as the place where they were found is situated at the sea-shore, quite close to the southern extremity of Japan, it is singular that the tropical or sub-tropical elements of the flora of Japan are here wanting. From this Dr. Nathorst draws the conclusion that these are not, as has been hitherto supposed, the remains of a flora originating in Japan, but that they have since migrated thither from a former continent situated further to the south, which has since disappeared. Dr. Nathorst's examination is not yet completed, but even if this were the case, want of space would not permit me to treat of this point at greater length. I cannot, however, omit to mention that it was highly agreeable to be able to connect with the memory of the Vega expedition at least a small contribution from more southerly lands to vegetable palæontology, a branch of knowledge to which our preceding Arctic expeditions yielded new additions of such importance through the fossil herbaria from luxuriant ancient forests which they brought to light from the ice-covered cliffs of Spitzbergen and from the basalt-covered sandstones and schists of the Noui-soak Peninsula in Greenland, now so bleak.
After our return from Mogi I made an excursion to the coal-mine at Takasami, situated on an island some kilometres from the town. Even here I succeeded in bringing together some further contributions to the former flora of the region.
After the inhabitants of Nagasaki, too, had given us a grand parting feast, at which speeches were spoken in Japanese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Danish, and Swedish, a proof of the mixture of nationalities which prevailed there, the Vega again weighed anchor on the 27th October, in order to continue her voyage. We now left Japan to commence in earnest our return, and on our departure we were saluted by the crews of two English gun-boats anchored in the harbour, the Hornet and the Sylvia, manning the yards and bulwarks. It was natural that the hour of departure, after fifteen months' absence from home, should be looked forward to with joy. But our joy was mixed with a regretful feeling that we were so soon compelled to leave—without the hope of ever returning—the magnificent country and noble people among whom a development is now going on which probably will not only give a new awakening to the old cultured races of Eastern Asia, but will also prepare a new soil for European science, industry, and art. It is difficult to foresee what new undreamed-of blossoms and fruit this soil will yield. But the Europeans are perhaps much mistaken who believe that the question here is only that of clothing an Asiatic feudal state in a modern European dress. Rather the day appears to me to dawn of a time in which the countries round the Mediterranean of eastern Asia will come to play a great part in the further development of the human race.
FOOTNOTES:
[383] The number of the works which the collection of Japanese books contains is somewhat over a thousand. The number of volumes amounts to five or six thousand, most of the volumes, however, are not larger than one of our books of a hundred pages. So far as can be judged by the Japanese titles, which are often little distinctive, the works may be distributed among the various branches of knowledge in the following way:
Number
of Works
History 176
On Buddhism and Education 161
On Shintoism 38
On Christianity (printed in 1715) 1
Manners and Customs 33
The Drama 13
Laws 5
Politics, Political argumentative writings, partly new and
privately printed against the recent statues 24
Poetry and Prose fiction 137
Heraldry, Antiquities, Ceremonies 27
The Art of War and the Use of Weapons 41
Chess 1
Coining 4
Dictionaries, Grammars 18
Geography, Maps 76
Natural History 68
The Science of Medicine 13
Arithmetic, Astronomy, Astrology 39
Handicrafts, Agriculture 43
Notebooks 73
The art of making bouquets (Horticulture?) 16
Bibliography 9
Various 20
————
Total 1036
[384] Further information on this point is given by Henry Gribble in "The Preparation of Vegetable Wax" (Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. iii. part. i. p. 94. Yokohama, 1875).