NAGASAKI
Nagasaki is a city of great antiquity, and in the early days of European intercourse with the Far East was the most important seat of the foreign trade with Japan. It is admirably situated on the south-western coast of the island of Kiushiu. A melancholy interest attaches to the neighbourhood as the scene of the extinction of Christianity in the empire and the extermination of the professors of that religion in 1637. At the entrance to the harbour lies the celebrated island of Pappenberg, where thousands of Christian martyrs were thrown over the high cliff rather than go through the form of trampling on the cross. Not far from Nagasaki is also the village of Mogi, where 37,000 Christians suffered death in defending themselves against the forces sent to subdue them. When the Christian religion was crushed and the foreigners expelled, to the Dutch alone was extended the privilege of trading with Japan, and they were contined to a small plot of ground at Nagasaki called Deshim. By the treaty of 1858, Nagasaki was one of the ports opened to British trade on the 1st July in the following year.
On entering the harbour of Nagasaki no stranger can fail to be struck with the admirable situation of the town and the beautiful panorama of hilly scenery opened to his view. The harbour is a landlocked inlet deeply indented with small bays, about three miles long with a width varying from half-a-mile to a mile. The native town is on the eastern side of the harbour, and is about two miles long by about three-quarters of a mile in extreme with. The foreign settlement adjoins the native town on the south side. The chief mercantile houses are situated on the bund facing the harbour, behind which are a few streets running parallel with it, and there are a number of private residences on the hill side. There are English Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, two clubs, and a Masonic Lodge. The Belle Vue Hotel affords fair accommodation for visitors. The Nagasaki dock was lengthened during 1894 to admit vessels of 500 feet in length on a draught of 26 feet. Attached to the dock are extensive Engine Works, most completely equipped and fitted. These works were originally built by the Japanese Government, but they now belong, as does the dock, to the Mitsu Bishi Company. Waterworks have recently been completed. The reservoir holds 90,000,000 gallons, and there are three filter beds and a service reservoir. The Kiushiu Railway is now partly constructed, the line between Moji and Kumamoto, a distance of one hundred miles, being opened. A branch line to Nagasaki has been completed as far as Saga, and the section between Saga and Sasebo is to be pushed on at once, when there will be only a short section wanting to establish through communication between Nagasaki and Moji. The climate of Nagasaki is mild and salubrious, and there are several very popular health resorts in the neighbourhood, the most famous being Mount Unzen.
After the opening of the port the trade for several years steadily developed, but it subsequently declined, owing to various causes, but chiefly perhaps on account of its gradual attraction to Yokohama. During the last seven years, however, there has been a steady improvement in the foreign trade, which has doubled itself in that period The chief articles of import are cotton and woollen manufactures. The principal exports are coal, tea, camplior, rice, vegetable wax, tobacco, and dried fish. There are several very productive coal mines near Nagasaki, of which the Takashima mine is the most important. The total quantity of coal exported from Nagasaki in 1894 was 325,448 tons, and from the special ports of export (Shimonoseki, Moji, Karatsu, and Kuchinotsu) 943,709 tons.
The value of the import trade of Nagasaki during the year 1894 was 85,413,748 against $3,524,199 in 1893, and that of the export trade $3,558,711 against $3,226,062 in 1893. Coal is the staple article of export.
The population of Nagasaki in 1894 was 66,851. The number of foreign residents, as given in the Consular report for 1894, was 705, of whom 320 were Chinese, 113 English, and 272 other Europeans and Americans. A small foreign weekly paper entitled the Rising Sun is published in the port, and a small daily entitled the Nag isaki Observer was started in 1894. There are also two native papers.
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