OLIPHANT.—NOTES ON JAPAN. 89 
Some idea may be formed of the scale upon which his establishment was con- 
ducted, from the fact that he possessed nine town houses in Yedo, and always 
travelled to that city with an escort of several thousand men. He was nearly 
connected with the Royal Family, his daughter being married to the late Tycoon, 
or Temporal Emperor, whose demise took place about the period of our arrival at 
Yedo. 
A former Prince of Satsuma, was the conqueror of the Lewchew Islands. The 
Province of Satsuma contains great quantities of sulphur, which may form an 
mportant item in our trade with Japan. At its southern extremity is situated 
the Island of Loogasiua, or Sulphur Island, which is said to burn incessantly. 
We did not pass within sight of it however. The mines of the island yield the 
Prince of Satsuma an annual revenue of 200 chests of silver. 
The whole of the Island of Kinsin is eminently volcanic, notwithstanding its 
general fertility and varied products. Parts of it are wild and barren ; the aspect 
of its shores and general character of its mountains would betray its origin, even 
did not incessant voleanic action exist to put the matter beyond a doubt. There 
are no less than five voleanoes active in this island—they are, Mitake, in the Pro- 
vince of Satsuma; Kirisima Yamma, in Fingo; Asoyammo, in Figo; Wunzler, in 
Fizen ; and Tsurminyanma, in Bungo. 
The most celebrated of these are the Kirisma Yamma and Wunzler, or the “ High 
Mountain of Warm Springs.” I find, on referring to the Chinese Repository, that 
in 1798 the summit of the mountain sunk entirely down; torrents of boiling water 
issued from all parts of the deep cavity which was thus formed, and the vapour 
arose like thick smoke. In one of its eruptions, it is recorded to have destroyed 
the ill-fated city of Simabara, when 35,000 persons are said to have perished 
There are also many hot and su!phurous springs, which are used as baths, and 
accounted to have great medical qualities. To some of these, curious superstitions 
are attached. They are considered departments for punishment in the infernal 
regions. To one which is covered at the top with a white cream like froth, are 
consigned pastry-cooks and confectioners who practised adulteration while in life ; 
while deceitful brewers pass a miserable existence in a spring as thick and muddy 
as the beer and sakee they sold their customers. The Island of Kinsin is well 
watered; a hardy and industrious population inhabits its fertile valleys; its lofty 
mountain ranges contain scenes of great grandeur and sublimity, while its shores, 
indented with deep aud secure harbours and feathered with wood, owe much of 
their picturesque beauty to the numerous islands which stud those inland waters. 
It is separated from the Island of Nipon by the narrow Straits of Vander 
Capellen or Simonerki, which connect the Straits of the Corea with the Purvonadei 
Sea. It was originally the intention of Lord Elgin to have explored on his retnro 
voyage this most remarkable sheet of water, never yet traversed by foreign keel, 
and which must afford a most interesting field for surveys of scientific character, 
as also for general observation. Unfortunately, however, our time did not admit 
of his putting this design into execution. The South sea is thickly covered with 
islands, and was reported to us by the Japanese as navigable for ships of large 
draught. The lirge and important island of Sikok intervenes between it and the 
North Pacific Ocean with which this sea is connected, by the Straits of Bangon on 
