298 SIR RODERICK I. MURCHISON'S ADDRESS— ASIA. [May 23, 1859, 



acquisitive and imitative instinct of the native of Japan is so remark^ 

 able that he will rapidly discover the merits of Western arts and ma- 

 nufactures, and apply them to his own uses. Already, as Mr. Lau- 

 rence Oliphant informs me, the Japanese is a sufficiently experi- 

 enced navigator and scientific engineer to dispense with the assist-^ 

 ance of foreigners in steaming from Nagasaki to Yedo— a voyage 

 which usually occupies a week. Again, as the same informant 

 tells me, one of the most enlightened princes has laid down an electric 

 telegraph between his palace and the chief cities of his province, 

 whilst a diving-bell and Nasmyth's hammer are in full operation, 

 under Dutch supervision, in the harbour of Nagasaki. There is, 

 therefore, no reason to doubt that these people will be less ready 

 to adopt our manufactures than oiir scientific inventions. With six 

 ports open to the unrestricted transmission of imports into the 

 interior, our home products will, in all probability, penetrate into 

 every corner of the empire. In the winter, the furs and cloaks 

 padded with cotton will be replaced by woollens, a production 

 unknown in Japan, where sheep have not yet been introduced. 

 Again, sugar, one of the few articles for which they depend largely 

 on China, though now a luxury, may easily be rendered a neces- 

 sary of life ; for it can be far more cheaply furnished by our 

 merchants from such countries as Java, Siam, and Bengal than from 

 densely -peopled China, which itself receives supplies from some of 

 these countries. 



Situated in a temperate latitude, and with an industrious, in- 

 genious, and docile population, which is probably not overestimated 

 at 40,000,000, Japan is marked by productions not very dissimilar 

 from those of the south of Europe. One of the most remarkable of 

 these is insect wax, a cargo of which has already reached this 

 country and proved a most profitable investment. Camphor, silk, 

 and tea of a superior quality are produced in great quantities, as 

 also hemp, flax, and tobacco. In their manufactures of iron, copper, 

 glass, wood lacquering, China paper, steel, &c., the Japanese have at- 

 tained such great perfection that the Western manufacturers may even 

 gain some useful hints from them. Without, however, entering into 

 farther details, or venturing upon an oversanguine estimate of the 

 capabilities of this new field for the energy and enterprise of Europe, 

 we may augur well from this fact, that between thirty and forty 

 millions of such customers have been added to our list. Nor while 

 we appreciate the advantages of this new market are we unmindful 

 of the benefits to geographical inquiry which are likely to result 



