William George Aston

“ N is the negative sound in Japanese as well as in European languages. It appears in ina, no, inamu, to refuse naki, not, the na of the neg. imperative etc. The use of n for negatives in European languages is too well known to require illustration.
There is no more essential part of a language than its system of pronouns, and it is therefore important to see if any resemblances can be traced in these parts of speech in Japanese and the Aryan languages. ”

“ At this time the Japanese colony of Itorup was in a tolerably flourishing condition. It had been established more that ten years before, and had now a population of more than a thousand Ainos and 350 or 300 Japanese, including five women. Most of the Japanese were, however, soldiers from Nambu and Tsugaru. There is no mention of any trading population, except a sake-brewer from Akita who had established a brewery to supply the garrison. The Aino population was engaged in the fishery of masu, a species of salmon. Its oil was expressed, and both oil and refuse sent to Hakodate. ”

“ They are rather to be looked upon as so much raw material, the real value of which it is difficult in the present state of our knowledge to determine, and they are given merely for what they are worth. The most that can be said of them is that they present a plausible primâ facie case in favour of the proposition that Japanese is remotely related to Aryan languages.
The following are a few examples out of a much larger number which might have been given:—
Jap. na, a name; Sansk. naman; Lat. nomen; English name. The root in all these Aryan forms is na or no, the rest being a mere termination. ”

“ Snow falls along the sea-shore to a depth of five or six feet, and in the mountains to a depth of thirty feet or more; and the ground freezes to such a depth that it requires weeks of warm weather to thaw it. It is not till the end of July that all traces of frost disappear.
There were two Japanese settlements in Itorup. The chief one was at Shana where the garrison was stationed. A building had been erected at great expense for the officials from Yedo and their troops, which is described by the sake-brewer as exactly like a Daimio’s Castle. ”

“ It is a statement of the different forms assumed in these classes of languages by what is substantially the same sound, little or no distinction having probably been recognized in the common original Aryan language. For example, the sound which is aspirated in the first class is the corresponding flat mute in the second, and the corresponding sharp mute in the third. The letters with which Grimm’s law is concerned, are the sharp mutes p, t, k, the flat mutes b, d, g, and the aspirates ph or f, th and gh or ch. ”

“ The peculiarities of the languages concerned should not be forgotten. Those of the European languages it is impossible to enumerate here, but it may not be out of place to note briefly a few characteristics of the Japanese language which have a bearing on this question.
R is never found at the beginning of a word. ”

“ The “Red men” can always come to Saghalin and Itorup and chase you about.
If you comply with our wishes, we shall always be good friends with you; if not, we will come again with more ships, and behave in the same way as we have done before this year.
Oroshiya.
This paper was delivered to the principal Japanese official at Soya who composed a defiant reply which however he had no opportunity of forwarding. He also concocted a scheme for inviting the Russians ashore and massacreing them, but this plot was disconcerted by a storm which compelled the Russian ships to put to sea. ”

“ Several subordinate officials with a suite of from two to nine persons brought up the rear, the whole amounting to 123 persons. This body of men seems to have been considered a warlike force, and is spoken of as an army; but of the entire number only thirty-six seem to have been really fighting men.
In the spring of 1807, as soon as the sea was open for navigation, the Russian ship which had wintered in Kamschatka joined her consort which had remained at Urup, and shortly after they appeared in company at one of the Japanese settlements in Itorup. ”

“ He sent the chief interpreter of the settlement with 4 or 5 other Japanese and a number of Ainos to meet a party of 17 (one account says 20) Russians who landed near the Castle. The interpreter and his party were fired into, and one of the Ainos killed. The interpreter was himself shot through the thigh, but the Ainos hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him back to the Castle. There was now a good deal of desultory firing on both sides. The Russians ensconced themselves behind an oil-pressing shed which stood on the beach, and the Japanese did not venture out from their castle. ”

“ Active preparations were made for repelling any future attacks which might be made. A body of 150 men was despatched at once to Kushunkotan, but arrived too late to be of any service. Two hundred Tsugam soldiers were soon after posted at Soya, a settlement near the northern point of Yezo, and opposite to Kushunkotan. The garrison of Itorup was increased to 200 or 300 men, and by the spring of next year that of Hakodate was raised to about 2,500 men, mostly retainers of the northern Daimios. ”

“ They had already acquired not a few of the arts of civilization. They had settled habitations, and even towns and castles, and they possessed the principal domestic animals. They were also workers in several of the metals, and were acquainted with the arts of weaving and of brewing a fermented liquor. ”

“ They suffered great hardships on the way, having for three days nothing to eat except such roots and berries as they could find. Some un-hulled rice boiled in one of their helmets was thought a great luxury. ”

“ They accordingly set to work to melt it into balls. There was only enough for two, and when they were made and carried down to the batteries, the Russian ships were already out of sight.
Soon after leaving Hakodate the Russian ships fell in with a war-junk which had left that port some days before with a reinforcement of twenty men for one of the Yezo settlements. It was commanded by Morishige Sachu, an officer who had the chief credit with the Hakodate garrison of the economical administration of affairs. ”