306 
WHY JESSO AVAS CONQUEHEB. 
Tlie next day we attempted to follow the shore of 
Romanzotf Bay, toward Cape Soya, to the eastward, but 
found so many hidden dangers in the shape of reefs and 
sunken rocks that we gave up the idea and steered 
straierht for the town of Tomari. Here we anchored 
o 
for the night, and devoted the remainder of the day 
and part of the next- to wooding up. Any vessel seek- 
ing shelter in this hay cannot be too careful with look- 
out and lead. It is the worst ground we passed over 
during that cruise; and yet Golownin speaks of it as “a 
fine large bay, having regular water and good holding- 
ground,” &c. Possibly we may have devoted too short 
a time to its examination, for we found this writer 
generallj'' remarkable for closeness of observation and 
accuracy of statement. 
The town of Tomari, situated in this bay and im- 
mediately under Cape Soya, the extreme north point 
of the island, is one of the numerous fishing-settlements 
of the Japanese, which line the coast from Matsmai up. 
In fact, this latter city itself Avas settled centuries since 
simply to establish a firm footing on an island singularly 
remarkable for the quantities of salmon Avhich fed along 
its shores, and AAdiich on the more northern end^^Avere 
often BO plentiful as to be dipped out with hand-nets 
and paddles.” Whenever you see an indentation in the 
coast, there you find one or more of these villages: I 
don’t think Ave could have passed less than several hun- 
dred of them. And this great population along the 
sea-shore certainly renders probable the assertion of 
GoloAvnin, to the effect that the island of Jesso is Avith- 
out population in the interior, the nature of the country 
