204 K. MIYABE ON THE 



with full consent that it should be published with my own. The list contains one hundred and nine 

 species, of which thirty-eight have not yet been recorded as growing in these islands, in any publi- 

 cations with wliich I am acquainted. 



Tlie first naturalists who visited the Kurilc Islands were G. W. Steller and S. P. Krascheninni- 

 kof. They crossed over from Kamtschalkii about 1740, either together or separately, and collected 

 in the islands of Shunishu and Paramushir.' Of their botanical collections, the larger part was 

 worked over and published by Palhis. Some of their sea-weed collections are mentioned in S. T. 

 Gmelin's Historia Fucornm.^ 



In 1788, Merk, a doctor in Irkutsk, who accompanied, as naturalist, the expedition to the Noilhern 

 Pacific under Comm. Billings, made collections in some of the northern Kuriles. Of his collections, 

 a i)art is still preserved in the Fischer Herbarium, and also in the Willdenow Herbarium. They were 

 made known chiefly by the labors of Pallas and Rudolph. The results of the study of the latter 

 were pul)lished in the writings of Georgi.'* 



Langsdorfl' under Krusenstern (1803.-1806), and Chamisso under Kotzcbue (1815-1818) seem also 

 to have made brief visits to some of the noi'thcrn Kuriles during their ciuise in the N. Pacific* 



Most of the later collectors were officers of the Russian surveying ships. In 1833, Baron Wrangell 

 visited Urup and made some collections of its plants. These specimens ni-e now iu the Herbarium 

 of the Academy in St. Petersbuig. The onl}' collector who made a pr<donged tour among these 

 islands, collecting plants on Shumshu, Paranuishir and Uru[), was Vosnesenski, the late cuiatorof the 

 Zoological Museum of the Academy, in 1844. '^ 



Orloff, a Russian naval officer, who is better known as a collector in the northeastern part of 

 Manchuria, 1849-1850, collected also in the Kuriles.'^ 



It nnist be borne in mind that, on account of strong currents, dense fogs and want of harbors (es- 

 pecially in the northern Kuriles), navigation among these islands is rendered very dangerous, and 

 landing on their shores almost impossible, unless favored with inuisually calm weather. Therefore the 

 visits of these collectors were generally limited to a few hours, or, at most, to a day, at one place. 

 Under such unfavorable physical conditions, it is not surprising that iu spite of the zeal of many of 

 the collectors who have visited these uninviting shores, we have after all comparatively little knowl- 

 edge of the vegetation of these islands. 



In the sunmier of 1884, while I was tiavclling on the norllieastern coast of Yezo, an unexpected 

 opportunity for visiting some of the southern Kniiles was ofl'ered me. When I reached the harbor 

 of JVcmuro on the 27th of July, I i'ound a small steamer on the point of starting for Sliikotan, Etorofu, 

 and Urup. With scarcely any time for necessary prei)aration, I went on board the Kyorin-maru ac- 

 comi)anied by Mr. N. Kindaichi, the head-gardener of the Botanic Garden of Sapporo Agricultural 

 College, who greatly assisted me in collecting plants during the whole trip. About noon of the next 

 day we were at the Shakotan harbor on the northciii coast of the island of Sliikotan. In this place 

 we collected most assiduously for two hours and a half. The next day, a little before noon, we reached 

 a small fishing cove on the northern coast of Etorofu, called Furubetsu. Fioni tliat place we started 

 at once on foot for Sliana, another fishing station situated on the same side of the coast about twenty 

 miles distant, and the best harbor of the whole island. The country which we passed through during 



'ICrascheniiinikof, S. P. ; The History of I^iimtsclialk.iand Linniea, vi, p. 574. Gcorgi, Bcsclir. Riiss. Keiches, 



tlie KnrilsUi Isliimls (orisiiial in Uussiiin, 175-4-1755). nr, 4, p. 619. 



English traiisl. by James Grieve, p. 37. Gloucestei', 17G4. ''Kegel, TI. Racld, p. 242. Prof. Maxiniovvicz informs 



Pallas; Flora Ilossica, p. ni (Introduction). me that Chiunisso visited tlie.se Islands. 



-Bongard, M. II. G.; Historical Sketch <if the Progres.s 'These facts I owe to Prof. JMaximowicz. 



of liotany in Knssia. (Hooker's (Companion to the Kotan- ^Herder, F. von; Biogrnphische Notizen iil)er einige in 



leal Magazine, Vol. i, p. 177; 1835). den Plants; Raddeanaj genannte Sammler nnd Anloren. 



'Saner, M. ; An Account of a Geographical and Astro- (Engler, Bot. Jalirbiiclier, ix (1887) p. 443. Plantas 



nomical Expedition to the Northern parts of Hnssia, etc., liadd. iv, 1, p. 232. 

 under Comni. .1. Billings, in 17S5-1794. London, 1802. 



