172 JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM [vol. i 



table, warm-temperate climate. The Oshima group is the most rugged; and 

 it has the heaviest rainfall in the whole of the Japanese Empire, the average 

 annual precipitation being 3300 mm. The Sakishima group I had no op- 

 portunity of visiting, but from photographs I gather that the vegetation 

 IS subtropical in character. The central is the largest and most important 

 of the three groups, Okinawa, the main island, being 268 miles in circum- 

 ference and 98 miles from north to south. The chief seaport is Naha, situ- 

 ated in the southwest corner of the island. A few miles inland from Naha 

 is the towTi of Shuri, formerly the seat of government of the native kings. 



The Liukiu people are mild and inoffensive and are a distinct race, prob- 

 ably of Malay origin. At one time independent, tliey succumbed to Chin- 

 ese invaders and afterwards owed dual allegiance to China and Japan. 

 In 1879 the islands passed definitely to Japan; the native king was removed 

 to Tokyo and later given the rank of Marquis. As a race the Liukiu people 

 are smaller than the Japanese and their manners and customs are primi- 

 tive. The women, in particular, work hard and carry all loads on their heads. 

 Children abound. The houses are very small, one-storied, constructed of 

 bamboo-wattle sides and thatched roofs. Each is enclosed by a wall or 

 fence, the people apparently being fond of privacy. Unlike the houses 

 the graves are enormous and exceed in size even those of the Chinese. It 

 would appear tliat all the wealth of the people is lavished on the building 

 of tombs in rock and masonry — ■ huge, imposing horse-shoe shaped, con- 

 spicuous structures. 



Part farmer, part fisherman best describes the Liukiu man and in the 

 latter capacity he excels. In farming he depends largely on his women. 

 Rice, sweet potatoes, and sugar-cane are the chief crops. Of rice, two crops 

 are obtained annually, the first being planted about the end of February. 

 The Japanese have introduced new methods and new industries; the edu- 

 cation of the children has been taken in hand and much is being done 

 toward the improvement of the conditions and social life of the Liukiu 

 people. 



For several centuries prior to the formal annexation of the Liukiu Islands 

 by Japan the powerful feudal lords of the Satsuma had exercised a strong 

 influence over the islands. That the connection has been close is shown 

 by the number of Liukiu plants cultivated round Kagoshima from long 

 ago. The Sweet Potato, known generally in Japan as the *' Satsuma-imo," 

 is iu the neighborhood of Kagoshima called *'Liukiu-imo " indicative of 

 its origin. The Bamboo which yields edible shoots {Phyllostachjs mitis 

 Riv.) and now widely planted in Japan is of similar origin. In the gar- 

 den behind Prince Shimazu's home in Kagoshima, there is a grove of this 

 Bamboo and a stone tablet in its midst records the fact that the original 

 plants were in 1726 brought from Liukiu by the Prince's ancestor. Neither 

 the Bamboo nor the Sweet Potato are indigenous in Liukiu and probably 

 came first from China. A favorite garden shrub in and around Kagoshima 

 and now wide-spread in the warmer parts of Japan is Rhododendron suh- 

 lanceolatum Miq., an endemic Liukiu species. The common Cycas re- 



