APPENDIX I. 



NOTES ON LIU-KIU. 



The Liu-kius are the central links of the chain of islands which connect the 

 Satsiima pro^'ince — the most southern district of Japan — A\'ith Formosa. 

 To the north are the Linschoten Islands, practically unkno^^•n to Europeans ; 

 to the south the Meiaco-simas, inhabited by the same race as the Liu-kius, 

 and for as long a period as history relates, subject to their kings. They 

 have been A-isited and described by Belcher in the " Voyage of the Samarcmg " 

 and also by the U.S.S. Saratoga in 1853, 'who found their inhabitants the 

 same timid and inoffensive people as the Liu-kiuans. Whatever deiivation be 

 adopted for the word Liu-kii;, there is little doubt that the name originated in 

 the peculiar aiai^earance this chain of islands presents when figured in a chart. 

 Li Ting-yuen tells us^ that in the Sui dynasty (a.d. 580) the islands were 

 first mentioned by Chu Kwan, who called them Liu-kiu or the " floating 

 dragon." The second character was soon changed, and the name became 

 " that which is sought floating." Later it appears as Liu-Jnvei or the "floating 

 demons," and finally in the Ming dynasty slight alteration of both characters 

 resid-ted in the name at present used — "the pendent ball" — a possible 

 allusion to their acknowledgment of China as a supreme powei". 



The position of the Liu-kiu group — their latitude, 26° N., is very nearly 

 that of the Canary Islands — is such as to render the climate almost tropical. 

 Frosts are unkno'WTi, and since the islands cannot boast of a higher altitude 

 than a couple of thotisand feet, snow rarely or never falls. During Mr. 

 Brunton's Adsit in the month of December the thermometer registered 73° 

 Fahr. in the shade, and the advantages of solar topees and light clothing were 

 unc|uestionable. In summer the heat in Naplia appeared excessive, as far as 

 the shortness of our visit enabled us to judge, but inland, among the pine- 

 groves and gardens in and around Shiuri, the temperature was delightful. 

 The result of this ecjuableness of climate is that crops can be grown at any 



1 "Slii Liu-kiu Ki : Journal of an Euvoy to Liu-kiu," translated by G. Wells Williams, 

 LL.D. "Journal of N. China Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. ," new series, No. VI. 



