9S JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARROltETUM [vol. i 



with the chief port, Oinura, — Port Lloyd of our ina])s — in Lat. 27^ 4.85 m. 

 and T.ong. 142° 11. JJ ni. E.j and are divided into three groups, tlie central 

 being the hirgest and most important. The northern, the Parry group of 

 our maps, is called ^[uko-jima (Son-in-law Islands) by the Japanese, and 

 consists of four tiny islands havmg a total area of 1096 acres and a ])opula- 

 tion of 40. The central group, Chichi-jima (Father Islands) of the Jap- 

 anese, consists of eight islands of a total area of 9472 ac^res and a ])opula- 

 tion of ^"iVA). Five of these islands are uninhabited. The three largest on 

 our maps are called Peel, Buckland, and Stapleton Islands. The first 

 named is the Chichi-jima proper of the Japanese; it is the ])rincipal one of 

 the grou]> being 5932 acres in extent with a population of 2140, and boasts 

 the only safe anchorage in the Bonin Islands. The southern group, known 

 as Ilaha-jima (Mother Islands), the Bailey or Coffin group of the western 

 maps, consists of nine islands having a total area of 6219 acres and a popu- 

 lation of 2030. Haha-jlma proper (the Hillsboro Island of our maps) is 

 itself 5121 acres in extent and has 2000 persons living on it. Five of the 

 others are uninhabited. 



The islands are steep and hilly and six of them are merely bare rocks less 

 than 100 ft, high. The highest point is Chibusa-yama (Nipple Mt.) on Ilaha- 

 jima which is 1527 ft. above sea-level The highest ]>oint on Chichi-jima is 

 Chuo-yama, lOGO ft. high and on ]Muko-jima, Oyama only 295 ft. above 

 the sea. Tlie coast line of all is steep, and is much indented, and the tide- 

 rips between the islands are very dangerous. Storms accompanied by high 

 winds are frequent. Except at the port of Onuira (Port Lloyd), em- 

 barking and disembarking is far from easy even in calm weather and the 

 landing of cargo can only be done at such times. 



The history of the Bonin Islands, little as it is, is of more than ordinary 

 inlcrest. Tiicir very ownershij) was not definitely settled until November, 

 1875, wlicn they ])asscd into the possession of Japan. From Japanese 

 records it appears that these islands were known to Japan in a.d. 1593 if 

 not before, when they were held as a fief by the Daimio Ogasawara Sadayori 



and communication was maintained with them up to 1624. According to 



Kaempfcr {Hist. Jap. i. GO, [1729]) about the year 1675 the '* Japanese 

 accidentally discovered a very large island, one of their barks having been 

 forced there in a storm from the island Ilachijo, from which they computed 

 it t<^ be 300 miles distant toward the east. They met with no inhabitants, 

 but found it to be a very pleasant and fruitful country, well supplied with 

 fresh water and furnished with plenty of ]>lants and trees, particularly the 

 Arrack tree, which, however, might give room to conjecture that the island 

 lay rather to the south of Japan than to the east, these trees growing only 

 in hot countries. They called it Bunc-sima or the Island 1?umc, and because 

 they found no inhabitants upon it they marked it with the character of an 

 uninhabited island. On the shores they found an incredible quantity of 

 fish and crabs, some of which were from four to six feet long." This de- 

 scri])lion fits the islands exactly if Kaempfer's conjectures be accepted as to 

 the locality being south and not east, and the crabs as turtles, which for- 



