Bonin Islands  Source  Whalesite

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
==============================================

REPORTS

FROM THE

CONSULS OF THE UNITED STATES

ON THE

COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, ETC.,

OF THEIR

CONSULAR DISTRICTS.

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No. 24. – October, 1882.

PUBLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1882.

Alexander C. Jones, (1830-1898)

      The chain of islands forming the Empire of Japan stretches along the western coast and in easy distance from the Continent of Asia, through 15° and more of latitude north. At its northern extremity, in Yezzo, in some conditions of wind and tide it is said that the natives can walk dry-shod into Asia. This extent of country consequently embraces several conditions of climate. At the north three or four mouths in the

year the bays and rivers are frozen over, and communication is had at such times by sledges over the snow and ice.

      At Yokohama and Tokio the winters are sufficiently cold for the foreign inhabitants to indulge, for some weeks, in the exercise of skating; while at Nagasaki, and on the island of Kiu-Shiu (Kew-shew), ice never forms, and oranges are the chief product of that season of the year.

      A hundred miles and more south and east of the main island of Kiu-Shiu is a group of islands scattered at some length, a continuation, they might be called, of the chain and a part of the Empire of Japan, known as the Bonin Islands.

      While these islands form a separate province in themselves, they are yet so contiguous to Kiu-Shiu, of which Nagasaki is the only open port, that I have thought it proper to make them the subject of some remarks, as their history, climate, products, &c., are not without interest.

      These islands, properly speaking, form three groups, comprising in all about fourteen islands, stretching in a line north and south in sight of each other, and in clusters of three and four each. The middle and southern groups are the only ones which are inhabited and of which I shall more particularly speak. The others are small and unimportant, some of them being merely gigantic detached rocks, and of such rugged volcanic character and surrounded by such dangerous currents, that they afford no inducement for or promise of habitation. The middle group, which is composed of three islands, is the largest and principal one, and contains the bulk of the whole population. This middle group is situated in latitude 27° 05' 27".1 north, longitude 142° 11' 36" east.

      The name of Bonin Islands, which is applied to the whole group, is derived from and is a corruption of the Japanese name of Bunin-Shima, which means "uninhabited islands."

      The discovery and proprietorship of these islands were questions for a long time of much doubt and uncertainty, out of which grew some perplexities and slight ministerial controversies, but they were never, for some reason, deemed of sufficient importance to make them of international interest. From a number of confused statements of conflicting claims I have been enabled to arrive at what I think to be the actual facts in the matter of the discovery.

      The Japanese claim to have had knowledge of these islands as far back as the year 1593, but the first authenticated discovery was made about the year 1675, by the accident of a Japanese junk from Nagasaki being driven by a storm upon the shores of the main island. On the return of this junk, and a report being made of the discovery of new land, the Daimio, then ruling at Nagasaki, with a Daimio's thirst for additional wealth and power, fitted out and sent a high commission to look up and take possession of it in the name of the Shogun government of Japan. The adventure was successful, the islands were found, taken possession of, and given the name of Ogasawara-Shima, after the name of the chief of the commission, who was a sort of Americus Vespucius in the way of a discoverer. On the Japanese charts and maps the islands still bear the name of Ogasawara-Shima.

      At the time of this discovery the commission reported that there were no inhabitants on these islands, nor any trace that any had ever existed. There were no animals found of any description; only the wild sea-birds and the numerous crustacea which crawled along the sands of the sea-shore greeted the sight of the discoverers. But the abundant supply of fresh water, the soft beauty of the climate, and the luxuriance of the vegetation excited their highest admiration and colored their report of a valuable acquisition.

      The Shogun government of Japan for a long time debated the proposition of populating the islands and putting them under cultivation, and as to the best means of making them a source of revenue. It was at length decided, for want of a better purpose, to make them into a penal colony. Measures were at once taken to carry this into effect, and several vessels were dispatched freighted with convicts and guards, carpenters, blacksmiths, &c., with the necessary material, stock, implements, and utensils for the establishment of such a colony.

      It does not appear from any existing records how long this penal colony was conducted, but for some reason it was not a continued success; perhaps from the want of subjects, as the methods of instant decapitation were at that time much in vogue. However that might have been, after a few years the idea was abandoned and the colony withdrawn. The islands reverted to their primeval condition. In the old myths and early tales of Japan there is no mention of a Robinson Crusoe.

      It was nearly a hundred years before communication was again established with these islands, when a descendant of Ogasawara, the discoverer, was given leave, at his urgent request, on account of the services of his distinguished ancestor, to occupy and colonize them. The young Ogasawara was rich and enterprising, and fitted out at Nagasaki a considerable expedition, and set sail with fair promise. But his scheme of a successful colonization was a failure, and after a few years was abandoned. The government, however, notwithstanding these repeated failures to occupy the islands, did not lose sight of their importance nor of their proprietorship by right of discovery. At intervals several Japanese junks put in or were driven to the islands by stress of weather, and the returned mariners in each instance gave an account of their adventures and a description of the islands. Whether it was that the government was not ready for the agitation of the subject, or engaged at such times with internal wars, which were of frequent recurrence, whatever may have been the reason, these publications were suppressed and the authors imprisoned.

      A German, however, by the name of Kloproth, who had studied the Japanese language, got hold, in some way, of these early publications and translated them into his native tongue, which gave to the outside world the first idea of the existence of these islands.

      Kaempfer, in his work on Japan, mentions the Bonin Islands, as follows:

      A blank in the history of this island follows until 1728, when communication was again established by Ogasawara Sadayori; of short duration, however, for after a long interval we find no further mention of the island in Japanese records until the close of 1861, when a small colony was planted under the governorship of Obana Sakusuke. The attempt, however, was a failure, and the last of this colony was withdrawn in 1863.

      In 1823 an American whaling ship, the Transit, commanded by Captain Coffin while on a cruise for whales, happened upon these islands. The Transit landed at the southern group. The captain, believing himself to be the first discoverer, hoisted the American flag, and placed an inscription on a tree announcing the fact.

      In 1825 a British whaling ship, the Supply, landed at the middle group. The captain also nailed an inscription to a tree with a brief account of his visit.

      In 1827 Captain Beechey, commanding H.B.M. ship Blossom, arrived at these islands and took possession of them in the name of his king, affixing to a tree a copper plate punctured with this inscription: "H.B.M. ship Blossom, Captain Beechey, R.N., took possession of this group of islands in the name and on behalf of His Majesty King George, the 14th of June, 1827." The Blossom carried sixteen guns and a complement of one hundred and twenty-two men. Captain Beechey made an exploration of the chief island of the middle group and surveyed the harbor. He found two men on this island, who had been shipwrecked eight months before in a British whaling ship. They were the only survivors, and had subsisted during this time on wild berries and the fish and crabs found on the shore. These men were returned to England by the Blossom. Captain Beechey named the harbor "Port Lloyd," after the Bishop of Oxford. The main island he called "Peel," after Sir Robert Peel, and one other island "Buckland." He also named the northern group "Parry's Group."

      On leaving these islands Captain Beechey sailed for the Sandwich Islands, from which point he is supposed to have made a report of his discoveries and proceedings, for it is found that in 1830 a party of colonists sailed from Honolulu for Port Lloyd under the auspices of Captain Charlton, the British consul at that port, and furnished with live stock and seeds and all the appliances and requisites for such an expedition. This party of colonists consisted of Mateo Mazarro, headman, Genoese; John Millechamp, Englishman; Nathaniel Savory, American; Aldin B. Chapin, American; Charles Johnson, Dane; and twenty-two male and female Sandwich Islanders.

      The year following the visit of Captain Beechey to the Bonin Islands, in 1828, a Russian ship of war, commanded by Captain Lutke, arrived at Port Lloyd. Captain Lutke went through the formality of taking possession of the islands in the name and on behalf of the Russian Government. Then followed in close succession Dutch and Portuguese ships of war, all of which "took possession" in the name of their respective governments.

      The colonists sent by the British consul from the Sandwich Islands arrived out in safety, and established themselves at Port Lloyd. They erected houses and opened farms around the shores of the bay, and lived under a sort of patriarchal government, with Mazarro as chief, by general consent. The personal history of these colonists and the strange incidents attending their settlement of these islands are full of wild interest, but space will not permit them to be recounted here. After some years Mazarro made a voyage back to Honolulu, with the object of inducing further emigration. Whether he returned is not known. It is presumed that he did not, as in the chronicles of the colony his name does not again appear, and among their descendants it is nowhere found.

      For awhile all went well in this colony, as long as they were engaged in making themselves new homes. But without the restraints of society and with no laws but their own inclination, these Arcadians dwelt not long in peaceful accord. They soon quarreled among themselves. Personal combats ensued, blood was shed, and lives were lost. The advent now and then of a pirate ship or two – for pirates then roved the seas – did not add to the morale of the community. On one occasion it is related that a pirate crew, whose ship bore the Portuguese flag, enjoyed the hospitality of the colony, and when weary of their sojourn and their hosts, attacked the house of Nathaniel Savory, who was now the recognized chief, stripped it of its furniture and stores, and carried off as captives his wife and female attendants.

      In 1831 a whaling-ship brought an addition to the colony in the shape of six Sandwich Island women. They were gladly welcomed and supplied with husbands without delay. The crew of an American schooner, however, which had put in to Port Lloyd soon after for water, coveted these newly-made wives, and forthwith made way with them, after first robbing the colonists of everything that was worthy of their attention. These poor colonists seem to have suffered more than usually, the vicissitudes of all pioneers.

      In 1853 Commodore Perry made his famous expedition to Japan. On his way he touched at the Loo Choo Islands, and from thence came to the Bonin Islands, where he caused explorations and surveys to be made. Captain Kelly, commanding the United States Ship Plymouth, was dispatched to the southern group and took possession of it in the name of the United States of America. Captain Kelly wrote an account of the circumstance and placed it in a sealed jar, which he buried at the foot of a tree, and on the tree he nailed a copper plate with this inscription:

      This done the American flag was hoisted on the island, and a salute was fired. Captain Kelly named this group "Coffin's Group," after the name of the captain of the American whaling-ship Transit, who was the first foreigner known to have landed on the islands, and the four islands he named, respectively, "Perry," "Plymouth," "Hillsboro," and "Kelly." In his notes, written at the time, on these islands, Captain Kelly says:

      Commodore Perry found the colony at Port Lloyd in a better condition than it had theretofore been. At this time Nathaniel Savory was the only remaining member of the original colony. The inhabitants now numbered thirty-one persons – four Americans, four Englishmen, one Portuguese, and twenty-two Sandwich, Ladrone, and Caroline Islanders. Some degree of order had been brought from the chaos which had previously existed. They had wisely concluded that without some rules of government and some line of conduct the colony could no longer exist. Therefore a written constitution had been adopted, under which Nathaniel Savory was elected chief magistrate, and Webb and Mottley councilmen. This constitution was written in several languages, and with great labor, the combined work of all the colonists, who did not boast a schoolmaster. It is said to have been, in the original, a remarkable piece of composition, and a genuine curiosity of literature. On submitting it for revision to the officers of the fleet, it was put into form and shape, of which the following is a copy:

      Commodore Perry, in his narrative of the expedition to Japan, describes the Bonin Islands as high, bold, and rocky, and evidently of volcanic formation; green with verdure, and a full growth of tropical vegetation; the geological formation Trappean; water of abundant supply and good quality, from running streams; valuable woods of many kinds; numerous edible fishes, and green turtle in abundance.

      So impressed was Commodore Perry with the importance of the Bonin Islands, that he purchased from Nathaniel Savory a piece of land on the bay, at Port Lloyd, for the purposes of a naval depot, and appointed Savory the agent of the United States Navy, to look after and protect it. The original papers which concluded these transactions are still preserved at Port Lloyd as relics of the colonial government. As they are of public and historic interest, I have transcribed them here:

      Of the exploring party which was attached to the Susquehanna, the flagship of Commodore Perry, was Bayard Taylor. In his notes of his visit to the Bonin Islands he wrote as follows:

      Doctor Fahs, of the same expedition, explored Peel Island, and mentions it as follows:

      Doctor Fahs found on Peel Island a sulphur spring, characterized by the usual strong odor and taste of sulphureted hydrogen gas; it issued from one of the ravines, and iron pyrites abounded in many places.

      On a subsequent visit of Commodore Perry to Hong-Kong, the English governor, who had been apprised of the action of the commodore at the Bonin Islands, presented a protest to him in the name of the Engglish [sic] Government. To this the commodore replied in suitable terms, which seems to have been the beginning and the end of any controversy on the subject.

      The spirit and hopeful promise which had been imparted to the colonists of the Bonin Islands by the arrival of the various expeditions

which had landed there died out after their departure, when they saw that no advantages followed.

      Nathaniel Savory, who had been elected chief magistrate under the constitution in the first instance for a term of two years, was afterwards re-elected for a second term of three years, and then declined a third term, a precedent not heretofore known to the world of politicians.

      Thomas Webb, the British subject who was brought to the islands by the American bark Japan in 1849, succeeded Savory in the chief magistracy "by right of education and long residence."

      The administration of Webb was attended with more or less trouble. The subjects or citizens of this Pacific island republic were unruly spirits, and difficult to keep under control, and the chief magistrate had no machinery of government to enforce obedience to the established regulations. Several of these unruly spirits broke out more than once in open defiance and rebellion. Either side were not without adherents, and open war was the result. Four or five persons were killed. On one occasion the Webb or government faction captured a party of the rebels – men, women, and children – and sent them off the islands by a passing whaling ship. Others fled to remote parts of the islands, where, it is told, they subsisted for many months on roots and berries, until taken off by a ship that had put in for water. The colony was thus much reduced, but lived in a comparative condition of decency and order. They had become indifferent, however, to everything except their personal wants. There was no observances of religion among them. The mission societies had never found these islands. The inhabitants with growing children were totally without the advantages of religion and education.

      The Shogun government of Japan, heretofore torn with the incessant wars of the Daimios, having fallen upon a period of comparative peace, now turned their attention to recovering possession of these islands. It was not however, until 1861 that any decisive steps were taken, when the minister of foreign affairs gave notice to the representatives of the different powers at the seat of government that it was the intention of the Japanese Government to take possession. Accordingly, the same year, a commission was dispatched to the islands with this purpose, provided with colonists and everything that was necessary for a permanent occupancy. The inhabitants gave them a cordial welcome, and for the first time the Japanese flag was unfolded in testimony of proprietorship. Although the foreign representatives in Japan had communicated to their respective governments the facts concerning the early discoveries of these islands, and the different claims that had been set up by right of such discoveries, and the declared purpose of Japan to take possession notwithstanding, it does not appear that there was any serious purpose anywhere to dispute the possession. The question was settled then.

      The Japanese commission, in addition to the formal act of assuming possession, erected a temple on the main island, dedicated to Daigin Gu (the Great God), and gave new and Japanese names to all places of interest. A monument of stone was also erected at Port Lloyd, commemorating the event, with an inscription of which the following is a literal translation:

      With the colonists brought by this commission were farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths, &c., including their wives and families. Domestic animals and fowls were also brought, and the ground was broken into farms and seeds were planted. A village was founded on the bay of Port Lloyd. The old colonists found on the island were given formal grants for the lands claimed by them, and otherwise protected in their rights. All things promised well for this new occupation, when, in 1863. the Bukufer – the Shogun Government – decided upon expelling all foreigners from every part of Japan. This edict was followed by internal dissension and war; one result of which was to withdraw the colony from the Bonin Islands, which were again left to the winds and the waves and the few of the original colonists who survived.

      In 1869 an American schooner, commanded by Captain Pease, visited the islands and broke the long interval succeeding the Japanese occupation. Captain Pease found the old colonists in a bad condition. Angry disputes had arisen and murder was rife among them. They clamored for the protection and laws of either America or England – any government rather than their present lawless condition. Captain Pease took a cargo of fruit from the islands to Yokohama and brought back necessary supplies in exchange. He made several of such voyages back and forth, and finally, impressed with the condition of these people and the importance of these islands, and commissioned by the people to act, sought the interposition of the American minister, and through him the American Government. Some negotiations, it is said, were put on foot, but in the midst of them Captain Pease, who had made himself prominent in the matter, suddenly disappeared and was heard of no more. It was believed that he was assassinated.

      In 1874 the U.S.S. Tuscarora visited Port Lloyd, the first ship of war that had entered the harbor for seventeen years. The population then numbered sixty-five people. They were scattered throughout the island and engaged in various pursuits, mostly in farming and fishing. Nathaniel Savory had died a few months before, aged eighty years. Webb was still alive, and continued in nominal control over the affairs of the colonists by virtue of his former chief magistracy. The republic, however, had long ceased to exist and the regulations fallen into disuse. The people were profoundly ignorant and apathetic. They did not know or care to whom they owed allegiance.

      The agitation at Yokohama by Captain Pease of the subject of the Bonin Islands and the recent visit of the Tuscarora to Port Lloyd aroused the Japanese to the necessity of a more vigorous and sustained policy in regard to these islands; so that in 1875 a permanent occupancy was determined. Another commission was therefore appointed and forthwith dispatched, accompanied by a hundred colonists. This commission

arrived at Port Lloyd, held an interview with the old colonists on board one of the vessels, which was satisfactory to all parties, and took final possession. The following is the proclamation the commission issued:

      The Japanese colonists brought to the islands by the commissioners went to work at once to establish themselves in permanency. The village which had been erected in 1861 by the former colonists, at the southern bend of Port Lloyd Harbor, was rebuilt. A provincial government was inaugurated, and the laws of Japan extended over the islands. Communication by regular vessels, several times a year, was opened with Yokohama and other ports, and trade and intercourse begun.

      In the winter of that year, and some months subsequent to the establishment of the Japanese colony, H.B.M. ship Curlew visited Port Lloyd, the commanding officer of which, with a penchant for curios, carried off the copper plate left by Captain Beechey in 1827, and placed on record at the governor's office a receipt for the same, which, touching on the right of proprietorship, and besides of a slightly facetious character, I have transcribed in this place:

      At this time (1875), an account of one of the early colonists, which is given as a curious narrative of the incidents peculiar to this adventurous settlement: –

houses. They live in seeming peace and plenty. The chief occupations of the inhabitants are farming and fishing. The soil is rich and the climate generous, so that little labor is required in tilling the ground. Two and three crops a year of vegetables and cereals are grown. In addition to corn and potatoes and a variety of vegetables, sugar-cane and cotton have been introduced and cultivated to good advantage. Sugar is said to thrive the best of all.

      There are several small coffee plantations on the island, which have been recently opened and promise a fair success. Some foreign fruits have been introduced, while the orange, lemon, banana, and pineapple are exported, in season, to the markets of Japan. Wild hogs, deer, and goats are found in the woods and mountains. In the settlements are an abundance of domestic animals and fowls. The wild game are ducks, pigeons, plover, pheasants, sandpipers, and woodcock. There are no horses on the islands.

      The fisheries are an important industry. Catching and preparing green turtle employs a number of men, women, and children. The flesh of the turtle is smoked and dried for use as food, as well as eaten fresh. They are also canned for exportation. The hawk-bill turtle is the most valuable for its shell. A considerable business is done in preparing and shipping these shells to Nagasaki and other cities, where they are wrought into combs and other ornaments. Palm fiber, for the manufacture of mats and ropes, is also shipped in considerable quantities. The imports are not yet of any importance, and consist only of a few cheap cotton goods.

      On the return of the Alert from the last cruise to the Bonin islands Captain Huntington brought away seven children, the descendants of the old colonists, who were taken at the request of their parents to Tokio, where they were received for the purpose of educating them at at a mission school.

      United States Consulate,
                        Nagasaki, Japan.

Alexander C. Jones,
(1830-1898)

      See the article in Wikipedia for information about Alexander C. Jones.

Source:

"The Bonin Islands." - A Report By Consul Jones, Of Nagasaki, Japan. in
U.S. Department of State.
      Commercial Relations of the United States.
Reports from the Consuls of the United States on the Commerce, Manufactures, etc., of their Consular Districts.
No. 24. – October, 1882.
    Washington: Government Printing Office. 1882. pp. 517-529.

Bonin Islands  Source  Whalesite