J E S 



735 



J E S 



Tartary. They pay a tribute to the prince of Matzu- 

 may, which for those on the coast consists of fish, and 

 for those in the interior of game : and this prince ac- 

 knowledges the supremacy of Japan by presents and 

 other acknowledgments to the sovereign. 



Daring the greater independence of the Ainos, they 

 retorted to the northern parts of Japan for the purpo- 

 ses at traffic with peltry and the skin of a kind of seal 

 called rakko, a certain marine plant, eagles feathers for 

 arrows, and other commodities ; and at present, though 

 subservient to that nation, it is probable some trade is 

 carried on with them. 



To trace the history of an island which has been en* 

 veloped in so much obscurity, doubt, and perplexity, 

 would be no easy matter. In the words of a learned 

 geofliaphti , who wrote in the middle of the preceding 

 century, " no country of the terrestrial globe has 

 been so differently represented for these last 150 years 

 as the land of Jeso, Jezo, Ye^o, Eso, Jedso, Jesso, 

 Yeaso," names by which, as well as Inu, it was known. 

 The Japanese seem to carry back the history of this 



island to a 





rresponding with the second year 



of the Christian sera, at which time it was probably cal- 

 led Moiin: and according to the Chinese histories, it 

 was divided into 55 provinces or districts. In 658, the 

 soreieiflii of Japan sent a fleet hither with troops, who 

 conquered part of the inhabitants, then divided into three 

 race*, one of which was characterised as savage. The 

 Japanese had occasion to repress the natives in?6'2, when 

 a great stone inscribed with their respective bounda- 

 ries was erected, which still subsisted in 1 720. But the 

 proper history of Jesso is considered as commencing in 

 1443, when Fakeda Noboe Firo crowing the strain, 

 subdued one half of the island, while the other half sub- 

 Bitted to him ; and his descendants still inherit the 

 government of it On occasion of a revolt previous to 

 1652, which Japanese forces were employed to quell, 

 that nation perhaps first gained a correct knowledge of 

 the country and its inhabitants, who are now driven to- 

 wards the coast. Before this period, however, Europe- 

 an*,anirratrd by the desire of propagating their religious 

 had reached that remote territory. Whether 

 the Portuguese missionary, who gives the earliest 

 it of the natives in 1 565, had been in 



the island, 



is not evident ; but other two missionaries of the snrae 

 nation, J. Caravaglio, and Jerome de Angel is, were 

 certainly at Matzumay in 162O and 1621. The people 

 were then represented nearly the same as at present, 

 only very warlike, and much dreaded by the Japanese. 

 The murder of these two missionaries soon after, upon 

 the proscription of the Christian doctrines in Japan, ter- 

 minated a source of information, which added so much 

 to the geographical knowledge of different Asiatic 

 tries. The loss was in some respects indemnified 

 by the transient observations of successive mariners, 

 which, conjoined to the writings of the Japanese, have 

 illustrated the nature of Jesso, and the manners of its 

 It is singular, however, and ought not to 

 notice, that Sans, an English navigator of the 

 ing of the l?th century, was sufficiently aware of 

 insular nature of Jesso, its distance from Japan, the 

 aits of Sangar, and the position of Matzumay, from 

 the information of the Japaneie, which were all the sub- 

 ject* of doubt in Britain nearly 200 years later. In- 

 deed, the accuracy of some early navigators is surprising, 

 and there is a general coincidence between their narra- 

 tives regarding the natives of Jesso, and those which the 

 Japanese obtenMid somewhat more recently, (c) 



JESSOP, WILLIAM. This able engineer and excel- 

 lent man was born January 12, O.S. 1745, at Ply- s 

 mouth dock, where he was educated. After making some 

 progress in the classics, he acquired a perfect knowledge 

 of the French language, and a considerable share of 

 mathematical science. He early discovered a propen- 

 sity to mechanical pursuits, and possessing a dexterity 

 of working in wood and metals, he constructed with 

 facility such articles as juvenile projects occasionally 

 required ; and his family are now in possession of a 

 tolerably good violoncello of his workmanship when a 

 boy. 



These early dispositions recommended him to the 

 notice of Mr Smeaton, then employed in rebuilding the 

 Eddystone light-house, who confirmed his desire of 

 learning the profession of a civil engineer ; and he ac- 

 cordingly entered regularly into Mr Smeaton 's service, 

 under articles for seven years. This event not only af- 

 forded opportunities of employing his talents in a way 

 suited to his natural inclination, but was the means of 

 acquiring the friendship of an able and judicious man, 

 who was well qualified to form his judgment and direct 

 his labours. 



Mr Smeaton having, after the completion of the Ed- 

 dystone light-house, full employment as a civil engi- 

 neer, his pupil of course benefited by the surveying, 

 investigating, and executing the various works com- 

 prehended in such extensive practice. The construction 

 of mills, drainages, harbours, and bridges, and the im- 

 provement of river navigations, (as may be seen in Mr 

 Smeaton 's reports,) during his seven years regular ser- 

 vice, afforded an ample field for acquiring useful know- 

 ledge and practical skill. Even in canal making, the re- 

 peated surveys, ili-m-sion.s, and progressive practical 

 operations during the execution of the inland navigation 

 between the rivers Forth and Clyde in Scotland, which 

 was under Mr Smeaton's direction, enabled him to ob- 

 tain, at an early period of life, competent .information 

 upon an important part of his profession, v> iiich was at 

 that time almost new in British engineering. 



The advantages which Mr Jessop thus derived from 

 Mr Smeaton were certainly great ; yet there is reason 

 to believe, that his early and constant connection with 

 this eminent engineer, created a degree of timidity in 

 the exercise of his own talents ; for we have good au- 

 thority for stating, that, for some years after the expi- 

 ration of his articled service, he was almost unwilling 

 to undertake business on his own account. He there- 

 fore continued to live with Mr Smeaton, and to act un- 

 der his immediate direction, and, even when occasionally 

 engaged in business for himself, he took no step without 

 consulting his preceptor. This conduct may, no doubt, 

 be partly attributed to his having become necessary 

 to Mr Smeaton, and to the uninterrupted mutual con- 

 fidence and esteem which always subsisted between 

 them. 



In 1 773, he was appointed engineer to the Aire and 

 Calder River navigation in Yorkshire, which, (accord- 

 ing to a memorandum in our possession ) he states as 

 having found with an income of only 5000 a year, 

 whereas twenty-five years afterwards he left it in the 

 receipt of 30,000 per annum. For several years the 

 improvement of river navigations and drainages consti- 

 tuted his chief employment, though he was also on 

 several occasions consulted in regard to bridges and 

 harbours. In the year 1783 he was appointed engi- 

 neer for directing the improvements upon the river 

 Trent, in which capacity he continued to act during 



Jessup. 



