The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-04-23

scvpion Of the Japanese possessions in the Kurile
Islands There is no kind Of sea animal, except |
those which are poisonous, that the Japanese do not
make use Of whales, sea-hons, all kinds of seals,
sea-hcgs, sea-bears, furnish them with palatable
food Hence, there is in all the Japanese possess
sons, no coast where there not fisheries. which
employ number Of people. They catch fish on the
coast in great nets, in the with lines. The
Japanese do not like the Europeans, venture to kill
whales in the open sea, but catch them in creeks,
and close TO the coast, in very strong nets The
dead sea animals which the waves have cast on
shore them for food; nay, even people OF the
highest class think such carrion great delcacy.
The Japanese radish is, in the form and taste,
very different from ours it is thin, and extremely
hong, to two arsheens in length. The taste OF
it is not very bitter, but sweetish, almost like
turnps Whole fields covered with it, great
part Of the crop is sailed, the other part is buried
in the ground for winter aud boiled in soup. Not
the radish leaves remain unused, they are
boiled in soup, sr salted and eaten rs salad. The
fresh leaves also Of this plant arc warmed by the
fire till they smoke, and then put in packet of
tobacco. This, say the Japanese, hindcrs the to-
bacco from drying up, and gives it an agreeable
smell and taste really did convince myself of the
former, but did not perceive the latter, perhaps be-
cause ! am no great smoker. They manure the
radish fields with night soil this ourselves
at Matsmai. In some places they the same
manure for rice.
Salt, as have before observed, is grand article
of consumption in Japan. The Japanese told us
that they had rock salt, but only in small quanti
ties; and it is, besides, brought from the interior
Of the kingdom, and not easy of conveyance, very
little Of it is used In general, they sea salt in
almost all parts of the kngdom; the preparation OF
which is facilitated by the extraordinary sadness Of
the sea water near the tropics and by the evapora-
ton produced by the heat. The japanese have,
therefore, large pits on the coast into which they
let the water, when the tide is up; the evapora
ton leaves thick sediment, from which they boil
their salt.
According to the description Of the Japanese,
their cotton must be of the same kind as have
seen in the English colonies in the West Indies;
that is, it grows small trees, about the height of
man. They have, however, other kinds of cot
ton, but | was not able sufficiently to understand
their descriptions. The country must produce an
immense quantity, as almost all the inhabitants are
clothed in it. The wadding which they make Of it
serves them instead Of furs They also line their
mattresses, and their morning gowns, which latter
serve them quilts. Of cotton they likewise make
n kind of writing paper. Ii is made also into
weks, of which an immense quantity must be used,
as the japanese always keep light during tho
night Rich people burn candles, as have said
before and the poor, fsh-oil. When foreign vessels
enter their ports, or an officer Of distinction arrives,
the japanese hang the whole town with cotton
stuff In word, there is perhaps no other country
in which so great quantity Of cotton is used as in
Japan; for this reason, great care is taken to ex-
tend the cultivation of it. As an instance of the
industry and activity Of this original people, it may
be mentioned that they import from the Kurile
islands into the interior of Japan, herrings spoiled
by keeping, to serve as manure for the cotton
plants. They first boil the behring's in large iron
kettles; then put them in presses and let all the
liquid flow into the kettles, from which they
take the oil for their lamps. What remains of the
herrings is spread upon mats and laid in the sun to
dry till they corrupt and almost converted into
ashes They are then filed into sacks and put on
board the boats. The earth round each cotton
plant is manurcd with them, which causes the crop
to be extremely abundant.
japan is also very rich in silk We had the
proofs before eyes. Matsmai is reckoned to be
one OF the very poorest towns yet we constantly saw
people of all ranks. especially women, in silk
dresses On festivals, even the common soldiers
wore costly silk dresses If we consider the great
population Of the japanese empire, the quantity of
silk must be very great, even if only rich people
dressed themselves in it. 1t was not. indeed, diff
cult for the japanese to cultivate this production
to great extent, as it requires only good climate
and industry; the former is favorable, and the
latter is possessed by the Japanese in very high
degree.
Copper is also produced in Japan in great album
dance The inhabitants cover with il the roofs OF
some Of their houses, the fore part of their ships,
and the joints in the houses. They manufacture Of
this metal their kitchen utensils, tobacco-pipes,
fire shovels, SC. Before we were lodged in the
house, and still lived in the prison. our furniture
coIresponded with the place of our abode but the
hearth was covered with copper, and the freshovel
was of the same metal; this shows that the Japanese
do not set any great value upon it. The teakettles
alone must cause an immense consumption of copper
in this empire; for all the japanese, have said
above, drink. when they thirsty, something
warm, whether it be tea or water. In every house,
therefore, the tea-kette stands constantly on the
fire, which must finally spoil it. The japanese
copper utensils arc, however, of very good workman
ship; we often wondered at the durability of the
tea-kettles which made of, for they stood
over the fire for months together, without burning
through. Ii is well known that the Dutch, in their
trade with Japan, derived their greatest advantage
from the expectation of the japanese copper, be-
cause it always contains large portion of gold,
which the japanese wanted skill, or inclination to
extract from it. But they are now become wiser,
and give the Dutch only pure copper.
With respect to iron, the japanese do not possess
that metal in such abundance as copper, but they
have sufficient to supply their absolute wants; and
If the government exchanged with the Dutch, cop
per for iron, this was not of necessity but because
iron is for many purposes preferable to copper. As
the japanese have surplus Of the latter both they
and the Dutch profted by this exchange. They
often told US, that the trade with the Dutch did
not produce them the least advantage-only some
medicines and political news which the Dutch
bring them from Europe, being Of Importance to
them. If the japanese had not iron sufficient for
their absolute wants they would certainly set more
value on the trade with the Dutch.
Jimber.-The greater part OF the japanese pre-
vinces are without wood. The extraordinary popu-
laton Of the kingdom renders it necessary to culti
vate every spot of ground, and therefore only the
mountains, which cannot be cultivated, are covered
with woods. The princpality Of Nambu, which lies
on the northeast part of the island Of Nippon, being
very mountainous, is rich in timber, with which it
supplies all japan, in exchange for provisions, Of
which II does not produce sufficient for the support
OF its inhabitants. On the mountains Of the islands
Of Matsmai. kunashier. Eetooroop, and Sagaleen,
there are forests of all kinds of trees which the Ja
panese also make use Of We saw there numbers of
very fne beams ready to be exported. Notwith-
standing this, the japanese draw but little timber
IRON these islands because it is so difficult to con-
vey from the interior TO the coasts and they have
not yet felt the necessity of surmountng these OBJ
staces. If this should happen. the japanese win
soon open read TO mountains which other nations
/ w pth ar
anything would be impossible for the zeal, activity,
and patience Of this people.
The japanese wished to know the Russian name
for some species of wood, and brought to pieces
and branches Of wood, asking now they were all
called in Russia. We made use of this opportunity.
and asked where these trees grew BY this means
we learned that several kinds Of oaks, palms (of
which the japanese make very good combs), BAN
boo, Expresses, cedars, yews, frs, and other kinds
Of trees, tie names Of which are unknown to US,
grow in these islands