The primitive Republican. (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-1852, 1852-05-06
EaltOr 4 Proprietor.
NEW SERIES, VOL. 8 NO 5.

gardens; in this they excel, as they are the
very best Of horticultuTists. A few feet Of
ground are turned to the best advantage, a.
the japanese understand perfectly the art Of
dwarfng plants, trees, fruits, and flowers
They use neither tables, bed-steads, nor
chairs; but sit, eat and sleep, ike most East
ern nations, on mats.
Almost the first accomplishment learned
by them is the art and grace Of suicide; the
child in the nursery stabs Itself with its fin
gers or stick, and falls back IN initiative
death; the lover cuts out his intestines be-
fore his Obdurate mistress, and the latter
pours out her hearts blood in the face of
her faithless lover; the criminal executes
himself; and, in fact the whole nation, from
early youth, revels in the luxury Of suicide.
Their trade is, at present, under great re-
strictiOns, as they only trade with the Chi
nese and Dutch. The latter have alwsya
fOstered, cherished, and increased the pre-
JUDGES of the japanese against all other
nations, particularly the French, English,
and Portuguese.
The mechanics and manufacturers in ia
pan excel In their different branches, aud
are even far superior to the Chinese TIER
silks and cotton are excellent, and their ia
pan ware and porcelain unequalled. Their
exports are raw and manufactured silks,
iron, steel, artificial metals, furs, teas, finer
than the Chinese, Japan ware, gold, silver.
copper, guns, medicinal herbs, roots, dimonds,
pearls, coral, shells, ambergris, &c. What
ever goods the japanese want they pay for
in gold and silver.
The japanese worship the principal two
gods, Xaca and Atnida. At Maceo there is
stately temple built to one Of these gods;
it is of freestone, as large as St. Paul's with
an arched roof, supported by heavy pillars,
in which stands an idol of copper, which
reaches as high as the roof; and, according TO
a description given by Sir Thomas Herbet,
his chair is seventy feet high and eighty
feet long; the head is big enough to hold
fifteen men, and the thumb forty inches in
} circumference. There is another statue,
called after the god Dabio, made Of copper,
twenty-five feet high, in setting posture
This shows that the Japanese understand the
: art of working in bronze, and they are far
! ahead of Christian nations IN this particular
: They allow polygamy, and they often stran-
: males. The nobility extract the two front
; teeth, and supply them with two of gold.
The principal rivers are the Ujingavs and
l Askagava; the former so rapid and vide
: that bridge cannot be built over it, the lat
: ter remarkable for its depth and perpetual
fluctuations. The chief lake is called Citz,
e is one hundred miles long and twenty-one
= wide. A large valley exists in the interior,
J filled with carbonic gas, and called the Val
q ley of the Upar. 1t is covered with the
l. skeletons of numerous wild and tame beasts
g and birds. The Emperor, it is said, often
e sent criminals to the valley to bring away q
8, precious gem of inestimable value, and the
Sc bones of men also whiten its deadly sides
, Acidulated lakes and thermal springs are
:. common thrOughou several Of the islands.
n Their great sources of opulence are their
mines of gold and silver, but they have 10
IL anthony, calamine, sal-amoniac, borax, OF
e cinnebar, (quicksilver) These articles are
It in demand, and bring high price. Birds
n and every kind of duck and poultry are plen-
q. ty; camphor trees are abundant, and the
cedars arc the finest in the world. Few
n countries open so fair field as the islands
h of Japan for botanical and geological re-
4 search. It is not necessary here to enter into
j. a detailed statistical account of the commerce
ar of Japan. A direct trade to that empire
q. would increase the commerce of this country
3. about two hundred millions of dollars annu-
of ally, if not more.
IS, It has always been in contemplation with
IS, this country to make an effort to open di-
e. rect trade with Japan. Commodore Porter,
al as far back as 1915, addressed letter to
e. Mr. Monroe on the subject. This letter
er has been published in the Intelligencer) 1t
RI was intended to fit out q frigate and two
ce sloops-of-war and place them under his CON-
i'd mand, but subsequent events prevented the
lie consummatiOn Of this design, but it has been
IS, revived from time to time, without being
p carried out; but few years ago the under
It's signed drew the attention Of the Hon. j. Y.
"a Mason to the subject by the Recommendation
re of steam line to China, with a view Of In.
n cidental commercial intercourse, and finally
direct trade with Japan. 1t would require
IS, but small efforts to accomplish commercial
intercourse with so shreWd people as the
so japanese, who are alive to commercial feel
ar ings. A steam line direct from New York
IT. to the Isthmus being already in existence, il
k is an easy matter to continue it TO the Gal
e lipagOes, which islands abound in coal
ty thence to the Marquessas, and on to Shang
ss, hal or Jeddo. w. d. PORTER.
til
ndl H. H. Ta,-f;e,.