Directory_and_Chronicle_1886 — Page 554

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NIIGATA-HAKODATE.

ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION.

Rev. L. Droüart de Lezey, mission, apost. Rev. Justin Balette, mission. apost.

AMERICAN BOARD MISSION.

Rev. R. H. Davis

Doremus Scudder, M.D.

Miss Kate S. Scudder

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, Kanazawa.

Rev. T. C. and Mrs. Winn Rev. J. B. and Mrs. Porter Miss F. E. Porter Miss M. K. Hesser

O. N. Benton, govt. school

HAKODATE.

This, the most northerly of the treaty ports of Japan, is situated in the south of Yesso on the Straits of Tsugar, which divide that island from Hondo. The port lies in latitude 41 deg. 47 min. 8 sec. N., and longitude 140 deg. 45 min. 34 sec. E., and the harbour is nearly land-locked. The town clusters at the foot and on the slope of a bold rock known to foreigners as Hakodate Head, 1,106 feet in height. The surrounding country is hilly, volcanic, and striking, but the town itself formerly possessed few attractions, and consisted mainly of one long street of single-storied houses, the distinguishing feature of which was the roof, made of thin wood shingle kept on by quantities of flat stones. The greater part of the town was destroyed by a terrible fire in December, 1879. That disaster was, however, productive of great improvements, leading to the substitution of tiled for wooden roofs, and to the adop- tion of substantial walls of brick, stone, or other fire-proof materials in the buildings, while the streets have all been widened. The foreign concession has never been built upon, the few foreign residents in the port having taken up their quarters in Japanese buildings. A row of fine temples, with lofty picturesque roo's, occupying higher ground than the rest of the town, are the most conspicuous buildings. There are some Public Gardens at the eastern end of the town, which contain a small but interesting Museum. The climate of Hakodate is healthy and bracing. The hottest month is August, but the thermometer then rarely rises above 90 degrees Fahr.; in the winter it sometimes sinks to 18 degrees. The mean temperature throughout the year is about48 degrees. The population of Hakodate in 1884 was 41,226. The number of foreign residents in 1884 was 81, of whom 15 were British, and 40 Chinese.

The foreign trade of the port is small and has never been important. The foreign shipping is annually decreasing and the direct imports have fallen off largely. The imports for 1877 and 1878 were nil, for 1879 they only amounted to $4,459, in 1880 to $10,943, in 1881 to $16,983 (after deducting Government purchases), in 1882 to $7,417, in 1883 to $4,378, and in 1884 to $5,004 as compared with $27,308 in 1876. The exports for 1884 amounted to $378,915, compared with $436,750 in 1883, $508,087 in 1882, $843,628 in 1881, $749,261 in 1880, $692,515 in 1879, $688,940 in 1878, and $441,655 in 1877. The agricultural resources of Yesso have been to some extent developed under the auspices of the Kaitakushi or Colonization Department. The rich pasture lands are well adapted for breeding cattle. In the valuable and extensive fisheries on the coast, however, the chief exports of the future from Hakodate are to be looked for. Increasing quantities of dried fish and seaweed are exported annually, mostly to China. The mineral resources of Yesso, said to be large, may also some day yield a valuable addition to the exports of this port. Hakodate is connected with the capital by telegraph. A railway from Otarunai to Sapporo, 22 miles long, was opened to public traffic on the 28th November, 1880, and has since been carried on to Poronai, where are some coal mines, the total length of the line being 56 miles. In 1884, the output of these mines was 18,273 tons.