The future official orthography of Alaska might, therefore, be treated liberally, that is to say, complicated spelling following from a strict transliteration might be simplified to a certain extent, as has been done with the spelling of many aboriginal Indian names.
Of the geographic nomenclature of Asiatic countries none has become so rapidly well known as that of the Japan Archipelago, and we can already now class Japan among the countries having an official geographic nomenclature in Roman character.
Within less than twenty years, the wonderfully progressive Japanese have established a geographic service for the survey of their domain, and a hydrographic service for the survey of their coasts and navigable waters. They have now published several hundreds of nautical charts, which are as good and practical as any published by other nations.
On those Japanese charts, which are based exclusively on their own surveys, the names are printed in the signs of the 'Kana' with the transliteration of the name in Roman character added. It is this feature which has materially helped us to a better and correct knowledge of their geographic names. Within the last few years the Romaji-Kwai2 has made immense progress, and I understand that the society's system forms already part of the instruction in a number of schools in Japan. Hence, we may look forward to the day when Japanese books printed in Roman characters will supersede, to a large extent, the books in the signs of the 'Kana.'
2 Society for the introduction of the Roman character for writing the Japanese language.
One of the best authorities for writing and pronouncing the names of the districts, cities, towns and villages of Japan is a very recent publication3 by our honored countryman, Mr. W. N. Whitney, interpreter at the U. S. Legation at Tokyo, who compiled this admirable book with great care and labor from the official records of the Japanese empire. It not only contains the names in the original Japanese print, but what is of chief value to us, also the transcription, in accordance with the Romaji-Kwai system. We cannot do better, at present, than to follow this book in determining the orthography of geographic names in Japan.
3 A concise Dictionary of the principal roads, chief-towns and villages of Japan, with populations, post-offices, &c.; together with Lists of Ken, Kori, and Railways. By W. N. Whitney, M.D., Interpreter of the U. S. Legation, Tokyo.
In not so satisfactory a state as the orthography of Japanese geographic names is that of the countries adjacent to Japan. Considering that Asiatic names have been transcribed phonetically by explorers and surveyors of different nationalities, at different periods of time, and who were often but little, or not at all, acquainted with the languages they had to deal with, it is not surprising that many of the names we find on the charts should have been written utterly wrong. That such was the case on even comparatively recent surveys is, for instance, illustrated by the change in the nomenclature on the French plan of Cape Koan Lan, in the Gulf of Tongking (Plan No. 3721). In this French survey of 1878 the same names on the editions of 1879 and 1886, respectively, are rendered thus:
| 1879. | 1886. |
| Cap Cua-Lam. | Cap Koan Lang. |
| Ile Capuitao. | Cai-puï-tao. |
| Ile Soum-La-Too. | Siong-Lai-Tao. |
| Ile Laito-San. | Lai-Tao. |
| Ile Foum-Lung. | Ile Fong Wong. |
Such differences in spelling, and examples of pleonasm, as are indicated by these names, are found on the charts of all nations, but, under the beneficial working of the systems adopted by the British, French and Germans, similar errors are rapidly being corrected, and progress is being made towards international uniformity in the spelling of all geographic names.