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360
EAST ASIA.
Since the recent changes foreigners and natives are working harmoniously
together in the exploration of the country. On the seaboard the Japanese navy,
jointly with those of other powers, takes part in the preparation of special charts,
while geologists and mining engineers study the relief of the land and the character
of the rocks. Several maps of Nip-pon have thus been already prepared, which
are superior in accuracy to those of Albania, Macedonia, and other parts of Europe.
Altogether the people display a surprising love of geographical studies. Traders,
excursionists, and artisans seldom make a trip without taking a map of the district
Fig. 166. THE KUBILE ISLANDS.
Scale J : 9,000,000.
Volcanoes.
180 Miles.
with them, and guide-books to the large cities and famous sights of the land are
both more ancient and far more numerous than in Europe.
THE KVRILE ARCHIPELAGO.
The chain of partially submerged mountains forming the Kurile Islands develops
a curve of almost mathematical precision some 400 miles in extent. Separated
from Kamchatka by a strait scarcely 8 miles wide and 60 feet deep, the " Thousand
Islands "
(Tsi-sima), as the Japanese call the group, begin with the volcanic
Sumchu, followed by the long and mountainous island of Paramushir, which forms