1905 January 5th: The Report about Laincourt Rocks

To follow is a report of Liancourt Rocks on January 5^th 1905 by the captain of the naval ship Tsushima, Commander Sendo Takeo. This maybe the last report about the rocks before the rocks were incorporated on January 28^th 1905.

Interestingly it referred to the fishermen (from Oki islands) who came annually to Liancourt Rocks but there is no mentioning about Korean people. This is an important report to show that Liancourt Rocks were already under control by Japanese people before the incorporation.

明治三十八年一月五日對馬艦長海軍中佐仙頭武央ヨリ水路部長に提出セルリヤンコールド島概要

リャンコールド島ハ一帯ノ狭水道ヲ隔テ、相対峙スル二個ノ主島ト共ノ周囲二碁列スル小嶼ヨリ成ル洋中ノ一少群嶼タル二過キス此ノ小嶼ハ概ネ扁平ニシテ上面僅二水上二現出シ主島ノ周辺ハ奇観ヲ呈スル洞窟二富ミ共二海豹群ノ棲窟タリ

主島ハ全部殆ト不毛ノ禿岩ニシテ海風常二全面ヲ嘗吹シ一株ノ樹木ナク南面ニ於テ野草僅二苔生スルヲ見ルノミ全周ハ断崖絶壁軟性ノ石屑ヨリ成リ周辺何レヨリスルモ攀登殆ト不可能二屬シ全島平坦ノ地二乏シク水道ノ兩側二於テ狭小ナル平坦ノ礫地ニ三箇所アレトモ皆洋濤ノ襲来ヲ免レス東島二於テ菰葺ノ假小屋アリ海豹猟ノ為メ夏季此ノ島二渡来スル漁夫用ノモノニシテ當時著シク破壊シ僅二其ノ形跡ヲ止ムルノミ其ノ破損ノ状況ヨリ判断スルニ此ノ附近ヲ蹂躙スル風波ノ猛威察スルニ余リアリ試二風浪ノ鋭鋒ヲ避ケ得ヘキ家屋建築用地ヲ他二求ムレハ僅二左記二箇所アルニ過キス

（イ）西島の東面ニ山崩アリ其ノ傾斜頗ル急ニシテ上半ハ殆ト直立シ到底攀フル能ハサレトモ下半ハ稍緩傾ヲナシ辛ウシテ其ノ中腹マテ攀登スルヲ得此ノ虜地質強ナル岩層ニシテ之ヲ開鑿スレハ三坪弱ノ平坦地ヲ得ヘク東風ノ他悉ク遮蔽シ得

（ロ）東島頂部ハ一見平坦ナル部分多ク家屋建設二適スル如クナレトモ之ヲ踏査スルニハ経路二多大ノ工事ヲ施スニ非サレハ局地二達スル能ハサルヲ以テ実見シ得サリシモ海洋ノ蠻風ニ對シテ四周暴露ノ難ヲ免レス然レトモ獨リ南端二アル平坦地ハ三四坪ノ廣サアルヘク西北ノ一方ハ遮蔽セラルゝモノゝ如シ

此ノ如クニシテ全島絶壁断崖一渓地ヨリ隣濱ニ至ラントスルモ亦小舟二依ラサルヘカラス

西島ノ西南隅ニ一ノ洞窟アリ其ノ天蓋ヲナス岩石ヨリ滴出スル水ハ其ノ量稍多シト雖モ雨水ノ滴下スルト同様ニシテ之ヲ採取スルコト困難ナリ此ノ他数箇所二於テ山頂ヨリ山腹二沿ヒ滴瀝スル水アルヲ發見セルモ其ノ量僅微ニシテ其ノ経路ハ海豹ノ屎尿等二依リ汚染セラルルヲ見ル試二東島ノ東南隅二於テ滴下スルモノヲ採取シ検スルニ一種異様ノ惡臭ヲ放チ黄色ヲ呈シ既二汚水タルヲ證セリ而テ化学的検査上左ノ成績ヲ得　到底飲料二適セサルヲ認ム

理学的反応　黄色有臭微混濁酸性反応　格魯兒多量　硫酸多量　硝酸ナシ　亜硝酸ナシ　石灰少量　安母尼亜少量　有機質中量

海豹猟ノ為メ渡来スル漁夫ハ海上平穏ナルトキ島水ヲ採取シ煮炊ノ用ニ供スレトモ飲料（茶水）トシテハ他ヨリ持チ来リタルヲ用フト云フ

之ヲ要スルニ本島ハ瘠タル禿岩ニシテ海洋ノ巒風ニ露出シ其ノ猛威ヲ避クルニ足ルノ面積ヲ有セス炊クニ燃料ナク飲ムニ水ナク食フニ糧ナシ聞ク毎年六七月ノ頃海豹猟ノ為メ渡来スルモノ数十名ノ多キニ達スルコトアリ是等ハ皆一囘約十日間宛假居ヲナシ漁獲ニ従事スレトモ皆其ノ他ノ季節ニ於テハ殆ト来ルモノナシ現ニ目撃スル幾百千ノ海豹群ハ周年猟穫スルモ尚余リアルヘキニモ拘ラス六七月季ノ外来航スルヲ欲セサルハ蓋季節ノ風浪ニ対シ避難ノ途ヲ得ルニ苦マシムルニ基因スルモノナラン

To follow is a rough translation:

Ryankorudo-to (Liancourt islands) are a group of small islands in
the ocean that consists of two main islands, which are facing each other with a
narrow waterway between them, and islets around them. These small islands are
almost flat and only a small portion of them appears above water. The edges of
main islands are rich in strange-shaped caves which are dens of herds of seals.

The main islands are almost barren rocks where sea breeze always blows. There is no tree, there are only short weeds on the southern surface. All around the islands are precipitous cliffs made of soft stones, which made us almost impossible to climb. Flat places are scarce on the islands, a few narrow and flat pebbly places are seen at the places along the waterway but these places cannot avoid attacks of wind and waves. There is a temporary hut with a thatched roof at the east island. It belongs to fishermen who come to this place in order to hunt seals in the summertime. The hut is
strikingly broken, it was almost a trace of a hut – considering the situation of
the broken hut, the violence of wind and waves around this place can be well
imagined. If we need a place to construct a house, there are only two possible
places as follows:

(A) There is a landslide at east side of the west island. The upper half of the slope is too steep to climb uprightly, however the lower half is slightly gentle so that one can manage to climb to the halfway up the slope. The nature of the soil is a solid rock. After boring the rock, we would get 3-tsubo (about 10 ㎡) flat place there, where would be free from east wind.

(B) The summit of the east island seems to be rich in flat places where one can build some houses. However, it would be difficult to survey the places without a lot of construction work in order to get a route, so we couldn’t inspect on the spot. But it seems that sea breeze/wind from all over the direction is inevitable up there. Only a flat
place at the southern edge, which seems to be 3 or 4 tsubo (about 10 – 13 ㎡), would be free from the northwest wind.

As shown above, all around the islands are precipitous cliffs, so
that one must ride on a boat to go from a cove to an adjoining beach.

There is a cave at the southwest edge of the west island. Water is
dripping from a rock which formed a canopy of the cave. Although the amount of
water is not few, it is hard to collect them just like one can’t easily collect
rainwater. There are some other points where water drips from the summit through
hillside, but it seems that they are quite a few and the route is contaminated
by seals’ raw sewage. We got and examined the water dripped from the southeast
corner of the east island as a trial. It smelled bad and looked like yellow – it
apparently was already contaminated. As seen in the following chemical analysis,
it is unfit to drink.

Scientific reaction: yellow coloured, with an odour, turbid, with an acid reaction. chlorine: much, sulfuric acid: much, nitric acid: none, nitrous acid: none, lime (or coal?): a little, ammonia: a little, organic matter: medium quantity

The fishermen who come to these islands to hunt seals collect the
water while the sea is clam and use it for cooking but they bring drinking water
from another place.

In short, this island(s) is barren rocks which are exposed to sea
breeze and waves, without vast land to avoid the violence of them, without a
fuel to cook, without water to drink and without food to eat. They say that
dozens of people come to this place to catch seals during the summertime from
June to July. They stay for about 10 days and engage in fishing (hunting).
However, nobody visit the place in other seasons. Actually, they don’t want to
come to this place except for the June-July season while there are hundred
thousands of seals which are enough for full-time hunting. It seems that it is
because they find serious difficulty in avoiding wind and waves in the off
season.