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The Japan expedition. Japan and around the world / An account of three visits to the Japanese empire, with sketches of Madeira, St. Helena, cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo cover

The Japan expedition. Japan and around the world / An account of three visits to the Japanese empire, with sketches of Madeira, St. Helena, cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo

Chapter 27: FOOTNOTES
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About This Book

The author recounts nearly two and a half years aboard a steam frigate during three visits to Japan and stops along Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific routes, offering descriptive sketches of ports such as Madeira, St. Helena, the Cape, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and the Loo-Choo islands. He blends shipboard routine and seafaring incidents with onshore observations of landscapes, markets, temples, and everyday customs. Practical details about navigation, health, and provisioning punctuate the narrative, while historical outlines and local anecdotes supply context for impressions formed during diplomatic and commercial voyages.

FOOTNOTES

1 The work of Kœmpfer, to which reference, as to Japanese history, is frequently made, singular to say, was never written by him. It was written by one Camphay, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, and at one time the superintendent of the trade in Japan. The manuscript was only given to Kœmpfer to bring home, and to place it in the archives of the Dutch East India Company at Amsterdam; but instead of complying with the trust, he took the pages with him to Germany, and kept them until he died. After his death, more than a century ago, a friend of his named Scheuchzer, residing in London, went immediately to Germany, procured the manuscript, and it was first published in Great Britain in English, and subsequently translated into other languages.

2 Probably Bonin island, known to the Japanese as Moninsoma.

3 Probably Kanaka, Sandwich island, he alludes to.

4 This is the most southwestern island of the chain of islands lying off the Gulf of Yedo.

5 Saki, in the Japanese language, means Cape, consequently it should more properly be called Cape Sirija; but to prevent mistakes it has been thought advisable to adopt the Japanese names.

6 The fans used by the officials of Japan, are of a uniform size, and regulated by custom.