100 JOURXAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM [vol. i 



MassiU'lmselts, named Xutlianiel Savory, willi four otlier white men and 

 twenty-five Kanakas including some women, sailed from Honolulu, being 

 furthered in their adventure in every w\ay by the British consul, at that 

 time Mr. Richard Charlton. On June 26, 1830, they reached the Bonin 

 Islands and hoisted an English flag which had been given them by Mr. 

 Charlton. In 181^2 one Mazarro received the official title of governor from 

 the Acting British Consul for the Sandwich Islands, Alexander Simpson. 

 A vessel from the British China Squadron visited the Islands, and whaling 

 ships fr(Mpiently put in for supi)lies of fresh water and vegetables. In 1848 

 Mazarro died and his widow became the wife of Nathaniel Savorv, who 

 finally succeeded to the headship of the Islands and seems to have been a 

 w^ise and sensible man. In 1851 the English war-ship ''Enteri)rise," under 

 Cai)tain Colhnson, visited the Islands and found four of the original white 

 settlers still in possession. On June 14, 185;}, Commodore Perry with the 

 American w^ar-sliij)s ''Susquehanna*' and "Saratoga** anchored at Port 

 Lloyd. lie purchased a piece of property tliere, made Nathaniel Savory 

 his agent, drew uj) a code of rules which the islanders adopted on August 28, 

 185.S, when Nathaniel Savory was made Chief Magistrate. In 0('tol)er of 

 the same year Commodore Perry disj)atched Captain Kelley in the ship 

 "Plymouth" with instructions to survey and take formal possession of the 

 southern group (Bailey Islands) in the name of the United States and to 

 rename them Coffin Islands after their first discoverer. Captain Coffin. 

 This was carried out. A fuUaccount of Commodore Perry *s visit is recorded 

 in The OiJ'.cial Report of United States Japanese Expedition ])y Connnodore 

 M. C. Perry, Vol. i. pp. 190-213 and pp. 282 285. 



The next visit of men-of-war after the ''Plymouth" was that of four 

 Russian ships which came to Port Lloyd in 1854. This was followed by that 

 of the Ignited States Erigate "Macedonian" by Avliich Commodore Perry 

 sent implements of husl)andry and seeds. In a letter he writes ''it must be 

 understood that the sovereignty of the Bonin Islands has not yet been 

 settled, the interest taken by me in the welfare and prosperity of the settle- 

 ment has solely in view ihe advantage of connnerce generally." 



In 1855 the United States man-of-war '* Vincennes'* visited Port Tdovd 

 and remained ten days. In 1801 an attempt to colonize Peel Island was 

 made by Japanese. This failed miserably,, and the commissioner and last 

 batch of colonists withdrew to Japan eiirly in 1803 some fifteen months after 

 they cast their lot upon the Islands. In 1874 the United States man-of- 

 war ** Tuscarora," while engaged on her line of soundings, visited Port Lloyd. 



On November 24, 1875, a Japanese steamer the "Mciju Muru" entered the 

 port, formally annexed the Islands and since then Jaj)an has been accej)ted 

 as the rightful sovereign lord of the Bonin Islands. Two days after the 

 arrival of the Japanese ''Meiju Maru" the English war-ship "Curlew" also 

 reached the Bonins with Mr. Russell Robertson, British Consul at Yoko- 

 hama on board. Subsequently, on IVIarch 15, 187G, ^Nlr. Robertson gave an 

 excellent account of the Bonin Islands before the Asiatic Society of Japan, 

 which is pubhshed in that Society's Transactions, Vol. iv. (187G). 



