Page:Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 1 (2nd edition).djvu/237

Rh he does not consider to be the capital of Loo Choo, but rather a town situated upon a hill, and surrounded by a wall, called by the natives Shui, or Shoodi: its extent could not, however, be ascertained, from the dense foliage by which it was surrounded. The officers of the Blossom made several excursions into the interior, visiting the public cemeteries, a temple of Budh, and some cotton manufactories. Captain Beeehey mentions sweet potatoes, millet, wheat, Indian corn, rice, potatoes, cabbages, barley, sugar-cane, pease, tea-shrubs, taro, tobacco, capsicums, cucumbers, cocoa-nuts, carrots, lettuces, onions, plantains, pomegranates, and oranges, as growing on Loo Choo. The narrative contains some interesting details upon the natives, which make us feel grieved that the expedition was not prepared with linguists, to clear up some doubtful points in the history and character of this singular people.

The Blossom sailed from Loo Choo on the 25th of May, 1827; and on the 6th June passed upon the spot where the Island of Disappointment is placed in the latest charts, without seeing land.

On the 8th they reached the Bonin Islands, which are all small, but remarkable. The central island was named Kater, and the largest in the cluster Peel. This island has a good port, to which Captain Beechey gave the name of Port Lloyd. In this island, almost every valley has a stream of water; and the mountains are clothed with. trees, among which the Areca oleracea and fan-palms were conspicuous. There are several sandy bays, in which green turtle are sometimes so numerous that they hide the colour of the shore. The sea yields an abundance of fish: sharks also abound, and are very voracious. These islands are subject to earthquakes, and have every appearance of being of volcanic origin. A large bay at the north-east angle of Peel Island, was named Fitton Bay. Captain Beechey controverts the propriety of the name of Bonin-Sima being given to these islands, which do not agree with the account given of them by Abel Rémusat and Klaproth, taken from Japanese documents, but correspond more nearly with the Yslas del Arzobispo, described many years ago in the 'Navigaçion Especulativa y Pratica,' published at Manilia. Kæmpfer's description of the islands of Bonin-Sima may, however, be safely referred to the Archbishop's Isles. The group consists of three clusters of islands, lying nearly N. by E., and extending from the latitude of 27° 44′ 35″ to 26° 30′ N., beyond which was the utmost limit of their view to the sonthward. The northern cluster was named Parry Islands. The middle cluster consists of three, of which Peel's Island is the largest. This group is nine miles and a quarter in length, and is divided by two channels, so narrow, that they can only be seen when abreast of them, and are not navigable by shipping. The northern island