Notes on the Kuril Islands

NO T E . E R S. N MILN . B PROFESSOR JOH F. y , THE only maps in which very many of the places mentioned in followin the g notes can be found are the Admiralty Charts , numbered 2128 and Any one who compares these notes l w C H and charts, the origina s of which ere drawn by aptain . J . n w m m S ow, ith the scanty literature and i perfect aps previously w l ac m existing, i l at once recognize how very much has been co lish ed p by the patience and perseverance of an individual . New k n w l roc s and shoals have been i dicated, hi st supposed dangers l of of a ike character have been removed . The position islands l l have been corrected relative y and in longitude, whi st anchorages, - - n tide rips, watering places, sea lio and seal rookeries, have been located and described . The shortest route between Vancouver and certain ports on the Asiatic coast has been freed from un n w -Pacific l certainties and da gers, hile Canadian steamers, wha ers , and a large fleet of pelagic hunters have now harbours of refuge opened which may be approached with comparative safety. In k short, after shipwrec s, risks, and dangers, the escapes from which l l have often seemed incredib e, independently of the geo ogical, l l natura history, and genera scientific notes which have been H . w ll C . l co ected, aptain J Snow, hi st sacrificing by his publica own t tions his professional interes s as a hunter, has entitled himself to recognition from all wh o navigate and patrol th e - k K l fog bound shores of the roc y uri s . SHID N WPOR I W E, E T, . ct b 1 1 . O o er 9, 896 A n to s m mo ppe ded thi e ir. TR D TI N IN O UC O . THE Kuril Islands being but little known geographically or l w m otherwise, the fo lo ing notes may perhaps be of some s all l va ue . n They are the outcome of many visits, extendi g over a n w r n umber of years, in the course of hich eve y island has bee m m . visited, and each one circumnavigated any ti es k u s n The remar s pon the phy ical features of the isla ds, the m w n n cli ate, inds, curre ts, inhabitants , fau a and flora, are all m n n For n fro perso al observatio s . a few ge eral particulars as to nn R their discovery, a exation by ussia, eruptions of volcanoes, etc . , I am n i debted to various authorities . The heights of the m ountains given are from sextant ob ser vations u m , and are generally the res lt of an average of a nu ber n and ff of sights, take at various times, at di erent distances ; so m a I k m . they y, think, be ta en as approxi ately correct On the charts * accom panying these notes the positions and forms of many of the islands will be found to differ considerably u from any hitherto p blished . l I These maps, although not absolutely correct, wi l trust be f su ficient for all practical purposes of navigation . M m K any of the bays, capes, islets, and ountains of the urils, b m n m not eing na ed on any published charts, in describi g the ' I have called them by the names by which they are generally wn kno to the hunters frequenting the islands . NOW . H . S . J m ss on of th e o a A m s of ur By per i i Hydr gr pher, the d iralty Chart the K il ’ s n s w n Sno w s co n m n o s o s m mo . I la d , ith Captai rrecti , acc pa y thi e ir CONTENTS. HISTORY OF THE OCCUPATION or THE IsLANDs PHYSIOG RAPHY AND G EOLOG Y or THE IsLANDs INIIABITANTS OF THE KURILS FAUNA AND FLORA LIM W H R TIDEs ETC . C ATE, EAT E , , DETAILED DESCRIPTION o r EACH I SLAND AND STRAITS B ETWEEN THEM NOTES ON TH E KURIL I SLANDS . B Y C P N H SNOW A TAI . J . , H OLDER G RANT AND DIPLOMA FOUNDED B Y ADMIRAL B ACK. F H D H ISTORY O T E OCCUPATION OF TH E ISLAN S . De D i THE Kuril Islands were discovered by Vrees, a utch nav gator, 1 634 h e 1 65i in . They are also said to ave been discover d in by m n m Sta d ukin ro l m a erchant a ed Taras , who sailed f m the Ko y a R H e s iver. passed through Bering Strait, and followed the coa t m of Kamchatka, doubling the southernmost cape , and aking the discovery of the Kurils . 1 1 1 Ru d 1 36 In 7 the ssians first invaded the islan s, and in 7 all R these to the north of Yetorup became subject to ussia . In 1 738 Spanberg sailed with three small vessels to examine m the Kurils, and wintered in Ka chatka . — 1 7 66 7 fur- In a voyage was made amongst them to collect a tax , and in 17 95 the Russian - American Company established a factory U on rup . Tow ards the end of the eighteenth century the Japanes e s s m Yet oru 1 8 06—7 R s n e tabli hed the selves on p , and in the u sia s on i n mad e descents that sla d . In N 1 830 R s - m ovember, , the u sian American Co pany took o m s n u s f r al po sessio of the K ril . In 1 8 7 5 all the Kurils north of Yet orup were handed over to n R s h li s S a a n. Japa by u sia, in exchange for the outhern part of g In 1 884 the Japanese governm ent rem oved the few remaining Kurilsk s n n u n n y Ainu to the i la d of Shikota , th s leavi g the isla ds U h um h i r from rup to S s without a single inhabitant . 2 NOwas ON THE K RI IS A U L L NDS . PHYSI G RAPHY AND G E L G Y OF TH E ISLA O O O NDS . ALTH UG H s d s of th e t w o O the e islan , with the exception perhaps s u nm Yet oru a nd n l o ther ost, p Kunashir, are ever ikely to be of m m n much co mercial i portance , they are of interest as formi g part of the long line of volcanic vents extending along the western side P n N n of the acific Ocea from orther Kamchatka, down that penin u ill i s Ph i nes . ula, through the K rils, Yezo, and Japan , to the p P s M m U v J n rofe sor John ilne, of the I perial ni ersity of apa , our on and great authority earthquakes volcanoes, has published s n l m 1 8 8 ome otes on the Kuri s which he ade in 7 , when on a flying n n visit to these islands , which otes were suppleme ted by others * made on one or tw o subsequent visits to Yet orup and Kunashir. The Kuril ch ain of islands extends i n almost a straight line in - n a north east directio , from the east coast of Yezo to the southern m 630 extre ity of Kamchatka, a distance of about geographical w n miles . This line may be regarded as a line of eak ess in the ’ E s u arth cr st, out of which , at fairly equally spaced intervals, P volcanic materials have been ejected to form islands . arallel w n u n n ith the mai fiss re, on its western side , is a seco d li e of n n s and n . ve ts at wider i terval , apparently of more rece t origin s n u s Sh i ri nki Mak anrush i r Ekarm a Thi li e r n through Alaid , , , , Ch irink otan Raik ok e Mak anr uru th e , , and to the volcanoes on peninsulas standing out from the north - west coast of Ye torup m n m s (which , fro appearances , were o ce separated fro that i land) , and across to the Sirotok o peninsula of volcanoes forming the - north east point of Yezo . — — The island s nearest to Yezo Kunashir and Ye tor up are s t m n evidently the olde , and at one ti e may have bee connected N w z f . ith Ye o, their auna and flora being identical ext in age, ' nd Vol . vii . x . l . i . a e c ol . i . 1 . 1 8 o . D c 2 Vo v Tram . e s. So v 1 8 6 Geol Ma e . S , pt ; g g , , PH IOGRAPH AND EO O Y OF THE I A D 3 YS Y G L G SL N S .

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