Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-07-08


dition of Commodore Perry has been successful
in opening two japanese ports for American
commerce, we are deeply interested in ascer
tanning the extent and variety of the resource
of that empire, which has hitherto exclude.
foreigners with such rigorous Jealousy.
The sea and its productions, VIE believe, con
| tribute as much to the sustenance of the natives
as do the fruits Of the earth-rlce, perhaps, ex
cepted. One of their productions has value
which is not confined to the spot but extends It
us-to our enterprise and our trade-We NEAR
the whale, or, they call it, hudsur1 There
is nothing of which such extensive use is made
by the japanese, both for rich and poor. 1t i!
found all around Japan. but particularly in thu
sea kumano the most important portion OF the
empire, and it also prevails near the islands O
| Tsussima and Goto, and upon the coasts o.
| Omura and Mono. These whales not only at
| ford Oil in abundance, but their flesh which is
| considered wholesome and nutritious, is largely
| consumed. No part Of them, indeed, is thrown
away all is made available to some useful pur-
pose or another, excepting, indeed, the large
| shoulder-bone. The skin, which is generally
black the flesh, which is red, and looks like
beef the intestlnes, and all the inward parts,
besides the fat or blubber, which is boiled into
oil; and the bone, which is converted to innu-
merable purposes-all are made available to
| few particulars respecting the whale, because
it is that which has brought our countrymen
into contact with Japan. Many of our ships
have for some considerable time past frequented
those for capturing the whale-an occu-
patton which, it is found, Mi ht be pursued
with great advantage under a commercial treaty
with the Government of Japan, whose inhuman
laws at present not only prevent any assistance
being rendered to shipwrecked mariners, but
expose them to positive maltrea tment, and even
to violent death. To obtain redress in this re-
speet the primary object OF Commodore
Perry's expedition
Japan abounds in natural and artificial pro-
auctions Of great value. Its mineral riches
are enormous, and include metals of various
kinds, especially gold silver and copper. Sui
phur and nitre also found in large quaint
ties. There is no want of coal; and there are
precious stones Of almost every varety-agates,
sapphires, jaspers, COMEDIANS, and even dla-
monds; while pearls are found in great plenty
among the shells upon the coast. Then the fer
tlHty OF the soil is very great The mulberry
tree grows extensively, and affords food for
countless myriads of silk-worms The hadss,
or paper tree, serves iunumerable purposes, in
Guiding the manufacture of cloth, stufs and
cordage. The ceruSa, or varnish tree, is an
other valuable production of the country. yield
ing large quantities of milky juice, which the
natives employ to varnish, or japan, as we call
it, variour articles. Then there are the bay
tree. the camphor tree, the fig tree, the cypress
tree, with very many more, all more or less
valuable, and from which a great variety of
useful things are made; and last, though not
least, there is the shrub, from the leaves Of
which the common drink of the people is brewed,
and which is capable of yielding a valuable
ticle of commerce. Trees growing nuts of
rious kinds abundant; the maple is extern
sive and excellent; bamboos are very plentiful
and of great use, as they everywhere in the
Indies they cultivate as much hemp and cotton
as they can find room for in their fields and,
as to rice, which is the main food of the natives,
that grown in Japan is considered the best in
all Asia, and it can be produced in almost any
quantity. Their corns are of several sorts be-
sides the komi, or rice, there the oomuggi
kind of barley; the hoomuggi, their native
wheat: and the daidson, a species of bean-all
of which abound with superior farina
The manufactures of Japan have hitherto
been confined, almost exclusively, to their own
domestic wants; but many of them are never
theless valuable articles of export. They make
various articles from the paper-tree, resembling
our papier machie, which they paint and varnish
very highly; and these might form objects of
considerable trade. Their silks, muslins, and
cotton goods are most of them very superior,
and some of them are calculated to become
highly recherche and their carvings in wood,
ivory, pearl and fish bone, are most ingenious
and elegant. These are but Il few of the pro-
auctions of their handcraft. but they are suf-
ficent to show, taken in connection with their
natural productions how varied and how vaua-
BILE are the resources of Japan.
f4Mese York Weezzy Leader
THE ENGLISH AT CossTANTINopLE.-A cor
respondent of the London Times says that no
small amount of sickness is likely to prevail
among the inexperienced Europeans who have
taken up their residence in the city of mosques |