260 APPENDIX I. 



success, but the latter constitute a force majeure against wliicli lie can do 

 nothing. Happily they are not very frequent, for, when they do occur, the 

 amount of damage occasioned by them is often very considerable. 



Having got in and threshed his corn, the Liu-kiuan proceeds to store it 

 in granaries of a peculiar shape, reminding one rather of the style of buildings 

 constructed by Lapps or Siberians than of what is usually seen in these more 

 southern latitudes. They are wooden structures, generally square, with the 

 walls leaning out considerably at the toj), and are raised on posts to a height 

 of six feet or more above the ground. The roofs are covered with thick 

 thatch, and the posts are guarded by pieces of wood nailed round them on the 

 reversed cup principle, by which means the depredations of rats and mice are 

 avoided. There are said to be great numbers of the former upon the island, 

 b*t they have no doubt been introduced from China, as have their domesti- 

 cated animals — pigs, goats, black oxen, fowls, ducks, and geese. The leading 

 characteristic of almost all the above-named quadrupeds, as well as of the 

 horses, is their small size. "We know that this diminution in size is an almost 

 necessarj- result of the introduction of the domestic animals into islands from 

 the mainland, l)ut it appears to be especially well marked in Liu-kiu. 



Wliile the Marchesa lay at Xapha-kiang some half a dozen junks were at 

 anchor in the inner harbour or alongside the jetty, and the scene during the 

 discharge or stowage of their cargo was a busy one. These vessels are built 

 after the Japanese model, and have the high poop and depressed bows which 

 are so unsightly to English eyes. Most of them, no doubt, do not trade 

 beyond the limits of the archipelago, but the commerce with Japan has most 

 probably increased as much since the annexation as that with China has 

 diminished. In past days not much in the way of trade appears to have been 

 carried on with either of the two countries. Tribute was paid to both, 

 either annually or biennially, but as a rule there appears to have been little 

 communication with other nations. The Liu-kiuans have been throughout 

 their history a retiring and somewhat anti-progressionist people, and it was 

 not until later that the advantages of commerce began to be realised. Pfere 

 Gaubil, in the memoir to which I have alluded, speaks of the traffic with 

 China and other countries, which at that time appears to have been fully 

 established. "There are a good many vessels, not only engaged in plying 

 between island and island, but also to China, and sometimes to Tonquin, Cocliin 

 China, and even to other still more distant places, — to Corea and Satsuma." 

 Kaempfer^ tells us that the Liu-kiuans were allowed to visit the Satsuma 

 pro\-ince, but were not permitted to go elsewhere. Their annual trade was, 

 nominally, limited to 125,000 taels,^ but it actually exceeded this amount 



^ " History of Japau," p. .354. 

 ' The value of the tael varies with the dollar, but it may be taken roughly at 6s. Sd. 



