Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1868-01-11
NEWS AND MISCELLANY.
The Highways OF shipping Discoveries
by California Navigaters W0nderiHi
WOIIusk,

route from California TO Cnlna, tue
public mind of our state was seriously
attracted to the subject of a more
thorough knowledge of the innumer-
able clusters of islands which perpetu-
ally dot that portion of the ocean lying
/ 900 miles south of Japan, and which
covers over 500 miles in diameter of
the far Pacific waters. The discoveries
alluded to, and detailed more at large
in the Bulletin. have been made by
California navigators, and all informa-
ton given has been greedily devoured.
From the former accounts of the Span
ish, English, French, Russian and
American navigators, and explorations
in those parts, and the great number
of islands, islets and reefs laid down
by them on various charts from 1860 to
1867, which count over thousand, and
an equal number between % degrees
north of the equator, to 30 degrees
south of the line, some idea may be
obtained of what mighty commissions
of volcanoes and earthquakes must
have occurred in the past ages of the
world to break up and overwhelm the
lost continent OF which biologists as
sert these are tie remains. Thereawsy,
thousands of miles in the wilderness of
waters, may be realiz ID the pregnant
words of the poet:
Earthquakes have raised to heaven the
humble vale,
Aud CULTS the mighty macs entombed,
And where the ocean rolls wide continents
have bloomed."
And as the mariner looks down into
the depths of the sea, In those parts
IL. al solapHa HnaFf..as
all around him, or ''dwash of the
water" no wonder that he longs to
make a Crusoe of himself in these be-
nignant sOlitudes, or drive out the
miserable savages who cucumber their
surface and make beefsteaks of him
were they to catch him unaware. Very
few of these islands equal California
county in dimensions until the lines
of the Philippine group are reached,
and hundreds of them are less than a
thousand acres in extent; nevertheless
there are hundreds of others which
could maintain large and fiourishing
communities, and as they lie between
California and Australia, We may be
sure they will soon, in some way or
other, be subject to people who speak
the English language. To the north
of the parallel of Santa Barbara, or,
say, 81 degrees, there Is an enormous
space of water exhibited on the maps,
bounded by the American coasts on
the one hand and Japan on the other,
which is entirely bereft of land until
the Aleutian arehipeiagoes of Alaska are
reached, that is an area of 600 miles of
latitude and 2 900 miles of longitude.
This expanse of the North Pacific
has been repeatedly sailed over by
whalers and merchantmen since 1S4S,
without giving any indisputable dis
cOveries, but they mostly followed
wellknown tracks, bounded by certain
winds aud currents, since the times of
the MALTA gsleOn or the old Northwest
traders, and there may be single or
archipelago islands never yet trod by
the foot of civilized man, inside of
these highways of shipping. The as
serted discovery by Captain Brooks of
the small group of islands In % de-
grees north aud IL degrees west, of
which Tenant recently made a chart
august, 1867, may yet turn out the
realization of the old Spanish galleon
notations. prior to 1906, as several is
lands located on the charts since 1850,
south of 30 degrees, are confessedly
only rc-discoveries, having In the last
forty years caused more discussion In
the scientific circles of Paris, London
and St. Petersburg. aud expense in
hunting for them by government ships,
than likely they ever will be worth.
The different explorers of these
complications networks of the Radack,
Mariana and Caroline groups frequent
ly mention wonderful bivalve moi
lusk, called in science the b'idadchna
giggs, which will hold In each
half of its shell from one to
four gallons. This shell contains
an animal mass of tough pulp
meat, like the large eytherid,
or California white mussel of the San
ia Barbara Channel, and it may ne
seen walking about with its heavy
feelers on the coral reefs, in calm
weather, and bearing a weight of from
ten to twenty pounds of shell, accord
ing to age. The meat is used by the |
natives for food, and the shells for do
nestle purposes, and 1t is said to be |
the largest of the molusca known to |
naturalists. 1t Is, in the central parts, |
ar inch thick, the inside beautifully !
white, and on the outside ribbed and |
grooved like the Palmers' shell, SO COM |
mon on the Lower California coasts, |
which is picture of those figured on
the dresses of the old Crusader Pill
grims or Planners; hence its name.
The hinges to these trSdnachnas are
strong as iron while moist, and the |
edges or openings of the feeling parts
dovetail together most cunningly. |
There seem to be two species of them,
one found IN the East Pacific and the
other in the Molucca Archipelago, and
they are among the most curious, use
full and interesting objects in marine
zoology. We have often seen them as
ornaments Rnd flower pots in the pri-
vate gardens of Singapore, India and
China, where large numbers are brought |
by the Mslayan and European traders. |