Directory_and_Chronicle_1889 — Page 606

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NIIGATA-HAKODATE.

ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION.

Rev. J. L. Lemaréchal, mission. apost. Rev. O. de Noailles, mission. apcst.

Rev. Alexis Cocherie

SISTERS OF CHARITY.

supérieure,

Sœurs Vitalme,

Caroline

Aspasie,

AMERICAN BOARD MISSION.

Rev. Geo. B. and Mrs. Albrecht

Miss M. L. Graves

Miss C. Judson

Rev. H. B. Newell

Miss C. S. Scudder

Rev. H. M. Scudder, D.D., M.D. and

Mrs. Scudder

Miss Jane Cozad

Miss Gertrude Cozad

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, Kanazawa.

Rev. T. C. and Mrs. Winn

Rev. M. C. and Mrs. Hayes

Rev. J. M. and Mrs. Leonard Rev. A. G. and Mrs. Taylor

Miss F. E. Porter

•

Miss M. K. Hesser

Doremus Scudder, M.D. and Mrs. Scudder Mrs. L. M. Naylor

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 possesses few attractions. A destructive fire in December, 1879, led to great improvements and the widening of the streets. 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 roots, 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 about 48 degrees. The population of Hakodate is 50,725. The number of foreign residents in 1887 was 88, of whom 39 were Europeans and Americans, and 49 Chinese; there are 16 more Europeans in other parts of Yesso.

The

The foreign trade of the port is small and has never been important. The imports in 1887 amounted to £2,340 as compared with £3,316 in 1886. The exports for 1887 amounted to £116,450, compared with £112,959 in 1886. The agricultural resources of Yesso have been to some extent developed under the auspices of the Kaitakushi or Colonization Department. 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 inineral 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.