246 JAPAN. 



<* fmoke which was obfcrved continually to arife from it, and of 

 " the fevcral fpeilres, and other frightful uncommon appa- 

 <' ritions, people fancied to fee there in the night, it was believed 

 " to be a dwelling-place of devils, till at Lift a refolute and cou~ 

 " rngcous man offered himfelf, and obtained leave accordingly 

 " to go and examine the ftate and fituation of it. He chofe fifty 

 «' refolute fellows for this expedition, who upon going on fliore 

 *' found neither hell nor devils, but a large flat fpot of ground 

 " at the top, which was fo thoroughly covered wdth fulphur, 

 " that wherever they walked a thick fmoke iffued from under 

 " their feet. Ever fince that time this ifland brings in to the 

 " prince ol Satzuma about 20 chefts of lilver/>^r annum^ arifing 

 *' only from the fulphur dug up there, befides what he gets by 

 *' the trees and timber growing along the fliore." 



VuLCAN-oEs: VuLCANOES arc to be found in many parts of the empire, 



which in general abounds wuth their ^x^?& pabuhim^^ fulphur and 

 metallic bodies. Some have burnt inceffantly for ages; others have 

 ceafed, or only emit flames periodically. The moll: noted is the 

 mountain Tefi^ in the province of Surugu, equal in height to the 

 pike of Tejieriff, and capt with cverlafting fnow. 



Earthquakes, No country is more fubjedt to earthquakes than yapa?2 ; fo 

 frequent are they, that the natives regard them with as little 

 terror as a European would a fiorm ; yet no annals can produce 

 fuch tragical relations of their fad cffedls. That in 1586, told 

 by Father de FroeSt preferved by Kaempfer^ is one, but dreadfully 

 furpaffcd by the earthquake of 1704, when the whole city of 

 "Jeddo was deftroyed, and two hundred thoufand of its inhabi- 

 tantr, periflisd in the ruins, 



6 ' In 



