Albert Richard Brown

“ Although Captain Brown is perhaps right in saying that the current always flows to the N. E. at Rock Island, there can be no doubt that, as the China Pilot says, that ebb tide flows E. N. E. and the flood W. S. W. in that locality. While the ebb tide flows with the Japan Stream, the flood tide opposes it. The strength of the tides are very variable, but at certain times they are of great strength. During ebb tide the flow of the Japan Stream is accelerated, and it is no uncommon occurrence to see boats carried past Rock Island at a speed of from three to four miles per hour. ”

“ Captain Furber’s absence was much to be regretted, as his large and recent experience would have enabled him to contribute much valuable information on a subject whose interest was of the most practical and in our circumstances, most painful character. ”

“ Between Oo-sima and the entrance to the Gulf of Yedo, north-west winds commence about the beginning of November, and continue to blow incessantly till the latter part of March, breaking up about the time of the equinox. They generally blow with considerable force and are strongest about sunrise, moderating towards the afternoon. With these winds the weather is invariably bright and clear, so that even during night the land may be seen from a great distance ”

“ The course of the vessel had then to be continually altered towards the east so as to enable her to clear the different dangers. I am informed that in 1865 the wrecks of no fewer than six foreign built ships were to be seen on the sandy beach which lies a few miles to the north of Inaboye-saki, and it is very probable that it was this current which led to the loss of the Pacific Mail Company’s S. S. Ariel. A ship steering a course so as to pass inside a line from King-kasan to Inaboye-saki, will probably be set towards the shore and find herself much closer in than was anticipated ”

“ In doing this it should be borne in mind that at such a time as the approach of a typhoon, above all others, the current is least to be depended on, and that its strength would in all probability be greatly increased should the typhoon be coming up from the south-west. On the east coast from the Gulf of Yedo northwards, from October to April inclusive, north-west winds prevail which frequently blow very hard. ”

“ Is then passes out into the Pacific through the various channels between Yezo and the Kurile Islands, and there meets that the branch of the Kuro-siwo which is called the Kamschatka Current. The result of this meeting of hot and cold streams is, that those Islands are almost constantly enveloped in fog; this is very similar to what is experienced on the Banks of Newfoundland, where the cold water from Baffin’s Bay meets the Gulf Stream.
The Oya-siwo then flows in a S. S. W. direction along the coast of Nambu towards Inaboye-saki. ”