The Grit-advocate., 1905-10-06


Sakhaiien was called Kara
fnto by the japanese. and was then
exclusively Inhabited by Nippons and
Chinese. 1t WAS Il navigator from he
Rising Sun. Mania Rilno, who first. in
the year 1904. located its safe anchor
ages which had. however. already been
roughly noted by the Frenchman. La
PerOUsc, in 111I. So far back as 1876
The Japanese protested against Il colt
ventiOn which was ratified and exc
cuted i'll 1859. in virtue of which the
Sakhalien Island was shared between
Japan and Russia. the 10th parallel
of latitude forming the limit of the
zones of influence. Later in 1879. I'M
der the treaty of ST. Petersburg, the
japanese part of the island also be-
came Russia's property in exchange
for The mediocre archipelago OF the
Kuriles, the yield of which is nj! from
an economical point of view, and on
that occasion Japan lodged another
protest. Sakhalien is situated to the
north of Japan, Il strait dividing it
from Yeso. The Russians converted it
into penitentiary colony, where the
convicts and their issue numbered
about 10000. They were given ;he
charge of coloniZing the island. Il task
that they performed with MS little
eagerness as success.
Tho natives are very primitive and
very Wild but at the same time quite
harmless; they are known by the name
of The Guiliaks and the Amos; and they
camp along the large rivers of the isl
ar6, that is to say. the Tyne and the
T.ronai. The width of Salhalicn
varies between sixteen and 100 miles.
but so long is the island tover go
miles,. that its area equals the sixth
miles. The island is particularly
wealthy in gold. silver. timber amber.
iron. plumbagine. furs. coal and petrol
cum deposits. the latter being more OK
tcnsivc than those of the United States,
and il is now known that the petroleum
springs found in the vicinity of the
Nooteva River. which is one of the
main streams of the island. are more
important than those of Raku.
Although the island is covered with
snow for so long every year. and dur
ing July ice is still found at IL distance
of less than one yard from the surface
of the earth. the japanese were espc-
cially anxious TO take Sakhalien be-
cause fish is the National food in
Japan. and since the beginning of the
war they have had to get it from the
Formosa and Indo-China coasts. And
Japan is not naturally a rich country;
its principal agricultural products arc
rice, mulberr!cs. vegetables and indigo
in limited quantities: and so poo" is
the soil that it requires more manure
than that of any other country i'll the
world. Consequently. fish is not simply
one of the chief foods Of The Japanese.
hut it supplies th"m with an excellent
fertilizing material for their fields. In
oldcn times the japanese asricnlturists
to enrich their lands and rice fields
made use of bean shells. which We're
imported from the ports of China and
Korea. Shanghai and ChefOo FuSan
and Chemulpo. The bean manure had
the advantage of being. very cheap.
its cost being only a fifth of the price
of the fish manure, but the latter has
chemical power incomDarably
stronger, and the fields amended by its
employment yield very rich crops. so
that the most skcptical Japanese. hav-
ing been taught by experience during
the war against China. are now con-
vinccd that it is advantageous to Use
fish fertilizer, in spite of its higher
price.
In past times, fish used to come in
great numbers on the shores and in
the japanese rivers, and could be cas-
pecially famous for its fish. but those
fine days are gone. for salmon have
little by little deserted the rivers Ow-
1ing to the irrational and immoderate
fishing. The herring has abandoned
the japanese waters having undoubt-
edly been frightened by the boats.
which became more and more numer-
Gus. They like quietness and dislike
noise. and sometimes the firing of a
gun is quite enough TO make Il whole
shoal leave the bay where it had taken
mp its quarters. All this, hawever. does
not mean that fish are scarce in the
seas and rivers of Japan. but they are
sensibly fewer than in the past. Fish,
on the other hand, are more numerous
than ever in the Russian seas Of the
Far East. In kamtchatka they arrive
in shoals so compact that they have
been known TO capsize boats on their
passage. In the bays, which are so
numerous on the continent, the natives
catch fish in abundance. which, De!%s
dried in the sun and stored, supply
them with food during the winter: and
at Sakhalien, at the time the salmon
reascend the rivers, they are so numer-
GUS that the natives are often able
to catch them with the hand, and
shoals of herring are occasionally