Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/638

 632 LOO OHOO ISLANDS, LOOM valleys waterfalls are sometimes precipitated. There are great masses of coral rocks even on the inland hilltops. The soil is variable, but the island abounds in grass and trees, and is picturesque and beautiful, the shores resem- bling the richest scenery of England. The heat is never excessive, though there are some- times injurious droughts and typhoons. The land all belongs to the government, which lets it to large tenants, who sublet to small farm- ers. The system of cultivation is primitive; the implements are rude, and the soil is gen*- erally tilled by hand. Rice is one of the chief staples ; among the other productions are sugar cane, wheat, cotton, barley, tobacco, millet, sago, and the watermelon, fig, peach, banana, and wild raspberry. Grass is not cultivated as a crop. The most abundant trees are the pine and banian, which line the highways. The banian is also used for hedges, and planted on the tops of the coral walls which surround the house, and pruned into symmetrical forms. Other trees are the vegetable ivory, ebony, mulberry, orange, lemon, and palm. The bam- boo grows abundantly, and supplie*s food, clothing, shade, and building materials. The ferns are very fine, some of them being tree ferns. Fowls, ducks, geese, pigs, goats, and a small black ox abound, and there is a small but strong and active breed of horses. Wild boars are found in the forests, especially in the N". part of the island. The people generally live in villages, which are embowered with arching lanes of bamboo, the tops of which interlace and form shady avenues. In the largest villages are buildings called cung-quas, neat wooden dwellings with tiled roofs and gardens, for the accommodation of the agents of the government in their official journeys through the island. The houses in the coun- try are thatched with rice straw. The princi- pal seaport is Napa, a town of considerable size, on a small island in the bay near the S. W. point of the island. Shuri, or Shoori, the capital and residence of the king, is a short distance inland from Napa ; it is about a mile and a half in length, and contains a castle built of large blocks of limestone. Besides these there are about 40 other towns. The popula- tion consists of two races, the Japanese and the Loo Chooans proper, who are of the same stock, and greatly resemble each other, though the Loo Ohooans are more effeminate and less intelligent. Unlike the Malays and Chinese, they have a full black beard. Their complex- ion is a dusky olive, the hair generally black, worn long at the sides and back, while the middle of the head is shaved bare, and the rest of the hair drawn into the vacant space, plait- ed into the form of a circular comb, and kept in place by two large hair pins, one of which has a star-shaped head of gold, silver, brass, lead, or pewter, according to the rank and wealth of the wearer. Their dress is a loose wide- sleeved robe, gathered at the waist with a gir- dle. The better classes wear white stockings and straw sandals. The women, who are kept very secluded, dress much like the men, but do not shave the head. The books, learning, and religion are for the most part Chinese, and the higher classes are well instructed. The principal occupation is agriculture, but a coarse sugar, salt, sake (a beer brewed from rice), cotton and grass cloth, paper, pottery, and lac- quered ware are manufactured. Rude paint' ings and sculptures are found among them, and the bridges, viaducts, and roads, and the cita- del at Shuri, show some architectural skill. They appear to have no money of their own, but understand its use and value. They ex- port some sugar and sake to Japan. The gov- ernment is administered in the name of a king, and is in the hands of an aristocracy consisting, as in China, of the literary class, who appear to live in idleness, while the poor are greatly oppressed. These islands are said by the Chi- nese to have been discovered under the Tsin dynasty, about A. D. 600. About 400 years ago the principal island was divided into three kingdoms, which subsequently were united and became tributary to China, and afterward to Japan. The island was visited by Capt. Basil Hall and Mr. McLeod in 1816, and in 1852 by Commodore Perry, who included Loo Choo in the treaty made with Japan. LOOKOUT, Cape. See CAPE LOOKOUT. LOOM (A. S. loma), a machine for weaving cloth. The loom is one of the oldest inven- tions, but among the ancients it was of ex- ceedingly simple construction. That which is used at the present time by the natives of India is probably the most ancient form of the machine. The Indian loom consists of two horizontal rollers of bamboo, from one of which the yarn called the warp is drawn, while the woven fabric is wound upon the other. Each alternate thread is raised by a loop attached to a string connecting with a bar above, which being raised by the weaver moves half of the threads at once, leaving a space between them and the remainder for the pas- sage of the woof, which may be effected by a long needle held in the hand or by a shuttle. The first set of alternate threads being now lowered, and the second set raised, the woof is passed back in the opposite direction, sepa- rated from the preceding thread of woof by the crossed threads of the warp ; and thus the operation is continued. By means of this rude apparatus the natives of the East have made the finest of woven fabrics ; but the great se- cret of their success lies in the perfect man- ner in which they spin and prepare their thread. The looms used by the ancient Egyptians, pic- tures of which are painted and sculptured upon some of their monuments, are of similar form to those of the Hindoos and Chinese ; and the form was not very essentially varied in the looms used by western nations in their develop- ment toward modern civilization for several thousand years. The first step toward im- provement appears to have been made by John