupation of the people is fishing and hunting, the articles of export being otter, fox, sable, bear, deer, and seal skins. Robben (Tuyulenya, or Seal) Island, 11½ miles S.W. of Cape Patience, has a seal-rookery on the E. side. The Russian Fur Company's station is near the S.W. end. The island is the resort of thousands of puffin and other sea-birds which breed here. Sea-lions congregate in considerable numbers on Opasnost Rock, near Kondo-zaki. The noise of their bellowing and barking can be heard some distance at sea, and in foggy weather it warns the seamen of the island's proximity.

The hunter inured to low temperatures (the thermometer sometimes registers 24° F. below zero on the W. coast) will find game numerous. Bears and fine and valuable foxes are unusually plentiful, as are also grouse and hares. In this remote and rarely visited corner of the world whales, seals, salmon, and a host of marine creatures can be caught with little difficulty.

Yachtsmen who seek the most primitive places will sometimes find deserted huts that serve for temporary headquarters on the shore of the Gulf of Tartary — across which hunters sometimes come from the opposite ports of Siberia. It should be remembered that the half-savage Giryaks (or Ghiliaks) of Saghalien do not readily distinguish between their own and others' property — perchance due to the myopia with which many of them are afflicted.

The residence of the governor-general of Russian Saghalien is at Alexandrovski, N.E. of Cape Jonquieres. But little English is spoken in this region, and strangers are sometimes regarded with suspicion. Most of the Japanese settlers have retired to Karafuto in order to be under Japanese jurisdiction.