Directory_and_Chronicle_1886 — Page 503

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JAPAN-NAGASAKI.

1884. The foregoing are Imperial Government Railways. The Japan Railway Company, which has a capital of 20,000,000 yen, has constructed the following lines: -The Uyeno (Tokyo), Takasaki, and Mayebashi section was commenced in 1882, and was opened to Takasaki, a length of 68 miles, on the 25th June, 1884; another portion, from Takasaki to Sakamoto, 17 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 15th October, 1885; and a branch of the same from Ömiya to Utsonomiya, 49 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 16th July, 1885. Utsonomiya is only 221 miles distant from Nikko, which contains the most famous and beautiful temples in Japan, and the district round is equally renowned for the beauty of its scenery. The line will therefore prove a great convenience to tourists. The Shinagawa and Kawaguchi Railway is a connecting link betwaen the Tokyo and Yokohama and Takasaki lines, 13 miles in length, and was opened on the 1st March, 1884. The Temiya, Sapporo, and Poronai Railway, constructed by the Government, is the only railway in the island of Yesso. This line, which starts from the harbour of Temiya to the coal mines at Poronai, is 56 miles in length, and was completed in May, 1883. It is constructed on the lightest and cheapest American system. The total number of miles of railway now open is 330 miles. There are besides about 198 miles of railway in course of construction and 543 miles in contemplation.

The ports of Yokohama, Hyogo, Osaka, Nagasaki, and Hakodate are connected with each other, and with Europe, by lines of telegraph, and the telegraph system has lately been extended to all the important towns of the Empire. Japan has joined the Universal Postal Union, and for the past four years has conducted the interna- tional as well as domestic postal service.

NAGASAKI.

Nagasaki is a city of great antiquity, and in the early days of European inter- course 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. Near 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 Mogibay, 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 confined to a small patch of ground at Nagasaki called Desima, the monotony of their life being broken only by the yearly arrival and departure of the one or two ships in which the trade between Japan and the West was at that time carried on. 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 width. 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 and a commodious club. The Nagasaki dock is capable of docking the largest steamers. Its dimensions are :—Length (inside caisson at top), 438 feet; length on blocks, 375 feet; breadth of entrance at top 89, and at bottom, 77 feet; depth of water on blocks at spring tides, 27 feet 6 inches, and at neap tides 22 feet. There is also a patent slip 220 feet in length, and extensive

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