Korea

By A. Hamilton

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Korea

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Title: Korea

Author: A. Hamilton

Release date: February 11, 2024 [eBook #72932]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: Charles Scribner's sons, 1904

Credits: Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KOREA ***

KOREA

[Illustration: TABLET IN SEOUL]

KOREA

BY
ANGUS HAMILTON

WITH A NEWLY PREPARED MAP
AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
153-157 FIFTH AVENUE
1904

_All rights reserved_

TO MY MOTHER

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The Position of Russia in Manchuria—Comparative Estimate
of Naval and Military Resources of Russia, Japan, and
Korea Pp. xvii-xlii

CHAPTER I

Off the coast—Lack of survey intelligence—Island
_flora_—Forgotten _voyagers_—Superstitions and
beliefs—Outline of history Pp. 1-12

CHAPTER II

Physical peculiarities—Direction of advancement—Indications of
reform and prosperity—Chemulpo—Population—Settlement—Trade Pp. 13-23

CHAPTER III

Move to the capital—A city of peace—Results of foreign
influence—In the beginning—Education—Shops—Costume—Origin—Posts
and telegraphs—Methods of cleanliness Pp. 24-42

CHAPTER IV

The heart of the capital—Domestic economy—Female
slavery—Standards of morality—A dress rehearsal Pp. 43-58

CHAPTER V

The Court of Korea—The Emperor and his Chancellor—The Empress
and some Palace factions Pp. 59-69

CHAPTER VI

The passing of the Emperor—An Imperial pageant Pp. 70-80

CHAPTER VII

Sketch of Mr. McLeavy Brown—The Question of the Customs—The
suggested Loan Pp. 81-93

CHAPTER VIII

Foreign action in Korea—Exhausted Exchequer—Taxes—Budgets—Debased
currency—The Dai Ichi Ginko—Dishonest officials Pp. 94-107

CHAPTER IX

Education—Arts and graces—Penal code—Marriage and divorce—The
rights of concubines—Position of children—Government Pp. 108-116

CHAPTER X

Farmers—Farming and farm animals—Domestic
industries—Products—Quality and character of food-stuffs Pp. 117-127

CHAPTER XI

Japan in Korea—Historical associations—In Old Fusan—Political
and economic interests—Abuse of paramountcy Pp. 128-137

CHAPTER XII

The commercial prospects of Korea—Openings to trade—Requirements
of markets—Lack of British enterprise Pp. 138-147

CHAPTER XIII

British, American, Japanese, French, German, and Belgian
interests—Railways and mining fictions—Tabled counterfeited
Imports Pp. 148-169

CHAPTER XIV

Some account of the treaty ports; Won-san, Fusan,
Mok-po—Character of export and import trade—Local
industries Pp. 170-181

CHAPTER XV

Treaty ports (_continued_)—Wi-ju—Syön-chyön-po—Chin-am-po—
Pyöng-yang—Kun-san—Syöng-chin Pp. 182-191

CHAPTER XVI

Russian interests—Russia and Japan—Ma-san-po—Ching-kai-wan—
Yong-an-po Pp. 192-206

CHAPTER XVII

By the wayside—A journey inland to Tong-ko-kai—Inland
beauties Pp. 207-215

CHAPTER XVIII

The German mines—Mineralogy and methods of mining—A bear
hunt—With gun and rifle Pp. 216-225

CHAPTER XIX

The monks and monasteries of the Diamond Mountains—The
Temple of Eternal Rest—The Temple of the Tree of
Buddha—Buddhism Pp. 226-240

CHAPTER XX

The abomination of desolation—Across Korea—The east
coast—Fishing and filth Pp. 241-252

CHAPTER XXI

Drought—Starvation—Inland disturbances—Rainfall and disease Pp. 253-260

CHAPTER XXII

The missionary question—Ethics of Christianity—Cant and
commerce—The necessity for restraint Pp. 261-269

CHAPTER XXIII

Inland journeying—Ponies, servants, interpreters, food and
accommodation—What to take and how to take it—Up the Han
River, frolic and leisure Pp. 270-283

CHAPTER XXIV

Kang-wha, brief history of the island—A monastic retreat,
an ideal rest—Nocturnal visitors—Midnight masses—Return
to the capital—Preparations for a great journey—Riots
and confusion Pp. 284-300

APPENDIX I

Schedule of train service P. 301

APPENDIX II

Return of all shipping entered at the open ports of Korea
during the year 1902 Pp. 302-304

APPENDIX III

Return of principal articles of export to foreign countries from
the open ports of Korea during the years 1901-1902 P. 305

APPENDIX IV

Return of principal articles of imports to foreign countries
during the years 1901-1902 P. 306

APPENDIX V

Coast trade between treaty-ports in native produce (net) P. 307

APPENDIX VI

Customs revenue P. 307

APPENDIX VII

Gold export to foreign countries P. 308

APPENDIX VIII

Table of minerals P. 309

ILLUSTRATIONS

_Ceiling, Imperial Palace, Seoul_ _Cover_

_Tablet in Seoul_ _Frontispiece_

PAGE

_Devil Post outside Seoul_ 1

_Guardian of a grave_ 9

_Independence Arch_ 11

_Pagoda at Seoul_ 12

_A moment of leisure_ 13

_At the Wells_ 17

_Chemulpo_ 21

_Pavilion on the wall of the Capital_ 23

_Hen-seller_ 24

_Not one whit Europeanised_ 33

_A side alley_ 35

_Native dress_ 37

_They wear the_ Chang-ot 38

_A study in hats_ 39

_Means of locomotion_ 42

_A_ Sang-no 43

_White-coated, white-socked population_ 45

_She may visit her friends_ 47

_A middle-class family_ 49

_In winter costume_ 51

_A palace concubine_ 53

_Dancing women of the Court_ 55

_Boys_ 58

_His Imperial Highness, Prince Yi-Cha-Sum_ 59

_His Imperial Majesty the Emperor_ 60

_The Hall of Audience, Seoul_ 64

_Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess_ 67

_A minor Royalty_ 69

_Within the Palace grounds, Seoul_ 72

_Imperial Throne, Seoul_ 74

_Imperial Tablet-House, Seoul_ 77

_An Imperial pavilion, Seoul_ 79

_Mr. J. McLeavy Brown, C.M.G., LL.D._ 82

_British Legation, Seoul_ 88

_The Imperial Library, Seoul_ 94

_A Seoul gate_ 107

_Justice is not tempered with mercy_ 113

_Children of the lower class_ 115

_The Korean and his bull_ 119

_A spade furnished with ropes_ 121

_Pounding grain_ 122

_Carrying produce to market_ 123

_Japanese Cavalry_ 128

_The Guard of the Japanese Legation, Seoul_ 131

_H.M.S._ Astrea 137

_Brick laying extraordinary_ 145

_The Consulting-room of Miss Cooke_ 155

_A railway siding_ 169

_In New Fusan_ 177

_Palace Gateway_ 180

_Chemulpo_ 185

_On the Yalu River_ 197

_Chinese Encampment_ 203

_Beyond the Capital_ 208

_Woodland Glades_ 209

_Country Carts_ 213

_A pitched battle_ 215

_A summer pleasaunce_ 224

_The Abbot of Chang An Sa_ 227

_The Abbot of Yu Chom Sa_ 233

_Yu Chom Sa_ 237

_An Altar-piece_ 239

_Shin Ki Sa_ 243

_The Abbot and Monks of Chang An Sa_ 245

_A Fair Magician_ 251

_Without the walls of Seoul_ 253

_The Temple of Heaven, Seoul_ 255

_An Imperial summer house, erected to mark the spot where the
corpse of the late Queen was burned by the Japanese_ 260

_A bridge scene in Seoul_ 261

_The streets are magnificent_ 268

_Beyond the Amur_ 281

_On the Han River_ 282

_Washing clothes in a drain_ 284

_A day of festival_ 291

_Russian post on the Korean Frontier_ 297

INTRODUCTION

Nothing is more natural than the circumstance that war should be the
outcome of the existing crisis; yet, equally, nothing is less certain.
If the area of hostilities were not confined to the Far East, and the
Power confronting Japan were any other than Russia, the outbreak of
war might be predicted positively. But with Russia, consideration of
the strategic qualities of her position in Manchuria must exercise a
paramount influence upon her movements. To those who are not close
students of military history, as well as to those who do not possess an
extensive knowledge of the situation, the position in which Russia is
placed equally affords the keenest interest. Certainly in the annals of
military history, excluding the march of Napoleon upon Moscow, there is
no war which may be said to have developed a parallel to the task which
besets Russia in Manchuria and Korea. Her position at sea, moreover, is
no better than that which she holds on land. Upon land, a single line
of railway traversing the heart of an enemy’s country terminates at
Port Arthur. At sea, Vladivostock is cut off by reason of its position,
while it is inaccessible on account of its climate. These points, Port
Arthur and Vladivostock, define the extremities of the strategic position
which Russia holds in Manchuria. Excluding Vladivostock at this moment
from any especial consideration, Port Arthur is left for the opening
moves of this campaign. Therefore, Port Arthur, with a single line of
communications in its rear, becomes the pivot of the operations.

The aspect of Port Arthur from the sea is uninviting. Rugged hills,
offshoots from the range of mountains which divides the Liao-tung
peninsula, cluster round the bay, and encroaching upon the foreshore
and bearing neither trees nor vegetation, impart to the surroundings a
desolate and even wild appearance. Within the headlands of the harbour,
conforming with the indentations of the coast, there are several bays
shallow and unprofitable, but which in time may become an important
adjunct to the small area of deep water which the harbour now possesses.
Dredging operations have been undertaken, but there is so much to be
done that many years must pass before Port Arthur receives any material
addition to its very restricted accommodation. The mud, brought down
by the streams which empty into the harbour, has already affected the
deep-water area, and since the harbour was constructed these deposits
have encroached very considerably upon the depth off shore. At low water
steamers, which lie up within sixty feet of the wharf, rest upon mud
in little more than a fathom of water, and at the same time the space
is so small that it is impossible for a dozen vessels to anchor in the
harbour with any comfort. Steamers, if any larger in size than the small
coasting-boats which call at Port Arthur from China and Japan must anchor
off the entrance, unloading and re-charging from junks or tenders. In
relation to the requirements of the squadron Port Arthur is not nearly
large enough. When cruisers are taking in stores battleships remain
outside, an arrangement which is manifestly inconvenient in a period
of emergency. It was for this reason that the authorities constructed
at Dalny—a few miles from the fortress and within Pa-tien-wan Bay—a new
town, together with commercial docks and wharves, in order that Port
Arthur might be devoted more particularly to the needs of the navy.

Port Arthur is happy in the possession of all those objects which, to a
naval base, are component parts of its success. The dry dock, somewhat
weak and unsubstantial, is 385 feet in length, 34 feet in depth, and 80
feet broad, while the naval basin is equal in surface space to the total
available steamer anchorage in the harbour proper. When the dredging
works in the harbour bays have been completed it is hoped that a mean
depth of four fathoms will have been obtained. This systematic deepening
of the harbour will give to the fleet a surface anchorage considerably in
excess of one square mile, but until the work has been executed the value
of Port Arthur as a satisfactory naval base is infinitely less than the
prestige which it enjoys as an impregnable position.

Port Arthur possesses a small parade-ground, rifle-range, and artillery
practice-ground, torpedo-station and training reservation, which will be
enlarged when the bays are opened out. There is a flash-light station and
various schools of instruction—torpedo, gunnery, telegraphy—while the
arsenals and workshops which are built around the naval basin and within
the navy yards are very thoroughly equipped. These effects, however,
were mainly taken over by Russia when she seized Port Arthur; their
existence at the present moment tends to show how impossible it is to
under-estimate the advantages which Russia derives from the possession of
this port, and how far-reaching are the consequences of the monstrous
blunder which Lord Salisbury committed when he acquiesced in its
usurpation.

Apart from the defences Russia, hitherto, has not added much to Port
Arthur; for the main part the troops have been quartered in the old
Chinese houses or in the former barracks of the Chinese troops, affairs
having been somewhat neglected in view of the prior claim which the
defences held. Now, however, fine barracks are in course of construction,
and, if there is no war, it is anticipated that ample accommodation will
be ready soon upon the shores of some of the bays and on the hills.
The defences are indeed magnificent. Very few of the forts, which were
in existence during the time of the Chinese, remain. Since the Russian
Government entered upon possession the work of extending the perimeter
of the defences, as well as strengthening the fortifications, has been a
continuous labour. It is quite clear that the authorities are determined
upon no half-measures. They have gained Port Arthur, and they propose
to keep it. Upon the cliffs, rising immediately from the right of the
harbour entrance, there is a most powerful position, formed, I believe,
of a battery of six 21-inch Krupp guns, which was further supported by
a fort placed a few feet above the harbour, and sweeping its immediate
front, containing eight 10-inch Krupps. At the corresponding elevations
upon the opposite headland there were two similar forts with identical
batteries, while the mine fields within the harbour are controlled from
these two lower positions. Following the hills to the south and north
there are other forts; one in particular, of great size, is placed upon
the extreme crest of the range, and, towering above all else, sweeps the
sea and approaches to the harbour for great distances. It is impossible
to detect the character of these guns, but from their position, and the
extent of the fort and the nature of the part which they are intended
to fill, it is improbable that they can be less than 27-ton guns,
discharging shells of about 500 lb. The interior line of forts is no less
formidable, and it must seem that Port Arthur can never be reduced by
bombardment alone, while any force attacking by land would be severely
handled by the positions from which the Russians propose to defend their
flanks and the neck. At the present, however, there is a paucity of
field-guns among the troops in garrison, in addition to which many of the
more recently constructed forts lack artillery; while the opinion may be
hazarded that the entire position has been so over-fortified as to become
a source of eventual weakness in the ultimate disposition of the Russian
force.

Of course a fight for the command of the sea must precede any land
operations. Japan is within fifteen hours steam of Fusan, already a
Japanese garrison-town, and of Ma-san-po, the port to which Russia and
Japan make equal claim. The strait separating Japan from Korea is 200
miles broad, while Russia’s nearest base at Port Arthur is 900 miles
away on one hand and Vladivostock is 1200 miles away on the other. It
follows therefore, that in Korea, and not in Manchuria, the troops of the
Japanese army would be landed. Once established in Korea, Japan would
be able to dispute the supremacy of the sea on equal terms. In this
respect the possession by the Japanese of numerous torpedo craft confers
a distinct advantage upon them, since it will be within their power to
utilise their services if the Russian fleet were to attempt to check the
movement. The absence of any facilities for repairing damages makes it
certain that so far as possible the Russian fleet will evade any serious
engagement. It would be difficult to improve upon the position of Japan
in this respect. At Yokosuka, from which place a large number of cruisers
have been launched, there is a very extensive building-yard, and Japan
also possesses suitable docks for large ships at Kure and Nagasaki. In
all she has at her immediate disposal some half a dozen docks, 400 ft. in
length or more, and a very skilful army of working mechanics and workmen
in general. Port Arthur must be regarded for practical purposes the naval
base of Russia in the Far East in the event of a cold-weather campaign.

Vladivostock is too far removed from the range of probable utility.
At this port, however, Russia has constructed one large dry dock, one
floating dock 301 ft. long, and a second dry dock has been laid down.
Against these two solitary and isolated centres, Japan possesses naval
bases, arsenals and docks at the following points on her coast.

Yokosuka Arsenal, slip and dry dock.
Kure Arsenal, slip, dry dock, armour-plate works.
Sassebo Arsenal.
Maitsura New dockyard.
Nagasaki Three docks.
Takeshiki Coaling-station, naval base.
Ominato Base for small craft.
Kobe Torpedo repairing yard.
Matsmai Refitting station.

The squadrons which Japan and Russia will be able to employ in this war
are very formidable, and during the past few months each Power has made
strenuous efforts to increase the strength of its fleet.

In January 1903 the aggregate tonnage of the Russian Pacific Squadron
stood at some 87,000 tons, the fleet including the battleships
_Peresviet_, _Petropavlovsk_, _Poltava_, _Sevastopol_, and the cruisers
_Rossia_, _Gromoboi_, and _Rurik_, with other smaller vessels.

In March the tonnage went up to 93,000 tons, thanks to the arrival of the
cruiser _Askold_ from the Baltic.

In May the cruisers _Diana_, _Pallada_, _Novik_, and the battleship
_Retvizan_ joined.

In June the cruisers _Bogatyr_ and _Boyarin_ reached the scene.

In July the battleship _Probleda_ arrived.

In November the battleship _Tzarevitch_ and the cruiser _Bayan_ further
added to Russia’s strength.

In December the battleship _Oslyabya_, the armoured cruiser _Dimitri
Donskoi_, the protected cruisers _Aurora_ and _Almaz_, and eleven
torpedo-boat destroyers.

In January 1904 the battleship _Imperator Alexander III_. leaves the
Baltic for the Far East.

Russia has laboured under great disadvantages to secure her position in
this region. In consequence of restricted shipbuilding resources and
owing to an unfortunate geographical position, Russia has not enjoyed
those opportunities of adding to her Pacific fleet which have presented
themselves to Japan. In effect, if not in fact, Russia is compelled to
maintain four navies. Unhappily, each is isolated from the other, many
hundreds of miles separating them. Naval squadrons are concentrated in
the Baltic, in the Black Sea, in the Caspian Sea and in the Pacific.
The Pacific squadron is of recent establishment and of most modern
construction. It dates back to 1898, from which time her policy of naval
expansion began. Orders were placed with France, Germany and America
for cruisers and battleships, coal was bought at Cardiff, and in a short
space the nucleus of a powerful fleet had sprung into existence. At the
present time these new ships are deficient in the various ratings, and
hundreds of mechanics, gunners and engineers have been withdrawn from the
Black Sea Squadron to do service with the Pacific Fleet, moving to the
Pacific Ocean from the Black Sea by means of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Just now, and until the acute phase of the crisis has disappeared or war
has been declared, the disposition of the Russian Pacific Squadron is as
follows.

At Port Arthur, the battleships _Petropavlovsk_, _Poltava_, _Sevastopol_,
_Peresviet_, _Retvizan_, _Probleda_, and _Tzarevitch_; the first-class
cruisers _Bayan_, _Askold_, _Pallada_, _Diana_, and _Varyag_; the
gunboats _Bobr_, _Gremyashtchi_, and _Koreetz_; the transports _Amur_,
_Yenissei_, and _Angara_; the torpedo-cruisers _Vsadnik_, and _Gaidamak_;
and the destroyers _Bezshumni_, _Bezposhadni_, _Bditelni_, _Bezstrashni_,
_Boevoi_, _Vnimatelni_, _Vnushitelni_, _Viposlivi_, _Vlastni_, _Burni_,
and _Boiki_.

At Vladivostock, the first-class cruisers _Rossia_, _Gromoboi_, _Rurik_,
and _Bogatyr_, the gunboat _Mandchur_, and the transport _Lena_.

At Chemulpo, the second-class cruiser _Boyarin_, and the destroyer
_Grossovoi_.

At Ma-san-po, the second-class cruiser _Rasboinik_.

In Nimrod Bay, the second-class cruiser _Djijdjit_.

At Newchwang, the gunboats _Otvazhni_ and _Sivutch_.

At Nagasaki, the gunboat _Gilvak_.

It will be seen from this list that Russia practically has the whole
of her Pacific Squadron in and about the Yellow Sea. In addition to
this force there is the squadron now _en suite_ for the Far East, which
lately passed through Bizerta. This comprises the battleship _Oslyabya_,
two second-class cruisers, _Aurora_ and _Dimitri Donskoi_, and eleven
torpedo-boat destroyers. The added strength which Russia will receive
when these reinforcements, under Admiral Virenius, reach her will give
her a numerical superiority over Japan. The greater efficiency, and that
higher degree of skill, which is so noticeable aboard the Japanese fleet,
reduces this preponderance to a mean level. However, Russia is by no
means to be caught napping, as the formation in Port Arthur of a reserve
naval brigade tends to show. Meanwhile, however, the subjoined detailed
list presents the principal vessels in the Russian Pacific Squadron. The
officers commanding are:

Vice-Admiral Stark,
Rear-Admiral Prince Ukhtomski,
Rear-Admiral Baron Shtakelberg,
Admiral Virenius (to join).

BATTLESHIPS

+----------------------+----------+-----------+-------+------------+
| | | | Speed,| Chief |
| | Built | Tonnage | knots | armament |
+----------------------+----------+-----------+-------+------------+
|Tzarevitch (flagship) | 1901 | 13,000 | 18 | { 4 12 in.|
| | | | | { 12 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Probleda | 1900 | 12,000 | 19 | { 4 10 in.|
| | | | | { 11 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Poltava | 1894 | 11,000 | 17 | { 4 12 in.|
| | | | | { 12 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Sevastopol | 1895 | 11,000 | 17 | { 4 12 in.|
| | | | | { 12 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Petropavlovsk | 1894 | 11,000 | 17 | { 4 12 in.|
| | | | | { 12 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Peresviet | 1898 | 12,000 | 19 | { 4 10 in.|
| | | | | { 10 6 in.|
| | | | | |
|Retvizan | 1900 | 12,700 | 18 | { 4 12 in.|
| | | | | { 12 6 in.|
+----------------------+----------+-----------+-------+------------+

Reinforcements to join: Oslyabya, 12,000 tons, 4 10-in. guns, 10 6-in.
guns; Navarin, 9,000 tons, 4 12-in. guns, 8 6-in. guns; Imperator
Alexander III.

CRUISERS

+-----------+---------+----------+-------+------------+
| | | | Speed,| Chief |
| | Built | Tonnage | knots | armament |
+-----------+---------+----------+-------+------------+
|Askold | 1900 | 7,000 | 23 | 12 6 in. |
|Bayan | 1900 | 8,000 | 21 | { 2 8 in. |
| | | | | { 8 6 in. |
|Gromoboi | 1899 | 12,000 | 20 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | | { 16 6 in. |
|Rossia | 1896 | 12,000 | 20 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | | {16 6 in. |
|Rurik | 1892 | 11,000 | 18 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | | { 16 6 in. |
|Bogatyr | 1901 | 6,000 | 23 | 12 6 in. |
|Varyag | 1899 | 6,000 | 23 | 12 6 in. |
|Diana | 1899 | 7,000 | 20 | 8 6 in. |
|Pallada | 1899 | 7,000 | 20 | 8 6 in. |
|Boyarin | 1900 | 3,000 | 22 | 6 4.7 in. |
|Novik | 1900 | 3,000 | 25 | 6 4.7 in. |
|Zabiuca | 1878 | 1,300 | 14 | Field guns |
|Djijdjit | 1878 | 1,300 | 13 | 3 6 in. |
|Rasboinik | 1879 | 1,300 | 13 | 3 6 in. |
+-----------+---------+----------+-------+------------+

Reinforcements to join: Gremyashtchi, Admiral Nakhimoff; Aurora, Admiral
Korniloff; Otrajny, Dmitri Donskoi; Almaz.

The gunboats on this station number nine, the destroyers eighteen, and
the transports six. Thirteen destroyers are to join.

This fleet, with reinforcements, compares numerically with the eventual
strength of Japan as follows:

Battleships Cruisers
Russia 10 21
Japan 7 26

A proportion of Japanese cruisers would be needed for coast defence,
so that Russia is becoming numerically the stronger for sea work. In
addition, Russia also has a powerful auxiliary fleet, consisting of ten
steamers of the Black Sea Steam Navigation Company, most of which were
built on the Tyne, and average fourteen knots. The Russian Volunteer
Fleet Association numbers twelve Tyne and Clyde built ships. They are
also at the disposal of the authorities.

Against this fighting array the Japanese are able to place vessels of
equal size and displacement; in the actual weight of metal the Japanese
are at a disadvantage, but in the thickness of the armoured protection
there is little to choose. Against this comparative equality of the
opposing fleets there must be borne in mind the great advantage which
Japan derives from her ability to use her own fortified ports as naval
bases. Indeed, this is of such importance that the knowledge of this
fact might induce her to risk her whole strength in a single engagement.
Again, in the mercantile marine, which has increased enormously of recent
years, Japan will find all she may require for the purposes of transport
and auxiliaries to the war fleet. The principal vessels in the Japanese
navy are here indicated:

BATTLESHIPS

ARMOURED CRUISERS

In addition to these, early in January 1904 the two cruisers purchased in
Italy from the Argentine Government will be ready for sea.

PROTECTED CRUISERS

+--------------+-------------+--------+-------+------------+-----------+
| | | | | | Weight of |
| Name |Displacement | I.H.P. |Nominal| Gun | Broadside |
| | | | Speed | Protection | Fire |
+--------------+-------------+--------+-------+------------+-----------+
| | Tons | | Knots | In. | Lbs. |
|Takasago | 4300 | 15,500 | 24.0 | 4½.2 | 800 |
|Kasagi } | 4784 | 15,500 | 22.5 | 4½.0 | 800 |
|Chitose } | | | | | |
|Itsukushima } | | | | | |
|Hashidate } | 4277 | 5400 | 16.7 | 11.4 | 1260 |
|Matsushima } | | | | | |
|Yoshino | 4180 | 15,750 | 23.0 | — | 780 |
|Naniwa } | 3727 | 7120 | 17.8 | — | 1196 |
|Takachiho } | | | | | |
|Akitsushima | 3150 | 8400 | 19.0 | — | 780 |
|Nitaka } | 3420 | 9500 | 20.0 | — | 920 |
|Tsushima } | | | | | |
|Suma } | 2700 | 8500 | 20.0 | — | 335 |
|Akashi } | | | | | |
+--------------+-------------+--------+-------+------------+-----------+

In connection with the First Division of the Japanese Fleet an
interesting fact has transpired which, from reason of its association
with this country, will prove of more than ordinary interest. In case
of war it appears that with one exception the ships comprising this
division are all British built. Designs, armour-plating and armament
follow the type and standard of our own Navy, and it is therefore obvious
that we cannot fail to be stirred deeply by the results of any collision
which may occur. Each nation possesses in Far Eastern waters ships
supplied with the latest appliances which science and ingenuity have
devised. To the people of this Empire, whose security rests primarily
upon the Fleet, our interest in the engagements is naturally the higher,
by reason of the similarity between the ships which will be engaged upon
one side and those of our own Navy. These vessels, all of which have
received their war-paint, and whose place of concentration is Nagasaki,
some 585 nautical miles from Port Arthur, are as follows:

+---------------+----------------+--------+--------------+
|Name | Where built | Tonnage| Chief |
| | | | armament |
+---------------+----------------+--------+--------------+
|Hatsuse (B) | Elswick | 15,000 | { 4 12 in. |
| | | | { 14 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Shikishima (B) | Thames | 15,000 | { 4 12 in. |
| | | | { 14 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Asahi (B) | Clyde | 15,000 | { 4 12 in. |
| | | | { 14 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Fuji (B) | Blackwall | 12,500 | { 4 12 in. |
| | | | { 10 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Yashima (B) | Elswick | 12,500 | { 4 12 in. |
| | | | { 10 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Iwate (C) | Elswick | 10,000 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | { 10 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Asama (C) | Elswick | 10,000 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | { 10 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Idzuma (C) | Elswick | 10,000 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | { 14 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Tokiwa (C) | Elswick | 10,000 | { 4 8 in. |
| | | | { 10 6 in. |
| | | | |
|Takasago (C) | Elswick | 4,300 | { 2 8 in. |
| | | | { 10 4.7 in. |
| | | | |
|Kasagi (C) | Cramp | 5,000 | { 2 8 in. |
| | (Philadelphia) | | { 10 4.7 in. |
+---------------+----------------+--------+--------------+

(B) battleship; (C) cruiser.

A torpedo flotilla, numbering thirty-five vessels, forms part of this
division. The other divisions of the fleet for war comprise the following:

Third division
Second division. (Home).

Battleships 2 —
Cruisers 10 8
Small craft 30 80

In addition to these the auxiliary fleet numbers some forty steamers, for
the most part vessels belonging to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha.

The present constitution of the Japanese Army dates from 1873, and the
Military Forces consist of—(1) the permanent or Regular Army, with its
Reserves and Recruiting Reserves; (2) the Territorial Army; (3) the
National Militia; and (4) the Militia of the various island centres
off the coast, &c. Military service is obligatory in the case of every
able-bodied male from the age of seventeen to forty years of age. Of
this period, three years are passed in the permanent or Regular Army,
four years and four months in the Regular Reserves, five years in the
Territorial Army, and the remaining liability in the National Militia.
The permanent Army, with its Reserves, conducts operations abroad, and
the Territorial Army and the Militia are for home defence. These latter
are equipped with Peabody and Remington single-loading rifles. The
up-to-date strength of the permanent Army, on a war footing, which does
not include the Reserves, is as follows:

+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+
| | | Rank | |
| | Officers | and File | Horses |
+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+
|Infantry, 52 regiments of 3 | | | |
| battalions, 156 battalions = | 4,160 | 143,000 | 52 |
| | | | |
|Cavalry, 17 regiments of 3 squadrons, | | | |
| 51 squadrons = | 400 | 9,300 | 9,000 |
| | | | |
|Field and Mountain Artillery, 19 | | | |
| regiments of 6 batteries, total | | | |
| 114 batteries of 6 guns = 684 guns = | 800 | 12,500 | 8,800 |
| | | | |
|Fortress Artillery, 20 battalions = | 530 | 10,300 | 70 |
| | | | |
|Engineers { 13 Sapper battalions = | 270 | 7,000 | 215 |
| { 1 Railway battalion = | 20 | 550 | 15 |
| | | | |
|Transport, 13 battalions = | 220 | 7,740| 40,000 |
+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+

Total = 684 guns, 6400 officers, 190,390 rank and file, 58,152 horses.

The Reserves comprise 52 battalions of Infantry, 17 squadrons, 26
Engineer and Transport companies, and 19 batteries with 114 guns,
yielding a total of 1000 officers, 34,600 rank and file, and 9000 horses.
Therefore, on mobilisation, the grand effective strength of the Army
available for service beyond the seas would amount to 7400 officers,
224,990 rank and file, 798 guns, and 67,152 horses. Behind this, there is
the Territorial Army, comprising 386 Infantry battalions, 99 squadrons,
26 Engineer and Transport companies, and about 70 batteries, or 11,735
officers, 348,100 men, 1116 guns, and 86,460 horses.

The Infantry and Engineers of the Regular Army have been recently
re-armed with the Meidji magazine rifle. The following particulars show
that the Japanese small arm is a superior weapon to the Russian, which
dates from 1891:

Japanese “Meidji,” model 1897.

Muzzle Sighted Weight No. of
Calibre. velocity. up to with Rounds
Ft.-Sec. Yards. Bayonet. in Mag.

.255 in. 2315 700 9 lb. 2 oz. 5

Russian “Three-Line,” model 1891.

.299 in. 1900 2500 9 lb. 12 oz. 5

The Regular Cavalry have the Meidji carbine. The Reserves are armed with
the Murata magazine rifle, model 1894, calibre .312 in., muzzle velocity
2000 feet-seconds, sighted up to 2187 yds., and weight with bayonet, 9
lb. 1 oz. The equipment carried by the Infantry soldier in the field
weighs 43½ lbs.

The Regular Field and Mountain Artillery is armed with 2.95 in.
quick-firing equipment, with hydraulic compressor, throwing a 10 lb.
projectile. This is known as the Arisaka equipment. The Fortress and
Siege Artillery have the latest models of Krupp and Schneider-Canet in
siege guns, guns of position, and mortars. The Reserve Field Artillery
are armed with a 2.95 rifled cannon of bronze on the old Italian model.
The Japanese have no Horse Artillery, and the only difference between
the field and mountain equipments is that the latter is the shorter
and lighter gun, and has not as long a range. The Cavalry is the least
efficient army of the service. It carries sword and carbine, but no
lance. The horses are badly trained; the men are very indifferent riders.

The strength of the Russian forces in Manchuria embraces 88 battalions,
60 squadrons and 50 batteries, which, together with the garrison forces
and fortress armament, numbers 200,000 men and 300 guns. These troops in
Manchuria are formed into two army corps of the first line and two of
the second. Two new Rifle Brigades have just been added to the existing
strength. They are composed as follows:

7TH BRIGADE 8TH BRIGADE
Port Arthur Vladivostock
GENERAL KONDRATENKO GENERAL ARTAMANOFF

25th Regiment 29th Regiment
26th ” 30th ”
27th ” } (new) 31st ” } (new)
28th ” } 32nd ” }

The Russian is a phenomenal marcher; the actual weight of his equipment
is 58 lbs. 2 oz. One tent is carried in section between six men. Each
soldier carries in his haversack two and a half days’ biscuits. The
ration in daily use for war consists of

Biscuit 1 lb. 13 oz.
Meat 7¼ oz.
Groats 4⅘ oz.
Salt ⅘ oz.
Tea ⁹⁄₄₀ oz.
Sugar ⁸⁄₂₀ oz.
Spirits ¹⁄₂₇ of a pint

In the exigencies of active service it happens that the Russian soldier
must forage for himself. Under any circumstances, however, he sustains
himself on very little nourishment, and relies in a great measure upon
what he can find. The Russian cavalry is armed with sword, rifle and
bayonet. The latter is invariably carried “fixed,” even when the weapon
itself is slung. A few regiments only carry the lance. The field guns are
steel breech-loaders manufactured at the Obukhov works. They are akin
to the Krupp pattern; many, however, have the interrupted screw breech
piece and the de Bange obturation. At present there are many varieties
of artillery with the Russian troops, particularly in their fortified
positions, to which places the Russian transported the seizures which
they made from the Chinese during the Boxer crisis. These embraced
French, German and British examples of artillery.

On land, the immense superiority of the reserve numbers of the Russians
reduces the advantages which would accrue to the Japanese if the fighting
were confined to the sea. At the same time, however, it should be
remembered that the Russian troops are slow movers, and although they
may exhibit magnificent endurance, and although they may be relied upon
to fight well, the lack of individual initiative upon the part of the
Russian officers robs the operations of that dash and address which is
embodied in the spirit of the Japanese army. Curiously enough, each side
favours the Continental school of infantry and cavalry tactics, the
underlying principles in the training of the Japanese revealing a close
adherence to Teutonic methods. Neither side will profit, therefore, by
any degree of indivisibility to which they may have attained. The winter
great-coat of either army is very nearly identical in colour, and for
warm weather Japanese and Russians alike favour a white blouse. There
has been talk of the Japanese adopting a khaki tint; upon the other
hand, the blouse of the Russian soldier is by courtesy equally white or
khaki. In the more important direction of land transport, it might appear
that the Manchurian railway would be a crowning triumph for the Russian
authorities. Unfortunately, this immense length of rail, badly laid and
indifferently equipped, will impose a perpetual strain upon the military
resources. If the country population could be relied upon to maintain
a benevolent neutrality towards telegraph poles and lines, railway
sleepers and rails, the stone pillar and balks of the bridges, the
possibility of any serious interruption of traffic would be materially
lessened. Unhappily for the Russians, the attitude and acts of the native
population, who, in a general way, will lose no opportunity to harass
their enemy, must impede the effective co-operation of the Russian forces.

Against this instinctive feeling of animosity there may be set the
racial sympathy with the Japanese which governs every Chinaman. In
Manchuria particularly, the Japanese enjoy a high reputation in the
minds of the populace, while there is remembered, above aught else, that
prompt redemption of all obligations during the Chino-Japanese War which
distinguished the policy of the invaders towards local interests. This
policy of benevolence was exhibited for the second time during the Boxer
crisis, and, of course, the striking example offered by the Japanese,
in comparison with the Russians, was not lost upon the Chinese. These
things are recalled to-day in Manchuria, and they may be calculated to
offset any reactionary sentiment which may take place in Korea. Between
the hospital arrangements of each belligerent there is little to choose.
The more efficient system of the Japanese service is equalised by the
greater facilities which the possession of railway communication by the
Russians will present to the transportation of the wounded. It should be
pointed out, however, that the principal medical service—the Russian Red
Cross Society—is wholly patriotic, and that it is not, in any degree, a
military organisation. It is liable to be withdrawn from the field at any
moment after the conclusion of the major operations.

Beyond these few observations it is difficult—if not impossible—to
trespass with any certainty, although, as a closing remark, it may
perhaps be added that, provided the investment of Port Arthur be
satisfactorily accomplished by sea and that Vladivostock were enclosed
by ice, the estuaries of the Yalu and Lico Rivers enables an admirable
position to be taken up, from which the Russian position throughout
Manchuria may be very readily threatened. Speculations as to the
development of the campaign upon land are, however, quite absurd until
something is known of the results of the naval engagements with which the
war must open. Meanwhile the painful familiarity with the costs of war
which distinguishes the British taxpayer has directed no little attention
to the financial position of either country. An eminent German financier,
interested in the public debt of Russia, lately explained to me that
a very large proportion of the moneys, which have been raised for the
construction of the Russian inter-railway communications in addition to
the Trans-Siberian and Manchurian Railways, has been set aside from time
to time to supplement her war chest. These sums, added to those collected
by Count Mouravieff with the assent of M. de Witte, and including the
large balances which have accrued to the State by departmental economies
during the past year, represent approximately a capital of one hundred
millions sterling. Against this accumulation it is said that the
financial position of Japan is most favourable. There is, I believe, a
specie reserve in the Central Bank which amounts to 113,000,000 yen, plus
some 40,000,000 yen in London. Moreover, the bank’s note-issuing margin
is 35,000,000 yen, which will be larger after the New Year. The Treasury
has three capital funds, amounting together to 50,000,000 yen, besides
some millions in London remaining from the bond sale of 1902. Finally,
there are large sums lying idle in all the banks throughout the country,
while an Ordinance has been issued which provides the Government with
unlimited credit.

The more recent action of the Russians in Manchuria tends, of course,
to support the view that war may be imminent. Nevertheless, bluff is a
component part of Russian diplomacy, and there is ground for believing
that the intentions of Russia in the Far East are by no means so
warlike as the preparations now proceeding and the acts of the Russian
administrative officials in Manchuria itself would imply. Russian
diplomacy always covers the development of its plans by preparing
to demonstrate in a contrary direction; and at the present time her
occupation of Korean territory is little else than the screen, behind
which she proposes to secure her hold upon Manchuria. Nothing short of
war will cause her to retire from her position in Manchuria; but while
Korean territory is of little value to the Russian protectorate, whatever
the compromise which may be effected between Japan and Russia, she may
be expected to make a determined effort to dominate the lower waters
of the Yalu River. In fact, curious as it may seem, the estuary of the
Yalu River is the very locale of the dispute between the two Powers,
since, if Russia were ever permitted to dominate the Yalu River, she
would gain at once that special position upon the frontiers of Korea
which it is the desire of Japan to frustrate. In this Japan can rely only
upon the shortshifts of diplomacy; and although the Russian occupation
of Yong-an-po may be circumvented, the development of An-tung upon the
opposite shore of the river cannot be prevented. It seems, therefore,
as inevitable that some commanding position upon the Yalu River must
ultimately fall to her lot. An-tung lies within Manchurian territory;
the Yalu River is the border stream between Manchuria and Korea, and
at Yong-an-po the nucleus of an important Russian settlement has been
established. The future contains no promise of the immediate settlement
of the present difficulty. At best the outlook is confused; while at
the same time there is presented in a manner singularly clear and
comprehensible the fact that Russia neither will evacuate New-chang, be
driven out of Manchuria, nor abandon her position on the Yalu River. The
position of Russia at New-chang has been indicated by past events, her
occupation of Manchuria is an old story, and she is now engaged in the
rapid development of her interests at An-tung. The position of this port
endows it with unusual advantages, and the commercial potentialities of
the place are very great. It lies about fifteen miles above Yong-an-po,
on the opposite bank. At present the export trade is confined to millet
and silk cocoons, the over-production of the latter commodity requiring
close technical supervision. Eight miles below An-tung, situated on the
right bank of the river, is the likin station San-tao-lan-tao, where
junks and rafts must report and pay the stipulated excise before they
proceed onward. The river then bears away to the north-east, and after
another stretch of seven miles there comes An-tung, upon the same bank,
at a point where the stream divides, the eastern branch being the Yalu
River. An-tung is of quite recent construction, and a few years ago
millet fields occupied its site. Under the care of native merchants
large, solid-looking houses have been built, broad streets have been
opened out, and an air of unusual prosperity distinguishes the place.
The anchorage is thronged with junks, while timber is stacked in vast
quantities below the limits of the town. Sea-going steamers of the
coaster type can here discharge and load their cargoes, thus obviating
transhipment at Ta-tung-kao.

Trade between Ta-tung-kao, which is situated at the mouth of the Yalu,
and Chi-fu, is at present carried on by small steamers of the _Mosquito_
flotilla and one British ship, the _Hwang-ho_, of the China Navigation
Company (Messrs. Butterfield and Swire), while the vast volume of the
exports and imports finds its way hither and thither in Chinese junks.
The run from Chi-fu port is one of a hundred and eighty-five miles, and
the time usually occupied in the trip north-eastward is twenty-two hours,
the steamers anchoring in the fairway channel at a distance of four miles
from Ta-tung-kao. Ta-tung-kao is a busy town, inasmuch as it is the place
of transhipment for imports and exports, most of which go to or come
from An-tung. The fact of steamers being unable to approach Ta-tung-kao
makes An-tung the real business centre of the Yalu River. In respect of
An-tung, two hundred Russian cavalry have been stationed there for over
two and a half years. The cantonment is situated on a small hill, marking
the northern limit of the town, which has no wall. As usual, through the
Yalu Valley these soldiers bear an evil reputation among the natives,
from whom they commandeer at pleasure. Striking away from An-tung is the
Pekin “Great Road,” which runs to Liao-yang. Above An-tung the river
divides and shoals exist, the water being so shallow that none but native
craft can ply. Wi-ju is situated about ten miles to the eastward, and at
a point west of Mao-kewi-shan, four miles below An-tung, there is the
terminus of the branch of the Manchurian railway, which is to strike the
river. The construction of this work will begin in the spring of 1904.
The first eighty miles offer little obstruction, and it is intended that
the work shall be pushed forward until its junction with the main line
of the system is accomplished. Russia, therefore, cannot well afford to
ignore the consequences of her policy in the Far East, nor, at the same
time, can she be expected to sacrifice, at the request of Japan, those
great interests which she has been at such pains to foster. The position
is, indeed, a striking example of the manner in which an imperious policy
will create the taste, if not the necessity, for Imperialism.

The position of Korea in regard to the disputed questions is a hopeless
one. Unfortunately, the government of Korea is powerless to prevent
either the advance of Russia or the steady spread of Japanese influence.
She possesses neither army nor navy which can be put to any practical
use, and she is in that position in which a country is placed when
unable to raise its voice upon its own behalf. The army numbers a few
thousand men, who, in the last few years, have been trained to the use
of European weapons. They are armed with the Gras, (obsolete pattern)
Murata, Martini, and a variety of muzzle-loading smooth-bore rifles.
Their shooting powers are most indifferent, and they lack besides the
qualities of courage and discipline. There is no artillery, and the
cavalry arm is confined to a few hundred men with no knowledge of
horse-mastership, and with no idea of their weapons or their duties. At
a moment of emergency the entire force of mounted and dismounted men
would become utterly demoralised. There are numerous general officers,
while, I believe, the navy is composed of twenty-three admirals and one
iron-built coal lighter, until quite lately the property of a Japanese
steamship company. Korea is the helpless, hapless sport of Japanese
caprice or Russian lust; and it has been my aim to present an impartial
study of the condition of the country in the pages of this volume. Since
so many and so much abler pens have dealt with the position of Manchuria
elsewhere, I have confined myself solely to a review of Korea. For this
I trust that I may not be taken to task, while in order to satisfy those
who think that some reference to the questions of Manchuria should have
been incorporated in my book I have ventured to impart to my preface the
appearance of a chapter which deals solely with this problem. And now,
at the end of my work, a last, but none the less pleasant, duty awaits
me. In addition to my own notes upon Korea I have gathered information
from many people—writers, travellers, and students—all interested in
the contemporary history of the Hermit Kingdom. These I now hasten to
thank, and by naming them I would mark my grateful appreciation of the
kindness which they have extended to me. To Mr. McLeavy Brown, of the
Korean Maritime Customs; Mr. Gubbins, formerly of the British Legation,
Seoul; to my distinguished and learned friend, Professor Homer B.
Hulbert, whose published notes upon Korea have been of exceptional value,
I make hearty acknowledgments; to Mrs. Bishop, Colonel Younghusband,
the Rev. Mr. Griffis, Major Gould-Adams, authors of interesting and
important contributions to any study of Korea, I express the sense of
my obligation; to the Rev. C. Collyer, who was good enough to make my
spelling of Korean names identical with the standard of Dr. Gale; to Mr.
Bolton, of Messrs. Stanford, the map makers, of Long Acre, who laboured
so patiently with the many shortcomings of my geographical data, I am,
indeed, indebted. To Sir Douglas Straight, editor of the _Pall Mall
Gazette_, whose paper it was my delight to represent throughout my long
residence in the Far East; to Mr. Nicol Dunn, editor of the _Morning
Post_; to Mr. S. J. Pryor, of the _Daily Express_, I have to record my
acknowledgment of the courteous permission of these distinguished people
to reproduce such portions of my work as have appeared in the columns
of their respective organs from time to time. And last of all to my
readers I offer this book in the hope that an immediate apology for its
production may be permitted to atone for its numerous shortcomings.

_December 25, 1903._

CHAPTER I

Off the coast—Lack of survey intelligence—Island
_flora_—Forgotten voyagers—Superstitions and beliefs—Outline of
history

[Illustration: DEVIL POST OUTSIDE SEOUL]

Despite the survey work which has been accomplished in the past by the
Japanese upon the coasts of Korea, little knowledge of the numerous
islands and archipelagoes, shoals and reefs which make its shores the
terror of all mariners, exists at present. Until the voyage of the
_Alceste_ and _Lyra_ in 1816, the locality of these detached groups
of rocky islets was not marked on any of the Japanese or Chinese maps
of the period. In the map of the Empire prepared by the Jesuits at
Pekin in the seventeenth century, the space now occupied by the Korean
Archipelago was covered with the drawing of an elephant—the conventional
sign of ignorance with the cartographers of that time. In the older
native maps, the mainland embraced groups of islands, the most imperfect
knowledge of the physical configuration of their own shores prevailing
among the Koreans. In quite recent days, however, the Korean Government
has recognised this fact, and in the early months of 1903 the Japanese
Government was requested to draw up a complete survey of the Hermit
Kingdom. This work is now in process of execution, the plan of the
coastline already having been completed.

The coast of Korea is remarkable for the number of spacious harbours
which distinguish it. Upon the West and South, indications of the
volcanic period, through which the country has in part passed, are shown
by the frequency with which these island groups occur. From a single
peak upon one of the small islands off the south-west coast, as many as
one hundred and thirty-five islets may be counted, stretching to the
North and to the South, the resort of the sea-fowl; desolate and almost
uninhabited. Many of the more important islands have been cultivated, and
give refuge and a lonely home to small communities of fishing-folk.

Navigation is peculiarly dangerous in these waters. Many of the islands
are submerged by the spring-tides, and the direction of the channels,
scoured by the rush of the tide, becomes quite indefinite. In the absence
of charts and maps, these island-fringed shores have been the scene of
many shipwrecks; Dutch, American, French, and British shipping meeting
in one grim and silent procession a common end: captivity on shore or
death in the sea. Some of these unfortunate mariners survived their
experiences, leaving, after the fashion of Hendrik Hamel, the supercargo
of the Dutch frigate _Sparwehr_, which went ashore off Quelpart in 1653,
records and histories of their adventures to an incredulous posterity.
Most of the islands lying off the coast are well wooded. As they are
very beautiful to look upon and very dangerous to approach, they are
regarded with mingled sentiments of reverence and superstition, differing
little, in their expression, from the fear in which the ancients held the
terrors of Scylla and Charybdis. Their isolated position, moreover, makes
them the centre of much contraband trade between the Chinese and Koreans;
their defenceless state renders them an easy prey to any pirates who care
to ravage them.

The islands off the south-west coast are the sanctuaries of many animals.
Seals sport and play unharmed among the rocks; the woody peaks are
rich in game: teal, crane, curlew, quail, and innumerable small birds
make them their breeding-grounds. The shores are happy hunting-grounds
for naturalists, and a variety of marine food is found throughout
the archipelago. A number of well-marked species of sponge may be
gathered, and the coral beds display many violent tints and delicate
shades, forming in their beautiful colourings a sea garden of matchless
splendour. The _flora_ of these islands is a no less brilliant feature of
the summer landscape. Tiger-lilies, showy and gigantic, daisies, asters,
many varieties of cactus, grow side by side with curious ferns, palms and
creepers, almost tropical in their character and profusion, yet surviving
the cooler temperature of autumn and winter, to greet each coming spring
with freshened beauty. The air vibrates with the singing and buzzing of
insects, the limpid day is bright with gaudy butterflies. Snow-white
herons stand in the shallows. Cormorants, diving birds and ducks throng
the reefs to rise in clouds with many angry splutterings when their
haunts are invaded. In the deeper waters, there are myriads of fish; in
passing from group to group along the coast shoals of whales are to be
seen, blowing columns of spray aloft, of sleeping idly upon the surface.

The coast of Korea is well sprinkled with the names of foreign
navigators, who, in previous centuries, essayed to visit the Land of
the Morning Radiance. With rare exceptions, these visitors were turned
back. Some were captured and tortured; many were ordered off at once,
few were ever entertained. None were invited to make any stay in the new
land, or permitted to inspect its wonders and curiosities. Beyond the
Japanese, those who succeeded in sapping the wall of isolation which
was so carefully built around the country and so rigorously maintained,
were generally escorted inland as prisoners, the unconscious victims of
some successful stratagem. In a manner, the fashion of their treatment
is revealed in the curious names with which these pioneers of navigation
have labelled the capes and promontories, the islands and shoals, which
they were lucky enough to locate and whose dangers they were fortunate
enough to avoid. Many of these names have ceased to be recognised. The
lapse of time has caused them to be obliterated by European hydrographers
from the maps and charts of the country and seas, in which their
originators had risked so much. In many parts of the coast, however,
particularly upon the west, along the shores of the Chyung-chyöng
Province, these original names have been preserved. They form, to-day,
a tribute to the earnestness and intrepidity of these early explorers.
This mead of recognition is only just, and is not to be denied to their
undoubted gallantry and enterprise.

It is not impossible to believe that an unusually fickle fate followed
in their footsteps, prompting them to leave thus for the guidance of
future generations, some hint of their own miscalculations. If one may
judge, from the brief narratives which these discoverers have left behind
them, the result of their work upon these inhospitable shores surpassed
anything that they had foreseen. The visit of these hardy spirits aroused
the curiosity of the Koreans, giving to them their first knowledge of
that outer world which they had spurned for centuries. Despite the golden
opportunities now presented to them, however, they continued to neglect
it. The memory of the black ships and the red beards (Dutchmen)—as they
dubbed the strange craft and stranger devils, that had to appear only off
their shores to be shipwrecked—dwelt long in their minds. Although they
treated these strangers with comparative generosity, they were careful to
preserve inviolate the secrets and sanctity of their land. They rejected
with contumacy the friendly overtures of strangers who came in monster
ships, and who, forsooth, left behind nothing but a name. It is scarcely
astonishing, therefore, that there are many points upon the coast of
Korea which bear somewhat uncomplimentary names. Deception Bay, Insult
Island, and False River savour of certain physical discomforts, which,
too great to be borne in silence, left an indelible impression upon the
associations of the spot.

If the Dutch sailors of 1627 were among the earliest to reach the
forbidding shores of this kingdom, the activities of British voyagers
were most prominent in the succeeding century. The work of Captain W. R.
Broughton, of the British sloop-o’-war, of sixteen guns, _Providence_, is
described to this day by the bays and harbours into which he penetrated,
and the capes and straits which this gallant man christened, to the
credit of the distant island kingdom from which he hailed. Broughton
in 1797, Maxwell of the _Alceste_, with Basil Hall, commander of the
British sloop-o’-war, the _Lyra_, in 1816, deserve the passing fame which
is secured to them by the waters and capes which have been named after
them. Their names figure as landmarks upon the west, the east, and the
south coasts. While Maxwell and Hall preferred to devote their attention
to the discovery and examination of the Korean Archipelago—of which,
although Broughton does not mention it, it seems impossible that the
discoverer of Broughton Strait can have been ignorant—Broughton roughly
charted and surveyed the west coasts, coming to a temporary halt in
Broughton Bay, some six hundred miles to the north. Hall left his name in
Basil’s Bay, where Gutzlaff landed in 1832 to plant potatoes and to leave
seeds and books. A generation later, in 1866, the archipelago to the
north-west was named after the Prince Imperial, who was to meet his death
in Zululand in 1878. In 1867, Prince Jerome’s Gulf, an inlet upon the
mainland of the Chyung-chyöng Province, was to be the scene of Oppert’s
famous attempt to remove large deposits of buried treasure and venerated
relics from an Imperial tomb. These names upon the east and west coasts
suggest nothing of the romance which actually surrounds them. At most
they conjure up the shadowy silhouettes of the redoubtable personages, to
whom they once belonged, and with whose memory many journeys of discovery
in these seas are inseparably linked.

Englishmen were not the sole navigators who were attracted by the
unknown character of the land, and the surpassing dangers of the
waters, around the Island of Quelpart, where the Sea of Japan mingles
in tempestuous chaos with the Yellow Sea. Russian and French navigators
also worked their way through the dangerous shoals and quicksands,
along the tortuous and muddy rivers, into the harbours and through the
narrow straits which hold back these islands from the mainland. The
shores teem with the distinguished names of men of science and sons
of the high seas. Following the curl and twist of its configuration a
host of buried names are revealed, the last evidence of men who are
dead and forgotten. It is infinitely pathetic that even this one last
resting-place should be denied to their reputations. Lazareli, who shares
Broughton’s Bay; Unkoffsky, who foundered in the waters of the bay which
is described by his name; the ill-fated La Pérouse, who, in June 1787,
discovered in the Sea of Japan an island which now bears the name of
the astronomer—Dagelet. Durock, Pellisier, Schwartz, and the rest—what
echo do we find of them, their fates, and subsequent careers? Should not
their names at least bear witness to their pains and labours, to the
difficulties which they faced, to the small joy of something attempted,
something done, which was their sole consolation for many hours of
cheerless and empty vigil?

Korea is a land of exceptional beauty. The customs, the literature,
and the geographical nomenclature of the kingdom prove that the superb
and inspiring scenery of the peninsula is quite appreciated by the
people. In the same manner that the coast-line of Korea bears evidence
of the adventurous spirit of many western mariners, the names given to
the mountains and rivers of the country by the inhabitants themselves
reflect the simplicity, the crudity, and the superstition of their ideas
and beliefs. All mountains are personified in Korea. In the popular
belief, they are usually associated with dragons. Every village offers
sacrifices to the mountain-spirits. Shrines are erected by the wayside
and in the mountain passes that travellers may tender their offerings
to the spirits and secure their goodwill. The Koreans believe that the
mountains in some way exert a benign and protecting influence. The
capital of Korea possesses its guardian-mountain. Every town relies upon
some preserving power to maintain its existence. Graves, too, must have
their custodian peaks, or the family will not prosper, and the impression
prevails that people are born in accordance with the conformation of the
hills upon which the tombs of their ancestors are situated. Rough and
rugged contours make for warriors and militant males. Smooth surfaces
and gentle descents beget scholars; peaks of singular charm and position
are associated with beautiful women. Like the mountain-ranges, lakes and
pools, rivers and streams exercise geomantic powers, and they are the
abodes of presiding shades, benevolent or pernicious. In lakes, there
are dragons and lesser monsters. In mountain pools, however, no wraith
exists unless some one is drowned in the waters of the pool. When this
fatality occurs, the figure of the dead haunts the pool until released
by the ghost of the next person who meets with this misfortune. The
serpent is almost synonymous with the dragon. Certain fish become in
time fish-dragons; snakes become elevated to the dignity and imbued with
the ferocity of dragons when they have spent one thousand years in the
captivity of the mountains, and one thousand years in the water. All
these apparitions may be propitiated with sacrifices and prayers.

[Illustration: GUARDIAN OF A GRAVE]

In the province of Kang-won, through which the ranges of the Diamond
Mountains pass, there are several peaks symbolical of this belief in
the existence of supernatural monsters. One dizzy height is named the
Yellow Dragon, a second the Flying Phœnix, and a third, the Hidden
Dragon, has reference to a demon who has not yet risen from the earth
upon his ascent to the clouds. The names which the Koreans give to their
rivers, lakes and villages, as also to their mountains, bear out their
wish to see the natural beauties of their land associated with its more
distinctive features. This idiosyncrasy, however, would seem to be
exceptionally pronounced in the case of mountains. The Mountain fronting
the Moon, the Mountain facing the Sun, the Tranquil Sea, the Valley of
Cool Shade, and the Hill of White Clouds emphasise this desire. Again, in
Ham-kyöng, the most northern province in the Empire, the more conspicuous
peaks receive such designations as the Peak of Continuous Virtue, the
Peak of the Thousand Buddhas, the Lasting Peace, the Sword Mountain,
Heaven Reaching Peak, the Cloud Toucher. It is evident, therefore, that
appreciation of nature, no less than reverence for the supernatural,
underlies the system by which they evolve names for the landmarks of
their country. The peculiarities of their land afford great scope for
such a practice, and it is to be admitted that they give ample vent to
this peculiar trait in their imagination.

Korea is now an independent Empire. From very early times until 1895
the King of Korea was a vassal of China, but the complete renunciation
of the authority of the Emperor of China was proclaimed in January
1895, by an Imperial decree. This was the fruit of the Chino-Japanese
war, and it was ratified by China under the seal of the treaty of
peace signed at Shimonosaki in May of the same year. The monarchy is
hereditary, and the present dynasty has occupied the throne of Korea in
continuous entail since 1392. Inhabited by a people whose traditions and
history extend over a period of five thousand years, and subjected to
kaleidoscopic changes whereby smaller tribes were absorbed by larger, and
weaker governments overthrown by stronger, Korea has gradually evolved
one kingdom, which, embracing all units under her own protection, has
presented to the world through centuries a more or less composite and
stable authority. There can be no doubt that the whilom vassal of China,
in respect of which China and Japan made war, has taken much greater
strides upon the path of progress than her ancient neighbour and liege
lord. There is no question of the superiority of the conditions under
which the Koreans in Seoul live and those prevailing in Pekin, when each
city is regarded as the capital of its country—the representative centre
in which all that is best and brightest congregates.

[Illustration: INDEPENDENCE ARCH]

It was in 1876 that Korea made her first modern treaty. It was not
until three years later that any exchange of envoys took place between
the contracting party and herself. Despite the treaty, Korea showed
no disposition to profit by the existence of her new relations, until
the opening of Chemulpo to trade in the latter part of 1883 revealed to
her the commercial advantages which she was now in a position to enjoy.
All this time China had been in intercourse with foreigners. Legations
had been established in her capital; consuls were in charge of the open
ports; commercial treaties had been arranged. She was already old and
uncanny in the wisdom which came to her by this dealing with the people
of Western nations. But, in a spirit of perversity without parallel in
constitutional history, China retired within herself to such a degree
that Japan, within one generation, has advanced to the position of a
Great Power, and even Korea has become, within twenty years, the superior
of her former liege. In less than a decade Korea has promoted works of
an industrial or humanitarian character which China, at the present time,
is bitterly and fatally opposing. It is true that the liberal tendencies
of Korea have been stimulated by association with the Japanese. Without
the guiding hand of that energetic country the position which she would
enjoy to-day is infinitely problematical. The contact has been wholly
beneficial. Its continuation forms the strongest guarantee of the
eventual development of the resources of the kingdom.

[Illustration: PAGODA AT SEOUL]

CHAPTER II

Physical peculiarities—Direction of advancement—Indications of
reform and prosperity—Chemulpo—Population—Settlement—Trade

[Illustration: A MOMENT OF LEISURE]

Korea is an extremely mountainous country. Islands, harbours, and
mountains are its most pronounced natural features, and nearly the whole
of the coast consists of the slopes of the various mountain ranges which
come down to the sea. There are many patches upon the west, where the
approaches are less precipitous and rugged than upon the east. The coast
seems to follow the contour of the mountains. It presents, particularly
from the east, that lofty and inaccessible barrier of forest-clad
country, which has won the admiration of all navigators and struck
terror into the hearts of those who have met with disaster upon its
barren and rocky shores. From Paik-tu-san to Wi-ju there is one mighty
and natural panorama of mountains with snow-clad, cloud-wrapped summits,
and beautiful valleys with rich crops and quaintly placed, low-thatched
hovels, through which rivers course like angry silver. Everywhere in the
north the mountains predominate; monstrous in shape and size. They are
rich in minerals; they have become sepulchres for the dead and mines for
the living—for in their keeping lies the wealth of the ages, coal and
iron and gold; upon their summits, resting beneath the sky or within some
nook hewn from their rugged slopes, are the graves of the dead. Mining
and agriculture are almost the sole natural resources of the kingdom.
There are great possibilities, however, in the awakening energies and
instincts of the people, which may lead them to create markets of their
own by growing more than suffices for their immediate requirements. As
yet, notwithstanding the improvements which have been inaugurated, and
the industrial schemes, which the government has introduced, the reform
movement lacks cohesion. Indeed the nation is without ambition. But the
prospect is hopeful. Already something has been accomplished in the right
direction.

At present, however, Korea is in a state of transition. Everything is
undefined and indetermined; the past is in ruins, the present and the
future are in the rough. Reforms are scarce a decade old, and, while
many abuses have been redressed, the reform movement suffers for lack of
support, comprehension, and toleration. The aspirations of the few are
extending but slowly to the nation. Progress is gradual and the interval
is tedious. The commercial phase of the movement is full of vitality,
and the factories which have been established show the evolution of
enterprise from aspiration. Foreigners are introducing education, while
the present commercial activities are attributable to their suggestion
and assistance. The small response, which these efforts elicit, make
the labour of keeping the nation in the right direction very difficult.
The people can scarcely relapse into the conservatism of ancient days,
but they may collapse altogether, owing to the unfortunate circumstances
which are now making Korea an object of ironical and interested
observation among the Western Powers. She may be absorbed, annexed, or
divided; in endeavouring to remain independent, she may wreck herself in
the general anarchy that may overtake her. She has given much promise.
She has constituted a Customs service, joined in the Postal Union and
opened her ports. She has admitted railways and telegraphs, and shown
kindness, consideration and hospitality to every condition of foreigner
within her gates. Her confidence has been that of a child and her faults
are those of the nursery. She is so old and yet so infinitely young; and,
by a curious fatality, she is now face to face with a situation which
again and again has occurred in her past history.

The introduction of Western inventions to Korea has gradually eliminated
from contemporary Korean life many customs which, associated with the
people and their traditions from time immemorial, imparted much of
the repose and picturesqueness which have so far distinguished the
little kingdom. Korea, in the twentieth century, bears ample evidence
of the forward movement which is stimulating its people. Once the
least progressive of the countries of the Far East, she now affords an
exception almost as noticeable as that shown by the prompt assimilation
of Western ideas and methods by Japan. Chemulpo, however, the centre in
which an important foreign settlement and open port have sprung up, does
not suggest in itself the completeness of the transformation which in
a few years has taken place in the capital. It is twenty years since
Chemulpo was opened to foreign trade, and to-day it boasts a magnificent
bund, wide streets, imposing shops, and a train service which connects
it with the capital. Its sky is threaded with a maze of telephone
and telegraph wire, there are several hotels conducted upon Western
principles, and there is, also, an international club.

At the threshold of the new century, the port presents an interesting
study. With the adjoining Ha-do, a hamlet of military pretensions,
it has grown in the twenty years of its existence from a cluster of
fishermen’s huts behind a hill along the river at Man-sak-dong into a
prosperous cosmopolitan centre of twenty thousand people. Its growth,
since the first treaty was negotiated with the West upon May 22, 1882,
by the American Admiral Shufeldt, has been extraordinary. Its earlier
years gave no promise of its rapid and significant advance. Trade has
flourished, and a boom in the trade of the port has sent up the value
of local properties. There is now danger of a decline in this state
of affluence which may, in view of the chaos and uncertainty of the
future of the kingdom, retard the settlement and disastrously affect its
present prosperity. From small and uncertain beginnings four well-built,
well-lighted settlements have sprung up, expanding into a general
foreign, a Japanese, a Chinese, and a Korean quarter. The Japanese
section is the best located and the most promising. The interests of
this particular nation are also the most prominent in the export and
import trade of the port, a position which is emphasised still further by
the important nature of its vested interests, among which the railroad
between Seoul, the capital, and Chemulpo, with the trunk extension to
Fusan, is paramount. The Japanese population increased by nearly five
hundred during 1901. It then numbered some four thousand six hundred,
of whom a few hundred were soldiers constituting a temporary garrison
for the settlement. However, since the modification by the Japanese
Government of the emigration laws with reference to China and Korea,
under which, in the first weeks of 1902, the necessity for travelling
passports was abolished in the case of these two countries, there has
been a great increase in the number of Japanese residents at the treaty
ports. The settlement at Chemulpo now embraces one thousand two hundred
and eighty-two houses, and possesses a population of five thousand nine
hundred and seventy-three adults. The census of the Chinese settlement
fluctuates with the season; considerable numbers of farmers cross from
Shan-tung to Korea during the summer, returning to their native land
in winter. In the period of exodus from China, the Chinese population
exceeds twelve hundred. The complete strength of the general foreign
settlement is eighty-six, of which some twenty-nine are British. The one
British firm in Korea is established in Chemulpo.

[Illustration: AT THE WELLS]

There are many nationalities in Chemulpo, and the small community,
excluding the Japanese and Chinese, is made up as follows: British,
twenty-nine and one firm, the remaining twenty-eight being attached to
the Vice-Consulate, the Customs, and a missionary society; American,
eight and two firms; French, six and one firm; German, sixteen and one
firm; Italian, seven and one firm; Russian, four and two firms; Greek,
two and one firm; Portuguese seven, Hungarian five, and Dutch two, the
last three possessing no firms in the port.

If British interests are not materially represented in Chemulpo, other
nationalities are less backward. By means of the Trans-Siberian Railway,
the journey from London to Chemulpo can now be accomplished within
twenty-one days. When the Seoul-Fusan Railway is finished, communication
between the East and the West will be still further facilitated. It
is intended that less than two days shall suffice for the connection
between Chemulpo and Tokio. Meanwhile the service of the Chinese Eastern
Railway Company’s steamers between Port Arthur, Dalny and Chemulpo has
been accelerated. In addition, also, imposing new offices have been
erected at the port. It is much to be regretted that there is no regular
service of British steamers to the ports of Korea. In singular contrast
to the apathy of British steamship companies is the action of the
Hamburg-America Company, which has now arranged for the periodic visits
of its steamers to Chemulpo. From a commercial standpoint the port has
become an important distributing centre. Foreign trade with the capital
and its environs passes through it, and the administrative officers
of the more important gold-mining concessions, of which there are now
four, American, Japanese, French, and British, have settled there. A
cigarette factory, supported by the Government, is now in operation in
the port. During 1901 ninety-three men-of-war entered Chemulpo, of which
thirty-five were Japanese, twenty-one English, fifteen Russian, eleven
French, five Austrian, four German, one Italian, and one American. Of
steamers and sailing-vessels there were 1036, of which 567 were Japanese
with 304 steamers, 369 Korean junks and steamers, twenty-one Russian
steamers, eight American sailing-ships and one American steamer, four
English steamers, three German steamers, sixty-two Chinese junks, and one
Norwegian steamer—forty-seven more men-of-war and seventy more merchant
vessels than in 1900. The shipping which entered and cleared at the port
during 1900 was 370,416 tons, realising a small increase upon previous
years; of these, 500 steamers with 287,082 tonnage were Japanese, 261
steamers with 45,516 tons were Korean, forty-one steamers of 27,999 tons
Russian, two steamers of 4416 tons British, four steamers of 2918 tons
German. The complete return of all shipping entered at the open ports of
Korea during the year 1902—the latest under review—is added as a separate
table at the end of this book.

In Chemulpo, as in all the ports of the kingdom which are open to foreign
trade, there is a branch of the Imperial Korean Maritime Customs, an
offshoot of the excellent service which exists in China under the
administration of Sir Robert Hart. The working of the Korean Customs,
for which Mr. McLeavy Brown is primarily responsible, is singularly
successful, and redounds greatly to the credit of the comptrolling power.
In an epoch characterised by the extraordinary ineptitude, indifference,
and weakness of our public men, it is much to be deplored that the
services of this distinguished Englishman are not more directly dedicated
to the needs of his country. The careers of these two admirable officials
fill me with mingled regret for the remoteness of their sphere of action,
and high appreciation of their unremitting zeal—feelings few public
servants may more fitly inspire than these two isolated, hardworking
chiefs of a sister service, whose work, carried on in an atmosphere of
treachery and deceit, too often meets with the blackest ingratitude.

The advance which the trade of Korea has made is proof sufficient of its
innate possibilities under honest administration. If the revenues of
the Customs are not diverted in the meantime to less important objects,
there is every hope to believe that facilities will be given to its
development. The Emperor has lately sanctioned the grant of one million
yen from the Customs revenue for the provision of aids to navigation.
Thirty-one lighthouses are to be built; the two earliest being placed
upon Roze and Round Islands off the entrance to the Han river, upon which
Chemulpo lies. When this work is accomplished, the increase of shipping
in the harbour is sure to create some sympathetic development in the
resources of the country.

[Illustration: CHEMULPO]

The net value for 1901 of the combined export and import direct foreign
trade throughout the kingdom, exclusive of gold export, was more than
twenty-three million (23,158,419) yen, the value of the gold export being
a little in excess of four million (4,993,351) yen. The exchange rate
of the Japanese yen is roughly two shillings and a half-penny, which
gives the combined values of the total foreign trade as 2,873,827 pounds
sterling. The trade of Chemulpo during this time was 11,131,060 yen,
being an increase of nearly one million yen upon the trade returns of the
last three years. The exports were gold, rice, beans, timber and hides;
the imports comprised American and Japanese goods for the most part, and
a small and decreasing trade with England. The total foreign imports
reached a value of 5,573,398 yen, and the total exports were 4,311,401
yen. The returns for the year following, 1902, were, in brief: exports,
£269,747; imports, £814,470. Foreign interests in the total trade passing
through Chemulpo, in comparison with those since 1891, show a great and
steady advance. The total revenue for 1891 was a little less than 300,000
yen, and in the year 1900 this sum had advanced to more than 550,000 yen,
the increase in the general prosperity during these years correspondingly
affecting the total revenue of the kingdom.

Compared with 1901 there was a falling-off in the total trade of the
country for the year 1902. In 1902 the entire foreign trade amounted to
£2,745,346 sterling, which was composed as follows:

Imports. Exports. Exports of Gold.
£ £ £
1,382,351 846,034 516,961

The balance of trade was against Korea, therefore, to the extent of only
£16,356 sterling, whereas the average excess of imports over exports
for the past five years was £107,309. Only in 1900 were the exports
greater than the imports. The average of trade for the past five years
was £2,370,075 sterling, a return which in reality credits the year 1902
with £378,271 more than the average. As a matter of fact, the month of
December 1902 showed a larger volume of trade and more duty collected
at Chemulpo than ever before. Specifically, in comparison with the
previous year, the imports of 1902 were less in the amount of £117,914,
while exports had declined £7567. Large stocks were carried over from
1901, hence some depreciation in the volume of the trade was inevitable.
However, for the better comprehension of the economic relations of Korea
with the trade of foreign countries, I have collected the returns of the
years, with which I have dealt here, in one simple table, to which is
added a quinquennial average, covering a period which begins with the
year 1898.

[Illustration: PAVILION ON THE WALL OF THE CAPITAL]

CHAPTER III

Move to the capital—A city of peace—Results of foreign
influence—In the beginning—Education—Shops—Costume—Origin—Posts
and telegraphs—Methods of cleanliness

[Illustration: HEN-SELLER]

The situation in which Seoul lies is enchanting. High hills and mountains
rise close to the city, their sides rough, rugged and bleak, save where
black patches of bushes and trees struggle for existence. The hollows
within this rampart of hills and beyond the walls, are fresh and verdant.
Small rice-fields, with clusters of thatched hovels in their midst,
stretch between the capital and the port at Chemulpo. The atmosphere is
clear; the air is sweet; the city is neat and orderly. It is possible,
moreover, to live with great comfort in the three-storied brick
structure, which, from a pretty collection of Korean buildings, nestling
beneath the city wall, has been converted into the Station Hotel.

There is but one wall round Seoul. It is neither so high nor so massive
as the wall of Pekin; yet the situation of the city gains so much in
beauty from the enclosing mountains, that it seems to be much the more
picturesque. If the capital of Korea is more charmingly situated than the
capital of China, the wall of Seoul is reminiscent of the walls of the
Nankow Pass in the superb disdain with which it clings to the edges of
the mountains, climbing the most outlandish places in the course of its
almost purposeless meanderings. It extends beyond the lofty crests of
Peuk-an and across the splendid and isolated peak of Nam-san, enclosing a
forest in one direction, a vacant and soulless plain in another, dropping
here into a ravine, to emerge again a few hundred feet higher on the
mountain slopes. The wall is in good preservation. In places it is a
rampart of mud faced with masonry; more generally it is a solid structure
of stone, fourteen miles in circumference, twenty-rive to forty feet in
height, battlemented along its entire length and pierced by eight arches
of stone. The arches serve as gateways; they are crowned with high tiled
towers, the gables of which curve in the fashion of China.

Within the radius of these stone walls, the city spreads itself across
a plain, or high on the mountain side, within the snug shelter of some
hollow, enjoys a pleasant, cool and comfortable seclusion. Within its
metropolitan area there are changes of scenery which would delight the
most weary sightseer. Beyond these limits, the appearance and character
of the country is refreshing, and is without that monotonous dead-level
stretch of plain, which, reaching to the walls of Pekin, detracts so
greatly from the position of that capital. Within this broader vista
there are hills and wooded valleys. Villages rest beneath the grey, cool
shadows of the bush. Upon the hills lie many stately tombs, fringes
of trees shielding them from the rush of the winds. There are pretty
walks or rides in every quarter, and there is no fear of molestation.
Everywhere it is peaceful; foreigners pass unnoticed by the peasants,
who, lazily scratching the surface of their fields, or ploughing in
the water of their rice plots with stately bulls, occupy their time
with gentle industry. It is more by reason of a bountiful nature that
has endowed their land with fertility, than by careful management or
expenditure of energy that it serves their purpose.

A few years ago it was thought that the glory of the ancient city had
departed. Indeed, the extreme state of neglect into which the capital
had fallen gave some justification for this opinion. Now, however, the
prospect is suggestive of prosperity. The old order is giving way to the
new. So quickly has the population learned to appreciate the results of
foreign intercourse that, in a few more years, it will be difficult to
find in Seoul any remaining link with the capital of yore. The changes
have been somewhat radical. The introduction of telegraphy has made it
unnecessary to signal nightly the safety of the kingdom by beacons from
the crests of the mountains. The gates are no longer closed at night;
no more does the evening bell clang sonorously throughout the city at
sunset, and the runners before the chairs of the officials have for
some time ceased to announce in strident voices the passing of their
masters. Improvements, which have been wrought also in the conditions
of the city—in its streets and houses, in its sanitary measures and in
its methods of communication—have replaced these ancient customs. An
excellent and rapid train runs from Chemulpo; electric trams afford quick
transit within and beyond the capital; even electric lights illuminate by
night some parts of the chief city of the Hermit Kingdom. Moreover, an
aqueduct is mentioned; the police force has been reorganised; drains have
come and evil odours have fled. The population of the capital for the
year 1903 was 194,000 adults. This is a decrease of 2546 upon the year
1902.

The period which has passed since the country was opened to foreign trade
has given the inhabitants time to become accustomed to the peculiar
differences which distinguish foreigners. It has afforded Koreans
countless opportunities to select for themselves such institutions as
may be calculated to promote their own welfare, and to provide at the
same time compensating advantages for their departure from tradition.
Not only by the construction of an electric tramway, the provision of
long-distance telephones and telegraphs, the installation of electric
light, a general renovation of its thoroughfares and its buildings, and
the improvement of its system of drainage, does the capital of Korea
give tokens of the spirit which is at work amongst its inhabitants.
Reforms in education have also taken place; schools and hospitals
have been opened; banks, foreign shops and agencies have sprung up; a
factory for the manufacture of porcelain ware is in operation; and the
number and variety of the religions with which foreign missionaries are
wooing the people are as amazing and complex as in China. There will
be no absence in the future of those soothing conjectures from which
the consolations of religion may be derived. The conduct of educational
affairs is arranged upon a basis which now gives every facility for
the study of foreign subjects. Special schools for foreign languages,
conducted by the Government under the supervision of foreign teachers,
have been instituted. Indeed, most striking changes have been made in the
curriculum of the common schools of the city. Mathematics, geography,
history, besides foreign languages, are all subjects in the courses
of these establishments, and, only lately, a special School of Survey,
under foreign direction, has been opened. The enlightenment, which is
thus spreading throughout the lower classes, cannot fail to secure some
eventual modification of the views and sentiments by which the upper
classes regard the progress of the country. As a sign of the times, it
is worthy to note that several native newspapers have been started;
while the increase of business has created the necessity for improved
facilities in financial transactions, a development which has appealed
not only to the Dai Ichi Ginko. The Russo-Chinese Bank is proposing to
contend with this Japanese financial house. The establishment at Chemulpo
of a branch of the Russian Bank is contemplated, from whence will come
an issue of rouble notes to compete with the various denominations of
the Japanese Bank. Moreover, the Government is preparing to erect a
large building in foreign style in the centre of the city, to be used as
the premises of the Central Bank of Korea. It will be a three-storied
building, and it is intended to establish branches in all the thirteen
provinces of the Empire. Its chief aim is to facilitate the transfer
of Government moneys, the transport of which has always been a severe
tax upon the Government. It will, however, engage in general banking
business, and for this purpose Yi Yong-ik, the President of the Central
Bank, is preparing at the Government mint one, five, ten and one hundred
dollar bills for issue by it.

Along with these objects, the postal and telegraph service has received
no little attention. Up to the year 1883 Korea was without telegraphic
communication. At that time the Japanese laid a submarine cable from
Nagasaki to the Korean port of Fusan with an intermediate station upon
the island of Tsu-shima. A little later, in 1885, China, taking advantage
of her suzerain rights, deputed Mr. J. H. Muhlensteth, a telegraph
engineer who had been in her service many years and who formerly had
been an _employé_ of the Danish Telegraph System, to construct a land
telegraph line from Chemulpo by way of Seoul and Pyöng-yang to Wi-ju
on the Yalu River opposite the Chinese frontier post of An-tung, which
had connection with the general system of Chinese telegraphs. This line
toward the north-west was for many years the only means of telegraphic
communication between the capital of Korea and the outside world. It was
worked at the expense and under the control of the Chinese Government,
and it was not until the time of the Chino-Japanese war, in the course of
which the line was almost entirely destroyed, that it was reconstructed
by the Korean Government.

In 1889 the Korean Government built a line from Seoul to Fusan. After
the Chino-Japanese war, telegraphic communication was extended from
Seoul to Won-san and Mok-po. During recent years continuous progress has
been made until the total development in the interior has now reached
3500 kilometres, divided into twenty-seven bureaux and employing 113
men as directors, engineers, secretaries, and operators, with 303 as
students. The Morse system is in use. The electricity is generated by
the use of the Leclanché batteries. Telegrams may be sent either in the
native Korean script, in Chinese, or in the code used by the Chinese
administration, and in the different foreign languages authorised by the
International Telegraph Agreement. Horse relays are kept at the different
telegraph centres in the interior to facilitate communication with points
far distant.

The subjoined table reveals by comparison the development in the Korean
system of telegraphs which has taken place during recent years:

1899. 1900. 1901. 1902.
Telegrams 112,450 125,410 152,485 209,418
Revenue $50,686.89 $72,443.26 $86,830.86 $112,337.18
Length of lines in _li_ 5000 5090 6510 7060
Offices 19 22 27 27

The establishment of the Imperial Postal System in Korea is comparatively
recent. For many years, in fact for many centuries, Korea has possessed
no postal service as we conceive of it. An official courier service
was maintained by the King in order to carry on correspondence with
the different provincial governors. These messengers travelled by
horse relays, which were maintained at various points in the country.
Private correspondence was carried on through the medium of travellers
or pedlars, the sender having to arrange privately with the carrier
in each instance. In 1877, Japan, who had entered the Postal Union
and had concluded a treaty with Korea, established postal bureaux at
Fusan, Won-san and Chemulpo for the needs of her nationals, who were
already quite numerous in Korea. In 1882 the Customs Administration
also established a sort of postal system between the different open
ports and between Korea and China. But these organisations were limited
to correspondence between open ports, and whoever wished to send a
letter into the interior had to make private arrangements. In 1884 the
Government of Korea made a first attempt to establish an official postal
system which would be accessible to all.

It was not until 1895, however, after the close of the Chino-Japanese
war, that the Korean Postal Service was at last established under the
direction of a Japanese. For several years this service was confined to
Korea herself, and did not undertake any foreign business. In 1897 the
Korean Government determined to join the Postal Union, and to this end
two representatives were sent to the Universal Postal Congress, held at
Washington in May and June of that year. They signed the international
agreement. Finally, in 1898, the Government secured the services of M.
E. Clemencet, a member of the Postal and Telegraph Bureau of France, as
adviser and instructor to the Postal Bureau, and on January 1, 1900,
Korea entered the Postal Union.

The Service comprises, in addition to the central bureau at Seoul,
thirty-seven postal stations, in full operation, and 326 sub-stations
open to the exchange of ordinary or registered correspondence, whether
domestic or foreign. Seven hundred and forty-seven letter boxes have been
distributed throughout postal circuits in charge of these stations. Only
the stations in full operation are carried on by agents or sub-agents
under the control of the Director-General of Communications to the number
of 756, of which 114 are agents and secretaries, and 642 are couriers,
watchmen, &c. The management of secondary offices is in the hands of
local country magistrates under the control of the Ministry of the
Interior, and has no connection with the Department of Communications
except in so far as the control and management of the postal system is
directly affected. A network of land postal routes, starting out from
Seoul along the seven main highways, is run daily in both directions by
postal couriers. Each of the large country offices controls a courier
service, which, in turn, connects with the smaller country offices. These
secondary offices are served three times a week by unmounted postal
couriers, who number in all 472 men. Each man carries on his back a
maximum load of twenty kilogrammes. When the mail matter exceeds this
limit extra men or pack horses are employed. The courier has to cover
daily a minimum distance of forty kilometres. In central Korea and in the
south and the north-west each route is covered, back and forth, in five
days. In the north and north-east eight days are required for each round
trip.

Besides these land courier services the Postal administration has
employed, since Korea joined the Postal Union, various maritime services
for forwarding mail matter to the different Korean ports and for the
despatch of foreign mail. The different steamship companies which carry
Korean mail are: The Nippon Yusen Kaisha, whose boats touch at Kobe,
Nagasaki, Fusan, Mok-po (occasionally), Chemulpo, Chi-fu, Taku, Won-san
and Vladivostock. The Osaka Chosen Kaisha boats, which touch at Fusan,
Ma-san-po, Mok-po, Kun-san, Chemulpo and Chin-am-po. The last port
is closed by ice from December to March. The Chinese Eastern Railway
Company, whose boats ply between Vladivostock and Shanghai by way of
Nagasaki, Chemulpo, Port Arthur, and Chi-fu, are also utilised.

[Illustration: NOT ONE WHIT EUROPEANISED]

The man, who did so much to make a success of the Korean Customs has
also effected the wonderful repairs of the capital. The new Seoul is
scarcely seven years old, but Mr. McLeavy Brown and the Civil Governor,
an energetic Korean official, since transferred, began, and concluded
within four weeks, the labour of cleansing and reconstructing the slimy
and narrow quarters in which so many people lived. To those, who knew
the former state of the city, the task must have appeared Gargantuan.
Nevertheless, an extraordinary metamorphosis was achieved. Old Seoul,
with its festering alleys, its winter accumulations of every species
of filth, its plastering mud and penetrating foulness, has almost
totally vanished from within the walls of the capital. The streets are
magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well drained. The
narrow, dirty lanes have been widened; gutters have been covered, and
roadways broadened; until, with its trains, its cars, and its lights,
its miles of telegraph lines, its Railway Station Hotel, brick houses
and glass windows, Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the
highest, most interesting, and cleanest city in the East. It is still
not one whit Europeanised, for the picturesqueness of the purely Korean
principles and standards of architecture has been religiously maintained,
and is to be observed in all future improvements.

The shops still cling to the sides of the drains; the jewellers’
shops hang above one of the main sewers of the city; the cabinet and
table-makers occupy both sides of an important thoroughfare, their
precious furniture half in and half out of filthy gutters. A Korean
cabinet is a thing of great beauty. It is embossed with brass plates
and studded with brass nails, very massive, well dovetailed, altogether
superior in design and finish. The work of the jewellers is crude and
unattractive, although individual pieces may reveal some artistic
conception. In the main the ornaments include silver bangles, hairpins
and earrings, with a variety of objects suitable for the decoration of
the hair. The grain merchants and the vegetable dealers conduct their
business in the road. The native merchant loves to encroach upon the
public thoroughfares whenever possible. Once off the main streets of
the city, the side alleys are completely blocked to traffic because of
the predilection of the shopkeepers upon either side of the little
passages to push their wares prominently into the roadway. The business
of butchering is in Korea the most degraded of all trades. It is beyond
even the acceptance and recognition of the most humble orders of the
community. The meat shops are unpleasantly near the main drains.

[Illustration: A SIDE ALLEY]

There are innumerable palaces in the capital, but as His Majesty very
frequently enlarges his properties, there is the prospect of other
buildings being adapted to his Imperial use. The precincts of the Palace
always afford opportunities for foreigners to become familiar with the
features of the many Ministers of State. In their anxiety to advise
their sovereign, they wrangle among themselves, or plot and counterplot,
and fight for the cards in their own hands, irrespective of the fate
which their jealousies may bring down upon their country. At all hours
processions of chairs are seen making for the palace, where, having
deposited their masters, the retinue of retainers and followers lounge
about until the audience is over. Then, with the same silent dignity, the
Ministers are hurried away through the crowds of curiously hatted and
clothed people who scarcely deign to notice the passing of the august
personages.

The officials are elegantly superior in their manner and appearance. The
distinction in the costumes of the different classes is evinced perhaps
by the difference in their prices. The dress of a noble costs several
hundred dollars. It is made from the finest silk lawn which can be woven
upon the native looms. It is exceedingly costly, of a very delicate
texture, and cream colour. It is ample in its dimensions and sufficiently
enveloping to suggest a bath gown. It is held in place by two large
amber buttons placed well over upon the right breast. A silken girdle of
mauve cord encircles the body below the arm-pits. The costume of any one
individual may comprise a succession of these silken coats of cream silk
lawn, or white silk lawn, in spotless condition, with an outer garment
of blue silk lawn. The movement of a number of these people dressed in
similar style is like the rustle of a breeze in a forest of leaves. The
dress of the less exalted is no less striking in its unblemished purity.
It costs but a few dollars. It is made from grass lawn of varying degrees
of texture or of plain stout calico. It is first washed, then pounded
with heavy sticks upon stones, and, after being dried, beaten again
upon a stock until it has taken a brilliant polish. This is the sole
occupation of the women of the lower classes, and through many hours
of the day and night the regular and rhythmic beating of these laundry
sticks may be heard.

[Illustration: NATIVE DRESS]

The costume of the women is in some respects peculiar to the capital.
The upper garment consists of an apology for a zouave jacket in white or
cream material, which may be of silk lawn, lawn, or calico. A few inches
below this begins a white petticoat, baggy as a sail, touching the ground
upon all sides, and attached to a broad band. Between the two there is
nothing except the bare skin, the breasts being fully exposed. It is not
an agreeable spectacle, as the women seen abroad are usually aged or
infirm. At all times, as if to emphasise their fading charms, they wear
the _chang-ot_, a thin, green, silk cloak, almost peculiar to the capital
and used by the women to veil their faces in passing through the public
streets. Upon the sight of man, they clutch it beneath the eyes. The neck
of the garment is pulled over the head of the wearer, and the long, wide
sleeves fall from her ears. The effect of the contrast between the hidden
face and the naked breast is exceptionally ludicrous. When employed
correctly only one eye, a suggestion of the cheek and a glimpse of the
temple and forehead are revealed. It is, however, almost unnecessary,
since in the case of the great majority of the women, their sole charm is
the possible beauty that the _chang-ot_ may conceal. They wear no other
head-covering. For ordinary occasions they dress their hair quite simply
at the nape of the neck, in a fashion not unlike that which Mrs. Langtry
introduced.

[Illustration: THEY WEAR THE _CHANG-OT_]

The head-dress of the men shows great variety, much as their costume
possesses a distinctive character. When they are in mourning, the first
stage demands a hat as large as a diminutive open clothes-basket. It is
four feet in circumference and completely conceals the face, which is
hidden further by a piece of coarse lawn stretched upon two sticks, and
held just below the eyes. In this stage nothing whatever of the face
may be seen. The second stage is denoted by the removal of the screen.
The third period is manifested through the replacement of the inverted
basket by the customary head-gear, made in straw colour. The ordinary
head-covering takes the shape of the high-crowned hat worn by Welsh
women, with a broad brim, made in black gauze upon a bamboo frame. It
is held in place by a chain beneath the chin or a string of pieces of
bamboo, between each of which small amber beads are inserted. There are a
variety of indoor and ceremonial caps and bandeaux which are worn by the
upper and middle classes.

[Illustration: A STUDY IN HATS]

The hair is dressed differently by single and married men. If unmarried,
they adopt the queue; when married, they put up their hair and twist it
into a conical mass upon their heads, keeping it in place by a woven
horsehair band, which completely encircles the forehead and base of the
skull. A few, influenced by Western manners, have cropped their hair.
This is specially noticeable among the soldiers on duty in the city,
while, in compliance with the orders of the Emperor, all military and
civil officials in the capital have adopted the foreign style. Boys and
girls, the queerest and most dirty little brats, are permitted up to a
certain age to roam about the streets, to play in the gutters, and about
the sewage pits in a state of complete nudity—a form of economy which
is common throughout the Far East. The boys quickly drift into clothes
and occupations of a kind. The girls of the poorer orders are sold as
domestic slaves and become attached to the households of the upper
classes. From their subsequent appearance in the street, when they run
beside the chairs of their mistresses, it is quite evident that they are
taught to be clean and even dainty in their appearance. At this youthful
age they are quaint and healthy looking children. The conditions under
which they live, however, soon produce premature exhaustion.

Despite the introduction of certain reforms, there is still much of the
old world about Seoul, many relics of the Hermit Kingdom. Women are still
most carefully secluded. The custom, which allows those of the upper
classes to take outdoor exercise only at night, is observed. Men are,
however, no longer excluded from the streets at such hours. The spectacle
of these white spectres of the night, flitting from point to point, their
footsteps lighted by the rays of the lantern which their girl-slaves
carry before them, is as remarkable as the appearance of Seoul by
daylight, with its moving masses all garmented in white. A street full
of Koreans aptly suggests, as Mr. Henry Norman, M.P., once wrote, the
orthodox notion of the Resurrection. It cannot be denied that the
appearance of both men and women makes the capital peculiarly attractive.
The men are fine, well-built and peaceful fellows, dignified in their
bearing, polite and even considerate towards one another. The type shows
unmistakable evidences of descent from the half savage and nomadic tribes
of Mongolia and Northern Asia and the Caucasian peoples from Western Asia.

These two races, coming from the North in the one case and drifting up
from the South in the other, at the time of the Ayraan invasion of India,
peopled the north and south of Korea. Finally merging among themselves,
they gave to the world a composite nation, distinct in types, habits,
and speech, and amalgamated only by a rare train of circumstances over
which they could have had no control. It is by the facial resemblances
that the origin of the Koreans may be traced to a Caucasian race. The
speech of the country, while closely akin to Chinese, reproduces sounds
and many verbal denominations which are found in the languages of India.
Korea has submitted to the influence of Chinese arts and literature for
centuries, but there is little actual agreement between the legends of
the two countries. The folk-lore of China is in radical disagreement
with the vague and shadowy traditions of the people of Korea. There is
a vast blank in the early history of Korea, at a period when China is
represented by many unimpaired records. Research can make no advance in
face of it; surmise and logical reflections from extraneous comparisons
alone can supply the requisite data. Posterity is thus presented with an
unrecorded chapter of the world’s history, which at the best can be only
faintly sketched.

[Illustration: MEANS OF LOCOMOTION]

CHAPTER IV

The heart of the capital—Domestic Economy—Female
slavery—Standards of morality—A dress rehearsal

[Illustration: A SANG-NO]

The inhabitants of the Hermit Kingdom are peculiarly proficient in
the art of doing nothing gracefully. There is, therefore, infinite
charm and variety in the daily life of Korea. The natives take their
pleasures passively, and their constitutional incapacity makes it
appear as if there were little to do but to indulge in a gentle stroll
in the brilliant sunshine, or to sit cross-legged within the shade of
their houses. Inaction becomes them; nothing could be more unsuited to
the character of their peculiar costume than vigorous movement. The
stolid dignity of their appearance and their stately demeanour adds
vastly to the picturesqueness of the street scenes. The white-coated,
white-trousered, white-socked, slowly striding population is irresistibly
fascinating to the eye. The women are no less interesting than the men.
The unique fashion of their dress, and its general dissimilarity to
any other form of feminine garb the world has ever known, renders it
sufficiently characteristic of the vagaries of the feminine mind to be
attractive.

Women do not appear very much in the streets during daylight. The degree
of their seclusion depends upon the position which they fill in society.
In a general way the social barriers which divide everywhere the three
classes are well defined here. The _yang-ban_ or noble is, of course,
the ruling class. The upper-class woman lives rather like a woman in
a zenana; from the age of twelve she is visible only to the people of
her household and to her immediate relatives. She is married young, and
thenceforth her acquaintances among men are restricted solely to within
the fifth degree of cousinship. She may visit her friends, being usually
carried by four bearers in a screened chair. She seldom walks, but should
she do so her face is invariably veiled in the folds of a _chang-ot_.
Few restrictions are imposed upon the women of the middle class as to
their appearance in the streets, nor are they so closely secluded in the
house as their aristocratic sisters; their faces are, however, veiled.
The _chang-ot_ is by no means so complete a medium of concealment as
the veil of Turkey. Moreover, it is often cast aside in old age. The
dancing-girls, slaves, nuns, and prostitutes, all included in the lowest
class, are forbidden to wear the _chang-ot_. Women doctors, too, dispense
with it, though only women of the highest birth are allowed to practise
medicine.

[Illustration: WHITE-COATED, WHITE-SOCKED POPULATION]

In a general way, the chief occupation of the Korean woman is motherhood.
Much scandal arises if a girl attains her twentieth year without having
married, while no better excuse exists for divorce than sterility.
In respect of marriage, however, the wife is expected to supplement
the fortune of her husband and to contribute to the finances of the
household. When women of the upper classes wish to embark in business,
certain careers, other than that of medicine, are open to them. They
may cultivate the silkworm, start an apiary, weave straw shoes, conduct
a wine-shop, or assume the position of a teacher. They may undertake
neither the manufacture of lace and cloth, nor the sale of fruit and
vegetables. A descent in the social scale increases the number and
variety of the callings which are open to women. Those of the middle
class may engage in all the occupations of the upper classes, with the
exception of medicine and teaching. They may become concubines, act
as cooks, go out as wet nurses, or fill posts in the palace. They may
keep any description of shop, tavern, or hotel; they possess certain
fishing privileges, which allow them to take clams, cuttle-fish, and
_bêches de mer_. They may make every kind of boot and shoe. They may knit
fishing-nets, and fashion tobacco-pouches.

If some little respect be accorded to women of the middle classes,
those of a lower status are held in contempt. Of the occupations open
to women of the middle classes, there are two in which women of humble
origin cannot engage. They are ineligible for any position in the palace:
they may not manufacture tobacco-pouches. They may become sorceresses,
jugglers, tumblers, contortionists, dancing-girls and courtesans.
There is this wide distinction between the members of the two oldest
professions which the world has ever known: the dancing-girl usually
closes her career by becoming the concubine of some wealthy noble; the
courtesan does not close her career at all.

[Illustration: SHE MAY VISIT HER FRIENDS]

It is impossible not to admire the activity and energy of the Korean
woman. Despite the contempt with which she is treated, she is the great
economic factor in the household and in the life of the nation. Force
of circumstance has made her the beast of burden. She works that her
superior lord and master may dwell in idleness, comparative luxury, and
peace. In spite of the depressing and baneful effects of this absurd
dogma of inferiority, and in contradiction of centuries of theory and
philosophy, her diligent integrity is more evident in the national life
than her husband’s industry. She is exceptionally active, vigorous
in character, resourceful in emergency, superstitious, persevering,
indomitable, courageous, and devoted. Among the middle and lower classes
she is the tailor and the laundress of the nation. She does the work
of a man in the household and of a beast in the fields; she cooks and
sews; she washes and irons; she organises and carries on a business,
or tills and cultivates a farm. In the face of every adversity, and in
those times of trial and distress, in which her liege and lazy lord
utterly and hopelessly collapses, it is she who holds the wretched,
ramshackle home together. Under the previous dynasty, the sphere of the
women of Korea was less restricted. There was no law of seclusion; the
sex enjoyed greater public freedom. In its closing decades, however,
the tone of society lowered, and women became the special objects of
violence. Buddhist priests were guilty of widespread debauchery; conjugal
infidelity was a pastime; rape became the fashion. The present dynasty
endeavoured to check these evils by ordaining and promoting the isolation
and greater subjection of the sex. Vice and immorality had been so long
and so promiscuously practised, however, that already men had begun to
keep their women in seclusion of their own accord. If they respected
them to some extent, they were wholly doubtful of one another. Distrust
and suspicion were thus the pre-eminent causes of this immuring of the
women, the system developing of itself, as the male Koreans learnt to
dread the evil propensities of their own sex. It is possible that the
women find, in that protection which is now accorded them, some little
compensation for the drudgery and interminable hard work that is their
portion.

[Illustration: A MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY]

The system of slavery among the Koreans is confined, at present, to
the possession of female slaves. Up to the time of the great invasion
of Korea by the Japanese armies under Hideyoshi, in 1592, both male
and female slaves were permitted. The loss of men in that war was so
great that, upon its conclusion, a law was promulgated which forbade
the bondage of males. There is, however, the _sang-no_ (slave boy), who
renders certain services only, and receives his food and clothes in
compensation. The position of the _sang-no_ is more humble than that
filled by the paid servant and superior to that of the slave proper. He
is bound by no agreement and is free to leave.

The duties of a slave comprise the rough work of the house. She attends
to the washing—an exacting and continuous labour in a Korean household;
carries water from the well, assists with the cooking, undertakes the
marketing and runs errands. She is not allowed to participate in any
duties of a superior character; her place is in the kitchen or in the
yard, and she cannot become either a lady’s maid or a favoured servant
of any degree. In the fulness of time she may figure in the funeral
procession of her master.

There are four ways by which the Korean woman may become a slave. She may
give herself into slavery, voluntarily, in exchange for food, clothes
and shelter through her abject poverty. The woman who becomes a slave
in this way cannot buy back her freedom. She has fewer rights than the
slave who is bought or who sells herself. The daughter of any slave who
dies in service continues in slavery. In the event of the marriage of
her mistress such a slave ranks as a part of the matrimonial _dot_. A
woman may be reduced to slavery by the treasonable misdemeanours of a
relative. The family of a man convicted of treason becomes the property
of the Government, the women being allotted to high officials. They are
usually liberated. Again, a woman may submit herself to the approval
of a prospective employer. If she is found satisfactory and is well
recommended, her services may realise between forty, fifty, or one
hundred thousand cash. When payment has been made, she gives a deed of
her own person to her purchaser, imprinting the outline of her hand upon
the document, in place of a seal, and for the purpose of supplying easy
means of identification. Although this transaction does not receive the
cognisance of the Government, the contract is binding.

[Illustration: IN WINTER COSTUME]

As the law provides that the daughter of a slave must take the place of
her parent, should she die, it is plainly in the interests of the owner
to promote the marriage of his slaves. Slaves who receive compensation
for their services are entitled to marry whom they please; quarters are
provided for the couple. The master of the house, however, has no claim
upon the services of the husband. The slave who voluntarily assigns
herself to slavery and receives no price for her services may not marry
without consent. In these cases it is not an unusual custom for her
master, in the course of a few years, to restore her liberty.

Hitherto, the position of the Korean woman has been so humble that
her education has been unnecessary. Save among those who belong to
the less reputable classes, the literary and artistic faculties are
left uncultivated. Among the courtesans, however, the mental abilities
are trained and developed with a view to making them brilliant and
entertaining companions. The one sign of their profession is the
culture, the charm, and the scope of their attainments. These “leaves
of sunlight,” a feature of public life in Korea, stand apart in a class
of their own. They are called _gisaing_, and correspond to the _geisha_
of Japan; the duties, environment, and mode of existence of the two
are almost identical. Officially, they are attached to a department of
Government, and are controlled by a bureau of their own, in common with
the Court musicians. They are supported from the national treasury, and
they are in evidence at official dinners and all palace entertainments.
They read and recite; they dance and sing; they become accomplished
artists and musicians. They dress with exceptional taste; they move with
exceeding grace; they are delicate in appearance, very frail and very
human, very tender, sympathetic, and imaginative. By their artistic
and intellectual endowment, the dancing girls, ironically enough, are
debarred from the positions for which their talents so peculiarly fit
them. They may move through, and as a fact do live in, the highest
society. They are met at the houses of the most distinguished; they
may be selected as the concubines of the Emperor, become the _femmes
d’amour_ of a prince, the puppets of the noble. A man of breeding may not
marry them, however, although they typify everything that is brightest,
liveliest, and most beautiful. Amongst their own sex, their reputation is
in accordance with their standard of morality, a distinction being made
between those whose careers are embellished with the _quasi_ chastity
of a concubine, and those who are identified with the more pretentious
display of the mere prostitute.

[Illustration: A PALACE CONCUBINE]

In the hope that their children may achieve that success which will
ensure their support in their old age, parents, when stricken with
poverty, dedicate their daughters to the career of a _gisaing_, much as
they apprentice their sons to that of a eunuch. The girls are chosen for
the perfect regularity of their features. Their freedom from blemish,
when first selected, is essential. They are usually pretty, elegant,
and dainty. It is almost certain that they are the prettiest women in
Korea, and, although the order is extensive and the class is gathered
from all over the kingdom, the most beautiful and accomplished _gisaing_
come from Pyöng-an. The arts and graces in which they are so carefully
educated, procure their elevation to positions in the households of
their protectors, superior to that which is held by the legal wife. As
a consequence, Korean folk-lore abounds with stories of the strife and
wifely lamentation arising from the ardent and prolonged devotion of
husbands to girls, whom fate prevents their taking to a closer union. The
women are slight of stature, with diminutive, pretty feet, and graceful,
shapely hands. They are quiet and unassuming in their manner. Their
smile is bright; their deportment modest, their appearance winsome. They
wear upon state occasions voluminous, silk-gauze skirts of variegated
hues; a diaphanous silken jacket, with long loose sleeves, extending
beyond the hands, protects the shoulders; jewelled girdles, pressing
their naked breasts, sustain their draperies. An elaborate, heavy and
artificial head-dress of black hair, twisted in plaits and decorated with
many silver ornaments, is worn. The music of the dance is plaintive and
the song of the dancer somewhat melancholy. Many movements are executed
in stockinged feet; the dances are quite free from indelicacy and
suggestiveness. Indeed, several are curiously pleasing.

[Illustration: DANCING WOMEN OF THE COURT]

Upon one occasion, Yi-cha-sun, the brother of the Emperor, invited me to
watch the dress rehearsal of an approaching Palace festival. Although
this exceptional consideration was shown me unsolicited, I found it quite
impossible to secure permission to photograph the gliding, graceful
figures of the dancers. When my chair deposited me at the _yamen_ the
dance was already in progress. The chairs of the officials and chattering
groups of the servants of the dancers filled the compound; soldiers of
the Imperial Guard kept watch before the gates. The air was filled with
the tremulous notes of the pipes and viols, whose plaintive screaming
was punctuated with the booming of drums. Within a building, the walls
of which were open to the air, the rows of dancers were visible as they
swayed slowly and almost imperceptibly with the music.

From the dais where my host was sitting the dance was radiant with
colour. There were eighteen performers, grouped in three equal divisions,
and, as the streaming sunshine played upon the shimmering surface of
their dresses, the lithe and graceful figures of the dancers floated
in the brilliant reflection of a sea of sparkling light. The dance was
almost without motion, so slowly were its fantastic figures developed.
Never once were their arms dropped from their horizontal position,
nor did the size and weight of their head-dresses appear to fatigue
the little women. Very slowly, the seated band gave forth the air.
Very slowly, the dancers moved in the open space before us, their arms
upraised, their gauze and silken draperies clustering round them, their
hair piled high, and held in its curious shape by many jewelled and
enamelled pins, which sparkled in the sunshine. The air was solemn;
and, as if the movement were ceremonial, their voices rose and fell in
a lingering harmony of passionate expression. At times, the three sets
came together, the hues of the silken skirts blending in one vivid blaze
of barbaric splendour. Then, as another movement succeeded, the eighteen
figures broke apart and, poised upon their toes, in stately and measured
unison circled round the floor, their arms rising and falling, their
bodies bending and swaying, in dreamy undulation.

The dance epitomised the poetry and grace of human motion. The dainty
attitudes of the performers had a gentle delicacy which was delightful.
The long silken robes revealed a singular grace of deportment, and one
looked upon dancers who were clothed from head to foot, not naked, brazen
and unashamed, like those of our own burlesque, with infinite relief and
infinite satisfaction. There was power and purpose in their movements;
artistic subtlety in their poses. Their flowing robes emphasised the
simplicity of their gestures; the pallor of their faces was unconcealed;
their glances were timid; their manner modest. The strange eerie notes of
the curious instruments, the fluctuating cadence of the song, the gliding
motion of the dancers, the dazzling sheen of the silks, the vivid colours
of the skirts, the flush of flesh beneath the silken shoulder-coats,
appealed to one silently and signally, stirring the emotions with an
enthusiasm which was irrepressible.

The fascinating figures approached softly, smoothly sliding; and, as
they glided slowly forward, the song of the music welled into passionate
lamentation. The character of the dance changed. No longer advancing, the
dancers moved in time to the beating of the drums; rotating circles of
colour, their arms swaying, their bodies swinging backwards and forwards,
as their retreating footsteps took them from us. The little figures
seemed unconscious of their art; the musicians ignorant of the qualities
of their wailing. Nevertheless, the masterly restraint of the band, the
conception, skill and execution of the dancers, made up a triumph of
technique.

As the dance swept to its climax, nothing so accentuated the admiration
of the audience as their perfect stillness. From the outer courts came
for a brief instant the clatter of servants and the screams of angry
stallions. Threatening glances quickly hushed the slaves, nothing
breaking the magnetism of the dance for long. The dance ended, it became
the turn of others to rehearse their individual contributions, while
those who were now free sat chatting with my host, eating sweets, smoking
cigarettes, cigars, or affecting the long native pipe. Many, discarding
their head-dresses, lay upon their sitting mats, their eyes closed in
momentary rest as their servants fanned them. His Highness apparently
appreciated the familiarity with which they treated him. In the enjoyment
and encouragement of their little jokes he squeezed their cheeks and
pinched their arms, as he sat among them.

[Illustration: BOYS]

CHAPTER V

The Court of Korea—The Emperor and his Chancellor—The Empress
and some Palace factions

[Illustration: HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS, PRINCE YI-CHA-SUN]

A study of the morals and personalities of the Court of Korea throws no
little light upon the interesting phases of its contemporary condition,
even affording some explanation of the political differences and
difficulties which, if now in the past, may be expected none the less
to crop up again. Since the dastardly murder by the Japanese of the
Queen, who held the reins of Government with strong hands, the power of
the Emperor has been controlled by one or other of the Palace factions.
His Majesty is now almost a cypher in the management of his Empire.
Nominally, the Emperor of Korea enjoys the prerogative and independence
of an autocrat; in reality he is in the hands of that party whose
intrigues for the time being may have given them the upper hand. He
is the slave of the superb immoralities of his women. When he breaks
away from their gentle thraldom, in the endeavour to free himself from
their political associations, his exceedingly able and unscrupulous
Minister, Yi Yong-ik, the chief of the Household Bureau, rules him with
a rod of iron. It matters not in what direction the will of his Majesty
should lie, it is certain to be thwarted with the connivance of Palace
concubines or by the direct bribery of Ministers. If the King dared,
Yi Yong-ik would be degraded at once. No previous Minister has proved
so successful, however, in supplying the Court with money; and, as the
Emperor dreads an empty treasury, he maintains him in his confidence.

[Illustration: HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR]

In the position of Minister of Finance and Treasurer of the Imperial
Palace, which he once filled, Yi Yong-ik opposed foreign supervision of
the revenues of the Maritime Customs. Acting in concert with the Russian
and French Ministers, he was primarily responsible for the most recent
crisis in the affairs of Mr. McLeavy Brown, the Chief Comptroller and
Executive Administrator of the Korean Maritime Customs. At a time when
the Imperial household was in need of money, Yi Yong-ik created the
desire for a loan by withholding the revenue of the Privy Purse from his
master. It was explained to his Majesty that his financial embarrassments
were due to the action of his Chief Commissioner of Customs in locking up
the proceeds of the Customs. Supported by the influence of the Russian
and French Ministers, Yi Yong-ik suggested that the Customs revenue
should become the security for the loan which was being pressed upon him
by a French syndicate. When Mr. McLeavy Brown heard of the transaction
between the agent of the syndicate and the Minister of Finance, he at
once repudiated any hypothecation of the revenues of the Customs for
such a purpose. In co-operation with the French and Russian Ministers,
Yi Yong-ik, upon a variety of pretexts, attempted to bring about the
peremptory dismissal of the Chief Commissioner of the Customs. He was
foiled in this by the unexpected demonstration of a British Squadron in
Chemulpo Harbour, and the attendant preparation and embarkation of a
field force at Wei-hai-wei. Upon the withdrawal of the guarantee of the
Customs revenue the Franco-Russian scheme collapsed, the agent of the
interested syndicate returning to Europe to complain of the action of the
British Minister and the Chief Commissioner of Customs.

Yi Yong-ik is an instance, together with that afforded by Lady Om, of a
Korean of most humble birth rising to a position of great importance in
the administration of the country. A man of low parentage, he attached
himself to the fortunes of Min Yeung-ik, gradually forcing himself upon
the notice of his patron, as also of his sovereign. The services which Yi
Yong-ik rendered to the throne during the _émeute_ of 1884, when he was
a chair coolie in the service of the late Queen, found responsive echo
in the memories of their Majesties, who procured his preferment. He was
advanced to a position in which his admitted sagacity, strength of mind,
and shrewdness were of material assistance, continuing to rise until
he became Minister of Finance. He has thus made his own position from
very insignificant beginnings, and, in justice to him, it may be said
that he serves the interests of his Majesty to the best of his ability.
Nevertheless he is in turn feared and detested. Numerous attempts have
been made against him, while, within the last few months, failing to take
his life by poisoned food, some unknown enemies discharged an infernal
machine in the room at the Seoul Hospital where he was confined during
an attack of sickness. Alternately upon the crest of the wave or in the
backwash of the tide, Yi Yong-ik remains the most enduring personality in
the Court. The Russian influence is behind him, while the Emperor also is
secretly upon the side of his energetic Minister. At a moment, recently,
when the opposition against him became too strong, Yi Yong-ik took
refuge upon a Russian warship, which at once carried him to Port Arthur.
From this retreat he negotiated for a safe return with his Majesty,
who at once granted him a strong escort. Yi Yong-ik then returned and,
proceeding at once to the Palace, quickly reinstated himself in the
good graces of his master, thus again thwarting the plans and secret
machinations of his opponents.

His Majesty the Emperor of Korea was fifty years old in September 1900,
being called to the throne in 1864, when he was thirteen. He was married
at the age of fifteen to the Princess Min, a lady of birth, of the same
age as her husband. It was she who was wantonly assassinated by the
Japanese in 1895. The son of this union is the Crown Prince. His Majesty
is somewhat short of stature, as compared with the average height of the
Korean. He is only five feet four inches. His face is pleasant; impassive
in repose, brightening with an engaging smile when in conversation. His
voice is soft and pleasing to the ear; he talks with easy assurance, some
vivacity and nervous energy.

During an audience with a foreigner, the manner of the Emperor has an air
of frankness and singular _bonhomie_. He talks with every one, pointing
his remarks with graceful gestures, and interrupting his sentences with
melodious and infectious laughter. The mark of the Emperor’s favour
is the receipt of a fan. When a foreigner is presented to him, it is
customary to find upon the conclusion of the audience a small parcel
awaiting his acceptance, containing a few paper fans and sometimes a roll
of silk. The Emperor rarely exceeds this limit to his Imperial patronage,
for, like the rest of his people, he cannot afford to be unduly generous.

The dress of his Majesty upon these occasions is remarkable for its
impressive and Imperial grandeur. A long golden silk robe of state,
embroidered with gold braid, with a girdle of golden cord, edged with
a heavy gold fringe, covers him. While the magnificence of this attire
excites envy in the heart of any one who sees it, the ease and dignity of
his carriage suggest his complete unconsciousness of the impression which
he is creating in the minds of his guests.

The Emperor is ignorant of Western languages, but he is an earnest
student of those educational works which have been translated for the
purposes of the schools he has established in his capital. In this way
he has become singularly well informed upon many subjects. He speaks and
writes Chinese with fluency, and he is a most profound student of the
history of his own people. The method and system of his rule is based
on the thesis of his own personal supervision of all public business.
If there be some little difference between the Utopia of his intentions
and the actual achievement of his government, it is impossible to deny
his assiduity and perseverance. He is a kind, amiable, and merciful
potentate, desirous of the advancement of his country. He works at night,
continuing the sessions and conferences with his Ministers until after
dawn. He has faults, many, according to the Western standards by which
I have no intention of judging him. He has also many virtues; and, he
receives, and deserves, the sympathy of all foreigners in the vast works
of reform which he has encouraged in his dominions.

[Illustration: THE HALL OF AUDIENCE, SEOUL]

His Majesty is progressive. In view of the number and magnitude of the
developments which have taken place under his rule, it is impossible
to credit him with any of those prejudices against Western innovations
which have distinguished the East from time immemorial. There are
special schools in Seoul for teaching English, French, German, Russian,
Chinese and Japanese; there is a School of Law, a School of Engineering
and Science, a School of Medicine, and a Military Academy. These are
but a few minor indications of the freedom of his rule, the sure sign
of a later prosperity. He is tolerant of missionaries, and he is said
to favour their activities. It is certain that his rule permits great
liberty of action, while it is distinguished by extraordinary immunity
from persecution. His reign is in happy contrast with the inter-regnum of
the Regent, Tai Won Kun, who regarded priests and converts as a pest, and
who eradicated them to the best of his ability.

As the autocratic monarch of a country, whose oldest associations are
opposed to all external interference, the attitude of his Majesty has
been instinct with the most humane principles, with great integrity of
purpose and much enlightenment. It cannot be said that his reign has been
a failure, or that it has not tended to the benefit of his people and his
realms. Certain evil practices still exist, but his faults as an Emperor
are, to a great extent, due to the worthlessness of his officials.
Indeed, he frequently receives the condemnation which should be passed
upon the minds and morals of his Ministers.

Saving Yi Yong-ik, the most important figure in the Court is the
mature and elderly Lady Om, the wife of his Majesty. In a Court which
is abandoned to every phase of Eastern immorality, it is a little
disappointing to find that the first lady in the land no longer
possesses those charms of face and figure, which should explain her
position. There is no doubt that the Lady Om is a clever woman. She is
most remarkably astute in her management of the Emperor, whose profound
attachment to her is a curious paradox. Lady Om is mature, fat, and
feebly, if freely, frolicsome. Her face is pitted with small-pox; her
teeth are uneven; her skin is of a saffron tint. There is some suggestion
of a squint in her dark eyes, a possible reminder of the pest which
afflicts all Koreans. She paints very little and she eschews garlic. Her
domination of the Emperor is wonderful. Except at rare intervals, and
then only when the assent of Lady Om to the visit of a new beauty has
been given, he has no eye for any other woman. Nevertheless, the Lady Om
has not always been a Palace beauty; she was not always the shining light
of the Imperial harem. Her _amours_ have made Korean history; only two of
her five children belong to the Emperor; yet one of these may become the
future occupant of his father’s throne.

[Illustration: THEIR IMPERIAL HIGHNESSES THE CROWN PRINCE AND PRINCESS]

In her maiden days, she became the mistress of a Chinaman; tiring of
him she passed into the grace and favour of a Cabinet Minister. He
introduced her to the service of the late Queen, whose acquaintance she
made at the house of her father, a Palace attendant of low degree, with
quarters within the walls. By the time that she became a woman in the
service of her Majesty, the Lady Om had presented a child to each of
her respective partners. As the virtue of the women in attendance upon
the Queen had of necessity to be assured, her previous admirers kept
their counsel for the safety of their own heads. The Lady Om boasted
abilities which distinguished her among the other maids in attendance.
She sang to perfection, danced with consummate grace; painted with
no little delicacy and originality, and could read, write, and speak
Chinese and Korean with agreeable fluency. The Queen took a fancy to her
apparently innocent, guileless, and very lovable attendant. Imitating
the excellent example of his illustrious spouse, his Majesty sealed the
rape of virtue with a kingly smile. The Queen grew restless. Suspicion,
confirmed by appearances, developed into certainty, and the Lady Om fled
from the Palace to escape the anger and jealousy of her late mistress.
The third child, of whom Lady Om became the mother, was born beyond the
capital, in the place of refuge where the errant Griselle had taken up
her abode. Meanwhile, Lady Om avoided the parental establishment within
the purlieus of the Palace. Upon the death of her third child she sought
the protection of another high official. With him she dwelt in safety,
peace, and happiness, becoming, through her strange faculty of presenting
each admirer with evidences of her innocence, the subject of some ribald
songs. Since her return to Imperial favour, these verses have been
suppressed, and may not be uttered upon pain of emasculation.

It now seemed as if the Lady Om had settled down, but the events of
1895, culminating in the foul murder of the late Queen, prompted her to
renew her acquaintance with the unhappy Emperor. She became a Palace
attendant again, and at once cleverly succeeded in bringing herself
before the Imperial notice. She was sweetly sympathetic towards his
Majesty; her commiseration, her tenderness, her suppliant air of injured
innocence, almost immediately captivated him. She was raised to the
rank of an Imperial concubine; money was showered upon her, and she
proceeded immediately to exercise an influence over the Emperor which
has never relaxed. She became a power at Court and once again a mother.
Her influence is now directed towards the definite maintenance of her
own interests. She wishes her son to be the future Emperor; she is now
living in a palace, and, since she is the apple of his Majesty’s eye, she
permits nothing to endanger the stakes for which she is playing. Recently
Kim Yueng-chun, an official of importance but of precarious position,
wishing to secure himself in the consideration of his sovereign,
introduced a new beauty, whose purity and loveliness were unquestioned.
Lady Om heard of Lady Kang and said nothing. Within two weeks, however,
the Minister was removed upon some small pretext, and subsequently
tortured, mutilated, and strangled. The Lady Kang found that if the mills
of Lady Om grind slowly, they grind exceedingly small.

Lady Om is a lover of ancient customs; by ancient customs she made her
way; by ancient customs she proposes to keep it. Her power increases
daily, and a stately edifice has been erected in the centre of the
capital to commemorate her virtues. A few months before her marriage to
the Emperor, when there was ample indication of the trend of events, the
Emperor published a decree which declared that Lady Om had become an
Imperial concubine of the First Class. This did not give her Imperial
status; but it conferred upon her son Imperial rank. By reason of this
decree, however, he will, at some future date, ascend the throne, while
it opened a way for Lady Om to secure recognition in Korea as the lawful
spouse of her royal admirer.

[Illustration: A MINOR ROYALTY]

CHAPTER VI

The passing of the Emperor—An Imperial pageant

The Emperor passed one morning in procession from the Imperial Palace,
which adjoins the British Legation upon its south wall, to the newly
erected Temple of Ancestors, the eastern wall of which marks the limits
of the Legation grounds. The festival was in no way public; yet, such was
the splendour of the pageant, that this progress of eight hundred yards,
leaving the Palace by its south gate and entering again by the eastern
gate, cost over two thousand pounds. No warning of the Imperial plans was
given to his Majesty’s subjects. Just before the hour of his departure,
however, the Emperor expressed the hope that the British Minister and
myself would be interested in the procession, inviting us to watch the
spectacle from the Legation domain. Information of the movements of the
Court was, of course, bruited abroad. Large crowds gathered around the
precincts of the Palace and the Temple, attracted by the efforts which
the soldiers were making to form a cordon round the scene. Hundreds
of soldiers were told off to guard the approaches to the Temple. One
battalion of infantry was installed in the grounds of the Imperial Korean
Customs, another occupied the gates and garden of the British Legation.

Despite the fact that the route of the procession lay between the high
walls of a private passage, some twenty-five feet wide, leading from
the offices of the Customs to the grounds of the Legation, into which a
postern gate gives access from the Palace, and through which no Korean is
ever permitted to pass, soldiers, one pace apart, faced one another upon
opposite sides of the road. The public, seeing nothing of the ceremony,
gathered such consolation as was possible from the spectacle of the
masses of infantry occupying the Palace Square. Occasional glimpses of
Palace officials were also secured, and the blatant discord of triumphant
song, with which the private musicians of the Emperor greeted his arrival
and the passing of the Court, fell faintly upon expectant ears. It is,
however, the proud privilege of the Koreans to pay for these promenades
of the Court. If they did not see the august countenance of his Majesty
upon this occasion, it is to be hoped that they derived some consolation
for the heavy taxation, with which they are burdened, from the brave
show made by the brand new uniforms of the troops. The plumes, gold
lace and swords of the officers, and the rifles and bayonets of the men
would have fascinated any crowd. Until the moment of departure, the
army lay around upon the road, sleeping in the dust, or squatted in the
shade upon the steps of buildings, partaking of breakfast—a decomposed
mass of sun-dried, raw fish and rice which stunk horribly, but which
they devoured greedily, tearing it into shreds with their fingers.
Occasionally a loyal citizen brought them water or passed round a pipe,
taking the opportunity to run his finger along the edge of a bayonet, or
over the surface of a coat.

The Emperor was passing in this festive state to pay homage to the
tablets of his ancestors upon their transference to a fresh abode.
The gorgeousness of the pageant burst upon the colourless monotony
of the capital with all the violent splendour and vivid beauty of an
Arabian sunset. It was right and proper that the magnificence of the
celebration should be unrestricted. The importance of the occasion was
without parallel in the festivals of the year. The momentary brilliancy
of the picture, which centres round the usually secluded sovereign at
such a moment, implied the glorification of a dynasty, which has already
occupied the throne of Korea for more than five centuries. Quaint and
stately as the pageant was, the splendour of a barbaric mediævalism is
best seen in processions of a more public character.

[Illustration: WITHIN THE PALACE GROUNDS, SEOUL]

The procession started from the Palace about 10 A.M. It presented
elements strangely suggestive of burlesque, romance, and the humours of
a pantomime. Korean infantry, in blue uniforms, headed the order of
the advance from the Palace, their modern dress and smart accoutrements
forming the one link between the middle ages and the twentieth century,
to which the function could lay claim. After them, running, stumbling,
and chattering noisily, passed a mob of Palace attendants in fantastic
hats and costumes of various degrees of brilliancy, long silken robes
of blue, green, yellow, red and orange, carrying staves bound with
embroidered streamers of coloured ribbons. A line of bannermen followed,
bearing red silken flags with blue characters, also hurrying and
stumbling forward; then passed a file of pipes and drums, the men in
yellow robes with the shimmer of gold about them, streamers fluttering
from the pipes, ribbons decking the drums. Men bearing arrows in
leather frames and flags of green, red and yellow, were next. Soldiers
in ancient costume, wonderful to behold, men with bells and jingling
cymbals, pipes and fans, Palace eunuchs in Court dress, detachments of
dismounted cavalry, their horses not appearing, but their riders garbed
in voluminous shirts, their hats covered with feathers and wearing high
boots, swept along, amiable and foolish of aspect.

[Illustration: IMPERIAL THRONE, SEOUL]

The procession, which preceded the passing of the Emperor, seemed almost
unending. At every moment the sea of colour broke into waves of every
imaginable hue, as one motley crowd of retainers, servants, musicians
and officials gave place to another. Important and imposing officials in
high-crowned hats, adorned with crimson tassels festooned with bunches
of feathers and fastened by a string of amber beads round the throat,
were pushed along, silent and helpless. Their dresses were glaring
combinations of red and blue and orange; they were supported by men in
green gauze coats and followed by other signal marks of Korean grandeur,
more banners and bannermen, flags decorated with feathers, servants
carrying boxes of refreshments, small tables, pipes and fire. These were
succeeded by others just as imposing, helpless and beautiful to behold;
the breasts and backs of their superb robes were decorated with satin
squares, embroidered, after the style of China, with the symbols of their
offices—birds for civilians, tigers for those of military rank. Statesmen
in their official robes gave place to others in winged hats or lofty
mitres, gleaming with tinsel. The Commander-in-Chief, with Japanese,
Chinese, and Korean decorations flashing in the sunshine from the breast
of his modern uniform, followed by his staff in red coats heavily braided
with gold lace, and with white aigrettes waving in their hats, passed,
marching proudly at the head of the Imperial body-guard. The final stream
of colour showed nobles in blue and green silk gauze; Imperial servants
with robes of yellow silk, their hats decorated with rosettes; more
mediæval costumes, of original colour and quaint conception; a greater
multitude of waving flags; a group of silken-clad standard-bearers
bearing the Imperial yellow silk flag, the Imperial umbrella, and other
insignia. Then a final frantic beating of drums, a horrid jangling of
bells, a fearful screaming of pipes, a riot of imperious discord mingled
with the voices of the officials shouting orders and the curses of the
eunuchs, and finally the van of the Imperial _cortège_ appeared, in a
blaze of streaming yellow light, amid a sudden silence in which one
could hear the heart-beats of one’s neighbour. The voices died away; the
scraping of hurried footsteps alone was audible as the Imperial chair of
state, canopied with yellow silk richly tasselled, screened with delicate
silken panels of the same colour and bearing wings to keep off the sun,
was rushed swiftly and smoothly forward. Thirty-two Imperial runners,
clad in yellow, with double mitres upon their heads, bore aloft upon
their shoulders the sacred and august person of his Imperial Majesty, the
Emperor, to his place of sacrifice and worship in his Temple of Ancestors.

The business of the day had now arrived. Presently the Emperor’s bearers
stopped, and he alighted at the entrance of a tent of yellow silk,
which had been erected at the angle of the Palace and Legation walls,
within the shade of trees in the Legation garden. It was in this spot
that his Majesty had given us permission to watch the passing of his
Court. It was here, within a moment of his arrival, that the retinue
of the Crown Prince, his chair of red silk borne upon the shoulders of
sixteen bearers, stopped to set down its princely burden. The Emperor
and the Crown Prince passed within the tent, changing the Imperial
yellow and crimson robes of state in which they had first appeared
for the sacrificial yellow silk, and emerging a little later to make
obeisance before the passing of the tablets of their ancestors. The
character of the procession was now modified. Soldiers and courtiers,
nobles and dignitaries of the Court, gave place to priests clothed in
the yellow robes of sacrifice, and chanting in solemn tones the words
of benediction. The screaming of pipes took on fresh vigour, rising
and falling in shrill cadence, until the air vibrated with conflicting
discords. Men, solemn of visage, their yellow skirts swaying with the
frenzy of their movements, swept past the throne, a surge of song rising
to their lips expressive of the passionate despair and lamentation which
(should have) filled their souls. They disappeared, a mocking echo
haunting their retreating footsteps. Again the music of the priests broke
forth in noisy triumph, heralding the presence of the twelve ancestral
tablets, each carried by eight men in chairs of sacrificial yellow,
which demanded the homage of the expectant pair. One came, moving slowly
in a burst of solemn song. The Emperor, his son the Crown Prince, and
the baby Prince, the offspring of Lady Om, dropped to the earth. For a
moment they rested upon their bended knees, with crossed hands, in a
reverent attitude, as their own proud heads sank to the dust before the
gilded burdens in the sacred chairs. Twelve times they passed before the
Imperial group; twelve times each Prince humbled himself, the circle of
supporting nobles and attendant eunuchs assisting them.

[Illustration: IMPERIAL TABLET-HOUSE, SEOUL]

It was the first appearance of the baby Prince. Scarcely old enough to
toddle, he was of necessity aided in his devotions by the chief eunuch,
who pressed him to his knees, placing a restraining hand upon his head,
a guiding hand upon his shoulder. The babe followed everything with
wide-open, innocent eyes, becoming tired and fidgety before the ceremony
had concluded. The demeanour of the Imperial pair showed every sign of
reverence and devotion. The absolute sincerity of their humiliation
impressed those who watched the scene with feelings of astonishment.
The emotion of the Emperor was plainly manifest; he had paled visibly,
his whole being centred upon the objects of his veneration. When the
ceremony had ended the twelve chairs turned towards the Ancestral Temple,
and, as the Emperor ensconced himself in his yellow chair of state, and
the Crown Prince, following the example of his father, mounted to his
seat of crimson silk, the babe rode upon the back of the chief eunuch,
crowing with boyish and infantile delight. Once again the flourish of the
musicians, the rattle of the drums, the screaming of the fifes and pipes
broke forth. The procession was moving, priests and nobles, courtiers and
Palace servants following in the train of the Emperor.

The procession of the Emperor pressed forward to the temple, the tablets
halting before the Temple of Ancestors, while the Emperor and the two
Princes proceeded to the Hall of Sacrifice, where offerings of live
sheep were burnt, and baskets of fruit and flowers presented before
the altars. The spirits of the illustrious dead thus propitiated, the
Emperor returned to the sacred chairs, once again paying his devotion to
the tablets. One by one each was borne from its chair to the receptacle
prepared for its future keeping. Panels of yellow silk screened them; no
eye was permitted to gaze upon them, nor any hand to touch them, as each,
wrapped in its inviolate sanctity of yellow silk, passed from its chair
of state to its holy place. Priests attended them; the throne followed
in their wake, the entire Court, the highest nobles and statesmen in the
land, bowed down to them. An atmosphere at once devotional and filial
prevailed, for the cult of Ancestor Worship epitomises the loftiest
aspirations of the Korean. It governs the actions of a parent towards his
child; controls the conduct of a child towards its parent.

[Illustration: AN IMPERIAL PAVILION, SEOUL]

The ceremony over, the scene within the Temple became more brilliant.
Ladies from the Palace appeared. Cakes and wine were produced, and the
Emperor and Crown Prince resumed their robes of state, discarding the
sacrificial garments. The Lady Om came to congratulate the Emperor,
attended by a retinue of gaily-dressed Palace women and slaves, their
hair piled high, their shimmering silken skirts trailing in graceful
folds about them. The Court musicians played; the Court singers sang,
and the prettiest women swayed in a joyous dance. Within the private
apartments of the sovereign there was feasting and merriment. His Majesty
was himself again. The world, which he had shown us, and in which we had
been so interested, changed quickly. Looking at the disorderly scramble
of the return, the scene that had passed before us seemed like a dream.
Yet, for a few hours, we had been living in the shadow of the middle
ages.

CHAPTER VII

Sketch of Mr. McLeavy Brown—The Question of the Customs—The
suggested Loan

It is perhaps curious that the man who has held the Korean State
together, during the past few years, should be British—one of those
sons of the Empire, upon whose work the present generation looks with
satisfaction. It is nearly thirty years ago since Mr. McLeavy Brown made
his appearance in China. To-day, among Englishmen whose reputations are
associated with the problems and politics of the Far East, his name
stands out almost as prominently as that of his colleague, Sir Robert
Hart, the Inspector-General of the Imperial Maritime Customs of China.
Seconded from the Chinese Customs for special duty, Mr. McLeavy Brown
has devoted many years of his life to the financial difficulties which
beset Korea, holding at first the dual position of Treasurer-General and
Chief Commissioner of Customs. Within the last few years, Mr. McLeavy
Brown’s activity has been confined to the administration of the Customs
Service, where, though deprived of the unique and influential position
filled by him as financial adviser to the Emperor, he has succeeded in
accomplishing invaluable work for the country.

A man may be judged by the character of those who gather round him,
and when, weary of the carping and pettiness that prevail in Seoul, one
turns to the service which Mr. McLeavy Brown represents, it is to find
his colleagues animated by a quiet enthusiasm, and a spirit of generous
devotion, and loyalty to his principles and policy. Unfortunately, his
supporters are not in the capital, and he can derive no encouragement
from their sympathy. Their sphere of work lies in the treaty ports, but
he is content to remain in Seoul always fighting, in grim and stoical
silence, against the absurd extravagances of the Court, and the infamous
corruption of the officials. So long as he perseveres in this duty,
just so long will he be hampered and thwarted in all quarters. The very
opposition which he encounters, however, is no unemphatic testimony to
the exceeding and exceptional value of the work which he has already
achieved, in the face of every obstacle to systematic progress and
reform, that the craft and cunning of officialdom can devise.

[Illustration: MR. J. MCLEAVY BROWN, C.M.G., LL. D.]

The animus which prevails against Mr. McLeavy Brown occasions, to those
who are new to Seoul, sentiments of profound astonishment and dismay,
but after the first feeling of strangeness has worn off, and it becomes
possible to grasp the peculiar and complex variety of people who have
gathered in the capital of the Hermit Kingdom, the causes responsible
for the existence of such an opinion are very plainly revealed. Apart
from the Legations, there are few foreigners, not even excepting the
representatives of the very miscellaneous collection of American
missionaries, who have not come to Seoul from motives of self-interest,
which bring them into collision, directly or indirectly, with the Chief
Commissioner of the Customs in his official capacity. If no longer the
financial adviser of the Government, his counsel is sought as occasion
arises; although his advice is not necessarily followed, it frequently
happens that the influence of the Chief Commissioner of the Customs
becomes the controlling factor in the negotiations between a bewildered
and impecunious Court and an importunate concession-hunter. Moreover,
cases may occur when an upright regard for the interests of the kingdom
makes it incumbent upon Mr. McLeavy Brown to urge the rejection of
proposals, which have not come through the channels of his own office.
Such a variation of the orthodox method of application may happen any
day in Seoul. While this attempted exercise of a power of veto does
not endear him to the seeker after Ministerial “considerations,” the
impersonal spirit, in which he discharges the functions of his office,
atones for any exceptional interference he may deem necessary. Much
of the feeling which actuates foreigners and officials against Mr.
McLeavy Brown, therefore, is based upon a thoughtless disregard for the
elementary facts in his very delicate position. There is, of course,
no suggestion against his honour. In a community, accustomed to the
financial backsliding which appears to be an inevitable preliminary to
any concession, the exponent of a policy of economy and straight dealing
always provokes the strongest animosity in those about him.

A more emotional man than the Chief Commissioner would have tired of the
thankless part which he is compelled to play. Years of laborious work,
and the habit, which he has acquired in the isolated state in which
he lives, of concentrating his energies upon the subject before him,
enable him to school himself against the trials of his situation. He
treats every one with unfailing frankness and directness, but the kindly
instincts which illuminate his private life are submerged in the cares
and worry of his official position. During business hours he becomes the
cold, irresponsive machine of State; his whole imagination and ingenuity
focused upon the necessity of checking those who would incite their
Sovereign to acts subversive of the principles of financial rectitude,
which Mr. McLeavy Brown would fain see encouraged.

Only those who have had experience of Korea can thoroughly appreciate
the fertility of the Korean official in inventing new schemes by which
public money may be appropriated to his private uses. If the condition
of the finances had not already made the practice of economy imperative,
this tendency would justify the determination to deny the means of
peculation to officials. Mr. McLeavy Brown has therefore brought into
accord the necessity of economy, which underlies the existence of the
Customs, with the principles of the system upon which he administers the
service. It is, in the matter of the foreign staff of the Korean Customs,
impossible for Korean officials to take exception to the standard of
payment by which the services of these foreigners are compensated. If
this all-pervading retrenchment makes employment in the Korean Customs
exceptionally unsatisfactory to its minor foreign officials, a very clear
reason for the low payment is nevertheless found in the narrow margin
which divides the total revenue from the total expenditure. Moreover, the
Chief Commissioner is himself the chief sufferer.

Mr. McLeavy Brown has long been an enigma in Seoul. Although the variety
of his gifts and the hospitable quality of his nature make him an
important element in the life of the capital, there are few who care
to study the man and his movements intelligently. Mr. McLeavy Brown
possesses many moods; and the isolation in which he is placed, by the
absence of any sympathy between himself and the people among whom he
lives, renders the circumstances of his position almost pathetic.
When, in 1896, he refused to accept any salary for the hopeless and
onerous post of Financial Comptroller of the Imperial Treasury, the
foreign community of Seoul were astounded. This refusal to burden still
further the resources of an exhausted country is, however, an index
to the guiding principles of his life. There is no dissembling in his
transactions. Although he may temper an ill wind with promises, the
continuity of his decision is maintained, and he attempts to carry out
independently and honestly anything to which he may have pledged himself.
He is indefatigable in his work; indomitable in his perseverance, cool
and determined. A barrister by profession, he devotes himself to the
minutiæ of his service with an attention which discloses his legal
training. In his estimate of a person, no less than a situation, he
seldom errs.

In his official life he represents a type of Englishman that is rapidly
disappearing from our public services. His private life reflects the
culture and the grace of an attractive personality. They say, in Seoul,
that Mr. McLeavy Brown is more skilful as a diplomatist than as an
administrator; and his brilliant conversational powers give some colour
to the assertion. Upon arrival in Seoul, newcomers are apt to hear that
“Brown is a walking encyclopædia.” He speaks, reads and writes with equal
facility French, German, Italian and Chinese. It will be remembered
that he is in the service of the Korean Government, a sphere of utility
and activity which demands fluency in yet another language. His library
attests the breadth of his culture; it numbers some 7000 volumes, and
fills the walls of the rooms and corridors of his house at Seoul from
floor to ceiling. Boxes of new books arrive by every mail. When he reads
them it is difficult to conjecture. At night, as one strolls from the
British Legation to the Station Hotel, the lights in his study window may
be seen burning brightly. He is believed to sit up with his books very
often until dawn. It would be typical of this silent self-contained man
if he found in the pleasures of his library the antidote to much which
takes place in Seoul.

When his Imperial Majesty was pleased to demand the private residence and
official premises of his Chief Commissioner of Customs, there was much
perturbation in Seoul about the disturbances, which were expected to take
place upon the expiration of the Emperor’s ultimatum. Preparations were
made for such a contingency, and four British men-of-war under Admiral
Bruce appeared at Chemulpo. The eventful day passed quietly, however,
and excitement gave place to no small amount of disappointment among the
European community. Mr. McLeavy Brown remained in possession of his usual
quarters, the whole question of a change in the location of the Customs
having been reserved by the officials of the Court. Unfortunately, the
demands of the Court could only be contested in so far as they continued
to be peremptory in their nature. When, later, due warning was given
to the Chief Commissioner and a fresh domicile appointed, as a servant
of the Crown Mr. McLeavy Brown was unable to ignore the mandate. Prior
to this notice, the Emperor had insisted, very foolishly, upon the
immediate evacuation of the Customs buildings, a demand compliance with
which was impossible, and in resistance to which Mr. McLeavy Brown
was very properly supported by Mr. J. G. Gubbins, C.M.G., then acting
Consul-General to Korea.

[Illustration: BRITISH LEGATION, SEOUL]

After the murder of the Queen in 1895, the Korean Court fled from the
old Palace, in the least healthy part of the city, to the vicinity of
the British and American Legations, and built there a new Palace in a
safer and more pleasant locality. But the new Palace is overlooked by
the British Legation and by the residence of Mr. McLeavy Brown. The
Emperor, spurred on by his eunuchs, had cast envious glances on the
dwellings of these foreigners, and not unnaturally decided that these
properties would make a very pleasing addition to the Palace which he
is now constructing. Unhappily, there was reason to suspect that, in
turning the Chief Commissioner out of his house, the Emperor, or rather
Lady Om, who desired the house, and Yi Yong-ik, who coveted the Customs,
hoped at the same time to expel him from the country. That the attempt
to oust Mr. McLeavy Brown from his home really aimed at removing him
from office can hardly be doubted. When the house question rose, Mr.
McLeavy Brown was given exactly two days notice—from the 19th to the 21st
March—to move out. When he refused to accept such an intimation, force
was threatened, but averted by the intervention of the British _chargé
d’affaires_. In the end, Mr. McLeavy Brown’s compound was entered by a
few hangers-on of the palace, who were easily ejected by the orders of
the Chief Commissioner of the Customs. These creatures then tore their
clothes and ran crying to the Palace that they had been beaten and
otherwise shamefully ill-used. As a result, the dismissal of the Chief
Commissioner was demanded. Mr. Gubbins took the matter up with great
promptness, and agreed that, upon certain conditions, which included a
proper notice to quit and the choice of new sites, the Emperor might
acquire both the British Legation and the Customs buildings, which were
apparently necessary to the completion of the new Palace. As it happens,
the British Legation, which directly overlooks the half-finished Palace,
is far more necessary to the Emperor’s peace of mind than the Customs
buildings, which are upon a lower level. It is obvious, therefore,
that the attack was directed more against Mr. McLeavy Brown, by a
_posse_ of Court officials, than against his house. Nevertheless, it has
always been apparent, since the Emperor came over to the shelter of the
Legations, that there could be no sufficient accommodation for him in
the Foreign quarter without encroaching on the grounds of the Legations.
The Legations have a delightful situation on the only real eminence in
the central part of Seoul, and the Emperor, now that he has come, must
either be content with a malarial situation, at the feet, as it were, of
the foreigners, or absorb the Legation grounds and send their tenants
elsewhere. Already he has displaced the German Minister. Sooner or later
the British, and perhaps the American, will go too; and the Palace will
then cover the whole hill, save the site of the Russian Legation, whose
flag will still wave a little above the Imperial standard of Korea.

No sooner had a settlement been attained upon the question at issue
between the Court and the Chief Commissioner of the Customs, than there
came the announcement that a loan of five million yen had been arranged
between the Government and the Yunnan Syndicate, upon the security of
the revenue of the Customs. This at once compromised the authority of
the Chief Commissioner, who, by virtue of his office, exercises absolute
control over the revenues. It should be understood that the loan had
nothing whatever to do with the question of Mr. McLeavy Brown’s house.
The original proposals were first mooted a year before the more recent
trouble. The Yunnan Syndicate, a French company registered in London, is
supported almost wholly by French capital. It is generally understood
that the main object of the loan was to obtain a weapon by which
unlimited concessions might be extorted. The manœuvre was not altogether
successful. The Yunnan Syndicate, by the terms of the agreement, bound
itself to lend the Korean Government five million yen in gold and silver
bullion at 5½ per cent., the loan to be subject to a charge of 10 per
cent. for commission, and to be repaid in instalments stretching over
twenty-five years. In case the Korean Government were unable to repay
the money out of the ordinary sources of revenue, the Customs revenue
had been pledged as security. The agreement was signed by Pak, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Yi Yong-ik, the Minister of Finance, on
the one hand, and by M. Cazalis, agent of the company, and M. Colin de
Plancy, French Minister at Seoul, on the other. The document left many
points open. It was particularly vague in that no date was fixed for the
delivery of the gold and silver bullion at Chemulpo. It was therefore
argued, with obvious reason, that the Syndicate might turn this oversight
to account by simply refusing to deliver the money until certain
concessions had been granted.

M. Cazalis, the agent of the Yunnan Syndicate, Limited, was indignant
that he should find himself opposed both by Mr. Gubbins and Mr. McLeavy
Brown, who, according to his view, followed the Japanese lead in
suspecting Russian intrigue. There is no reason, however, to believe
that the British _chargé d’affaires_ based his objections upon any such
grounds. The scheme of the Yunnan Syndicate was quite iniquitous enough
to meet with opposition for _primâ facie_ reasons. Here are the facts
of the case as stated by the representative of the company. The Yunnan
Syndicate, without consulting the Chief Commissioner of the Customs,
the Japanese Minister, or the British Minister, secretly persuaded the
Korean Government to borrow five million yen in gold and silver bullion
at 5½ per cent., giving the Customs revenue as security. M. Cazalis
argued that it was necessary to carry the matter through with secresy,
because it would have been impossible to procure any signatures to the
document, if the affair had been conducted publicly, with the full
knowledge of the Chief Commissioner of the Customs. In other words, he
admitted that the scheme was such as would never have commended itself to
Mr. McLeavy Brown, who was absolutely impartial and without interest in
the matter.

In the meantime, it is as well to note that the loan aimed at creating
a position for French interests in Korea. In view of the attempt of
Russia to acquire an open and ice-free port for her own purposes, and
the distinct understanding existing between the French and Russian
Governments with regard to Russia’s Asiatic policy, Great Britain could
not disregard any possible development. At that moment French activity
in Korea may not have involved any direct menace to our own interests.
Nevertheless, any combination of circumstances which gave to French and
Russian influence a predominance in the administration of the country,
could scarcely fail to develop incidents, against which it is our
manifest duty to guard. And it is perhaps curious, moreover, that the man
who was the prime mover in the intrigue to dispossess Mr. McLeavy Brown
of his house should have been the very one to arrange the loan from the
Yunnan Syndicate with M. Cazalis.

If the wisdom and necessity of a loan of five millions had been assured,
there are many directions in Korea in which such a sum could be most
profitably spent. With the revenue of the Customs as the guarantee, there
would have been no difficulty in securing more advantageous conditions
than those of the contract. The terms were preposterous. Subsidiary
proposals, as to which no conclusion was then reached, further demanded
the lease of the Pyöng-yang coal-mines, the control of forty-four
additional mines, the purchase of French mining plant, the engagement
of French mining experts, and involved minor stipulations, which were
in themselves objectionable to the Court, while giving to French
interests in Korea an unwarranted and undesirable preponderance. The
uses to which it was alleged that the loan would be put were precisely
those which are actually most necessary. Unanimous support for the loan
would have been won if there had been the slightest reason to hope for
the faithful observance by the Court of its pledges. Unhappily, there
is no prospect that any very appreciable proportion of the loan will
be expended upon the objects on which such stress was laid, objects
which are potent and vital factors in the economic development of the
kingdom. The loan was handed over in bullion; in the ratio of one-third
silver and two-thirds gold, ostensibly that a National bank may be
inaugurated and the present nickel coinage replaced by gold and silver
tokens. This is eminently laudable. If the small dimensions of the
loan rendered such a thing feasible, the conversion of the national
money would be of incalculable benefit to the financial credit of the
Government and the country in general. But it must be remembered that one
of the reasons for contracting the last Japanese loan was to provide a
nickel coinage exchangeable at par with the Japanese and Mexican silver
tokens. Unhappily, this same coinage is now at a discount of 120 per
cent. for one hundred Japanese cents gold. Examination has proved that
the intrinsic value of one dollar nickel of Korean five cent pieces—at
that time the only unit struck—is only one-eighteenth of its face
value as against the Japanese gold standards of currency. The balance
was “squeezed.” It is likewise impossible to make provision for the
legitimate and honourable expenditure of this new loan. Quite recently
there has been a large issue of one-cent copper pieces. These coins
sustain a better ratio to the yen than the nickel currency; as a matter
of fact the intrinsic value of the copper coinage is so much greater than
the nickel money that there is a standard of exchange between them. At
present the nickel, compared with the copper, token is quoted at 12 per
cent. discount.

[Illustration: THE IMPERIAL LIBRARY, SEOUL]

CHAPTER VIII

Foreign action in Korea—Exhausted Exchequer—Taxes—Budgets—Debased
currency—The Dai Ichi ginko—Dishonest officials

The events, which have led up to the present complex condition of Korean
politics, originated in the attempt of the Russians to secure control
of the Customs and Finance of the Empire in the autumn of 1897. As the
effort of the Russian Minister of that time, M. de Speyer, was only
in part successful, his immediate successor, M. Matunine, the present
representative, M. Pavloff, and his _confrère_ of the French Legation,
M. Colin de Plancy, have in the interval consistently directed their
diplomacy to the completion of the task. Their inability to force
compliance with their demands upon the Korean Government has embittered
their action towards the British Minister and the Chief Commissioner
of the Customs. In the prosecution of a work, at once discreditable and
inspired by very petty prejudices, no single diplomatic device, which
could serve their purpose, has been omitted from their policy. The
check, which the plans of the Franco-Russian-Korean party received in
consequence of British action has only retarded their development for
the moment. It does not perceptibly relieve the situation, nor make the
office of the Chief Commissioner more comfortable or the path of the
British Minister more easy to follow. Indeed, it is quite certain that
the opposition of the Russian and French Ministers to British activity
will become more vigorous in the future.

The assistance accorded by the British Government to Mr. Gubbins during
the recent crisis, has done much to dispel from the minds of the Koreans
those illusions which our past indifference had created. It is improbable
that quite identical methods will be employed in any future attempt of
the Court to oust Mr. McLeavy Brown from his position. If the Court gave
way in the face of the British demonstration, the tact and consideration
for the interests of both parties, which Mr. Gubbins subsequently
displayed, materially contributed to the restoration of the _status quo_.
Upon the other hand, the apathy of the British Government in failing to
protect Mr. McLeavy Brown when he was deprived of the Comptrollership of
the Finances at the instigation of the Russian Minister, in 1897, was of
course conducive to the late disturbances. The two offices are so closely
related, and the masterful and aggressive spirit of the Franco-Russian
policy is such, that the accession of a Russian or French nominee to
the Chief Commissionership of the Customs would imply their subsequent
fusion to the complete obliteration of British influence. This, of
course, should be impossible; and it would be, if the British Government
would awaken to the importance of maintaining unimpaired its prestige
in Korea. We have little material interest in Korea, but it must not be
forgotten that our position in the kingdom should be superior to that of
France, and equal to that of Russia. If it were not that France is the
partisan and ally of Russia in Korea, as well as elsewhere, there would
be no occasion to do aught but support benevolently the policy of Japan,
without unnecessarily endorsing the aggressiveness which distinguishes
the attitude of the Island Empire to its neighbour. But if we wish to
preserve our position we must put a little more vigour into our policy,
and, while maintaining our working agreement with Japan, proceed to
guarantee the integrity of our own interests. These would be best served
by insisting upon the retention of a British nominee in the supervision
of the Korean Maritime Customs. Our action in this respect would meet
with the unqualified approval of Japan and the United States of America,
whose trading interests, equally with our own, justify predominance in
this control.

The financial embarrassment of the Korean Government, at the present
time, is the outcome of the abnormal extravagance of the Court. Anything
which would tend to increase the load of debt with which the Emperor
encumbers the dwindling resources of the national wealth, is neither
politic nor desirable. The sources of the Imperial revenue resemble in
lesser degree those which prevail in China. There are the Land Tax, paid
no longer in grain, which returned four and a half of the seven million
yen odd, composing the total domestic revenue in 1901; a House Tax,
assessed capriciously and evaded by the practice of a little discreet
bribery; the net Customs revenue, which was returned for 1901 at more
than one million and a quarter yen (1,325,414 yen; £135,303 sterling at
exchange of 2_s._ 0½_d._), and the proceeds of the various concessions,
monopolies, mines, and mint, and the sums derived from such miscellaneous
and irregular taxation as may suggest itself to that keen-witted Minister
Yi Yong-ik.

Taxation is heavy and relentless. The list of the more important
objects, upon which an impost is levied, includes, in addition to the
land, customs and house taxes, salt, tobacco, fish, fur, lumber lands,
minerals, ginseng, minting, cargo-boats, guilds, licences, paper,
cowhides, pawnbroking, &c. In more recent times certain taxes have become
obsolete. But this list, however, does not by any means exhaust the means
by which the Emperor contrives to make his subjects “pay the piper.”
Quite subsidiary to the regular cases, but of great value in themselves,
are the donations which are sent up from various parts of the country
for the gratification of the Throne. These gifts are very comprehensive,
and embrace the fruits of the land as well as the products of the sea.
Little escapes the schedule of donations, and no intervention can bring
about the discontinuation of the custom, while a failure on the part of a
prefect to attend to this matter would result speedily enough in the loss
of his office.

The Budget for the year 1901 was assessed at nine million yen odd, of
which one million yen odd was dedicated to Imperial expenditure, and a
trifle more than this sum paid to the Imperial Privy Purse. The estimated
difference between the revenue and the expenditure of the same year was
the small sum of 775 dollars. The Budget for 1902 provided for seven
and a half million yen; the estimated revenue was placed approximately
at the same figures, the balance between expenditure and revenue being
653 yen. It will be seen, therefore, that there is little reason for the
financial difficulties in which the Throne is placed. If it were not that
his Majesty frittered away his income upon the purchase of land, the
adornment of his Palaces and his person, his relatives, his women, and
the perpetual entertainment of his Court, this chronic impoverishment
of his exchequer would not exist. Moreover, at least one quarter of his
revenue is appropriated by the native officials through whose hands it
passes. Under these circumstances he has never been averse from accepting
the assistance of interested parties; but this ill-omened relief does not
free the country from its burden of mortgage and taxation.

The disbursements upon the different departments engage the revenue to a
degree which is out of all relation to the precise utility or importance
of any of these fantastic bureaux. The War Office claimed in 1901, in
round figures, more than three and one half million yen, and the Foreign
Office a quarter of a million yen, the Finance Department three-quarters
of a million yen, the Palace a little more than one million yen, and
the Home Department a little less than that amount. One million yen is
roughly £100,000. The amount paid to the War Office for 1902 was, in
round figures, very nearly three million yen; to the Foreign Office,
something in excess of a quarter of a million yen; to the Finance
Department, rather more than half a million yen. The Departments of
Law, Agriculture, Police, Education, and Communications in this highly
expensive and totally inefficient administration, all make good their
claims upon the Budget, until there is nothing left and very little to
show for this lavish distribution of the public moneys.

The Budget for 1903 I give in detail:—

The total revenue is estimated at $10,766,115. The total expenditure is
estimated at $10,765,491. This leaves a balance of $624.

REVENUE

Land Tax $7,603,020
House Tax 460,295
Miscellaneous 210,000
Balance from 1902 (including surplus from loan) 1,142,800
Customs Duties 850,000
Various Imposts 150,000
Mint 350,000
----------
10,766,115

EXPENDITURE

The Emperor’s private purse $817,361
Sacrifices 186,639
---------
1,004,000

THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD

Railway Bureau $21,980
Palace Police 118,645
Police in Open Ports 69,917
North-west Railway 22,882
Ceremonial Bureau 17,608
Mining Bureau 10,000
-------
261,022

THE OLD MAN BUREAU 24,026

BUREAU OF GENERALS 65,853

THE CABINET 38,730

THE HOME DEPARTMENT

Office 34,624
Mayor’s Office 6,144
Provincial Governments 91,862
Prefectural Governments, 2nd class 52,674
Quelpart 4,222
Prefectures 778,325
Imperial Hospital 7,632
Vaccination Bureau 3,354
Travelling Expenses 730
Prefectural Sacrifices 866
-------
980,533

THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT

Office 26,024
Superintendents of Trade 51,154
Foreign Representatives 201,020
-------
278,198

THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT

Office 53,910
Tax Collectors 141,600
Mint 280,000
Payment on Debt 989,250
Pensions 1,956
Transportation 200,000
---------
1,666,716

WAR DEPARTMENT

Office 50,651
Soldiers 4,072,931
---------
4,123,582

LAW DEPARTMENT

Office 31,603
Supreme Court 15,686
Mayoralty Court 8,162
Prefectural Courts 1,251
-------
56,702

POLICE BUREAU

Office 252,857
Seoul Prison 32,650
Policemen 51,462
Border Police, &c. 23,762
Travelling Expense, &c. 600
-------
361,331

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT

Office 24,822
Calendar 6,022
Schools in Seoul 89,969
Schools in Country 22,580
Subsidies for Private Schools 5,430
Students Abroad 15,920
-------
164,943

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT

Office 38,060
General Expense 8,240
-------
46,300

COUNCIL

Office 18,580

IMPERIAL BODY-GUARD

Office 58,099

BUREAU OF DECORATIONS

Office 20,993

TELEGRAPH AND POST

Office 23,640
General Expense 438,295
-------
461,935

BUREAU OF SURVEYS

Office 21,018
Surveys 50,000
-------
71,018

INCIDENTALS

Road and other Repairs 35,000
Repairs in Country 10,000
Arrest of Robbers 500
Relief Work 5,000
Burial of Destitute 300
Miscellaneous 480
Police at Mines, &c. 1,840
Shrinkage 3,120
------
56,240

EMERGENCY FUND 1,015,000

Steps have been taken from time to time by the Foreign Representatives to
improve the finances of the country. Upon one occasion seven reforms were
recommended, and the report subsequently presented to his Majesty. In the
course of an inquiry it transpired that, in addition to nickels which
were minted by the Government, there were more than twenty-five separate
and distinct brands of nickels then circulating in Korea. Until recent
years the counterfeiting of Korean currency has not been remunerative.
The old time cash was of such small value, and the combined cost of the
metal and work together so nearly equalled the face value of the true
token, that the risk was not commensurate with the profit. A single
nickel of the present currency, however, is equivalent to twenty-five of
the old coinage, and as the net cost of their manufacture is less than
a cent and a half a-piece, it will be seen that there is some incentive
to the production of false money. The number of counterfeit nickels is
rapidly increasing, and permits to coin were at one time freely issued by
the Government to private individuals. Nickel is openly imported through
the Customs; spurious coins in large quantities are brought by almost
every steamer from Japan and smuggled into the country. The Government
care only for the profit which they derive from their illegitimate
transaction, and, ignoring the permanent injury which they are doing
to the solvency of the country, adopt every means to circulate these
depreciated coins. Until quite lately the circulation of nickel pieces
was confined to the capital and the vicinity of two or three Treaty
ports, the old copper cash being current elsewhere. With a view to
extending their use, however, the magistrates throughout the Empire were
ordered to accept redemption of taxes only in this currency. But as wages
are generally paid in the nickel currency, and as the purchasing power of
the nickel Korean dollar is less than half it was with copper cash, while
the standard of payment remains the same, the bulk of the nation is paid
no better than formerly, while the purchasing power of their earnings is
infinitely less. There appears no prospect of any immediate improvement,
since the Government contracted for the issue of a further forty million
nickels. With this accomplished, the face value of the coinage in
circulation, as against the Japanese gold yen, will be fourteen million
yen, or nearly one million and a half pounds sterling. There is, of
course, no gold or silver reserve with which to redeem this gigantic sum.

To such a pitch has this condition of affairs attained that in Chemulpo
quotations are current for:—

(1) Government nickels;
(2) First-class counterfeits;
(3) Medium counterfeits; and
(4) Those passable only after dark.

There is little wonder, therefore, that the currency question is engaging
the earnest attention of the foreign representatives. Awakening at last
to some sense of its responsibilities in this matter, the Japanese
Government issued, on November 7th, 1902, an Imperial ordinance, which
came into force on the 15th, with a view to deterring Japanese from
making spurious coins or despatching such nickels of Japanese manufacture
to Korea. The punishment to which offenders against the ordinance are
liable is imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine of
not more than 200 yen (£20 8_s._ 4_d._). This enactment gave the Japanese
customs officers power to prevent the counterfeit coins from being
shipped abroad, and enabled the Korean customs authorities to institute
proceedings against Japanese found guilty of importing nickels of this
description. From January 22nd, 1902, when the first seizure of the year
took place, until the close of December, 3,573,138 pieces (coins and
blanks), the total face value being £18,191, were confiscated by the
Chemulpo customs officers. The largest quantity taken at one time was
739,000 pieces, face value £3772, detected on August 19th aboard a Korean
junk, the second largest haul was made on September 8th in a cargo-boat,
and consisted of 530,090 pieces, with a face value of £2512.

With a view to provide a remedy against the deplorable condition of the
Korean currency, a Japanese Bank, Dai Ichi Ginko (No. I. Bank), which
is under direction of Baron Shibusawa, decided, with the support of the
Japanese Government, to undertake the issue of notes by which a promise
was made to pay the bearer on demand in Japanese currency at any of its
branches in Korea. The Dai Ichi Ginko possesses branches at all the
larger Treaty ports, as well as in Seoul, and is, perhaps, the most
important commercial agent in the country. The Japanese Consular officers
are authorised to supervise the issue and to receive statements of the
circulation and reserves twice a month. They are also entrusted with
certain discretionary powers as to limiting the number of notes in use.
The denomination of the notes are 1 yen (2_s._ 0½_d._), 5 yen (10_s._
2½_d._), 10 yen (£1 0_s._ 5_d._), and on May 10th, 1902, there appeared
the first issue of notes of 1 yen value. Those of 5 yen were put in
circulation on September 20th following. The 10 yen notes were not issued
until a later time.

On February 28th, 1903, the circulation of Dai Ichi Ginko notes and the
reserves held for their redemption stood as follows:

Amount.
Branch. In circulation. Reserves.

Chemulpo 18,927 18,927
Fusan 24,568 19,701
Seoul 1,894 1,894
Mok-po 14,406 12,250
------ ------
Total 59,795 52,772

This action upon the part of the Dai Ichi Ginko gave rise to vehement
opposition from the Korean Government. Although the issue of the notes
was duly authorised by the Emperor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
persistently obstructed the circulation of the notes. Upon September
11th, 1902, an order was issued from the Foreign Office, upon the
authority of the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, prohibiting the use
of the notes by Koreans upon grounds which impugned the credit of the
entire proceeding. This order was inspired, of course, by Yi Yong-ik, and
when a few months later, on January 8th, 1903, Cho Pyöng-sik—then Foreign
Minister—removed the prohibition, Yi Yong-ik at once contrived the
dismissal of his too complaisant colleague. The Foreign Office was now
without its Chancellor, and Yi Yong-ik immediately set himself to revoke
the charter of the bank. After declaring that the Japanese paper-money
would be the ruin of the country and alleging that the compensation
claims against the Seoul-Fusan Railway Company were purposely paid in
those notes with a view to an ultimate declaration of bankruptcy upon
behalf of the bank, Yi Yong-ik summoned on January 24th a meeting of the
Pedlar’s Guild, at which he forbade their acceptance of this paper-money.
A few days later, February 1st, the Mayor of Seoul posted an edict
throughout the city giving effect to this prohibition and, at the same
time, threatening with most severe penalties any one who used the notes
or in any way assisted to circulate them. The Finance Department then
circulated the edict throughout the provinces, whereupon an immediate
run upon the bank ensued. Three days later, upon February 4th, the
Acting Japanese Minister threatened the Government with the demand of an
indemnity and a number of mining and railway concessions in compensation
for the injury occasioned the bank, unless the obnoxious measure was
withdrawn. After considerable discussion and various meetings, the Korean
authorities agreed to withdraw all obstruction and to publish throughout
the Empire their recognition of the existence of the bank. From that day
the validity of the position of the Dai Ichi Ginko has been unquestioned.

The exactions and dishonesty of the officials impose a perpetual drain
upon the national exchequer. In the removal of this one great evil,
another serious obstacle to a more flourishing financial condition
would be surmounted. Unfortunately, the drought and famine of 1901,
added to the decrease in the revenues of 1902, created a discrepancy
of five million yen. If this deficit may be considered extraordinary,
no extenuating circumstances can excuse the supplementary losses of
revenue attributable to the personal peculations of the officials.
The stringency of the financial situation created by the famine drew
attention to the very large deficits, with which many of the more
important metropolitan and chief provincial officials were debited. The
inability of any of these gentry to disgorge their ill-gotten gains
resulted in their immediate prosecution at the instigation of the Finance
Minister, Yi Yong-ik. Ministers of State, governors of provinces,
prefects and inspectors were brought sharply to account by the execution,
banishment, or imprisonment of many offenders.

In such a moment the peculiar astuteness of Yi Yong-ik becomes
conspicuous. While he visited any official who was compromised with
the full penalties of the law, he himself executed, in his capacity of
Minister of Finance, a bluff by which he netted almost half a million yen
for the Imperial Treasury at one stroke. Yi Yong-ik arranged to buy the
ginseng crop from the ginseng farmers. This is a Government monopoly, and
the price was arranged at eight dollars a pound for sixty-three thousand
pounds’ weight, dried and undried. When the time came to pay, and he had
secured possession of the ginseng, Yi Yong-ik refused to give more than
one dollar a pound, alleging that the ginseng growers had misrepresented
the condition and weight of the consignment. In the meantime the ginseng
was sold; the money was appropriated, and the balance in the Treasury
correspondingly increased.

Upon another occasion, at a time when the discount of nickel against
yen gold was very low, Yi Yong-ik was instrumental in promoting the
presentation of a gift of two million dollars Korean to the Emperor. By
careful adjustment the value of the exchange, nickel currency as against
yen gold, hardened twenty points the day after the presentation. It is,
perhaps, unnecessary to point out that Yi Yong-ik occupied the interval
in disposing of the difference to the advantage of his master.

[Illustration: A SEOUL GATE.]

CHAPTER IX

Education—Arts and graces—Penal code—Marriage and divorce—The
rights of concubines—Position of children—Government

Until the introduction of foreign methods of education, and the
establishment of schools upon modern lines, no very promising
manifestation of intellect distinguished the Koreans. Even now, a vague
knowledge of the Chinese classics, which, in rare instances only can be
considered a familiar acquaintanceship, sums up the acquirements of the
cultured classes. The upper classes of both sexes make some pretence
of understanding the literature and language of China; but it is very
seldom that the middle classes are able to read more than the mixed
Chinese-Korean script of the native Press—in which the grammatical
construction is purely Korean.

Despite the prevailing ignorance of Chinese, the Mandarin dialect of
China is considered the language of polite society. It is the medium of
official communication at the Court: the majority of the foreigners in
the service of the Government have also mastered its intricacies. It has
been estimated by Professor Homer B. Hulbert, whose elaborate researches
in Korean and Chinese philology make him a distinguished authority, that
only one per cent. of the women of the upper class, who study Chinese,
have any practical knowledge of it. Women of the middle and lower classes
are ignorant of Chinese. Again, the proportion of upper class women who
can read the Chinese classics is very small. It is probable that, out of
an unselected assembly of Koreans, not more than five per cent. would be
found who could take up a Chinese work and read it as glibly as a similar
gathering of English might be expected to read ordinary Latin prose.

In relation to the _ön-mun_, the common script of Korea, there is,
however, no such ignorance; the upper and middle classes study their
native writing with much intelligence. The language of Korea is
altogether different from that of China and Japan; it possesses an
alphabet of its own, which at present consists of some twenty-five
letters. It has been ascribed by certain Korean annals to the fifteenth
century, A.D. 1447, when the King of Korea, resolving to assert his
independence by abandoning the use of Chinese writing as the official
medium of correspondence, invented an alphabet to suit the special
requirements of the vernacular. Conservatism proved too strong, however,
and the new script was gradually relegated to the use of the lower
classes, and of women and children. There is an extensive literature in
the vernacular. It includes translations from the Chinese and Japanese
classics; historical works on modern and mediæval Korea, books of travel
and hunting, of poetry and correspondence, and a range of fiction,
dealing with those phases of human nature that are common to mankind.

Many of these books are regularly studied by Korean women, ignorance of
their contents being regarded with disdain by the women of the upper
classes, and, in a less pronounced degree, by those of the middle
classes. The female attendants in the Palace are the readiest students
and scholars of the vernacular, their positions at Court requiring them
to prepare _ön-mun_ copies of Government orders, current news, and
general gossip, for Imperial use. Books in native script are readily
purchased by all conditions of Koreans, and taken out from circulating
libraries. Many of the works are written in Chinese and in Korean upon
alternate pages for those who can read only one or the other; those who
are quite illiterate learning the more important chapters by ear. A work,
with which every woman is supposed to be intimate, is entitled The Three
Principles of Conduct, the great divisions being (1) The Treatment of
Parents; (2) The Rearing of a Family; (3) Housekeeping. Companion books
with this volume, and of equal importance to Korean women, are the Five
Rules of Conduct and the Five Volumes of Primary Literature, which, in
spirit and contents, are almost identical. They deal with the relations
between (1) Parent and Child; (2) King and Subject; (3) Husband and Wife;
(4) Old and Young; (5) Friend and Friend. They contain also exhortations
to virtue and learning.

Apart from the direction and scope of female education in Korea, which
I have now suggested, the theoretical study of the domestic arts is
an invariable accompaniment of the more intricate studies. It is
supplemented with much actual experiment. As a consequence, while the
education of men of certain rank is confined to the books to which they
are but indifferently attentive, a wide range of study exists for women
apart from the writings and teachings of the accepted professors and
classical authorities. Ornamental elegances, the tricks and traits of our
drawing-room minxes, are ignored by the gentler classes, vocal music and
dancing being the accomplishments of dancing-girls and _demi-mondaines_.
The arts of embroidery, dressmaking, sewing, and weaving absorb their
attention until they have gone through the gamut of domestic economy.
Occasionally women of the upper class learn to play the _kumungo_,
an instrument some five feet long and one foot wide, bearing a faint
resemblance to a zither and emitting a melancholy and discordant wail.
There is one other stringed weapon, the _nageum_, but the awful screech
of this unhappy viol overwhelms me, even in recollection. The usual and
most simple amusement for the middle classes is the gentle, aimless
stroll, for the purpose of “look see.” Swinging, rope-games, dice,
dominoes, and dolls find some favour as distractions.

If some little improvement has become noticeable in educational matters
under the enlightening influence of the missionaries, great fault must
be found with the condition of the law. It is, of course, not always
possible to graft upon the legal procedure of one country a system
of administration which works well in another. Specific outbursts of
violence, arising from identical causes, assume different complexions
when considered from the point of view of those who are proceeding to
institute reforms. It may be submitted, further, that a certain element
of barbarism in punishment is rendered necessary by the conditions of
some countries, imposing a restraint upon a population which would scoff
at punishment of a more civilised description. If exception may be taken
to the penal code of Korea, it must be remembered that in the Far East
the quality of justice is not tempered with mercy. Many punishments
are still openly and frankly barbarous, while others are distinguished
by their exceptional severity. Death by decapitation, mutilation,
strangulation, or poison is now less frequent than formerly.

Until within quite recent years it was the custom of Korean law to make
the family of the arch-criminal suffer all his penalties with him. They
are now exempted, and with the reforms introduced during the movement in
1895, some attempt was made to abolish practices opposed to the spirit of
progress. The table, which I append, shows the punishments dispensed for
certain crimes.

Treason, Man Decapitated, together with male relatives to
the fifth degree. Mother, wife, and daughter
poisoned or reduced to slavery.

Treason, Woman Poisoned.

Murder, Man Decapitated. Wife poisoned.

Murder, Woman Strangled or poisoned.

Arson, Man Strangled or poisoned. Wife poisoned.

Arson, Woman Poisoned.

Theft, Man Strangled, decapitated, or banished. Wife reduced
to slavery, confiscation of all property.

Desecration of graves Decapitated, together with male relatives to the
fifth degree. Mother, wife, and daughter
poisoned.

Counterfeiting Strangulation or decapitation. Wife poisoned.

Under the Korean law, no wife can obtain a legal dissolution of her
marriage. The privilege of divorce rests with the man; among the upper
classes it is uncommon. The wife, however, may leave her husband and
accept the protection of some relative, when, unless the husband
can disprove her charges, he has no redress. Should the wife fail
to establish her case against her husband, the cost of the marriage
ceremony, a large sum usually, is refunded by her relatives. The law does
not force a wife to cohabit with her husband; nor, so far as it affects
the woman, does it take any cognisance of the matter. A man may divorce
his wife, retaining the custody of the children in every case, upon
statutory grounds, and upon the following additional counts: indolence,
neglect of the prescribed sacrifices, theft, and shrewishness. There
is no appeal against the charges of the husband for women of the upper
classes, domestic disturbances being considered entirely reprehensible.
Much greater latitude prevails among the lower orders, irregular unions
of a most benign elasticity being preferred. Concubinage is a recognised
institution, and one in which the lower, as well as the higher, classes
indulge.

[Illustration: JUSTICE IS NOT TEMPERED WITH MERCY]

The rights of the children of concubines vary according to the moral
laxity of the class in which they are born. Among the upper classes they
possess no claim against the estate of their progenitors; entail ignores
them, and they may not observe the family sacrifices. In the absence of
legitimate issue, a son must be adopted for the purpose of inheriting
the properties of the family and of attending to the ancestral and
funeral rites. Great stress is laid by the upper classes upon purity of
descent; among the middle and lower orders there is more indulgence. Save
in the lowest classes, it is usual to maintain a separate establishment
for each concubine. The fact that among the lower classes concubine and
wife share the same house is responsible for much of the unhappiness
of Korean family life. In every case the position of the children of
concubines corresponds with the status of the mother.

Within recent years, considerable changes have taken place in the
Government and in the administration of the law. Under the old system
the despotic thesis of divine right was associated with many abuses.
Justice was not tempered by mercy, and, in the suppression of crime, it
was not always the guilty who suffered. The old system of government was
modelled upon the principles of the Ming rule in China. The power of the
sovereign was absolute in theory and in practice. He was assisted by the
three principal officers of State and six administrative boards, to whom,
so soon as the country was brought into contact with foreign nations,
additional bureaux were added. Modifications in the spirit, or in the
letter of the law have taken place from time to time at the instance
of reformers. Before the ascendency of the Japanese came about, the
principles and character of Korean law presented no very marked deviation
from that which had been upheld in China through so many centuries. For
a long time the intense conservatism of China reigned in Korea. The
authority of the sovereign is more restricted to-day; but in the hands of
a less enlightened monarch it would be just as effective as ever against
the interests of the country. Happily, however, the era of progressive
reform, which illustrated the inauguration of the Empire, continues.

[Illustration: CHILDREN OF THE LOWER CLASS]

The Government is now vested in a Council of State, composed of a
Chancellor, six Ministers, five Councillors, and a Chief Secretary.
The will of the sovereign is, however, supreme. The Departments of
State are conducted by nine ministers, chief of whom is the Prime
Minister, assisted in his Cabinet by the President of the Privy Council,
the Ministers of the Household, of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs,
Finance, War, Law, Education, and Agriculture. With improved internal
administration many of the abuses which existed under the old system
have disappeared. There are still many grievances, and the working of
the new machine of State cannot be said to give unalloyed satisfaction.
Justice is still hedged about with bribery; official corruptness admits
of the venal purchase of office. Much outcry accompanies the sweeping of
the Augean stables; and, at present, the advantages of the improvements
hardly justify the ecstatic jubilation by which their introduction
was greeted. It is early yet to prophesy; but, if the honourable
administration of the public departments can be obtained, there is no
reason why success should not attend the innovation. The responsibility
for the working of the administrative machine, however, rests, in the
interval, entirely upon the shoulders of the foreign advisers. It remains
to be seen, therefore, if the united services of these distinguished
people can prolong in any degree the era of honest government in Korea.

CHAPTER X

Farmers—Farming and farm animals—Domestic
industries—Products—Quality and character of food-stuffs

The Koreans are an agricultural people, and most of the national
industries are connected with agriculture. More than seventy per cent.
of the population are farmers; the carpenter, the blacksmith, and the
stonemason spring directly from this class, combining a knowledge of
the forge or workshop with a life-long experience of husbandry. The
schoolmaster is usually the son of a yeoman-farmer; the fisherman owns
a small holding which his wife tills while he is fishing. The farming
classes participate in certain industries of the country; the wives of
the farmers raise the cotton, silk, linen, and grass-cloth of the nation,
and they also convert the raw material into the finished fabrics. The
sandals, mats, osier and wooden wares which figure so prominently in
Korean households, are the work of the farming classes in their leisure
moments. The officials, the _yamen_ runners, the merchants, inn-keepers,
miners, and junk-men are not of this order, but they are often closely
connected with it. The Government exists on the revenue raised from
agriculture; the people live upon the fruits of the soil; Korean
officials govern whole communities given over to agricultural labour. The
internal economy of the country has been affiliated for centuries to the
pursuits and problems of agriculture. Koreans are thus instinctively and
intuitively agriculturists, and it is necessarily along these lines that
the development of the country should in part progress.

It is impossible not to be impressed by a force which works so
laboriously, while it takes no rest save that variety which comes with
the change of season. The peaceable, plodding farmer of Korea has his
counterpart in his bull. The Korean peasant and his weary bull are made
for one another. Without his ruminating partner, the work would be
impracticable. It drags the heavy plough through the deep mud of the
rice-fields, and over the rough surface of the grain lands; it carries
loads of brick and wood to the market, and hauls the unwieldy market cart
along the country roads. The two make a magnificent pair; each is a beast
of burden. The brutishness, lack of intelligence, and boorishness of the
agricultural labourer in England is not quite reproduced in the Korean.
The Korean farmer has of necessity to force himself to be patient. He is
content to regard his sphere of utility in this world as one in which
man must labour after the fashion of his animals, with no appreciable
satisfaction to himself.

Originally, if history speaks truly, the farmers of Korea were inclined
to be masterful and independent. Indications of this earlier spirit are
found nowadays in periodical protests against the extortionate demands
of local officials. These disturbances are isolated and infrequent, for,
when once their spirits were crushed, the farmers developed into the
present mild and inoffensive type. They submit to oppression and to the
cruelty of the _Yamen_; they endure every form of illegal taxation, and
they ruin themselves to pay “squeezes,” which exist only through their
own humility. They dread the assumption of rank and the semblance of
authority. Their fear of a disturbance is so great that, although they
may murmur against the impositions of the magistrate, they continue to
meet his demands.

[Illustration: THE KOREAN AND HIS BULL]

At the present day the farmer of Korea is the ideal child of nature;
superstitious, simple, patient and ignorant. He is the slave of his work,
and he moves no further from his village than the nearest market. He
has a terrified belief in the existence of demons, spirits and dragons,
whose dirty and grotesque counterfeits adorn his thatched hut. There are
other characteristic traits in this great section of the national life.
Their capacity for work is unlimited; they are seldom idle, and, unlike
the mass of their countrymen, they have no sense of repose. As farmers,
they have by instinct and tradition certain ideas and principles which
are excellent in themselves. To the wayfarer and stranger the individual
farmer is supremely and surprisingly hospitable. A foreigner discussing
the peculiarities of their scenery, their lands, and the general details
of their life with them, is struck by their profound reverence for
everything beyond their own understanding, and their amazing sense of the
beautiful in nature. The simplicity of their appreciation is delightful.
It is easy to believe that they are more susceptible to the charms of
flowers and scenery than to that of woman.

At rare intervals the farmer indulges in a diversion. Succumbing to
the seductions of market day, after the fashion of every other farmer
the world has ever known, he returns to the homestead a physical and
moral wreck, the drunk and disorderly residuum of many months of dreary
abstinence and respectability. At these times he develops a phase of
unexpected assertiveness, and forcibly abducts some neighbouring beauty,
or beats in the head of a friend by way of enforcing his argument. From
every possible point of view he reveals qualities which proclaim him the
simple, if not ideal, child of nature.

During the many months of my stay in Korea I spent some days at a wayside
farmhouse, the sole accommodation which could be obtained in a mountain
village. The slight insight into the mode of life of the farming peasant
which was thus gained was replete with interest, charm and novelty.
Knowing something of the vicissitudes of farm life, I found the daily
work of this small community supremely instructive. Upon many occasions
I watched the farmer’s family and his neighbours at their work. The
implements of these people are rude and few, consisting of a plough, with
a movable iron shoe which turns the sods in the reverse direction to our
own; a spade, furnished with ropes and dragged by several men; bamboo
flails and rakes, and a small hoe, sharp and heavy, used as occasion may
require for reaping, chopping and hoeing, for the rough work of the farm,
or the lighter service of the house.

[Illustration: A SPADE FURNISHED WITH ROPES]

During the harvest all available hands muster in the fields. The women
cut the crop, the men fasten the sheaves, which the children load into
rope panniers, suspended upon wooden frames from the backs of bulls.
The harvest is threshed without delay, the men emptying the laden
baskets upon the open road, and setting to with solemn and uninterrupted
vigour. While the men threshed with their flails, and the wind winnowed
the grain, six, and sometimes eight, women worked, with their feet, a
massive beam, from which an iron or granite pestle hung over a deep
granite mortar. This rough and ready contrivance pulverises the grain
sufficiently for the coarse cakes which serve in lieu of bread.

Beyond the bull and the pig, there are few farm animals in the inland
districts. The pony and the donkey are not employed in agricultural work
to the same extent as the bull. This latter animal is cared for more
humanely than the unfortunate pony, whose good nature is ruined by the
execrable harshness with which he is treated. The gross cruelty of the
Korean to his pony is the most loathsome feature of the national life.

[Illustration: POUNDING GRAIN]

Irrigation is necessary only for the rice, which yields fairly abundant
crops throughout Central and Southern Korea. To the north, rice makes way
for millet, the great supplementary food of Korea. Elsewhere paddy-fields
abound, and the people have become adepts in the principles of irrigation
and the art of conserving water. Rice is sown in May, transplanted from
the nurseries to the paddy-fields in June, and gathered in October.
In times of drought, when it is necessary to tide over the period of
distress, the fields are used for barley, oats and rye which, ripening
in May and cut in June, allows a supplementary crop to be taken from
the fields. The fields are then prepared for the rice. The land is
inundated; the peasant and his bull, knee-deep in water, plough the
patches. Beans, peas, and potatoes are planted between the furrows of
the cornfields, the land being made to produce to its full capacity. The
crops are usually excellent.

The fields differ from the farms in China, where the farmers, preferring
short furrows, grow their crops in small sections. The long furrows
of the Korean fields recall Western methods, but here the analogy
ends. The spectacle of these well-ordered acres is a revelation of the
earnest way in which these down-trodden people combat adversity. In
many ways, however, they need assistance and advice. If it were prudent
to accomplish it, I would convert the mission centres of the inland
districts into experimental farm-stations, and attach a competent
demonstrator to each establishment.

[Illustration: CARRYING PRODUCE TO MARKET]

The Koreans hold rice, their chief cereal, in peculiar honour. They state
that it originated in Ha-ram, in China, at a period now involved in much
fable and mystery—2838 B.C. to 2698 B.C. The name, Syang-nong-si, itself
means Marvellous Agriculture. The name was doubtless given at a later
time. The first rice was brought to Korea by Ki-ja in 1122 B.C. together
with barley and other cereals. Before that time the only grain raised in
Korea was millet. There are three kinds of rice in Korea, with a variety
of sub-species. First, that which is grown in the ordinary paddy-fields.
This is called specifically _tap-kok_, or paddy-field rice. It is used
almost exclusively to make pap, the ordinary boiled rice. Then we have
_chun-kok_ or field-rice. This is so-called upland rice. It is drier
than the paddy-field rice, and is used largely in making rice flour
and in brewing beer. The third kind is grown exclusively on the slopes
of mountains, and is a wild rice. It is smaller and harder than the
other kinds; for this reason it is used to provision garrisons. It will
withstand the weather. Under favourable circumstances, lowland rice will
keep five years, but the mountain rice will remain perfectly sound for
quite ten years.

Next in importance to rice come the different kinds of pulse, under which
heading is included all the leguminous plants, the bean and the pea
family. That Korea is well provided with this valuable and nutritious
form of food will be seen from the fact that there are thirteen species
of round beans, two kinds of long bean, and five varieties of mixed
bean. Of all these numerous assortments, the “horse-bean” is by far
the most common. It is the bean which forms such a large part of the
exports of Korea. It is supposed by Koreans to have originated in
North-Western China, and derives its name from the fact that it is
used very largely for fodder. One variety only may be regarded as
indigenous—the black-bean—and it is found nowhere else in Eastern Asia.
Of the rest, the origin is doubtful. The horse-bean grows in greatest
abundance in Kyöng-syang Province and on the island of Quelpart, though
of course it is common all over the country. The black-bean flourishes
best in Chyöl-la Province. The green-bean, oil-bean, and white-cap bean
flourish in Kyöng-keui Province. The yellow bean is found in Hwang-hai
Province; the South River bean appears in Chyung-chyöng Province; the
grandfather-bean (so called because of its wrinkles) grows anywhere,
but not in large quantities. The brown-bean and chestnut-bean come from
Kang-won Province.

It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of these different
species of pulse to the Korean. They furnish the oily and nitrogenous
elements which are lacking in rice. As a diet they are strengthening,
the nutritious properties of the soil imparting a tone to the system.
Preparations of beans are as numerous as the dishes made from flour; it
is impossible to enumerate them. Upon an average, the Koreans eat about
one-sixth as much pulse as rice. The price of beans is one-half that of
rice; the price of either article is liable to variations. There are
varieties which cost nearly as much as rice.

The common name for barley is _po-ri_; in poetical parlance the Koreans
call barley The Fifth Moon of Autumn, because it is then that it is
harvested. The value of barley to the Korean arises from the fact that
it is the first grain to germinate in the spring. It carries the people
on until the millet and rice crops are ready. Barley and wheat are
extensively raised throughout Korea for the purpose of making wine and
beer. In other ways, however, they may be considered almost as important
as the different kinds of pulse. The uses of barley are very numerous.
Besides being used directly as farinaceous food it becomes malt,
medicine, candy, syrup, and furnishes a number of side-dishes. Wheat
comes mostly from Pyöng-an Province, only small crops of it appearing in
the other Provinces. Barley yields spring and autumn crops, but wheat
yields only the winter crop. The poor accept wheat as a substitute for
rice, and brew a gruel from it. It is used as a paste; it figures in the
native pharmacopœia, and in the sacrifices with which the summer solstice
is celebrated.

Oats, millet, and sorghum are other important cereals in Korea. There are
six varieties of millet; the price of the finer qualities is the same
as that obtained for rice. One only of these six varieties was found
originally in the country. Sorghum is grown principally in Kyöng-syang
Province. It grows freely, however, in the south; but is less used than
wheat, millet, or oats in Korea. A curious distinction exists between the
sorghum imported from China and the native grain. In China, sorghum is
used in making sugar; when this sugar-producing grain arrives in Korea
it is found impossible to extract the sugar. Two of the three kinds of
sorghum in Korea are native, the third coming from Central China. Oats
become a staple food in the more mountainous regions, where rice is never
seen; it is dressed like rice. From the stalk the Koreans make a famous
paper, which is used in the Palaces of the Emperor. It is cultivated in
Kang-won, Ham-kyöng, and Pyöng-an Provinces.

The Korean is omnivorous. Birds of the air, beasts of the field, and
fish from the sea, nothing comes amiss to his palate. Dog-meat is in
great request at certain seasons; pork and beef with the blood undrained
from the carcase; fowls and game—birds cooked with the lights, giblets,
head and claws intact, fish, sun-dried and highly malodorous, all are
acceptable to him. Cooking is not always necessary; a species of small
fish is preferred raw, dipped into some piquant sauce. Other dainties are
dried sea-weed, shrimps, vermicelli, made by the women from buckwheat
flour and white of egg, pine seeds, lily bulbs, honey-water, wheat,
barley, millet, rice, maize, wild potatoes, and all vegetables of Western
and Eastern gardens; even now the list is by no means exhausted.

Their excesses make them martyrs to indigestion.

CHAPTER XI

Japan in Korea—Historical associations—In Old Fusan—Political
and economic interests—Abuse of paramountcy

[Illustration: JAPANESE CAVALRY]

Southern Korea bears many evidences of the warlike activities and
commercial enterprise of the past generations of Japanese, who,
abandoning their own island home, sought domicile upon the shores of
the neighbouring peninsula. The precarious existence of these waifs and
strays from an alien state, in the midst of a people whose whole attitude
was anti-foreign, did not deter others from coming to her ports. This
gradual migration from Japan to the Hermit Kingdom continued during
many centuries, promoting an intercourse between two races which the
Government was powerless to frustrate. Japanese historians argue from
this settlement in Korea that the State was a vassal of Japan from the
second century by right of conquest and appropriation. The idea, which
prevailed through seventeen centuries, was not finally rejected until the
Ambassador of the Mikado signed a treaty at Seoul on February 7th, 1897,
which recognised Korea as an independent nation. From about the beginning
of the Christian era until the fifteenth century, the relations between
Japan and Korea were very close. From this period onward Korea, although
maintaining her attitude of complacent indifference to events outside her
own Empire, betrayed signs of weakness in her policy of isolation when
menaced with the importunate demands of her rival neighbours, China and
Japan.

At the two points in her Empire adjacent to the dominions of China and
Japan, war and peace alternately prevailed. If, upon occasion, the
Koreans went out unsupported to fight their invaders, the leaders more
usually united with one of the two rivals against the other. Thus,
there was always turmoil throughout the kingdom. In the south, as in
the north, the tide of war rolled backwards and forwards, with varying
success. From the west, the armies of China appeared and vanished,
skirting the Liao-tung Gulf, to plunder and to devastate the peninsula.
Fleets from Shantung, crossing the Yellow Sea, dropped their anchors in
the rivers of the land. The west was threatened by the hordes of China,
and the south was harried by ships and men from the east, who pounced
upon Fusan and seized the cities of the south. The aggressions of the
Japanese extinguished any hope the Koreans might still have cherished
of preserving the southern frontier of their kingdom intact. Although
cordons of armed sentinels and palisades, barriers of mountains and miles
of ruined and deserted wastes protected the northern borders against
the incursions of the Chinese soldiers to some extent, the south was
vulnerable.

Fusan was the floodgate through which poured the hostile masses of
Japan, an unbroken stream of men, to deluge the land. They invaded Korea
as enemies, levying tribute; they came as allies against China; they
appeared as the embassies of a friendly State and returned enriched to
the Court of their Sovereign. Actuated by feelings of mercy, they sent
grain-ships to Fusan when famine overtook their neighbours. Between
Japan and Fusan there was the continuous passing of ships. Around this
outlet, the one gate to the southern half of the kingdom, the spasmodic
beginnings of the present important commerce between the two countries
grew out of a fretful exchange of commodities.

In the years that followed the earlier visitations, Japan became so
embarrassed by her own internal troubles, that the Kingdom of Korea was
left in that peace and seclusion which, always preferring, it had found
so much difficulty in securing. This happy state of things prevailed
for two centuries. At the end of this interval, the annual embassy to
Japan from the Court of Korea had ceased. The kingdom in general, lulled
by visions of perpetual peace, no longer maintained defences. Military
preparations were neglected; the army was disorganised; the old fighting
spirit of the people died down, and martial exercises disappeared from
the training of the militia. Dissipation and profligacy were rife. In
the meantime, order having been restored in Japan, the thoughts of her
soldiers again turned towards fields of conquest and deeds of daring.
The vassalship of Korea was recalled; the King was summoned to renew
his allegiance. The answer proving unsatisfactory, preparations for
an invasion were at once begun. The fleet assembled and the ships set
sail. The mobility which was to distinguish the Japanese in after years
characterised their movements in this campaign. Within eighteen days
after their landing at Fusan, the capture of the capital was accomplished
and a blow was struck, which enabled the Koreans at last to understand
the gravity of their plight.

[Illustration: THE GUARD OF THE JAPANESE LEGATION, SEOUL]

The part, which Fusan played in this war, materially assisted the
invading hosts of Japan. A settlement at Fusan, which had been founded
long since by the retainers of the Daimio of the island of Tsu-shima,
assisted by itinerant traders and deserters from the numerous expeditions
which visited its shores, had grown to such dimensions that when the
force was descried off the harbour upon the morning of May 25th, 1592,
Fusan was already in their possession. This circumstance gave the
troops immediate facilities for disembarkation, and, in the subsequent
vicissitudes of the next six years’ campaign, expedited the progress of
the war. The position of Fusan speedily made the place a base of supplies
to the army of operation and a repairing yard for the Japanese fleet
after their disastrous engagement with the Korean ships, in an attempt
to co-operate with the victorious forces, which Konishi and Kuroda had
assembled before Pyöng-yang. After the conclusion of the first invasion
and the Japanese retreat from the north, before the combined strength
of the Chinese and Koreans on May 22nd, 1593, Fusan became one of the
fortified camps upon the coast, where the Japanese armies passed the
winter in sight of the shores of their own land. The negotiations, which
were opened in the following year, and shifted alternately between the
camp of the Commander-in-Chief at Fusan and the Courts in China and
Japan, failed.

Even at this date Japan was anxious to establish her power in Korea by
obtaining possession of the southern provinces. Foiled in this attempt,
she renewed her attack. Fusan again became the seat of the councils of
war, and the base for the second invasion. The operations began with the
siege of the Castle of Nan-on, in Chyöl-la province, upon the morning of
September 21st, 1597. Twelve months later, the Japanese were withdrawn
from Korea, and the war came to its close. Two hundred years passed
before Korea recovered from the desolation of this conflict, which was
one in which the loss of three hundred thousand men was recorded.
Moreover, the Japanese retained Fusan, a perpetual evidence of their
victory.

This early claim to the southern provinces put forward by the Japanese
plainly reveals how long standing is their wish to annex the southern
half of Korea. Even in modern times, they have embarked upon one campaign
in the interests of Korea, while they are now ready to go to war with
Russia on behalf of the same nation that they themselves consistently
bully. Their plea of Korea for the Koreans, however, is in curious
contrast to their own lawless domination of the coveted territory.
Indeed, the interests which the Japanese have developed for themselves
throughout these regions do not disclose much consideration for the
rights of the natives. The treaty of 1876, which opened Fusan to Japanese
settlers, removed the nominal obstacles to that over-sea immigration
which had been progressing steadily during several centuries. A wave of
Japanese colonisation at once lapped the eastern, western, and southern
shores of the Hermit Kingdom.

Indications of previous incursions were given by the affinity which
existed between the language, manners, and local customs of these
newcomers and the indigenous race. The existence of this affinity became
a powerful, if impersonal, instrument in abating the opposition of the
population to the settlement. Unable to obtain the secession of the
territory which they so much desired, communities of Japanese fringed
its borders. They planted themselves wherever there were prospects of
trade, until the resources of the land were tapped in all directions, and
the control of its commerce was virtually in their hands. As other ports
were opened at the persistent instigation of these persevering traders,
however, the settlement of the south proceeded less rapidly. In view
of the changing relations between Korea and the Powers, therefore, the
Japanese passed further afield, developing some little industry to their
own advantage wherever they went. Trade followed their flag, whether they
were within the radius of the treaty ports, or engaged in forcing the
hand of the local officials by settling beyond the limitations of their
Conventions. The success of these efforts was soon assured. Despite the
stipulations of the treaties, and in face of the objections of their own,
as well as the Korean, Government, the irrepressible activity of these
pioneers of a past generation unconsciously contributed to that supremacy
which the trade of Japan has since achieved in the land of her former
enemy.

The expansion of Japanese interests in Korea has not been without
political design. The integrity of her neighbour is bound up with her
own existence. The security of Korea emphasises the safety of her own
borders; and, as her own Empire has developed into a first-class Power,
this desire to see the kingdom respected has become more and more the
spirit of the policy upon which she has concentrated her individual
action. She has fostered the trade with Korea because it drew together
the ties which connected the two countries. She has urged the concession
of ports, and still more ports, to foreign commerce, because the
preponderance of her trade in these open marts substantiates her claim
to be the lawful champion of the race. The progress of Korea, since the
country came under her supervision, has been more evident than any of
the difficulties which have originated out of the disposition of the
Japanese to bully and coerce the Koreans. If, upon occasion, the results
have suggested that the blind cannot lead the blind without disaster,
the rarity of mistakes reflects credit upon the judgment which has been
displayed. This combination is, of course, directed against foreigners.
Just as Japan is discarding those Western teachers, whose genius and
administrative abilities protected her in her days of ignorance, so does
she hanker after the time when she alone may guard the interests of
Korea, and supply the demands of her markets. At present, however, it is
open to question whether the Koreans will have overcome their feelings
of irritation against the Japanese by the time that these have become
thoroughly progressive in their treatment of the Koreans. The Japanese
are more repressive in their methods than they need be.

The extraneous evidence of the power of the Japanese irritates the
Koreans, increasing the unconquerable aversion which has inspired them
against the Japanese through centuries, until, of the various races of
foreigners in Korea at the present, none are so deservedly detested as
those hailing from the Island Empire of the Mikado. Nor is this prejudice
remarkable, when it is considered that it is the scum of the Japanese
nation that has settled down upon Korea. It is, perhaps, surprising that
the animus of the Koreans against the Japanese has not died out with
time; but the fault lies entirely with the Japanese themselves. Within
recent years so much has occurred to alter the position of Japan and
to flatter the vanity of these island people that they have lost their
sense of perspective. Puffed up with conceit, they now permit themselves
to commit social and administrative excesses of the most detestable
character. Their extravagant arrogance blinds them to the absurdities
and follies of their actions, making manifest the fact that their gloss
of civilisation is the merest veneer. Their conduct in Korea shows them
to be destitute of moral and intellectual fibre. They are debauched in
business, and the prevalence of dishonourable practices in public life
makes them indifferent to private virtue. Their interpretation of the
laws of their settlements, as of their own country, is corrupt. Might
is right; the sense of power is tempered neither by reason, justice nor
generosity. Their existence from day to day, their habits and their
manners, their commercial and social degradation, complete an abominable
travesty of the civilisation which they profess to have studied. It is
intolerable that a Government aspiring to the dignity of a first-class
Power should allow its settlements in a friendly and foreign country to
be a blot upon its own prestige, and a disgrace to the land that harbours
them.

There are some twenty-five thousand Japanese in Korea, and the Japanese
settlement is the curse of every treaty port in Korea. It is at once
the centre of business, and the scene of uproar, riot, and confusion.
In the comparative nakedness of the women, in the noise and violence
of the shopkeepers, in the litter of the streets, there is nothing
to suggest the delicate culture of Japan. The modesty, cleanliness,
and politeness, so characteristic of the Japanese, are conspicuously
absent in their settlements in this country. Transformation has taken
place with transmigration. The merchant has become a rowdy; the coolie
is impudent, violent, and, in general, an outcast more prone to steal
than to work. Master and man alike terrorise the Koreans, who go in
fear of their lives whenever they have transactions with the Japanese.
Before the Chino-Japanese war this spirit had not displayed itself
to any great extent in the capital of the Hermit Kingdom. With the
successful conclusion of that campaign, however, the Japanese became
so aggressive in their treatment of the people that, had the choice of
two evils been possible in view of these events, the Koreans would have
preferred the Chinese and a state of dependence to the conditions which
were then introduced. The universal admiration aroused by the conduct of
the Japanese troops in the North-China campaign of 1900-1901 has added
sensibly to the vanity and egoism of these Korean-Japanese. Convinced
of their innate superiority, their violence towards the Koreans goes on
unchecked. It threatens now to assume unparalleled dimensions. If the
relations between the Powers are to continue upon a satisfactory footing
in Korea, it will be necessary for the Japanese Government to redress
those abuses which foreigners, Japanese, and Koreans alike have combined
to denounce.

[Illustration: H.M.S. _ASTREA_]

CHAPTER XII

The commercial prospects of Korea—Openings to
trade—Requirements of markets—Lack of British enterprise

The trade returns for 1900 exceeded every previous year. During the
period covered by the Boxer disturbances, however, the Korean exports
to China decreased, and the importation of foreign goods likewise fell
off. The stimulus given to the cereal trade, by the interruption of
the Manchurian export bean trade from Newchang, and by the demand for
food-supplies for the troops in China, more than counterbalanced this
temporary decline in direct native exports and direct foreign imports.
Cotton goods, however, show an increase of £14,297 over the figures of
previous years; but there is a specific falling off in imports of British
manufacture and origin, and a specific advance in the more important
lines of Japanese goods. I append a small table revealing the comparative
prosperity of British and Japanese trade at this date:

English, decrease in: Japanese, increase in:

Shirtings £59,069 Shirtings £1,731
Indian Yarn £3,056 Yarn £11,329
Sheetings and other Sheetings £40,422
pieces Small decrease Other piece goods £25,676

In time, the markets of Japan will produce everything which at present
comes from America in the shape of canned goods, and from Europe, in the
form of textiles or food-stuffs. Japanese woven fabrics, and canned foods
of inferior quality are driving the wholesale manufacturing houses of
England and America from the markets. At present, therefore, the trade
of Korea is limited as much by the capacity of the Japanese markets as
by the wants of the Korean. In face of the opposition of the Japanese,
their determination to retain the Korean markets for themselves, and the
absence of effective attempts by Western houses to beat up such trade
as may exist, it is difficult to believe that the future will show any
material expansion in the capacity of the foreign trade.

Nevertheless, Korea provides a fair field for capital. It would be quite
possible to improve the condition of foreign trade, if merchants could
arrange to protect their interests by establishing their own agencies
in the country, under competent and energetic European management.
When British merchants depart from their apathetic indifference and
organise an exhaustive expert inquiry into the capabilities of the
Korean trade, their trouble will be quickly rewarded. New markets
require new commodities, the demand for which any technical inspection
of the requirements of the people will disclose. Until this examination
takes place, however, the stagnation in British trade must continue.
Korea offers to British interests an interesting field in which the
development of new industries must be conducted upon practical lines.
Briefly, the imports in demand are those which are necessary to meet the
requirements of an agricultural country whose mining resources are in
process of development and whose railway system is as yet in its early
stages. The increase in the importation of mining supplies supports
this contention. Bags and ropes for packing, machinery for agricultural
and mining purposes, and sewing machines are in greater demand. Railway
material is, of course, wanted. The new industries may not be upon a
large scale. Primitive methods doubtless will continue for the most part
to govern native manufactures such as grass cloth, straw mats, ropes, &c.
Excellent paper has been made since the replacement of the use of native
lye by caustic soda and soda-ash, while the innovation is one to which
the people have taken kindly enough. Again, while the paper industry is
capable of expansion, a brisk business in leather could be built up in
the country. Hides, which are exported to Japan in their raw state, are
abundant, and might be converted into leather so easily on the spot. The
straw braid industry contains great possibilities, while the climate of
Korea is naturally suited to the growth and treatment of silk.

Many things would be necessary to the success of such enterprises. The
work must be based upon a knowledge of the country and its language.
The manufacturer or the merchant must take the pains to accommodate
a direct import trade to the exigencies of the local market. As an
example, smaller bales and shorter lengths are requisite in the piece
goods. The establishment of sample warehouses at the treaty ports, and
in the more important trade-centres of the interior, where bales of
shirting, cotton and woollen goods, cases of farming implements, &c.,
could be opened and sold for cash, would appeal to the natives. This
departure would avoid the increase in the prime cost of the articles
necessitated by the existing system of transhipment. At present, goods
come from Shanghai to Chi-fu and thence to Chemulpo. They pass then
from the importer to the Chinese merchants, and from them to the Korean
wholesale buyers; these resell them in greatly diminished quantities to
the pedlars and agents, who retail the goods. It would also be advisable
to create consular agencies in Fusan and Won-san. Official representation
at present is confined to an underpaid and understaffed Legation in
Seoul, and a vice-consulate in Chemulpo. Additional _employés_ should be
interchangeable, undertaking either the vice-consular duties of the ports
or the secretarial services of the Legation.

The bulk of the imports and exports, which pass through the Customs,
comes from China and Japan. The means of transport are controlled by
Japanese; the export trade of the country is entirely in their hands.
This fact alone should appeal to British shipping interests and to
ship-owners. Unfortunately, many years of prosperity have brought
about great changes in the spirit of our nation, and we no longer show
the enterprise and initiative which formerly distinguished us. This
depreciation in the forces of the nation has promoted a corresponding
depression in our trade. We are no longer the pioneers of commerce;
nor have we the capacity and courage of our forefathers who fostered
those interests of which we are now so neglectful in every quarter of
the globe. At the dawn of the twentieth century, it is amazing to find
a country, with a total foreign import and export trade exceeding two
millions and a half sterling for the year 1901 and two millions and
three quarters sterling for the year 1902, whose shores were visited by
over ten thousand steam and sailing trading-vessels in the same period,
registering an aggregate tonnage of more than two million tons, almost
untouched by British merchantmen. Deplorable as this may be, statistics
which Mr. McLeavy Brown has drawn up show that one steamship, chartered
by Chinese and floating the British flag, entered Korean waters in
1900; that four steamers came in each of the years 1901-2, a return
which reveals a steady decline upon the previous years. Since Korea was
opened to trade in 1880, British shipping has visited the country in
the proportion of 1377 tons to every two years. Despite appeals from
our Consuls in Korea to British steamship companies improvement has
been impossible; since no response was evoked by their efforts, and no
service has been established. The consequence of this is that a valuable
opportunity has been allowed to escape, the Japanese profiting by our
indifference.

The trade of Korea is increasing gradually. A steamer, which could make
periodical calls between Shanghai and Won-san, Yokohama and Vladivostock,
taking cargo and passengers to the open ports of Korea, and touching at
Japan upon the journey back, would return good money upon the venture.
British and Chinese merchants would prefer to ship in a British vessel.
The old-fashioned traditions of the British mercantile service, as to
punctuality and despatch, are not carried out by the steamers of the
Nippon Yusen Kaisha and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, which call at the ports
in Korea. It is almost impossible to know when the steamers of these
companies will arrive or when they will leave. Little attempt is made
to observe their schedule. The condition of the vessels of the latter
company accredited to the Korean run is filthy. Moreover, this company
is careless of cargo, and quite indifferent to the comforts of its
passengers. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha certainly supplies meals in foreign
style, but the Osaka Shosen Kaisha provides nothing. Plying between
Japan, China and Korea, this company declines to make any arrangements
for foreigners in the matter of food or accommodation. One experience
is enough. Unfortunately, foreigners are compelled to travel in them,
as the steamers of one or other of the two companies are usually the
sole means of communication between those countries and Korea. There is
cargo and passenger traffic for any company that will organise a regular
steam-service. The profits might be small at first, since the Japanese
prefer to endure their own steamers and to ship under their own flag;
but there are signs that the flourishing condition of the trade of the
country would bring ultimate success.

The establishment of a steamer-service, if only of one or two steamers,
is not the sole hazard by which Japanese competition might be faced.
The climate of Korea is peculiarly suited to fruit-culture. If this
work were taken in hand, the fruit might be tinned or exported fresh
to China, where it would find a ready sale. The fertility of the soil
near Won-san and the abundance of fish in the sea off that part of the
coast, would make that port a suitable export centre for the creation
of a fish and fruit-canning industry under foreign management. Fish and
fruit industries of this description in Japan are profitable and very
bad. Nevertheless, their output is widely distributed over the Far East.
The initiation of these industrial ventures would require some time, for
many difficulties oppress foreigners, who are anxious to put capital
into Korea. In the end, a modest venture would reap sufficient success
to justify the speculation, while the returns would probably permit
an immediate expansion of the enterprise. There is no doubt about the
fish; there is no doubt about the fruit; but whatever investment of an
industrial character is made in Korea, close and high-class technical
supervision is the necessary accompaniment.

The British merchant in the Far East is the first to condemn his own
Minister and to abuse his own Consul, and he is the very last to help
himself. It may be, however, that the follies of the Imperial Government,
the unreasoning prejudices and foolish blundering of the Foreign Office,
have created this apathy. The drifting and vacuous policy of Lord
Salisbury made it impossible to avert the decay of our prestige and trade
which has set in throughout the Far East. Official returns establish only
too completely the unhappy predicament in which trade and merchants alike
are placed. There is a general decrease in the volume of the one, and
there has been no sympathetic activity among those engaged in commercial
interests elsewhere to set against it. The deficiency is almost without
solution, so long as bounty-fed manufactures, carried in subsidised
bottoms, are set against the products of an unassisted trade. Competition
is increasing, and foreign manufacturers are themselves now meeting the
requirements of the markets of China. There is little prospect in the
future of the restoration of our former commercial superiority. Much
might be attempted, although it seems almost as if the British merchant
were so bent upon his own damnation, that little could be done.

The decline of British trade cannot be attributed in any way to the late
disturbances in North China, to the decline in the purchasing power of
the dollar, or to the temporary rise in the market prices. Japan has
become our most formidable competitor. The decrease in our trade is due
entirely to the commercial development and rise of Japan, who, together
with America, has successfully taken from us markets in which, prior
to their appearance, British goods were supreme. The gravity of the
situation in which British trade is placed cannot be lightly regarded. We
still lay claim to the carrying trade of the Far East; but the figures,
which support our pre-eminence in this direction are totally unreliable.
If the true conditions were made manifest, it would be seen that so far
from leading the shipping of the world in the Far East, Great Britain
could claim but a small proportion of the freights carried. Although
we may own the ships, neither our markets nor our manufactures are
associated with their cargoes. It would be well if the public could grasp
this feature of the China trade. Members of Parliament, ignorant of the
deductions which are necessary before claiming the carrying trade of the
Far East—much less of the Yang-tse and of the China coast—as an asset in
our commercial prosperity, and a sign of vigour of the first magnitude,
do not recognise how unsubstantial is the travesty of affluence which
they so constantly applaud.

[Illustration: BRICK LAYING EXTRAORDINARY]

During 1901, owing to the Boxer disturbance, large numbers of ships owned
by natives were transferred to the British flag. The ostensible decrease
in the tonnage of British vessels, which entered and cleared affected
ports, was therefore less than that of other nationalities. Similarly,
there was a small increase in the duties paid under the British flag
during the same period, owing to the valuable character of these cargoes.
Under ordinary circumstances, the comparatively small decrease in the
British tonnage and the increase of more than fifty thousand taels in
the payments made to the Imperial Customs at such a moment of unrest,
would suggest the stability of our trading interest, and afford no mean
standard by which to judge the capacity of the markets. Unfortunately,
the two most important counts in the returns, tonnage and duties, are
no criterion. It is necessary to inspect closely the individual values
of the different articles comprising the total trade. In this way the
general depreciation of our manufactures is at once apparent.

A comparison of the American, Japanese, and German returns shows which
are the commercial activities that are threatening our existence as a
factor in the markets of the Far East. If, in the returns, we were shown
the relations between the duties paid under each flag, and the tonnage of
any particular country, besides the source and destination of its cargo,
the true condition of British trade would be revealed at a glance. As
it is, until a table is added to the Maritime Report, which will supply
this valuable and interesting demonstration, the system of a separate
examination is alone to be relied upon. By this method we find that
between the years 1891 and 1901 there was a consistent falling-off in
British exports to the Far East in almost every commodity in which the
competition of America, Japan, and Germany was possible. Since 1895, when
Japan began to assert herself in the markets of China, those articles
which, pre-eminently among the commercial Powers, she can herself supply,
have carried everything before them. Ten years ago the British trade
in cloths, drills, shirtings, cottons, yarns, and matches had attained
magnificent dimensions. In certain particulars, only, our trade was
rivalled by the United States of America, whose propinquity gave to them
some little advantage in the markets of the Far East. Now, however, the
trade has passed altogether into the hands of the Japanese, or is so
equally divided between Japan and America, Japan and Germany, that our
pristine supremacy has disappeared.

CHAPTER XIII

British, American, Japanese, French, German, and Belgian
interests—Railways and mining fictions—Tabled counterfeited
Imports

With the exception of Great Britain, the example of the Japanese in
Korea has stirred the Western Powers to corresponding activity. Every
strange face in Seoul creates a crop of rumours. Until the new-comer
proves himself nothing more dangerous than a correspondent, there is
quite a flutter in the Ministerial dove-cots. Speculation is rife as to
his chance of securing the particular concession after which, of course,
it is well known he has come from Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. The
first place among the holders of concessions is very evenly divided
between Japan and America. If the interests of Japan be placed apart,
those of America are certainly the most prominent. Germany and Russia are
busily creating opportunities for the development of their relations with
the industries of the country; Italy and Belgium have secured a footing;
Great Britain is alone in the indifference with which she regards the
markets of Korea.

In this chapter I propose to state briefly the exact position occupied in
Korea by the manufacturing and industrial interests of foreign countries;
adding a specific table, which, I hope, may attract the attention of
British manufacturers to the means by which the Japanese houses contrive
to meet the demands of the Korean market. The competition of the Japanese
has an advantage in the propinquity of their own manufacturing centres; a
co-operative movement throughout the Japanese settlements against foreign
goods is another factor in their supremacy.

It may, perhaps, afford British manufacturers some small consolation
to know that there are still many articles which defy the imitative
faculties of the Japanese. These are, mainly, the products of the
Manchester market, which have proved themselves superior to anything
which can be placed in competition against them. It has been found, for
instance, impossible to imitate Manchester dyed goods, nor can Japanese
competition affect the popularity of this particular line. Chinese
grass-cloths have, however, cut out Victoria lawns fairly on their
merits. The Chinese manufacturer, unhampered by any rise in the cost
of production and transportation, produces a superior fabric, of more
enduring quality, at a lower price. Moreover, in spite of the assumed
superiority of American over English locomotives, on the Japanese
railways in Korea the rolling stock produced by British manufacturers has
maintained its position. It is pleasing to learn that some proportion
of the equipment of the old line from Chemulpo to Seoul, and of the new
extension to Fusan, have been procured from England. Mr. Bennett, the
manager of Messrs. Holme Ringer and Company, the one British house in
Korea, with whom the order from the Japanese company was placed, informed
me that the steel rails and fish-plates imported would be from Cammel and
Company, the wheels and axles from Vickers, and that orders for a number
of corrugated iron goods sheds had been placed in Wolverhampton. The
locomotives were coming from Sheffield. The Japanese company expressly
stipulated that the materials should be of British make; it was only
through the extreme dilatoriness of certain British firms in forwarding
catalogues and estimates, that an order, covering a large consignment
of iron wire, nails, and galvanised steel telegraph wire, was placed
in America. This dilatoriness operates with the most fatal effect upon
the success of British industries. The Emperor of Korea instructed Mr.
Bennett to order forty complete telephones, switch-boards, key-boards,
and instruments, all intact. Ericson’s, of Stockholm, despatched
triplicate cable quotations, forwarding by express shipment triplicate
catalogues and photographs, as well as cases containing models of their
different styles, with samples of wet and dry cables. One of the two
British firms, to whom the order had been submitted, made no reply. The
other, after an interval of two months, dictated a letter of inquiry as
to the chemical qualities of the soil, and the character of the climatic
influences to which the wires, switch-boards, and instruments would be
subjected!

A few years ago a demand arose for cheap needles and fish-hooks. The
attention of British manufacturers was drawn to the necessity of
supplying a needle which could be bent to the shape of a fish-hook. A
German manufacturer got wind of the confidential circular which Mr.
Bennett had prepared, and forwarded a large assortment of needles and
fish-hooks, the needles meeting the specified requirements. The result of
this enterprise was that the German firm skimmed the cream of the market.
The English needles were so stiff that they snapped at once; and it is
perhaps unnecessary to add that, beyond the few packets opened for the
preliminary examination, not one single order for these needles has been
taken.

The position which Great Britain fills in Korea is destitute of any
great commercial or political significance. Unintelligible inaction
characterises British policy there—as elsewhere. Our sole concession
is one of very doubtful value, relating to a gold mine at Eun-san.
In the latter part of 1900 a company was formed in London, under the
style of the British and Korean Corporation, to acquire the Pritchard
Morgan Mining Concession from the original syndicate. In the spring of
1901 Mr. E. T. McCarthy took possession of the property on behalf of
the new owners. Mr. McCarthy had had considerable experience as a mine
manager. The most careful management was necessary to the success of
this concern. The expenses of working were extraordinarily heavy, as,
owing to the absence of fuel, coal had to be imported from Japan. A coal
seam had been located upon the concession, but nothing was then known
as to its suitability for steam purposes. It is impossible to consider
the undertaking very seriously. All surface work was stopped during my
residence in Korea, the operations for the past few months having been
confined to underground development and prospecting. There was talk of
the instalment of a mill. A vein of pyrrhotine, carrying copper for a
width of 13 ft., was regarded with some interest, but in the absence of
machinery nothing of much consequence could be done.

Another concern, Anglo-Chinese in its formation, is the Oriental
Cigarette and Tobacco Company, Limited. The capital of this venture
is registered from Hong-Kong. Since May 1902, the company has been
engaged at Chemulpo in the manufacture, from Richmond and Korean
tobacco, of cigarettes of three kinds. At the present time it possesses
machinery capable of a daily output of one million cigarettes. In the
days of its infancy, the company was reduced to a somewhat precarious
existence—the early weeks of its career producing no returns whatsoever.
Now, however, a brighter period has dawned, and an ultimate prosperity
is not uncertain. Cash transactions, in the sales of the cigarettes
manufactured by the company, began in July 1902, realising by the end of
February 1903, £1515 sterling; to this must be added credit sales of £896
sterling—making a grand total for the first few months of its existence
of £2411 sterling. A large staff of native workers is permanently
employed.

Aside from this company and the mining corporation, British industrial
activity is confined almost exclusively to the agency which Mr. Bennett
so ably controls in Chemulpo, of which a branch is now established in
the capital, and the Station Hotel which Mr. Emberley conducts at Seoul.
Mr. Jordan, the British Minister in Korea, did request in June 1903,
a concession for a gold mine five miles square in Hwang-hai Province.
Apart from this, the apathy of the British merchant cannot be regarded
as singular when business houses in London direct catalogues, intended
for delivery at Chemulpo, to the British Vice-Consul, Korea, Africa. Nor,
by the way, is Korea a part of China. Mr. Emberley has established a
comfortable and very prosperous hotel in the capital, while at Chemulpo
Mr. Bennett has opened out whatever British trade exists in Korea.
British interests are safe enough in his hands, and if merchants will
act in co-operation with him, it might still be possible to create good
business, in spite of the competition and imitation of the Japanese. In
this respect British traders are not unreasonably expected to observe
the custom, prevailing among all Chinese merchants, of giving Korean
firms an extended credit. Foreign banks in the Far East charge seven or
eight per cent., per annum, and the native banks ten to fourteen per
cent., which represents a very considerable advance upon home rates.
In the opinion of Mr. Bennett, who is, without doubt, one of the most
astute business men in the Far East, no little improvement would be
shown in the Customs return of British imports, if the manufacturers at
home would ship goods to Korea on consignment to firms, whose standing
and bank guarantees were above suspicion, charging thereon only home
rates of interest. An American company, engaged extensively in business
with Korea, never draws against shipments, by that means deriving
considerable advantage over its competitors. I commend this suggestion
to the attention of the British shipper, particularly as trade in Korea
is largely dependent upon the rice crop. In the train of a bad harvest
comes a reduction of prices. Importers, then, who have ordered stocks
beforehand, find themselves placed in a quandary. Their stocks are left
upon their hands—it may be for a year, or even longer—and they are
confronted with the necessity of meeting the excessive rates of interest
current in the Far East. If the manufacturer could meet the merchant
by allowing a rate of interest, similar to that prevailing at home, to
be charged, the importer of British goods would be less disinclined to
indent ahead. Under existing circumstances the merchant must take the
risk of ordering in the spring for autumn delivery, and _vice-versâ_;
on the other hand, China and Japan, being within a few days’ distance
of Korea, the importer prefers to await the fulfilment of the rice
crop, when, as occasion requires, he can cable to Shanghai, Osaka, or
elsewhere for whatever may be desired.

Attached to the English Colony in Korea, which numbers one hundred and
forty-one, there is the usual complement of clergy and nursing sisters,
under the supervision of Bishop Corfe, the chief of the English Mission
in Seoul. Miss Cooke, a distinguished lady doctor and a kind friend to
the British Colony, is settled in Seoul. A number of Englishmen are
employed in the Korean Customs; their services contributing so much to
the splendid institution which Mr. McLeavy Brown has created, that one
and all are above criticism. Mr. McLeavy Brown would be the first to
acknowledge how much the willing assistance of his staff has contributed
to his success.

The importance of the American trade in Korea is undeniable. It is
composite in its character, carefully considered, protected by the
influence of the Minister, supported by the energies of the American
missionaries, and controlled by two firms, whose knowledge of the wants
of Korea is just forty-eight hours ahead of the realisation of that
want by the Korean. This is, I take it, just as things should be. The
signs of American activity, in the capital alone, are evident upon
every side. The Seoul Electric Car Company, the Seoul Electric Light
Company, and the Seoul (Fresh Spring) Water Company have been created by
American enterprise, backed up by the “liveness” and ’cuteness of the
two concessionaires, whom I have just mentioned, and pushed along by
little diplomatic attentions upon the part of the American Minister. The
Seoul-Chemulpo Railway Concession was also secured by an American, Mr.
Morse, the agent of the American Trading Company, and subsequently sold
to the Japanese company in whom the rights of the concession are now
vested. The charter of the National Bank of Korea has also been awarded
to these Americans, and it is now in process of creation. The only mine
in Korea which pays is owned by an American syndicate; and, by the way,
Dr. Allen, the American Minister, possesses an intelligible comprehension
of the Korean tongue.

[Illustration: THE CONSULTING-ROOM OF MISS COOKE]

There is a large American colony in Korea, totalling in all two hundred
and forty. One hundred live in Seoul; sixty-live are employed upon
the American Mine at Un-san; thirty-four live at Pyöng-yang. Five are
in the service of the Korean Government; ten are associated with the
railway; the famous two are engaged in business and the remainder
comprise the staffs of the Legation and Consulate, and a medley of
missionaries. American trade with Korea embraces kerosene, flour,
mining machinery, railway and mining supplies, household goods and
agricultural implements, clothing and provisions, drills, sheetings,
cotton goods, and cotton yarn. The American mine at Un-san employs
seventeen Japanese and one hundred and thirty-three Chinese, one hundred
Europeans, of whom thirty-five are American, and four thousand natives,
whose wages range from 8_d._ to 1_s._ 2_d._ daily. The private company
that has acquired this concession works five separate mines with enormous
success; four mills, two of forty stamps and two of twenty stamps, are
of long standing. An additional mill of eighty stamps is of more recent
construction. During 1901 gold to the amount of £150,000 was exported
by the company, while in the year following this sum was very vastly
exceeded. The area of the concession is eight hundred square miles.

The future alone can disclose whether Korea is to be absorbed by the
Japanese. At present, the Japanese population in Korea exceeds twenty
thousand, the actual estimate falling short of twenty-five thousand.
The Japanese control the railway between Chemulpo and Seoul, as well
as the important trunk line to Fusan, an undertaking now in course
of construction and under the immediate supervision of the Japanese
Government. The new company has since absorbed the parent line from Seoul
to Chemulpo. The capital of this company is twenty-five million yen,
£2,500,000, which is to be raised in annual instalments of five million
yen, counting from the time when one-tenth of the first instalment
of five million yen was found. As a matter of fact, the preliminary
turning of the first sods took place at Fusan on September 21st, and at
Yong-tong-po on August 20th, in the summer of 1901. From that moment,
the Japanese Government made itself responsible for the payment of
the debenture bonds, and guaranteed six per cent. upon the company’s
subscribed capital for a period of fifteen years.[1] Each share is of
the value of £5, the money to be called up as required, each call being
at the rate of ten shillings per share. The whole of the 400,000 shares,
which was the original allotment, was at once taken up, Japanese and
Koreans alone being eligible as shareholders. The estimated cost of
the line is £9000 per mile. Work has been completed as far as Syu-won,
a distance of twenty-six miles, over which section trains are already
running. Construction is, of course, being rapidly pushed forward, and
working parties are engaged at a number of places along the line of route.

The length of the Seoul-Fusan Railway will be 287 miles. It is
confidently expected that the undertaking will be completed within six
years. There will be some forty stations, including the terminal depôts,
and it is, perhaps optimistically, estimated that the scheduled time for
the journey from Fusan to Seoul will be twelve hours, which is an average
of twenty-four miles an hour, including stops, the actual rate of speed
being approximately some thirty miles an hour. The present working speed
of the Seoul-Chemulpo railway requires a little less than two hours to
make the journey between Seoul and Chemulpo, a distance of twenty-five
miles, from which it will be seen that considerable improvement must
take place if the distance between Seoul and Fusan is to be accomplished
within twelve hours.

In the first few miles of the journey, the trunk line to Fusan will run
over the metals of the Seoul-Chemulpo railway. The start will be from the
station outside the south gate of the capital; the second stop will be
Yong-san, and the third No-dol. At the next station, Yong-tong-po, the
railway leaves the line of the Seoul-Chemulpo branch to run due south to
Si-heung, where it bears slightly eastward until reaching An-yang and
Syu-won, some twenty-six miles distant from Seoul. At this point the
railway resumes its southerly direction and passes through Tai-hoang-kyo,
O-san-tong, and Chin-eui, where it crosses the border of the Kyöng-keui
Province into Chyung-chyöng Province, and reaches the town of Pyöng-tak.
The line then runs near the coast, proceeding due south to Tun-po, where
it will touch tide water, and, bearing due south, reaches On-yang,
sixty-nine miles from Seoul. It then proceeds in a south-easterly
direction to Chyön-eui, and once again turning directly south crosses
the famous Keum River and enters the important town of Kong-chyu. From
Kong-chyu, which is ninety-six miles from Seoul, and by its fortunate
possession of facilities for water transit, is destined to become an
important distributing centre, the line follows its southward course
towards Sin-gyo, where an important branch line will be constructed
towards the south-west to connect Kang-kyöng, the chief commercial
centre of the province, with the main system. It is also probable that
a further extension of the line from Sin-gyo towards the south-west
will be projected, in order to make communication with Mokpo, the coast
port through which passes the grain trade of Chyöl-la and Kyöng-syang
Provinces.

The town of Sin-gyo marks one hundred and twenty-five miles from Seoul;
beyond Sin-gyo, the south-westerly direction, which the line is now
following, changes by an abrupt sweep to the east, where, after passing
through Ryön-san, a western spur of the great mountain chain of the
peninsula is crossed, and the town of Chin-san entered. Still running
east to Keum-san, the valley of the southern branch of the Yang River
is traversed in its upper waters, until, after following the river in
a north-easterly direction for some little distance, the road takes
advantage of a gap in the mountains, through which the Yang River breaks,
to cross the stream and turn due east to touch Yang-san, coming to a
pause one hundred and forty-one miles from Seoul in Yöng-dong. From
Yöng-dong the railway moves forward north-east to Whan-gan, one hundred
and fifty-three miles from Seoul, the place lying close within the
mountain range but a few miles distant from the Chyu-pung Pass—to cross
which will call for more than ordinary engineering skill. Leaving the
pass and running slightly south of east, the railway proceeds towards
the Nak-tong River, through Keum-san, crossing the stream at Wai-koan,
a few miles north-east of Tai-ku, a town of historical importance some
two hundred miles from Seoul. The railway then follows the valley of
the Nak-tong, and passes to the east of the river, through Hyön-pung,
Chyang-pyöng, Ryöng-san, Syök-kyo-chyön, Ryang-san, Mun-chyön, Tong-lai,
where the Nak-tong River is again met. The direction from Tai-ku is
south-east all the way to Fusan, whence the line runs beside the river.
At Kwi-po it strikes across to the native town of Old Fusan, thence
running round the Bay to its terminus in the port.

This railway, which provides for extensive reclamation works in the
harbour of Fusan, has become already an economic factor of very great
importance. More particularly is this manifest when it is remembered that
the country through which the line passes is known as the granary of
Korea. Developments of a substantial character must follow the completion
of this undertaking, the position of Japan in Korea receiving more
emphatic confirmation from this work than from anything by which her
previous domination of the country has been demonstrated. It will promote
the speedy development of the rich agricultural and mining resources of
Southern Korea, and as these new areas become accessible by means of the
railway, it is difficult to see how the influx of Japanese immigrants
and settlers to the southern half of the kingdom can be avoided.
Indeed, a very serious situation for the Korean Government has already
arisen, since by far the greatest number of the men, engaged upon the
construction of the Seoul-Fusan Railway, have signified their intention
of becoming permanent settlers in the country. In the case of these new
settlers, the company has granted from the land, which it controls on
either side of the line, a small plot to each family for the purposes
of settlement. While the man works upon the line, his family erect a
house and open up the ground. Whether or no the action of the company
can be justified to the extent which has already taken place, the policy
has resulted in the establishment of a continuous series of Japanese
settlements extending through the heart of Southern Korea from Seoul to
Fusan.

From time to time the Japanese Government itself has attempted to stem
the torrent of Japanese migration to Korea. But the success of the
colonies already settled there has made it a delicate and a difficult
task—one which, in the future, the Japanese Government may be expected to
leave alone. The railway once open, the still greater stimulus which will
be imparted to agriculture in the southern half of the kingdom, will
appeal to many thousands of other would-be settlers. Whatever objection
the Korean Government may offer to this invasion, it is quite certain
that with the very heart of the agricultural districts laid bare, Korea
must be prepared to see a rapid increase in her already large Japanese
population. In a great part the increase is already an accomplished fact.
The influence of Japan is already supreme in Korea. It is paramount
in the Palace; and it is upheld by settlements in every part of the
country. In the capital itself there is a flourishing colony of four
thousand adults. She has established her own police force; created her
own post-office, telephone, cable and wireless telegraph system. She has
opened mines—her principal mine is at Chik-san—and has introduced many
social and political reforms, besides being the greatest economic factor
in the trade of the kingdom.

Little development has distinguished the concessions secured by the
French in Korea. A railway concession was abandoned a few years ago;
and an existing charter, covering certain mining rights, has almost
expired. M. Colin de Plancy, the amiable and energetic French Minister
in Korea, has, however, succeeded in re-arranging the terms of the
abandoned concession. In addition to this, in June 1903, he applied for
a new gold-mining concession in Chyung-chyöng Province. The concession,
which has been revived, was granted so far back as 1896; but it was
forfeited long since, and only recently revoked. By the old agreement
a French syndicate, La Compagnie de Fines-Lille, received a charter
to construct a line of railway between Seoul and Wi-ju, the important
frontier port at the mouth of the Yalu. The construction of this line,
which will form, together with the Seoul-Fusan railway, the main trunk
line of the kingdom, will no longer be the private speculation of a
French syndicate, the Imperial Government itself having undertaken to
make the road. Two years ago the French Minister succeeded in reviving
the interest of the Korean Government in the scheme, and secured an
undertaking that the services of French engineers only should be
employed, and that the materials for the new work should be supplied by
French houses. In continuation of this most excellent piece of diplomacy,
M. Colin de Plancy was instrumental, at a little later date, in bringing
about the creation of the North-Western Railway Bureau, of which the
First Secretary of the French Legation, M. G. Lefevre, was made managing
director, with Yi Yong-ik as its President. M. de Lapeyriere became the
chief consulting engineer to the railway; M. Bourdaret, and a small army
of French engineers, master mechanics, overseers, and skilled workmen
were placed upon the pay-sheets of the company.

The Korean Government made itself responsible for the annual disbursement
of one hundred thousand yen (£10,000) on this railway, and construction
began in the spring of 1902. Operations were suspended, however, owing
to the prevalence of the rainy season. Work was resumed again in the
autumn and, again, after a short spell of activity, stopped. Lack of the
necessary funds is doubtless the reason; yet, nevertheless, the Korean
Government refused an offer for the right to construct the line from a
Russian financier. This preliminary stage of the line traverses districts
famous for their mineral and agricultural resources, and connects the
present capital, Seoul, with two former seats of Central Government,
Song-do and Pyöng-yang, even now rich and populous towns. It is intended
to complete the line to Song-do at once, pushing forward towards Wi-ju,
in the hope of connecting with the Trans-Siberian system, when the
Government is able to find the funds. The distance between Seoul and
Song-do by the line of railway is eighty kilometres. In round figures the
cost of construction is placed at about £260,000; the traffic receipts
are valued at £12,000, £10,000 of which will be contributed by passenger
traffic. The annual working expenses are placed at £8000; and it is
“hoped” that the Seoul-Song-do line will be opened to general traffic
within two years. The figures are altogether French and airy.

A survey of the line between Seoul and Song-do shows to some extent the
nature of the work which awaits the French engineers. Gradients will
be about 21 feet to the mile; embankment-building and excavation give
13,000 cubic metres to the kilometre; twenty-six per cent. of the line
will be curved, the radius of the most acute bend being some 200 metres;
twenty-five moderately large bridges, one hundred and fifty small bridges
and culverts will figure in construction. The Im-chin River will be
crossed, at first, by ferry; in the end, however, a bridge, five hundred
feet in length, will span this break in the line. The gauge of the road
would be 1.43 m.; the ties will be 2.50 m. long, 30 m. in width, 1.25 m.
thick. There will be 1.70 kilometres for the purpose of side-tracking,
and an off-line, 1.30 kilometres long, will branch to Han-chu, on the
Han River. Between Seoul and Song-do there will be six stations and four
signal points; the rolling stock will consist of five locomotives of
the Mallet type, five combined first and second class and eight third
class coaches, five luggage cars, and twenty-five freight cars. This
comprises the general requirements of the proposed line, evolved out
of an abandoned concession by the astuteness and activity of the French
Minister.

The line will proceed from outside the West Gate of Seoul, where the
terminus will be 48.50 m. above the sea level, towards Yang-wha-chin,
crossing the A-o-ya Pass at 59.50 m. Descending to the valley of the
Han River, and 17 m. above tide-water, the line traverses the district
of Han-ju, and the western county of Ko-yang, leaving the Han valley 31
kilometres from Seoul. The line then crosses the Kyo-wha valley, at an
elevation of 15 m., and at 42 kilometres from Seoul crosses a tributary
of the Im-chin River at Mun-san-po. Fifty-one kilometres from Seoul the
railway will meet the Im-chin River ferry, where passengers and freight,
under the existing provisional arrangements, will be transferred to a
second train upon the remote side of the river. The line then crosses
the Chang-dan district, and moving up the Valley of Song-do enters
the Song-do terminus at an elevation of 40 m. The distance by rail is
somewhat shorter than by road, and unexpectedly few obstacles have been
met with in the course of construction. A rough survey has been made
north from Song-do, from which point the railway will run due west to
Hai-chu, then due north to Pyöng-yang through Sin-chyön and An-ak. Beyond
this point to Wi-ju no survey has been attempted.

It is questionable, however, if the French line promises such
satisfactory returns as those which may be expected from the southern
railway. When the two lines have been completed and Fusan is in direct
communication with the Siberian Railway, some definite expansion in the
northern areas of the kingdom may be anticipated, and the railway will
be in a position to compete with the junks of the Yalu. But, apart from
the border trade, there is little settled industry which may be relied
on to contribute traffic to the carrying capacity of this line; nor is it
likely that the mines, whose concessions may be said to border the line
of railway, will accept it as a medium of transportation so long as they
are able to make use of the existing facilities for water transit, with
which the American and English mines are served. Of course, it cannot
be predicted what mining and agricultural developments may take place
in the northern regions of Korea. Gold and coal, copper and iron are
known to exist. The development of this mineral wealth may open up the
country, and the presence of the mines will create a demand for the local
production of certain varieties of food-stuffs. These channels of revenue
to the railway are highly problematical. In the absence of any specific
value, which may be attached to the prospects of the French line, a
comparison between the relative importance of the two undertakings
confirms the superiority of the Japanese concession upon every count. The
strategic, as well as the commercial, significance of the southern trunk
line must impress the Koreans with its very positive qualities.

There are some eighty French subjects in Korea, of whom forty are French
priests and one a bishop. Three are associated with the North-Western
Railway Bureau; two are in the Korean Customs; two have been given
employment in the Imperial Mines, and one has become legal adviser to the
Imperial Government. One is attached to the French School; one manages,
most admirably and successfully, the Imperial Korean Post Office. Two
are working in the Korean Arsenal, and three assist in the management of
the Hôtel du Palais. The members of the French colony have been lately
increased by the addition of a number of French engineers, who have
fallen upon the Korean Government in the hope of finding employment with
the Railway Bureau. These transitory visitors are not included in my
figures.

The German colony is small and insignificant. German interests, however,
have been given the concession of a railway line from Seoul to Won-san. A
mine, controlled by a German syndicate, and located at Tong-ko-kai, has
been abandoned with the loss of the many thousand pounds which had been
laid out upon machinery and mining material in general. Germans possess
no other concessions. There is an important firm in Chemulpo, and this
house has established a branch in Seoul. A distinguishing feature of
the business is that there are Germans in both the Seoul and Chemulpo
offices who are thoroughly familiar with the Korean language. This, as
the country develops, will not be without effect; and the fact seems
to illustrate very admirably the methodical system upon which German
commerce in the Far East is built up. The Court band has been entrusted
to the training of a German professor. The effect is very solemn,
and perhaps discloses the necessity for the introduction of a German
physician to the Imperial Household. This counterblast to the position,
which a singular power of sympathy and great professional ability has won
for Miss Cooke, is of recent accomplishment. This English lady doctor
has been for many years physician-in-ordinary to the Imperial Household,
and enjoys the complete confidence of the Court. Miss Cooke is the only
foreigner who has succeeded in overcoming native prejudice and suspicion
entirely.

The battle of concessions is as keen in Korea as in China. The latest
Power to interest itself in the exploitation of the mineral deposits of
Korea is Belgium, hitherto without special concern in the development
of the mining interests of the kingdom. Now, however, Belgium has come
forward, and it is understood that a concession, nine hundred square
_li_[2] in extent, has been granted to its nationals. The Belgians have
undertaken to lend the Korean Government 4,000,000 yen, receiving in
exchange the lease of the mines for twenty-five years. The concession
is situated at Ta-bäk Mountain, at the point where the Chyung-chyöng,
Kyöng-syang and Kang-won Provinces meet. At this moment it is impossible
to state the value of this new concession; but the Belgians are shrewd,
close-fisted people. It is doubtful, therefore, if their venture will be
as unfortunate as our own, or the German, has been.

Adverting to the foreign trade of Korea again, foreign merchants possess
a very definite grievance against the Japanese manufacturing houses who
cater for the Korean markets. After the closest investigation, I venture
to assert there are but few of the so-called foreign-made articles,
exposed to sale in the shops of the Japanese settlements in any of the
open ports in Korea, that are not most shameless imitations. For the most
part they are concocted in Japan, and embellished with the necessary
designs and trade marks, with some imperceptible modification. The
illegality of this practice is incontrovertible. In the absence of any
supervision upon the part of the Korean Customs, or by representatives of
merchants affected by these tricks, it is difficult to see how they may
be avoided. I add a table, showing the various articles counterfeited by
Japanese manufacturers with which I am personally familiar, and which are
on sale under false descriptions. In each instance the imitation comes
from Japan.

AMERICA:

Kerosene, Standard Oil Co.
Richmond Gem cigarettes.
Armour’s canned meats.
Californian canned fruit.
Californian wines, hock, and claret.
Eagle Brand Milk.
Drugs.

GREAT BRITAIN:

Soap, Pears.
Matches, Bryant and May’s.
Sauces, Lea and Perrin.
Needles and cottons.
Alkalies, Brunner, Mond, and Company.
Jams, Crosse and Blackwell.
Turkey Reds, John Orr-Ewing and Company.

FRANCE:

Wines, claret and hock.
Photographic materials.

GERMANY:

Quinine, Messrs. C. A. Boehringer’s.
Hardware.
Needles.
Pianos, Berlin.

SWEDEN:

Matches.

HOLLAND:

Butter.
Liqueurs and spirits.

DENMARK:

Butter.

INDIA:

Cotton fabrics and yarns.

SWITZERLAND:

Swiss milk, Nestlé’s.

Japanese kerosene oil comes over in cans which exactly reproduce the
pattern of the Standard Oil Company.

John Orr-Ewing and Company’s Turkey reds, in breadths of 27 in. and 40
yds. long, and colour fast, become 27 in. in breadth, 37½ yds. in length,
the colour is not fast, the material shrinks and the weight is 5 lbs.
deficient.

The trade mark of the firm, “Parrot Brand,” with a picture of the bird,
is the most perfect imitation imaginable.

Imitations of Nestlé’s milk, Bryant and May’s matches, Boehringer’s
quinine, and many other articles have been repeatedly denounced by the
firms.

[Illustration: A RAILWAY SIDING]

CHAPTER XIV

Some account of the treaty ports; Won-san, Fusan,
Mok-po—Character of export and import trade—Local industries

The oldest of the settlements in Korea is the port of Won-san, situated
upon the eastern shores of the kingdom, half-way between Fusan and
Vladivostock.

The picturesqueness of its setting makes the spacious harbour of this
bustling treaty port a graceful conclusion to any tour which has had
for its object the inspection of the scenic loveliness of the Diamond
Mountains. There is little indeed to disturb the placid enjoyment of life
amid the pine-clad bluffs and frowning headlands which surround the broad
waters of the bay. The fact of passing from the seclusion of wild valleys
and rugged heights, sheltering only the monasteries of Buddha, into the
lively atmosphere of a treaty port does not destroy the illusions which
any stay in the lofty regions of these Twelve Thousand Peaks necessarily
fosters.

Within wooded cliffs, which hang above a fringe of silver sand, looking
out over a harbour forty square miles in extent, where mountains
encompass every quarter of the horizon, and rocky islets, verdant
with vegetation, stud a sapphire sea, there lies a spot where the
fleets of the world might swing at anchor with perfect safety, in
perfect isolation. It is certainly a wonderful harbour; and worthy of
the commotion caused at intervals by the desire of Russia to secure
possession of the prize. The superb advantages with which it is endowed
make it an object of solicitude to the Powers. If possession of this
harbour were coupled with the occupation of Vladivostock and Port Arthur,
the control of those northern seas would rest with the Russian fleet.
Otherwise, it is a peaceful place to be the centre of so much political
turmoil.

Won-san, the treaty port, is situated in the south-west corner of the
harbour. The northern arm of the harbour is known as Port Lazareff; the
south-eastern portion is Broughton Bay, the name which is usually given
to the entire harbour. Captain W. R. Broughton, the English navigator,
first entered it on October 4, 1797, in his sloop-of-war of 16 guns,
_Providence_. Port Lazareff is about sixteen miles from Won-san, in a
westerly direction across the bay, at the mouth of the Dun river. It
is the point which Russia was credited with the intention of securing
for the terminus of her Trans-Siberian Railway. There are two entrances
into Broughton Bay, one giving direct admission into Port Lazareff.
Russian men-of-war make the most of this advantage in visiting the
harbour, for it enables them to enter without revealing their presence
to the authorities upon shore. Upon one occasion, when I was visiting
the neighbourhood, I surprised parties from two Russian men-of-war
engaged in surveying the hills and taking soundings of the anchorages;
their presence was quite unsuspected by the Japanese Consul or by the
Commissioner of Customs.

The bay is well protected by chains of mountains, its physical
perfections in this respect rendering it of peculiar value as a naval
base. The channel into the harbour is broad, deep, and free from all
encumbrances. Numerous islands are so situated about the mouth that every
approach could be strongly protected. Besides being easy of access, there
is an average depth of about nine fathoms upon a firm bottom. The water
is free from ice in winter, notwithstanding the severity of the cold in
this region. Inexhaustible supplies of spring water can be obtained; and,
in the proper season, the shooting and fishing afford very varied sport.
These are, however, but the accessories to a harbour, which, if it were
fortified and converted into a first-class naval station, would be the
equal of Vladivostock and superior to every other station in the Far
East. It is far in advance of anything which the Powers have seized in
China.

Between Hong Kong and Dalny, the commercial harbour of Port Arthur, which
Russia has endeavoured to improve since it belonged to China, there is
no anchorage which could be so readily and inexpensively adapted to
the requirements of a first-class naval station of a first-class naval
Power. At present, Won-san harbour is visited only by the squadrons which
Russia and Japan maintain in this water. Although there is a flourishing
Japanese settlement upon shore, no Japanese gun-boat is detached as yet
for guardship duties. At Fusan and Chemulpo, however, the practice of
detailing ships for port duties is carefully observed, Japan losing few
opportunities to impress upon her neighbour in particular, and the world
in general, the significance of her interests in Korea.

Won-san was opened to Japanese trade in 1880, becoming a general foreign
settlement on November 3rd, three years later. Although its subsequent
development is due entirely to the industry of the Japanese, and
their undoubted commercial sagacity, its imports of foreign trade in
recent years have contributed to the position which it now takes in the
commercial progress of the country. The economic expansion of the port,
however, has been promoted by the business resulting from the immigration
of Japanese settlers and the doubling of the native population. Materials
for clothing, cotton goods, grass-cloth, and silk are pre-eminent in the
local requirements. A comparison of the annual returns discloses a steady
advance in its prosperity, the paramount influence, which the Japanese
exercise over its welfare, restricting foreign trade to those articles
which cannot be imported from Japan. Business has just doubled in six
years; but the increase in the import trade is not in favour of British
goods. The imposition of the tariff, which prevails in European Russia,
at Vladivostock, accounted for the general advance in foreign imports
at Won-san during 1901. In the following year, 1902, the imports were
again heavier than the exports, the figures being: Imports, £191,535,
and exports, £102,205. The local government of the port is conducted
upon Japanese lines. The streets are broad, well gravelled, and fringed
with an irregular border of trees. After the foul and narrow lanes of
the Korean town, through which it is necessary to pick one’s way before
entering the settlement, their appearance is cheerful and attractive.

Won-san, the native town which has given its name to the port, is two
miles from the heart of the settlement, and comprises a quaint medley
of thatched and tiled houses, crowded together in narrow and noisome
alleys. The main road from Seoul to the frontier, one of the six great
roads of the country, lies through the centre of the town. The clusters
of hovels, upon both sides of this excellent highway, suggest that the
eligible sites are only those which abut upon this spacious thoroughfare.
Glimpses of the bay are visible through gaps in the houses. The smell of
the sea is lost in the fumes of drying fish and decaying garbage, which
hang heavily in the atmosphere, impregnating everything and penetrating
everywhere, save to the wind-swept heights which encircle the bay. A
population of 15,000 huddles in these groups of thatched shops and
tumble-down houses.

The native town ceases abruptly about a mile from the settlement. Fields
of vegetables border the road. The strip of beach upon which the town is
placed, is black with patches of fish spread to the sun, littered with
fishing nets, and encumbered with crazy fishing-boats and junks. After a
little it disappears around cliffs, whose crests are fragrant with pine
and fir trees. Tortuous valleys, giving glimpses of prosperous villages
set in their midst against a background of majestic peaks and ridges of
hills, well-timbered headlands and promontories upon which are set the
houses of the missionaries, combine, with the broad waters of the bay
and the vista of the open sea beyond, to form a series of picturesque
and supremely attractive views. There are nearly three thousand Japanese
in residence at Won-san, a few Chinese merchants, and a small foreign
community, including the Commissioner of Customs and Mrs. Wakefield, and
the Customs staff. The rest are evangelists of no great importance.

The climate of Won-san is dry and healthy. The heat is tempered by sea
breezes and the nights are cool. The mean temperature for the summer
is seventy-three degrees, and for the winter twenty-nine degrees; the
rainfall is forty-four inches, a little greater than that upon the west
coast. Snow falls to a depth of four feet, covering the mountains from
October until May. The port is, however, rather cooler than Chemulpo
in summer and a little warmer in winter, the dryness of the atmosphere
considerably modifying the cold. The splendour of an autumn sky continues
throughout the winter, when the principal shooting is to be obtained.

Much historical interest attaches to many of the more beautiful spots in
the vicinity. From this neighbourhood sprang the kings of Ancient Ko-ryö;
and again, it gave birth to the reigning house of Cho-syön, for, in the
monastery of Sok-wan, twenty-two miles distant, A Tai-cho, the first king
of the present dynasty, was educated and lived. The monastery itself,
with its temples, was erected by the King to mark the spot where, 509
years ago, he received that supernatural summons to rule, in virtue of
which his descendants now occupy the throne. In the seclusion of this
beautiful spot, the early years of A Tai-cho were passed in meditation,
study, and preparation for his future kingship. Many of the magnificent
trees, which embower the temples and rise in stately dignity from the
grand mountain clefts, in which the monastery is situated, are reputed to
have been planted by his hands. In a building apart, into which no one is
allowed to enter, save the monk in whose keeping the relics are placed,
his regalia and robes of State are preserved to this day.

Won-san is situated in the southern corner of the province of Ham-kyöng.
A considerable portion of its trade is carried on with the closely
adjoining divisions of Pyöng-an and Kang-won, the three provinces
forming the northern half of the kingdom; their population is variously
estimated at between three and five millions. Mountains predominate in
these districts. A bewildering tangle of wooded hills and bleak peaks
meets the eye, jumbling and jostling one another in every direction
until nothing is seen but broken mountains and ridges cleft into a
thousand little valleys. More especially is this the case in Ham-kyöng
and Kang-won; in Pyöng-an the valleys broaden out and the hills become
lower and less frequent, giving place to the Ta-dong River, and many
wide spaces for agricultural purposes. Among these broken ranges in the
neighbourhood of Won-san, and towards the interior, there is much sport.
Sable, ermine, and otter are trapped in Northern Ham-kyöng; tigers,
leopards, bears, wolves and foxes are rare in fact, plentiful in fiction.
Wild boar, deer and hares are not uncommon; pheasants are less numerous
than formerly. Snipe appear in August, duck in September, geese and
wild fowl in the winter on the marshes and lagoons. There is much game
upon the land, and there is much sport in the sea. Whales, shark, seal,
salmon, and innumerable small species wait to be caught, the products of
sea and land combining to make the place a sportsman’s paradise.

[Illustration: IN NEW FUSAN]

The approach to the treaty port of Fusan is through a bay strewn with
green islands and encompassed by high cliffs. A narrow path, skirting the
shore and running over the cliffs, leads presently to Old Fusan, a walled
city of great antiquity, situated at the end of a stretch of ten miles
of sea, which forms one of the arms of the bay. New Fusan is like every
other Korean treaty port. The smells of the Japanese settlement were
worse, however, very much worse, as I well remember, than any which rose
from the sewers and slimy alleys of the old town. Old Fusan stands alone,
at the head of the bay, looking down from its ruined and crumbling walls
across the waste of water, musing in decrepit isolation upon departed
glories. New Fusan, the foreign quarter, is very noisy, very dirty, and
uncomfortable. The Japanese shopkeepers make little attempt to provide
for other aliens; the wretched hotel demurs at receiving them. The place
is thoroughly Japanese, prosperous, active, and enduring. It is the focus
of the tumble-down steamers which run between the ports of Korea and
Japan, venturing even to Taku, Port Arthur and Vladivostock. Upon all
sides there is the appearance of industry and trade, inseparable from any
Japanese community. In conjunction with the Seoul-Fusan Railway a vast
scheme of harbour reclamation is in progress. This will provide suitable
sites for godowns, in which the port is sadly deficient. The making of
roads, the installation of electric light, and the construction of large
waterworks are the objects which have already received the attention
of the Japanese authorities. There is a Japanese Consul-General in
Fusan, who administers Japanese law to some fourteen thousand of his
fellow countrymen. Half of this number is comprised in the floating
population, whose sole business is fishing. The valuable fisheries lying
off the coast and in the adjacent archipelago return an annual yield
of ten million herring and half a million cod. Altogether, the bustle
and confusion of the place supports its claim to be the most important
of the treaty ports of Korea, in spite of the neglect with which
British merchants treat it. The actual Japanese population of the Fusan
settlement in 1901 was seven thousand and fourteen, an increase of more
than one thousand upon the returns of the previous year—six thousand and
four. Since then there has been a further increase, and the population at
the present time falls little short of nine thousand.

The activity of the Japanese in the open ports of Korea does not
correspond in any way to the size of the port. Whatever may be the
local conditions, there is no falling-off in their untiring enterprise.
If the port has been established ten or twenty years, or only one,
their commercial vigour is the same. After the settlements of Won-san,
Fusan, and Chemulpo, a visit to the port of Mok-po, declared open in
the autumn of 1897, fails to elicit much which is new or important.
Mok-po is very small. To those who are interested in the subject, it
gives an excellent example of the cool, resolute manner in which the
Japanese build up a very flourishing settlement upon the foundations of
an unprepossessing native village. The pioneers of the ports in Korea,
it is natural that they should select the best available sites for their
own quarter. At Mok-po, repeating a system which was adopted in the case
of Fusan, Won-san, and Chemulpo, the Japanese settlement commands the
one situation which is adaptable for commercial purposes. The approaches
to Mok-po lie through a network of island and rock-strewn channels,
the largest of which is some six hundred yards wide. The harbour is
the embouchure of the River Ru-yong-san, the main water-way of the
province, some ninety miles long. It can accommodate forty vessels of
large tonnage. The best passage is through Lyne Sound, but easy access is
given, from the south, by Washington Gulf. The width of the harbour is a
little less than two miles, with a depth at low water of eleven fathoms,
rising to nineteen on a full tide. At ebb tide the current averages five
knots an hour; during the spring tides this velocity increases, adding to
the disadvantages offered by an indifferent holding-ground.

Mok-po is situated in the south-western corner of the Province of
Chyöl-la, sometimes called the granary of Korea. The port takes its name
from a large island, which faces it on the north, and forms the entrance
to the river. It is picturesque and stands sufficiently high to break
the monotony of the surrounding country. Rough and barren to look upon,
it possesses the nucleus of what will become an important settlement as
trade increases. The buildings of the Japanese Consulate and the Customs
House are the most imposing structures at present in the place. The
British Consulate, a mass of rock, unadorned, bluff, bare and bleak, is
the most desolate and depressing. A vista of mud flats does not add to
the beauty of this spot. A well-built sea-wall, behind which some acres
of marshy shore have been reclaimed, indicates the spirit in which the
Japanese set to work to improve their concessions.

A composite trade centres at Mok-po, exceeding one hundred thousand
pounds in value. Foreign imports stand for quite eighty thousand of this
total. It is, perhaps, needless to add that no British shipping has
entered the harbour within the six years of its existence. German and
American steamers have nevertheless brought cargoes to Mok-po; Japanese
steamers touch regularly. The trade is that of a native market, whose
demands can be furnished from Japan; it is, of course, beneath the notice
of the British exporter. Piece goods, Japanese and American cigarettes,
matches, yarn, articles which the humbler classes now use and for which,
owing to the rapidly increasing native population of this south-western
Province, there will be greater demand in the future, make up the trade.

[Illustration: PALACE GATEWAY]

It may be that this port, despised by the British merchant, as are all
the ports of Korea, will some day head the centres of commerce of the
kingdom. Even now it attracts foreign goods from Japan, America, and
Germany. There are many channels through which British wares, cheap,
enduring, practical and suitable to prevailing conditions could filter
to the advantage of the British merchant. Cereals are raised in large
quantities, straw-matting, grass-cloth, paper and fans are the other
native manufactures. A vein of bituminous coal has been struck within a
short distance of the port. In two industries—the making of paper and
the weaving of grass-cloth—there are opportunities for expansion, which
any enterprising and intelligent agent could promote by introducing cheap
chemicals and inexpensive mechanical appliances. In the paper-making
trade alone there is a rich harvest to be garnered by the firm who will
choose to devote time, energy and patience to the creation of a business
in alkalies. Already the basis of a remunerative connection exists among
the villages devoted to this labour.

CHAPTER XV

Treaty Ports (_continued_)—Wi-ju—Syön-chyön-po—Chin-am-po—Pyöng-yang—
Kun-san—Syöng-chin

The ports which remain to be mentioned, have not yet attained a
commercial importance entitling them to any great consideration. They
afford, however, a signal illustration of the enterprising spirit in
which the Koreans have met the demands made upon them, and, as the
interests of the country increase, the natural expansion of the inland
trade will enhance their value.

Hitherto, Southern Korea has been better served in the matter of open
ports than the northern half of the kingdom. With the addition to the
list of treaty ports of Syöng-chin, upon the north-eastern coast, and
Chin-am-po (with Pyöng-yang, an old-time capital of Korea, and ranking
to-day as the third city of the Empire, in close proximity), upon the
western coast, greater facilities have been accorded to the commercial
development of the almost unknown markets of Northern Korea. In view,
however, of the trade in the southern provinces of the kingdom, the port
of Kun-san was created on the west coast simultaneously with the opening
of Syöng-chin in 1899 upon the north-east shore. This port lies between
Chemulpo and Mok-po, at the mouth of the Keum River, the natural boundary
between the two provinces, Chyöl-la and Chyung-chyöng.

It is, nevertheless, to the north and north-east regions that foreign
commerce must look for that impetus to industrial activity, which comes
from the opening of new markets. A most important trade-centre already
exists in Wi-ju, at the mouth of the Yalu river. This town requires to
be opened; in the meantime, its position upon the border of Manchuria
attracts a varied and valuable direct trade. Moreover, if Wi-ju were
brought under the administration and control of the Maritime Customs of
Korea, and included among those ports which have already been declared,
a greater restraint could be put upon the smugglers, who have made it
a centre of communication in their illicit trade. At this moment it is
difficult to say whether Wi-ju may be quite properly included among
the treaty ports. If official assurances can be safely accepted, the
Government of Korea decided on August 22nd, 1903, to declare Wi-ju an
open port, at the same time placing a Customs house at Yong-an-po.
The difference between the two is hardly greater than that separating
Pyöng-yang from Chin-am-po. Unfortunately, this decision is by no means
definite, although a few days later, on September 4th, an announcement
to the same effect was made by the Foreign Office at Seoul to the
foreign representatives. This official ratification of its previous
decision would carry conviction if the policy of the Korean Cabinet
were less vacillating, and the opposition of the Russian Minister less
strenuous. The Russian Minister objects in an equal degree to the opening
of Yong-an-po, and, since M. Colin de Plancy, the French Minister, is
supporting his Russian colleague, M. Pavloff, in opposition to the
opening of Wi-ju, future developments may prove M. Pavloff to have
withdrawn his objections against Wi-ju in order that he can concentrate
them upon Yong-an-po. Unfortunately for Russian interests, British policy
in Korea favours the opening of both ports, an action in which Mr.
Jordan, the British Minister in Seoul, is cordially supported by many of
his colleagues.

The action of the British Government in respect of these ports on the
Yalu is quite encouraging, and it is equally satisfactory to see that
Mr. Jordan has maintained his attitude with admirable consistency. The
demand of the British Government was presented to his Majesty at a
special audience on July 14th, 1903. It evoked at once the opposition
of the Russians, whose objections were communicated officially to the
Korean Government when, a few days later, the British Minister sent a
despatch to the Foreign Office to inquire upon what date Wi-ju would
become an open port. Meanwhile, the Japanese Minister reiterated the
request of the British Government, which, at the same time, was supported
by an identical demand from the Chinese Foreign Office, through the
Korean Minister in Pekin. For a few days matters remained stationary, the
situation becoming a little involved by the resignation of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Yi To-chai, upon the plea of ill-health. The Emperor
refused the resignation, and on August 9th the British Minister sent an
urgent despatch, which demanded the opening of Wi-ju within seven days.
A few days later a decision, favourable to the request of the British
Minister, was delivered, and it remains to be seen whether permanent
effect will be given to it. Meanwhile, as the readiest means of giving
effect to the new dignity of the port, a small _posse_ of Japanese police
has been sent to Wi-ju to protect the settlement.

Syön-chyön-po, the youngest of the open ports, is in its very early
days. It is situated about forty miles to the south of Wi-ju. Its future
prosperity is uncertain, but from its position, midway between Chin-am-po
and Wi-ju, it should become an important port of call for native
shipping. At present Syön-chyön-po is administered from Chin-am-po,
but the lines of its future settlement have been planned, and it will
doubtless develop into a thriving Japanese colony. For the moment there
is little trade.

[Illustration: CHEMULPO]

The Ta-dong River, at the estuary of which Chin-am-po lies, is one of
the most important and picturesque streams in the country. It drains
the southern and south-eastern divisions of Pyöng-an Province; upon its
banks, sixty-seven miles from the sea, is Pyöng-yang, the early capital
and oldest city of the Empire. Around Pyöng-yang still lingers a host
of romantic associations, historical and legendary. Towns and villages
are found upon the banks of the Ta-dong; there is much rugged beauty
in the scenery, and the water-shed has landmarks of great physical and
historical importance. The velocity of the river current during the
spring tides averages three and a quarter knots. During the ebb, over
against the Chin-am-po bank, there is an increase of two knots caused by
a projecting point upon the opposite shore of the river. The formation of
the Ta-dong inlet is irregular; many indentations, which mark the outline
of the anchorage, become mud flats at low water. Prior to the selection
of Chin-am-po as a treaty port, the native village consisted of a few
straggling huts and a population of less than one thousand. Now, however,
the old order has given way to the new. The mud flats have been reclaimed
and so many improvements have taken place in the general conditions of
the port that a bright future may be confidently predicted for it.

Chin-am-po, the settlement, is situated upon the northern shore of the
Ta-dong inlet, about fifteen miles from its entrance in the extreme
south-west of Pyöng-an Province. The port was opened to foreign trade
in October 1897. During the few years of its existence as an open port,
Chin-am-po has made no little progress. At the present time it gives
promise of becoming an exceedingly important commercial centre. The
increase of the foreign trade and the flourishing condition of the native
market have attracted the attention of the Japanese, who have already
made a considerable settlement in the port. Estimates of the native
population vary from fifteen to forty thousand, the smaller figure being
nearer the mark. The trade compares favourably, in point of value and
bulk, with that of ports of equal capacity, similarly situated. Its
development is somewhat restricted, the two great forces contributing
to its material economy being the impetus which has been given to local
agricultural resources, and the mining industry. When the concessions
of the American and British Mining Companies at Un-san and Eun-san were
granted, Chin-am-po became the port of shipment for much of their traffic.

The commercial possibilities of the region, which lies between the
Ta-dong River and the water-shed of the Yalu, are in the earliest stages
of development. Much might be predicted of the returns which these new
fields would yield to intelligent exploitation. Cut off from the eastern
division of the kingdom by ranges of mountains, and extending from
Po-reup-san, near Chin-am-po, in the south, to the mountain fastnesses
of the northern frontiers of the Empire, is a stretch of country in
part uninhabited. It is frequented by bands of Korean robbers and
Chinese bandits; the centre of much native mining and the scene of
perpetual border warfare. The haunt of the wild beast, barren and almost
impenetrable, it is practically untouched by Western civilisation. Its
groves of pines and firs, and acres of woods, recall the time when
Northern Korea was one vast forest. Until quite lately there were but two
open ports for the service of this region, Chin-am-po and Pyöng-yang.
The third, Syön-chyön-po, in its northern extremity, is still closed
to Europeans. Gold and coal, iron and copper, are among its natural
resources. The soil is productive; and the moment is ripe for the
initiation of industrial enterprises. Moreover, commercial prosperity
would introduce a more pacific note into the condition of these lone
lands.

Pyöng-yang lies upon the borders of an extensive anthracite and
bituminous coal district. The outcroppings are plainly traceable,
although at present not indicative of any very serviceable quality
of fuel. Coal, however, is not the least of the minerals, nor are
the resources of the soil confined to the production of beans. Stone
quarrying and the timber industry flourish in the province. The
authentic records of Pyöng-yang go back some three thousand years, the
creation of the city coinciding with that of the Kingdom of Israel. Saul,
David, and Solomon were the contemporaries of Ki-ja and his successors.
In more modern times the most stirring events recorded are the massacre
of the crew of the “General Sherman,” in 1866, and the long chapter of
vicissitudes which befell the city during the Chino-Japanese campaign.
The ravages of war and the devastation of pestilence in 1895 left a
deserted and ruined city. Nevertheless, as if to remind the inhabitants
of the former dignity of their town, the tide of its fortunes turned, and
some measure of prosperity returned. In the interval, trade revived; a
small foreign community now lives within the walls, and it is hoped that
the days of evil omen are as distant as are the times when this old-world
capital first enclosed herself within protecting walls. Commercially
and industrially it has advanced enormously; and, as a sign of the
times, may be mentioned the fact that the native community has founded a
private English Language school. Pyöng-yang is associated so intimately
with Chin-am-po that the two are inseparably united in any survey of
the fortunes of either. Nevertheless, the continuation of Pyöng-yang
as an open port is uncertain, the Korean Government having expressed
the intention of closing the port if they are compelled to throw open
Wi-ju. The British, American and Japanese representatives have resolutely
opposed this suggestion.

The port of Kun-san, which was thrown open in May 1899, to foreign
settlement and general trade, taps channels in the main identical
with those which supply Mok-po. Depending to a great extent upon the
agricultural resources of the provinces of Chyöl-la and Chyung-chyöng,
its trade is confined to the exportation of cereals, such as rice,
wheat, and beans; of grass-cloth, paper, and bamboo articles; and of
varieties of fish and seaweed. When the railway between Seoul and Fusan
is completed, the development of the agricultural resources of these
areas will re-act upon the fortunes of this port. It is, however, quietly
thriving in the interval, content to play a prominent _rôle_ in the
coast trade rather than to figure as a port of call, in any exchange of
commodities with China and Japan. In early days, the port itself was
well known as the export station for revenue rice, when the Government
revenues were paid in grain. The practice has not been maintained in
more recent years. In Kun-san there is an increasing colony of Japanese,
a large native population, and a small Chinese community. The import
trade, however, is confined to Japanese manufactures, including, broadly,
those counterfeits of foreign goods—Manchester shirtings, Chinese lawns,
Indian yarns, American kerosene and English and Swedish matches—in
the production of which our lively imitators have attained an unusual
standard of perfection.

The most isolated of all the open ports is Syöng-chin, upon the
north-eastern coast, in the province of Ham-kyöng, about one hundred
and twenty miles from Won-san. It was opened in May 1899; the trade,
principally with Won-san, and carried on by Japanese, is unimportant.
There is a field for expansion, as gold, copper, and coal exist within a
short distance of the town. There are also white granite quarries in the
neighbourhood. The off-shore sea-fishing supports a colony of Japanese;
large numbers of cattle are raised for the market in the province, and
the country around is under cultivation for beans. The export trade is
in beans, hides, and fish; the imports include kerosene, matches, and
cotton goods. There is no direct native trade with Japan. The present
condition of Syöng-chin suggests that it was once a fortified town of
importance. There are the ruins of a high protecting wall, surmounted
with watch-towers and battlements. Time, poverty and neglect are
responsible for its present impoverished condition. There is a small
native population. The anchorage is little more than an open roadstead.
It is easy of access, deep, and has an excellent holding. Vessels
drawing ten feet can lie within a short distance of the shore. Fogs and
high winds prevail in spring, but, upon the whole, the climate is more
temperate at all seasons than Won-san.

The port lies near the 41st parallel, facing nearly north-east, midway
between Won-san and Vladivostock. The prevailing wind, winter and
summer, blows from the south-west. It is only in times of atmospheric
disturbance, an infrequent condition in these latitudes, that a
north-east blow renders the anchorage unsafe, and compels vessels to
shift their moorings to the north-east end of the bay, where the Sarako
headland gives them shelter. Water to the depth of five fathoms obtains
within 200 yards of the shore. The rise and fall of spring tides is
about two feet. No obstacles present themselves to the building of a
landing-stage and boat harbour. When the port was opened, a few huts
represented the native town. Since then about 250 houses have been
erected, and more are being built. At no distant date it is probable
that Syöng-chin will displace the neighbouring Im-myöng as the market
place. The foreign community is represented by a Japanese Consul and
staff, Japanese police force and postal staff, schoolmaster, shipping
agent and workmen. A British doctor and his family, belonging to the
Canadian Mission, reside there. The only foreign house erected within the
settlement limits is that occupied by the Japanese Consul.

CHAPTER XVI

Russian interests—Russia and Japan—Ma-san-po—Ching-kai-wan—Yong-an-po

Russian industrial activity in Korea may be regarded as a cloak for
political schemes. Since the time that the Emperor became the protected
guest of the Russian Legation, the influence of Russia in Korea has
been more definite in quality. Assisted by French capital, a Russian
company has started recently a cattle ranch and sheep-run at A-ya-chin,
on the coast of Kang-won Province, with a view to the establishment of
a canning factory, which is now in process of construction. In addition
to this, she has set up a glass factory at Seoul, a proceeding which
throws no light upon her motives. She has promoted the Pacific Whale
Fishing Company, which, plying its trade off the coast of Korea, collects
very valuable information of unsurveyed bays and unsounded anchorages,
water-holes, coal-deposits, and currents—and occasionally catches a
whale. It possesses twelve vessels. Russia controls no railway line
in Korea, although she is interested in the line which the French are
building; no gold mine, but a geographical exploration party of naval
officers has been topographically examining the region of the Yalu River
for some years. She has been accorded certain rights in Ma-san-po; she
is endeavouring to secure the concession of a site suitable for a naval
station, and through virtue of a lumber felling concession on the Yalu,
she has located herself at Yong-an-po. In May 1903, too, a commercial
commission travelled from Seoul to Wi-ju, overland.

As rapidly as circumstances permit, Russia is connecting her Manchurian
telegraphic system with the trunk lines of Korea, and telegraphic
communication is in course of construction between Mukden and Wi-ju,
Vladivostock and Won-san. The action of Russia in this respect has
encountered very great opposition from Korea. When the Korean Cabinet
declined to grant permission for the erection of the poles, for which
the Russian engineers had not waited, M. Pavloff, the Russian Minister,
delicately hinted that the removal of the poles would be regarded as an
unfriendly act, and one liable to create unpleasantness between the two
Governments. The Korean Government, however, were not frightened into
drawing back, and for some months past the local officials have been
occupied in cutting down whatever poles the Russians might erect. Russia,
also, proposes to rebuild the telegraph line from Pekin to Seoul _viâ_
Wi-ju, while further, it is her avowed intention to construct from Mukden
a branch of her railway to An-tung on the Yalu River.

Russia has been associated, also, with the Korean army, the Russian
military authorities having lent a number of drill-instructors to
the Korean service. They have now been withdrawn. The management of
the residence, in which apartments are found for the guests of the
Imperial Court, has been entrusted to a Russian lady. There are very few
Russian residents in Seoul. Those who live there comprise the immediate
_personnel_ of the Legation, the Legation guards, priests of the Greek
Church, and some sprinkling of the shop-keeping element. The colony is
small, but contrives, with the aid of a port guardship at Chemulpo and
constant visits from the Pacific Squadron, when performances are given
by the band from the guard-ship for the delectation of the Imperial
Court, to support the majesty and dignity of the Russian Government with
much impressive display. Proposals have been recently made to establish
consulates in the open ports of the Empire—the Consulate from the capital
is now established at Chemulpo; to increase the services of the steamers
of the Manchurian Railway between the open ports of Korea and Manchuria,
and to found a branch of the Russo-Chinese Bank at Chemulpo. It is
intended, too, that the Russian Pacific Squadron shall use the Korean
harbours more frequently as ports of call.

For some years Russia has been gradually feeling her way in Korea.
Prior to 1885 there were over twenty thousand Koreans settled in her
Far Eastern possessions, while in 1888 Russia concluded a Commercial
Convention with Korea, which opened the Korean land frontier to Russian
traders. In 1893 telegraphic communication between Russia and Korea was
arranged, when, just as the Russian policy towards Korea perhaps was
beginning to shape itself, war between China and Japan was declared.
Whatever conclusions may have been anticipated as the results of such
a war, there can be no doubt that its effect upon the actual destinies
of Russia and Japan in the Far East was far-reaching. The policy of
Russia towards China underwent a change, while the ultimate possession
of Korea became equally the objective of Japan as of the greater Power.
Russia, however, could not afford to profit at the moment by the downfall
of China, and Japan was not strong enough to hold the Liao-tung
Peninsula nor bold enough to seize Korea. Nevertheless, driven out of
the Liao-tung by the action of Russia, France and Germany, Japan might
still have secured for herself complete material and political ascendency
over Korea. In time, if such had been her policy, she could have made
manifest, too, her occupation of the kingdom and equipped herself with
an argument, the parallel of that possessed by Great Britain in Egypt,
and by Russia in Manchuria. Unhappily, while Russia with masterly
deliberation was moving steadily forward in her subjugation of Manchuria,
Japan, whole-hearted but ignorant of the pitfalls of colonial expansion,
was creating endless difficulties for herself in Korea, besides serious
complications with the Powers outside the scenes of her activities.
Before she had realised the potentialities of her position, she had
committed herself to a design by which she hoped to secure the King
and Queen and to direct herself the reins of government. But her _coup
d’état_ was to recoil disastrously, and at once, upon her own head. The
Queen fell a victim to the plot, and although the King was imprisoned,
he, together with the Crown Prince, contrived in a little time to find
refuge in the Russian Legation. The escape of the King only emphasised
the failure of Japan, and despite her subsequent treaties with Russia,
in respect of Korea, the balance of power in the Far East as between
Russia and Japan has never quite recovered from the blow which Japan
administered herself to her own prestige upon this occasion.

Japan still wields material influence of a high order in Korea. But,
within the paramount position which she fills, there is the rift caused
by the spread of the antagonistic and insidious influence of her great
opponent. Curiously enough, the position which Russia holds to-day is
not nearly as assertive as that which she occupied in 1896, yet there is
little doubt that her influence is more commanding, if less conspicuously
aggressive. Japan has turned aside upon occasion from the political
issues to develop her commercial interests. Russia, again, has pursued
unswerving the policy which revealed with the fall of China the fact that
Manchuria was within her grasp and that Korea was its entail.

[Illustration: ON THE YALU RIVER]

The action of Russia upon the Yalu River at the present time, her action
in respect of Won-san in the past, are each animated by this _motiv_.
Russia regards Korea as the completion of her dominions in the Far East,
while Japan looks upon the little kingdom as the corollary to that
expansion which is essential to the existence of the Island Empire.
Russia in Manchuria and Korea, with her shadow projected over China,
would mean a sentence of perpetual restriction and shrinkage for Japan.
But, similarly, Russia from her position at Vladivostock and Port Arthur
must regard the occupation of Korea by Japan as a wedge with its point
projected towards the centre of her Manchurian communications. Just as,
therefore, the fear of a Russian descent upon Korea has excited Japan,
the necessity for such action has brought the crisis in the relations
between Japan and Russia so perceptibly nearer. Private agreements and
secret overtures have paved the way for the _denouement_ which long since
was disclosed. When Russia endeavoured to requisition the harbour of
Ma-san-po for the requirements of her Pacific Squadron, an indication was
afforded that Russian activity in Korea would be concealed no longer.
Ma-san-po has since become an open port, the Government of Japan at once
formulating ingenious objections to the Russian scheme at the same time
that they threatened the Government of Korea with threats of immediate
reprisals. But prior to the conditions laid down by Russia in the
Ma-san-po Convention of 1900 with the Korean Government, this magnificent
harbour had already attracted the attention of the Japanese and Chinese
settlers. By force of circumstances, therefore, the place became an
open port, the local authorities being powerless to check the influx of
foreigners and the creation of a foreign zone around the harbour. That M.
Pavloff, the clever Russian diplomatic representative in Seoul, succeeded
in bringing about any agreement at all is remarkable, taking into account
the panic-stricken state to which the Imperial Government was reduced
by Japanese intimidation. The secret convention between the Russian and
Korean Governments, entered into during 1900, preserved the independence
of the harbour, and, failing to confirm Russia in the definite occupation
of Ma-san-po, provided that none of the land about Ma-san-po harbour
or its approaches should be permanently ceded or sold to any foreign
Power. The same conditions applied to the island of Keu-chai, situated in
the mouth of the harbour. This curtailment of the ambitions of Russian
policy, in this particular direction, due, of course, to the energetic
action of Japan, did not make the position of Russia in Ma-san-po in any
sense secure. Japan, even then upon the eve of her declaration, would
have gone to war with Russia, if that Power had attempted to maintain
an isolated and complete domination of this harbour and its approaches
against her wishes.

There is nothing in the present condition of Ma-san-po which suggests
that it may become a centre of Russian influence in Southern Korea. The
Japanese demanded, even before the incident had quite blown over, a large
tract of land at Ma-san-po for the purposes of making a settlement
there. In addition to this, the quarter, marked off for foreign
settlements, has been almost wholly appropriated by the Japanese, who
have erected shops and houses of some importance to the extent of several
hundred, upon the more suitable sites. Japanese postal and telegraphic
offices have been opened in Ma-san-po, and an uncomfortable hostelry
disturbs the rest of the weary. A large permanent staff of Japanese
police has been detached for duty in Ma-san-po, and the next feature in
the development of affairs will be the detailing of a port guardship
and the usual infantry garrison to protect the Japanese settlement.
These acts imply a permanent lease and constitute the methods by which
the Japanese propose to invalidate the Russo-Korean Convention. The aim
of Japanese policy in Ma-san-po is to discount as far as possible the
rights of the Russians, and to deprive their existence in the harbour of
any special significance. The Russians accept the position with extreme
philosophy and indifference. If they wished to do so, they might raise
protest after protest against the intrusive character of Japanese action
in the areas affected by the clauses of the Agreement of 1900.

Twelve months ago the foreign population of Ma-san-po consisted of two
hundred and thirty Japanese, forty-one Chinese, eighteen Russians, and
two Germans. These figures include male and female heads of population,
but no children. The actual strength of the Russian colony in this
harbour was eight men, ten women, three children; of the Japanese only
seventy-eight were females. There is little import and export traffic.
The nearness of Fusan, which is only six hours distant, makes it
unnecessary to trade direct with the settlement. Japanese steamers from
Fusan call daily, local produce being brought round by native junks.
There is a large fishing industry off the harbour; it is, however, quite
controlled by Japanese fishermen from Fusan. The principal industry on
shore is the construction of the settlement, some little agriculture, and
no little gossip.

Since the failure of her efforts to secure Ma-san-po, Russia has
endeavoured to obtain the lease of Ching-kai-wan, sometimes called
Chin-hai or Shin-hai, a bay situated in the extreme south of the Korean
peninsula, as a naval station. The position of this harbour is exactly
midway between Vladivostock and Port Arthur. Owing to its geographical
situation, the presence of Russia in sole possession of Ching-kai-wan
would be certain to give rise to even greater demonstrations of
hostility from the people and Government of Japan than did the Ma-san-po
incident. Nam-pu, which it was then Russia’s object to secure, is about
twenty miles outside the limits of the treaty port of Ma-san-po. While
the Japanese Government could not prevent Russia from obtaining a
coaling-station for the Russian Steamship Company within the boundaries
of the foreign settlement of Ma-san-po, she most strenuously protested
against a grant of land for Russian naval purposes twenty miles away.
Japan likewise resists the establishment of a Russian naval depôt at
Ching-kai-wan, where there is no treaty port, and to which, were the
“lease” confirmed, only Russia would have a right of access.

Ching-kai-wan is within a few hours’ steam of that Port Hamilton which
Great Britain was induced to relinquish, upon the understanding between
Russia and China that Russia would not seek to acquire territory
in Korea. The excuse, since put forward by Russia for the flagrant
violation of this compact, is that it was a bargain made with China, and
not with us. There is another, and still more extraordinary feature in
connection with this affair, which Li Hung Chang confided to a diplomatic
representative of a foreign Power, at Pekin, some years ago. The Chinese
statesman admitted that the contract between China and Russia contained
a private stipulation that it should be good for ten years only. In
other words, Great Britain was led to withdraw from Port Hamilton on the
pretence that Russia would never trespass on Korean soil, although there
was a secret understanding between China and Russia at the time, that
this arrangement should only be in force for one decade.

Although the position of affairs in regard to the action of Russia at
Yong-an-po is of recent prominence, the question goes back in reality to
the autumn of 1896, when a Russian merchant in Vladivostock, M. Brünner
by name, obtained from the Korean Government the right of felling lumber
and planting trees on the banks of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, as well
as on the island of Ul-lyang, for twenty years. The concession was to
be forfeited unless work was begun in five years. As the close of the
period drew near, the Russian agent in Seoul applied for an extension
of three years. At the moment it was reported in Seoul that this
request of M. Pavloff had been refused, but it transpired subsequently
that an agreement had been drawn up to the following effect between
the superintendent, appointed by the Korean Government to oversee the
matters, and the inspector in charge of the interests of the company in
Yong-an-po:

1. The said district in Yong-an-po shall be rented to the Russian
company.

2. The boundaries of the said district shall be defined by the Russian
Minister and the Minister in charge of the Foreign Office of the Korean
Government.

3. The Russian company shall pay a land-tax to the Korean Government.

4. If the owners of tombs within this district wish to remove them, the
expense of removal shall be borne by the Russian company.

5. If the company wish to utilise wood which Koreans have cut and are
bringing down the river, it must reimburse the owners with a fair and
proper price.

6. The Russian company shall not raise any stock within this district
except what is to be used therein.

7. Korean offenders within this district shall be dealt with by the
Korean courts. Russian offenders shall be dealt with by Russian civil
officers.

These contracts were signed on July 20th, 1903, by the Korean official
Cho Sung-hyup and the Russian Inspector Bojisco.

[Illustration: A CHINESE ENCAMPMENT]

Meanwhile, however, in May 1903, prior to the decision of the Korean
Government in the matter, the prefect of Wi-ju reported the concentration
of Russian troops at An-tung for the purpose of crossing the Yalu. A few
days later, a detached party of forty of these men crossed the stream,
halting on a small island in mid-river to discard their uniforms, so
that they might enter Yong-an-po in private clothes. From Yong-an-po
they moved to Yong-chyön, near Wi-ju, where, accompanied by one hundred
Chinese and eighty Koreans, they founded a lumber settlement, buying
seventeen houses, with twelve acres of land attached, in the name of
two of their Korean _employés_. The presence of the colony was at once
objected to by the Korean Government, who threatened M. Pavloff with the
rupture of relations if the settlement were not at once withdrawn. M.
Pavloff, however, defended the existence of the lumber camp under powers
obtained from the Forest Concession of 1896, which, in actuality, had
not been re-affirmed at the moment. Early in the next month, June, the
magistrate at Yong-chyön reported that another party of Russians had
arrived at Yong-an-po, including in all three Russian women, thirty-six
men, two hundred Chinese, and many horses. These were reinforced in July
by three women and sixty men, for the most part carrying rifles and
swords, and who, also, at once bought houses and land.

The action of these people has assumed a specific direction. A few, as
though anxious to give colour to their existence as a lumber settlement
and in defiance of orders from the Korean local officials, while quite
exceeding the clauses of the concession proper, persisted in felling
trees on the areas of a prohibited reserve. Meantime the remainder of the
party, by no means idle, began the construction of a bund on the Yalu
extending over a distance of twenty-one miles, a light railway being
laid down for the purpose. In addition to this work developments of a
more permanent character were taken in hand; stone buildings appeared,
a factory was constructed, and extensive defensive measures adopted. To
confirm these indications of Russian occupation of the Yalu reaches, a
body of seventy soldiers crossed the river at Cho-san, a second party of
eighty men coming over at Pyök-tong. The Russians then proceeded to bring
these various scattered “lumber” settlements, into communication, for
this purpose erecting a telegraph line between Wi-ju and Yong-an-po. This
line, however, the Koreans at once cut down, whereupon the Russians began
to lay a submarine cable from Yong-an-po round the coast and up the Yalu
River to An-tung in place of the line across country from Yong-an-po to
Manchuria. Since the cable projects were important and, together with the
settlement at Yong-an-po, much in need of protection, Russia proposed to
draft a force of three hundred soldiers into the place. At this date,
towards the end of August, the settlement at Yong-an-po had grown into
sixty houses with a civil Russian population of seventy citizens. By this
time, however, the Japanese Minister at Seoul, Mr. Hayashi, had received
the text of the proposed contract between the Korean Government and
the Russian Lumber Company. Thereupon, on August 25th, he delivered an
ultimatum to the Korean Government. On the same day the Russian Minister
went to the Foreign Office and urged that the lease of Yong-an-po be
granted. In spite of his urgent appeal, the Minister declared it to be
impossible. On the 27th the Russian Minister went again to the Foreign
Office at noon, and remained till seven in the evening, but the Minister
was ill and did not put in an appearance. The Russian Minister then
stated that he would have nothing more to do with the Foreign Minister,
but would appeal directly to the Emperor. In his despatch Mr. Hayashi
wrote that if the Korean Government were to sign such a lease with
the Russian Government, Japan would consider such an act as a direct
violation of the treaty between herself and Korea. In this event Japan
would consider that diplomatic relations between the two countries were
suspended, and she would regard herself free to act for herself in her
own interests on the assumption that the whole of the Korean territories
had been opened to the world.

The spirited action of the Japanese Minister was not lost upon the Korean
Government, who at once issued orders to the prefect of Yong-an-po to
restrain the Russians from further encroachment. The efforts of the
local officials were, however, of little avail, and by the middle of
September, in addition to the colony at Yong-an-po, the settlement at
Yong-chyön had increased to one hundred and twenty-eight Chinese huts,
with thirteen hundred Chinese, seventy Russians, and twenty tents.
Complaints of the high-handed action of the Russians in appropriating
the property of the Koreans to their own needs began to arrive in Seoul,
and on September 13th came the information that a telegraph line had
again been laid between Yong-an-po and the lumber concession on the Yalu.
Coupled with the intelligence of this renewed activity was additional,
and much more disquieting, information. The Russians had constructed on
the elevated ground about the Tu-ryu Harbour a high watch-tower, and were
preparing emplacements for three batteries of field artillery. Meanwhile,
however, as a counter demonstration to the movement of a company of five
hundred Russians under two officers, on October 23rd, who had crossed the
Tumen River into Korean territory by night, a Japanese warship dropped
anchor in the estuary of the Yalu, in close proximity to Yong-an-po.

I make no apology to my readers for giving in this detailed fashion the
history of this little Russian concession. As a chapter of contemporary
history I cannot think that my words are of any value, but there are
doubtless many who, like myself, prefer to begin in the beginning, and
so slowly trace through the developments of any question. In respect of
Russian action on the Yalu, therefore, I have endeavoured to do this.

NOTE.—An-tung is known also as Sha-ho; the Yalu River is known
also as the Am-nok River.

CHAPTER XVII

By the wayside—A journey inland to Tong-ko-kai—Inland beauties

The world of politics in Seoul had become of a sudden so profoundly dull,
that, ignoring the advice of the weather-wise inhabitants of the capital,
I packed my kit, and hiring ponies, interpreters and servants, moved
from the chief walled city of the Empire into the wild regions of the
interior. My journey lay towards Tong-ko-kai, the German mines, several
days’ journey from Seoul. Life, in the capital, is not destitute of that
monotony which characterises the Land of the Morning Radiance. But beyond
the precincts of the Imperial Palaces, out of sight and hearing of the
countless little coteries of Europeans, the contrast between the moving,
soft-robed, gentle masses of people who congregate within her gates, and
the mountain reaches and valleys of the open country is refreshing. For
the moment the pleasure of such an experience ranks high among the joys
which life holds.

[Illustration: BEYOND THE CAPITAL]

Save in the first few _li_ from the capital, we abandoned the beaten
tracks, travelling along quiet byways and mountain paths, turning aside
at fancy to climb a peak or to take a swim in the cool, deep waters of
some secluded pool at night, and morning, and at our noonday halt. In the
pleasant shades of these cool mountains and sunlit valleys the people
live in unrebuked simplicity. They offered the loan of charcoal stoves
or retailed eggs, chickens and rice to my servants. At the moment of my
bath, youths and youngsters gambolled with me in the stream. It is said
that the Koreans are far from clean, a statement they belied upon many
occasions by the freedom and enjoyment with which they indulged in these
dips. Foreigners had not penetrated along the route which my friend and
I were following to the German mines, and even the ubiquitous evangelist
had not penetrated to these peasant homes. The mountains and rivers had
no names; the settlements were small; inns did not exist. Everywhere
was contentment, peace, and infinite repose. Nature stood revealed to
us in primæval grandeur, and it was impossible not to enjoy the calm of
the valleys, the rugged beauty of the mountain crests, the picturesque
wildness of the scenery.

[Illustration: WOODLAND GLADES]

As the days passed the general character of the country remained
unaltered. The manifold and complex tints in the bush, the differing
aspects of each succeeding height, the alternating complexion of the
valleys, dissipated the monotony, engendered by the never changing
features of the picture—the trees and mountains, hillside hamlets and
mountain torrents, precipitous passes and windy plateaux. Moving thus
slowly through the mountain passes, a wonderful panorama silently
disclosed itself. Hills were piled one upon another, gradually merging
into chains of mountains, the crests of which, two and three thousand
feet in height, stood out clearly defined against an azure sky, their
rock-bound faces covered with birch, beech, oak and pine. The valleys
below these mountain chains were long and narrow, cool and cultivated.
A hillside torrent dashed through them, tumbling noisily over massive
boulders, gradually fretting a new course for itself in the lava
_strata_. Countless insects buzzed in the still air; frogs croaked in
the marsh meadows; the impudent magpie and the plebeian crow choked and
chattered indignantly among the branches of the trees. Cock-pheasants
started from the thick cover of the low-lying hills, the dogs pointed
the nests of the sitting hens, and does called to their calves among the
young bushes. A calm and happy nature revealed itself spontaneously in
these fragrant places, undisturbed, luxurious, and unrestrained. The road
was rough. Here and there, in keeping with the wild and rugged beauty
of the scene, it became the narrow track of the Australasian “backs,”
congested with bushes, broken by holes and stones, almost impassable
until the coolies made a way.

Across the clattering crystal of the gushing torrent a rustic bridge
was flung, the merest makeshift, three feet in width, with a flooring
of earth and bush, which bent and swayed upon slender poles, beneath
the slightest burden. Some streams were unbridged, and the diminutive
ponies splashed through them, gladly cooling their sweating flanks as
their drivers waded or carried one another to the distant bank. Wild
ferns, butterflies, and flowers revelled in these unkempt gardens. The
red dog-lily and purple iris glowed against the foliage of the shrubs and
bushes. Gigantic butterflies eclipsed the glories of the rainbow; their
gorgeous tints blending into harmony with the more subdued plumage of the
cranes and storks that floated lazily across the inundated spaces of the
paddy-fields. Other birds, with dove-grey, pink, or yellow breasts and
black pinions, fished in the streams with raucous cries. The most amazing
tints, recalling some of Turner’s later pictures, gladdened the eye in
these delightful valleys. In the depths of the valleys the mountain
torrents flowed more idly, and the stream meandered in a thousand
directions. Upon either bank, its volume was diverted to the needs of
some adjacent rice-field. In these paddy-patches green and tender shoots
were just sprouting above a few inches of clear water. Here and there,
fields of wheat bordered these water-soaked stretches; oats, corn,
barley, tobacco, cotton, beans and millet were scattered about the sides
and plains of the mountain valleys in a fashion which proclaimed the
fertility of the soil.

Everything throve, however, and the industry of the workers in the fields
was manifested at every turn of the road. Their ingenuity in making the
most of available land recalled the valleys which run down to the fiords
of Norway, where, as in Korea, patches of cultivated ground are visible
at the snow level. Here, in these beautiful valleys, perhaps a thousand
or fifteen hundred feet up the mountain side, acres of golden crops will
be growing in the warm and happy seclusion of some sheltered hollow.

At the turn of the winding track, bordered by the paddy-fields or acres
of golden barley, oats and tobacco, lies a village. It is but a cluster
of some dozen straw-thatched hovels, dirty and unprepossessing, but
infinitely quaint and picturesque. The walls of the houses are crumbling
and stayed up with beams and massive timbers; the latticed windows
are papered, the doorways low. A hole in the wall serves the purposes
of a chimney; a dog is sleeping in the porch; a pig squeaks, secured
with a cord through the ears to a peg in the wall. Cocks and hens are
anywhere and everywhere, the family latrine—an open trough, foul and
nauseous, used without disgust by all members of the family save the
older women-folk, stands upon the verandah. Somewhere, near the outer
limits of the small settlement, an erection of poles and straw matting
distinguishes the village cesspool, the contents of which are spread over
the fields in the proper season.

A glimpse into a house, as one rides through the village shows a man
combing his long hair, a woman beating her husband’s clothes or ironing
with a bowl heated with charcoal; many naked children, the progeny of
child-wives, scarce out of their teens. For the moment the village seems
devoid of life. As the clatter of the cavalcade resounds, a child,
feeding itself from a basin of rice, emerges from a window; a man tumbles
to his feet yawning noisily. Women, with infants hanging at their breasts
or bearing children strapped to their backs in dirty clothes, the usual
naked band of well-developed breast and unwashed back showing, crowd into
the streets. All eye the newcomers with indifferent curiosity, until
we wish them a plenteous rain—“May the rain come soon, good people.”
Then they bend their heads respectfully at the salutation, and instantly
become bright and smiling. Winsome kiddies, muddy and naked, offer us
flowers, and bowls of water from the streams upon which their elders have
settled.

[Illustration: COUNTRY CARTS]

As the road threaded through the mountains, long valleys, widely and
richly cultivated, the yellow lustre of the golden crops blazing in
the sunlight, lay below. Granite peaks towered upwards, their rugged
faces scored by time and tempest, their ragged outlines screened with
firs and birch. The still air was laden with the aromatic scent of the
pine-woods; the sky was clear and blue. In the distance, snow-white
clouds hung in diaphanous festoons about a curve in the mountains. The
rough contour broke where the heights were bleakest and most barren. A
twist in the broad valley which our road traversed limited the prospect,
but the direction lay beneath the shadows of those distant peaks, and the
perspective already compensated for the precipitous climb.

Indeed, from a few _li_ beyond Chyök-syöng, a magistracy of the fourth
class, where the houses are roofed with thick slabs of slate supported by
heavy beams, where the streets are clean, and where road and river alike
make a _détour_, the views by the wayside became increasingly impressive.
For mile upon mile we saw no wayfarers. The villages were widely distant;
fertile valleys gave place to green-black gorges, without cultivation,
peaceful, grandly beautiful, and uninhabitable. The perfect stillness
and the wonderful magnificence of the panorama held one spell-bound.
There was no change in the character of the scenery until, riding slowly
forward, the road dropped from the comfortable shade of a mountain
temple into the blazing sunshine of the plain. Pushing forward, the rice
and cornfields receded, giving place to the ranges, whose lofty peaks,
dressed with their mantling clouds, had been already dimly discerned.
Throughout the journey of the next two days the road rose and fell,
winding in a steady gradient across the mountain sides.

The march to Tong-ko-kai was laborious, and one day, when within easy
distance of the concession in a tiny hamlet, the colour of the slate and
granite boulders, nestling among waving bushes, almost unconscious of
the outer world and hardly alive to its own existence, an ideal spot in
which to pitch the evening camp was found. It was early in the afternoon,
but the road ahead looked rough and stony. Our horses were fatigued,
the ford had been troublesome and we were wet, cold and hungry. Within
the bush the shadows were deepening. No one knew the site of the next
village nor the precise direction in which we were moving, so we halted.
That night we snuggled down with our faces to the cliffs. Our horses were
tethered in a patch of corn, and the kit, the servants, interpreters and
grooms lay in one confused and hungry tangle round us. Within sound of
the deep roar of the river we slept peacefully. Indeed, I am not certain
that this one hour when, invigorated by a swim in some mountain pool,
refreshed by a slight repast, we rocked in our camp beds, smoking and
chatting, looking into the cool black depths of the canopy above us, was
not the best that the day held. There was something intensely restful
in those long, silent watches. The mighty stillness of the surrounding
heights of itself gave a repose, to which the night winds, the murmurs
of the running water and our own physical fatigue, insensibly added. It
was pleasant to hear the ponies eating; to watch the stars come out, the
moon rise; to listen to the bull-frog in the water weeds and the echoes
of the song of a peasant, rising and falling among the peaks of the high
mountains, until, at length, all sounds had passed away and the great
world around us, above us, and below, lay at peace.

[Illustration: A PITCHED BATTLE]

CHAPTER XVIII

The German mines—Mineralogy and methods of mining—A bear
hunt—With gun and rifle

Nature has been active in these regions. There is much limestone and
slate formation, some basaltic upheavals, lava boulders, and chain upon
chain of granite peaks. To the west of Tong-ko-kai there is the crater
of an extinct volcano, but the lava _strata_ in the vicinity of the
concession are almost completely eroded. The basin of the concession
is well watered, cultivated, and populous in places. It is surrounded
by ranges three, four and five thousand feet in height. Korea is very
mountainous in the north and hilly in the south. The watershed between
the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea extends north and south, nearly
parallel to the east coast. In a sense this line of mountain ranges is
the backbone of the peninsula; the eastern side of the main watershed
is narrow and abrupt, while the western is more extended and contains
low plains, favourable to agriculture. The general altitude of the peaks
varies between five and six thousand feet. A few isolated points in the
extreme north are believed to be higher.

The principal mining districts are situated along the courses of the
main and the minor watersheds. The famous mining districts of Kang-kyöi,
Kap-san, and Teh-chang-chin, at present in the occupation of native
workmen, occur upon the plateau formed by the junction of the range,
which constitutes the northern frontier of the province of Pyöng-an,
with the main watershed of the country. The British mines at Eun-san are
situated in country pierced by the north-western antilles of the main
watershed. The position of the German mines bears a similar relation to
the great natural division of the country, upon its eastern side. Many
useful minerals are distributed over Korea—gold, silver, lead, copper,
iron, coal—but that which yields the richest harvest is gold. The value
of the gold exported from Korea during 1901 increased from £363,305 in
1900 to £509,738. A further increase marks 1902, the value of the gold
exported being £516,961. These figures give only the value declared at
the Customs. Large amounts are annually smuggled out of the country.

The presence of gold has been known from the earliest times.
Knochenhauer, a German geologist, has declared it to exist in every
river in the kingdom. Hitherto, alluvial gold has been the principal
yield to native workers. The miners followed the object of their search
up the mountain side until they struck veins and lodes, whence much of
the alluvial gold was derived. The chief auriferous districts are in the
northern half of the country; in which sphere lie the American mine at
Un-san, the British mine at Eun-san, and the German mine at Tong-ko-kai.

The original source of Korean gold may be found in the quartz
veins, which, in the case of the American mines, is alleged to give
exceptionally rich returns. The alluvial deposits, brought down from the
veins in the mountain-ridges, have been freely worked by Koreans; and
when more scientifically treated the yield is satisfactory. The schotter
sediments, in the case of the Tong-ko-kai mines, attained a maximum of
seventy-five feet in depth, a thickness of sedimentary matter some fifty
feet in excess of the usual formation. The concession was granted in
1898. Under it powers were given to a German company to select a place
twenty miles long and thirteen miles wide, within two years from the
date of signing the contract, for the purpose of working all minerals
during a space of twenty-five years, with an annual payment to the Korean
Government of twenty-five per cent. on the net profits. The revenues
received from these contracts belong to the Imperial Household, passing
directly into the private purse of the Sovereign. In the case of the
English syndicate, the percentage was compounded for a sum of £20,000 and
an annual payment of a further £2000.

The site, which the Germans selected for their concession, was, at the
moment when they assumed control over the areas, the centre of extensive
alluvial workings. The native miners strongly objected to the innovation,
and prepared to resist the rights of the German company by force. In
the end, however, their hostility was overcome by granting them twelve
months’ additional occupation of their works, and, when Herr Bauer
assumed charge as administrative engineer, opposition was already at an
end. The district is covered with the remains of old workings in the
schotter of the river-bed; they are also to be found in a few places
in the quartz upon the mountain side. In the absence of the requisite
machinery, work upon the concession was necessarily disorganised.
Eventually the concession was abandoned, close investigation failing
to disclose its possession of any very remunerative qualities. At the
time of its withdrawal, the company employed nine Europeans, thirteen
Japanese and Chinese, and some three hundred Koreans.

Korean mining is very elementary. The usual methods are “placer” and
“crushing” and a process of treatment by fire. A vertical shaft is sunk,
with narrow steps cut into its sides, to the level of the reef; the
bottom of the shaft is then packed with wood, which is ignited and kept
burning for several days. The heated rock becomes very friable and yields
readily to the crude implements of the miners. There is great competition
to secure the bottom pitch in these shafts; the more intrepid rarely
delay their descent until the working has cooled. The quartz is sometimes
rubbed to powder and the gold washed out, or it is crushed between huge
boulders, washed, re-crushed and panned again. The gold is then picked
out. Until lately there were no places where the gold was tested by other
than the most antiquated methods.

Such sanguine hopes have been raised as to the results of the mining in
Korea, that it would be as well if the public accepted all statements
in regard to these investments with great caution. The results of the
development of the various mining concessions, now in progress, will be
awaited with much interest, and will, it is to be hoped, form a reliable
test of the mining possibilities of the country. The returns from the
American mines encourage the belief that these possibilities have not
been over-estimated; but it has yet to be proved that mining operations
can be profitably carried on with Western methods and appliances. The
deposits in which gold is found in Korea are irregular, and by no
means continuous. To a Korean miner this is of small importance. His
outfit costs at the most a few shillings, and his belongings are easily
transported to any distance as circumstances demand. A different order
of things is essential to a successful installation of Western machinery,
and the public require some proof that there is, within workable
distance, a sufficient quantity of ore to yield a fair profit on their
investments. This has yet to be proved in the case of the British mine;
in respect of the German concession, the business resulted in a fiasco.
That these mining enterprises should be successful is desirable in the
interests of both natives and foreigners. They afford steady employment
at a fair wage to thousands of Koreans, at least, part of whose earnings
is expended in the purchase of foreign goods. It is perhaps, however, not
altogether unfortunate that the Korean Government is averse, at present,
to grant further concessions.

During our halt at Tong-ko-kai, one day was spent in climbing the mighty
peaks to lofty spots where, at a height of some thousands of feet, native
prospectors were driving into the granite facing of the mountain in an
effort to strike the main reef. Another day was passed in a hunt across
the crests of the ranges after bear and deer. At daybreak, a little after
4 A.M. upon the morning of this excursion, Herr Bauer escorted us to a
prospector’s hut in the damp recesses of a distant valley, where our
beaters, gun-carriers, and hunter-guides had been ordered to rendezvous
for a bear hunt. Alas! the Korean cannot bestir himself! His late rising
on this occasion delayed our departure from the hut two hours. The sun
had risen when the expedition moved off, a motley retinue of professional
hunters and beaters accompanying us to the gorge, wherein lay the bear.
Hunters and beaters attached themselves to each of us, and we proceeded
across the mountain, pursuing a narrow and broken rack, which cleft the
bare summit of the highest ridges. We climbed and scrambled up and down
and in and out of many sheltered and well-timbered gorges, until the
hunters warned us that we were approaching our stations.

The beaters disappeared, making a _détour_ of some _li_, to beat up the
many crooked twists and turns which the drive took. Hours passed while
we, hot, hungry, and athirst, lay hidden in the rank bush awaiting a
sight of the quarry. For the first hour no sound broke the serenity of
the valley; presently, however, the cries of the beaters came to us,
wafted from below or floating lazily from the surrounding heights. At
first only a distant moaning, like the sobbing of a storm among the
trees of a forest, broke upon our ears. The strange sounds created much
restlessness among the wild wood-pigeons, the cooing doves, and the
cheery, chattering magpies. Red-breasted storks rose with disdainful
elegance from the shallows of the trickling stream and soared towards
other pools. The mists of night rolled away from the valley; the dew
disappeared from the matted undergrowth; the sun mounted; the day grew
warmer. The blood coursed through our veins as we peered hither and
thither, scanning the opposite face of the valley with the keenest
vigilance. The beaters were ascending. The harsh cries of their raucous
voices broke upon the air. The air vibrated with eerie noises; a
spasmodic howling arose from the depths of the valley, where an isolated
beater lashed himself into a fever of vociferous discord. Hoarse shouts
boomed above us, and echoed against the crags of the gorge. On either
side of us, the valley resounded to the labours of the beaters, who,
gaining the extreme crests, had now descended, driving everything before
them. They approached rapidly, joined by the native hunters, who had now
taken up positions upon the rocks which overlooked the place where we
were hiding. Our own moment had arrived. Each man fingered his rifle,
peering forward as the concluding effort of the beaters burst forth in
a hurricane of clamour. We looked and waited, until the conclusion was
forced upon us that the bear had already long since broken through the
lines of his pursuers.

Hunting in general is considered a servile occupation by the Koreans,
and the pursuit of the deer, the bear, and the tiger is not a favourite
sport among the young bloods of the kingdom. Nobles, except those who
belong to a few impoverished families in the extreme northern provinces,
and who are reduced to the pastime to supplement their resources, never
indulge in it. It is, nevertheless, free to all. There are no game laws,
no proscription of arms, and few preserves. There is no interdicted
season in any part of the country. The one creature which it is forbidden
to destroy is the falcon, whose life is protected by most stringent
enactments. The hunting-grounds are almost solely confined to the
mountainous districts, and the hunters are a class apart throughout the
country. They shift their grounds rapidly and constantly in search of
game, living at the expense of any village where they may temporarily
lodge in return for the protection from wild animals which their prowess
assures to the local population. Their chief weapon is the flint-lock,
imported from Japan. The barrel is inlaid with silver, and bound with
thin silver bands or strips of tin. This weapon is loaded with iron
bullets, similar in size to those contained in a seven-pound shrapnel
shell. The charge is ignited from a coil of plaited straw-cord, which
is kept alight during the progress of the hunt. The stock is short and
light. When the gun is fired, the butt of this curious and antique
weapon rests against the cheek-bone. The faces of many of the hunters,
who accompanied us, were scarred below the right eye.

Their dress is characteristic, and they are further distinguished by
their boldness, fearlessness, and independent bearing. They adopt,
as a uniform, a blue canvas shirt, to which is added a blue or green
cotton turban, which is coiled twice through the hair, the torn,
frayed end hanging over the forehead. Coloured beads are entwined in
this head-dress, and a necklace of similar beads encircles the throat.
Chains of seed-beans hang across the breast, to which are fastened the
many ingenious contrivances of their calling. The hunters imitate the
sounds of various birds and animals very cleverly, particularly those
of a pheasant calling to his hen and a doe crying to her calves. The
pheasant-call is made from a disc of iron about the size of a sixpenny
piece. It resembles the stone of an apricot and is pierced. The decoy
used for deer is made from a split bamboo stalk.

Bird-hunters never shoot their quarry upon the wing. They disguise
themselves in skins or feathers, bringing down their game from some
well-concealed coign of vantage. Deer are hunted during June and July.
The hunters form into small parties, and beat up the mountains for
several days until their prey is within gunshot. The horns are sold to
the native physicians, or exported to China and Japan. When in pursuit of
the bear, hunters are more than usually careful to delay firing until the
effect of their shot is certain. Good prices are fetched by the various
parts of a bear. In addition to the proceeds from the pelt, the flesh,
fat, sinews and gall of a bear, supposed to possess certain medicinal
properties, sell for their weight in silver. The one royal quadruped
associated with Korea, as the white elephant is with Siam, the dromedary
with Egypt, the bison with the United States, is the tiger. Unlike the
Indian species, that delights in the tropical jungles, this animal is
found in Korea in the snow and forests of the north, and as far as the
fiftieth parallel. In the mind of the Korean, the tiger is the symbol
of fierceness, an emblem of martial pomp and glory. The tiger hunters
affect to despise their noble game, and upon occasions they even attack
them single-handed with a lance or short sword, assisted by trained dogs.
Tigers are sometimes caught in pits, covered with earth and bushes,
and filled with stakes. In this condition it is easy to kill them. The
hunters eat the meat, selling the skin and bones.

[Illustration: A SUMMER PLEASAUNCE]

Tiger hunters are exceptionally courageous. Their services are
requisitioned by their Government upon occasion in the defence of the
Empire. Armed with matchlock, spear and sword, they defeated the French,
under Admiral Roze, in 1866, and heroically resisted the advance of the
Americans in 1871. In 1901 they were assembled to protect the northern
frontier from the incursions of Manchurian bandits.

CHAPTER XIX

The monks and monasteries of the Diamond Mountains—The Temple
of Eternal Rest—The Temple of the Tree of Buddha—Buddhism

Game abounds in the region between the German mines and the Diamond
Mountains, and as we moved slowly forward to the famous Monastery of
Chang-an, many short halts were made in search of birds and deer.
Unfortunately, the deer evaded us and it became impossible to put up
the pheasants out of the dense growth in the bushes in which they found
cover. We had, however, some sport among the wood-pigeon. Korean hunters
accompanied us some little distance upon our journey, leaving our caravan
when our ways diverged. Beyond the Hai-yong River their track lay to the
west into the heart of the mountains; our own continued north-east.

The hardships, experienced in travelling through Korea, were exemplified
by the difficulties of our progress. They were intensified, however, by
our ignorance of the precise trail, which it was necessary to follow
across the heights from Tong-ko-kai to the mountain retreat of the pious
monks. The inhabitants of the village of To-chi-dol warned our grooms of
the difficulty of taking horses across the Tan-bal-yang Pass, the one
barrier, which remained unsurmounted, between the outside world and
the quiet repose of the first monastery in the Keum-kang-san. Until we
enforced our orders with sticks the _mampus_ were inclined to give up
the enterprise. Their opposition was momentary; the transition from a
somewhat angry mood into their usual condition of unruffled composure and
high spirits was instantaneous. With untiring energy and patience they
encouraged their diminutive ponies to climb the boulders; to twist and
wriggle between the clumps of tangled bushes and masses of rock which
beset the path, and to scramble across the steeps. We followed a dried-up
water-course at the level of the valley, making the ascent gradually. The
climb was severe, and became so steep that the pack-saddles slipped off
the backs of the ponies. It occupied our eight animals some four hours,
testing the endurance of pony and groom, alike the product of the hills,
stout of limb and strong of wind.

[Illustration: THE ABBOT OF CHANG-AN-SA]

The descent from the spirit shrine, in a gap on the crest of the range,
was less toilsome. The grooms plaited ropes of green creepers, plucked
from the bush, and strung them round the packs. Walking behind the
ponies, they held to these cords, thus supporting the animals and
preventing the loads and clumsy saddles from reversing the process of the
previous scramble. Nevertheless, our path was littered with fragments
of our baggage. The contrivance was successful, however, and in the
main the little steeds picked their way with an easy accuracy through
the cool green woods. The mountain side was fragrant with innumerable
plants, the bush a tangle of magnificent ferns, trees, and shrubs. Oaks,
hawthorn, chestnut, birch and pines grew in crowded splendour; the wild
rose, the freckled lily, and a purple orchid embroidered the moss. Beyond
the hollows of the hilly woodlands, the crumpled backs of the jagged
mountains reared themselves skyward, their proud crests lost in the
clouds, soaring silently to a height of five thousand feet. Below in the
valley, a wall of granite mountains set up an impenetrable barrier before
a noisy river, which until the advent of the rainy season becomes the
merest trickle of silver in a lone expanse of river-bed.

Our way lay across the river-bed and thence into the centre of the
mountains, a journey of one more day, to The Temple of Eternal Rest.
After crossing the Tan-bal-yang Pass we delayed, resting at Kal-kan-i.
Starting at daybreak, upon the next morning we moved through the Kak-pi
Pass as the sun touched the tops of the mountains, which shut in the
narrow valley, across which lay the last stage of the journey. We were
nearing the last home of many distressed pilgrims. In a cleft among the
mountains the deep curved roofs of many temples might be seen. The air
was tremulous with the pleasant jangling of bells, and from a wayside
shrine the sweet fumes of incense mingled with the scent of the pines.
The calm and seclusion of this spiritual retreat was in itself soothing;
as one passed beneath the red gate, that indicates royal patronage, the
placid gentleness of the scene was an allurement to the consolation and
protection offered by this Buddhistic asylum.

There are thirty-four monasteries, and monastic shrines in the
Keum-kang-san, and they are tended by three hundred monks and sixty nuns.
Chang-an is the oldest, and has been in existence for some generations.
In 515 A.D., during the reign of Po-pheung, a king of Silla, it was
restored by two monks, Yul-sa and Chin-kyo. Other monasteries, akin to
this in their romantic setting and picturesque seclusion, are Pyo-un,
which, together with Chang-an is situated upon the western slopes,
Yu-chom and Sin-ga upon the eastern slopes. These, with thirty others of
less importance, excite the most profound interest and enthusiasm among
the Koreans, many of whom repeatedly brave the difficulties and fatigues
of travel in the Diamond Mountains to visit them.

The four chief monasteries are served by one hundred and seventy monks
and thirty nuns. The main temple of Chang-an is a large building,
forty-eight feet in height, of the type to which travellers in the East
soon become accustomed. The wooden structure is rectangular with two
roofs, deep, curved and richly carved eaves, the heavy tiled roofs being
supported upon teak pillars three feet in circumference. The diamond-cut
panels of the doors, which serve as windows, are ornamented with gold,
and the lofty ceiling is carved and wrought in rich designs, lavishly
gilded and highly coloured in blue, red, green and gold. Granite steps
give access to the temples; the main beams and supports of the whole
edifice resting upon huge circular slabs of this stone.

On the inner walls of this building there are scenes from the life of
Gautama, the apostle of the Buddhistic creed. A gilded image figures
as the centre of a golden group of seven past and future godheads,
incarnations of the One and sublime Sakya-muni, whose future reappearance
is anticipated by the faithful. Brass incense-burners, candlesticks, and
a manuscript book of masses in Chinese and Korean characters, resting
upon a faded cover of soiled and dusty brocade, furnish the front of the
altar. Before this high altar, wonderfully impressive and inspiring in
the dim religious light of the vast interior, a priest spends certain
hours of the day and night in profound obeisance, intoning, chanting and
gabbling monotonously and with constant genuflections, the words _Na-mu
Ami Tabul_. This expression is a phonetic rendering of certain Thibetan
words, the meaning of which the Abbot himself was unable to explain; when
transcribed in Chinese characters it appears equally unintelligible.

Other temples in this particular monastery are dedicated to The Abode
of Virtue, The Four Sages, and The Ten Judges. Within these edifices
Sakya-muni and his disciples sit in different attitudes of ineffable
abstraction, contemplating gruesome pictures of demons, animals, and
the torments awarded in after-life to the wicked. Many of the buildings
of Chang-an have been restored within recent years. The work has been
completed long since, and the spacious courtyards are now well kept. The
temples are clean and spotless, the whole monastery bearing witness to
the care with which it is maintained.

Besides the more important temples, there are many smaller shrines,
set within some forest nook; a stage for the more important religious
observances, bell and tablet houses, stables for the ponies of the
numerous visitors, a nunnery and a refectory for the Abbot and monks.
There are, in addition, cells for the priests and quarters for the
servants. Accommodation is found for the widows, orphans, and the
destitute; for the lame, the halt, and the blind; for the aged and
forlorn, to whom the monks grant shelter and protection. Besides the
Abbot, there were in the monastery some twenty other men, monks, priests
and neophytes, and ten nuns of various ages, ranging from girlhood to
wrinkled wisdom.

The establishment derives its revenues from the rent and proceeds of the
Church lands, donations from pilgrims and guests, occasional benefactions
from the wealthy, and the collections made by the mendicant monks. These
latter chant the litanies of Buddha from house to house, and travel
throughout the Empire, finding food and lodging by the wayside, to
collect the scanty contributions which their solicitations evoke. The
four great monasteries are presided over by a member of the community,
who is elected annually to the office. Unless his conduct gives rise
to dissatisfaction, he is maintained in authority, usually until his
death, or transference to some other centre of Buddhistic activity.
The practices and observances, in these monasteries of the Diamond
Mountains, conform to the principles of the religion of Buddha, as nearly
as do the customs and manners of our own Church to the varied tenets of
Christianity throughout the world.

I confess myself sorely puzzled to discover any substratum of truth
in the charges of gross profligacy and irreverence which the agent
of an American Missionary Society brings against the monasteries of
the Keum-kang-san. Personally, after spending many weeks in the calm
seclusion of this monastic region, I prefer to recall the kindliness of
the monks—their real Christian charity—to the poor and afflicted, to the
hungry and sore distressed, as to all who come to them in times of misery
and evil. If many of them learn the litanies of their liturgy by heart,
if they lack scholarship, if they do not know the meaning of much upon
which they spend so many weary hours of their lives, are not these slight
things when weighed against their profound humanity, their gentleness to
everything which breathes, their benevolence to the old and destitute,
their exceeding humility, their wonderful toleration, the quietness and
extreme simplicity of their lives, and the humanitarian nature of their
interests?

The Monastery of Yu-chom is all peace and quietude. It lies, shut off
from all contact with the outer world, within a deep, tree-clad valley
of the eastern ranges. It is self-contained, and its whole existence
is wrapped up in the mysteries of that faith to whose services it is
dedicated. There is no booming torrent, such as that which vibrates and
thunders through the Chang-an-sa gorge; a subdued babble alone rises
from the water, which wells from some rocks deep in the recesses of the
prevailing bush. Its appearance is strangely solemn, and it exerts over
the daily lives of the coterie of monks, assembled within its walls, an
influence that conduces to their extreme asceticism. The atmosphere of
repose and seclusion, in which a soul distressed finds so much comfort,
broods over the whole community.

[Illustration: THE ABBOT OF YU-CHOM-SA]

The most imposing of the thirty-four Buddhist retreats within the Diamond
Mountains is Yu-chom-sa. It may be approached from the western side of
the Keum-kang-san by climbing the rocky path of the Chang-an-sa gorge,
and crossing the watershed through the An-man-chai Pass, 4215 feet in
height. The descent is made by a rough and picturesque track through
deep woods to the cluster of temples upon the eastern face of the
range. Another way, which, after a short _détour_ from Chang-an-sa, is
an easier route, lies over the Pu-ti-chong Pass, 3700 feet in height;
after winding through some miles of forest, it drops directly upon a
track, which leads to the gates of the monastery. Each road starts from
Chang-an-sa, and the crossing of the mountains must be undertaken by all
who wish to visit the monasteries upon the eastern slopes. The journey in
either direction can be accomplished within eight hours; the difficulties
of the bed of the Chang-an-sa torrent render this route impassable to
horses, &c. Lightly-loaded ponies can be taken across the Pu-ti-chong.
The hire of coolies is recommended and one Korean dollar for each man is
the tariff.

The temples of Yu-chom-sa are very similar to those at Chang-an-sa.
They are, however, more numerous and more richly endowed. Before the
steps of the main temple there is a small granite pagoda, whose graceful
proportions give an element of dignity to the spacious courtyard upon
which the principal temples of the monastery abut. The altar of this
temple is adorned by a singular piece of wood-carving. Upon the roots of
an upturned tree sit or stand fifty-three diminutive figures of Buddha.
The monks tell an old-world legend of this strange structure. Many
centuries ago, fifty-three priests, who had journeyed from India to Korea
to introduce the precepts of Buddha into this ancient land, sat down by a
well beneath a spreading tree. Three dragons presently emerged from the
depths of the well and attacked the fifty-three, calling to their aid the
wind-dragon, who thereupon uprooted the tree. As the fight proceeded, the
priests managed to place an image of Buddha upon each root of the tree,
converting the whole into an altar, under whose influence the dragons
were forced back into their cavernous depths, when huge rocks were piled
into the well to shut them up. The monks then founded the monastery,
building the main temple above the remains of the vanquished dragons.
Upon each side of the fantastic altar-piece there is a carved design of
lotus leaves several feet in width and height; at the feet of an immense
image of the divine Buddha, golden and bejewelled, which graces the
centre of the shrine, are several magnificent bronze bowls of vast size,
weight, and antiquity. Blue and red silk-gauze draperies, serving the
purpose of a screen, hang from the massive beams in the roof.

The figures seen in Korean temples are reproduced in Buddhist temples
throughout Asia, the supreme and central form being that of Sakya-muni or
Buddha. In the sculpture and artistic development of this, the central
figure of their pantheon, there is little, if any, deviation from the
conventional traditions of India, Siam, Thibet, and Mongolia. The sage
is crouching on his knees with the souls of his feet turned upward to
the face; the palms and fingers of his hands pressed together; the
eyes are slightly oblique, and the lobes of the ears somewhat bulbous.
The throne consists of the open calyx of a lotus flower, the symbol
of eternity. The splendour of the figures in the Temple of the Tree
of Buddha is noticeable; and the lustre of the heavy gilding gleams
from about the altar into the dimness and uncertain light of the vast
chamber like the rays of some spiritual fire. Devotional exercises never
cease in this House of the Ever-Supreme Lord, the services and constant
offering of prayer being taken in turn by the officiating priests. At
these moments, when the lonely figure of the priest is seen pleading
with the Ever-Supreme Lord, in his most sacred Temple and before his
most sacred shrine, for the grace of forgiveness, the scene is one of
the most extraordinary solemnity. As the chant rises and falls in the
great spaces of the hall and the swaying figure rocks in the despair of
his passionate self-abandonment the sympathies and emotions are strangely
stirred. The stages of the services are marked by blows upon a bell which
the priest holds before him, the while he casts himself upon his face and
kneels before the resplendent Buddha.

The chief celebrations of the day and night in Yu-chom-sa are accompanied
by the booming of the great bronze bell—an elaborate casting of the
fourteenth century—and by the beating of a large circular drum many feet
in circumference. Both instruments stand in their own towers in the
courtyard. During the minor services, the genuflections of the priests
are accompanied by the jarring notes of the small brass bells, which they
strike repeatedly with deer-horns. A magnificent figure of Buddha sits in
the Temple of the Lotus Blossom, in an attitude of impassive benignity
behind a screen of glass, looking solemnly upon the devotions and pious
exercises of his faithful attendants. This altar is recessed, the entire
shrine being protected by plates of glass, and the offerings of rice,
which are presented to the altar for benediction, stand without the
screen. Among other temples and shrines at Yu-chom-sa there are the House
of Everlasting Life, the Temple of the Water Month, the Temple of People
who come from the West. There are fifty monks in Yu-chom-sa, twelve nuns,
and eight boys who have not yet been admitted to the order. Many of the
boys in these monasteries are quite young. Some have been handed over by
their parents in extreme infancy, while others have been received out
of the wide charity of the Buddhists, and dedicated to the service of
the monasteries. These boys appear intelligent. They are taught little
beyond the different chants and litanies, with the words of which they
soon become familiar. The boys are clean and well fed; but the monks,
if equally clean, are more sparing in their diet. Their frugal repast
consists of rice and varieties of minced vegetables, cakes of pine nuts
glued together with honey, and other cakes of popped rice and honey. The
extreme richness of the dishes soon palls upon the palate. While managing
to exist, signs of emaciation are noticeable in their bodies and faces.
Among the nuns who are attracted to these different monasteries, there
are many who have entered the cloister from religious motives, and a
few who, alone in the world, find it a convenient spot in which to pass
their lives. Neither class, however, encroaches upon the religious and
devotional functions of the monks, but lives entirely apart, existing
altogether in a world of their own making.

[Illustration: YU-CHOM-SA]

The forms of religion which prevail in Korea to-day are Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Shamanism. Statements of ancient Chinese and Japanese
writers, and the early Jesuit missionaries, tend to prove that the
worship of spirits and demons has been the basis of national belief since
the earliest times. The god of the hills is even now the most popular
deity. Worship of the spirits of heaven and earth, of the invisible
powers of the air, of nature, of the morning star, of the guardian genii
of the hills and rivers, and of the soil and grain, has been so long
practised that, in spite of the influences of Confucianism, and the many
centuries in which Buddhism has existed in the land, the actual worship
of the great mass of the people has undergone little material alteration.
However widespread this leaning of the lower classes towards demonolatry
may be, the philosophy of Confucius has been from the fifteenth century
the official and fashionable cult in Korea. In its middle period, it
attained to that point when a religion, which at first was fostered by
the few and has spread gradually until it became absorbed by the people,
feels itself firmly established, and emphasises its ascendency by the
bigotry of its assertions, its intolerance, and, crowning triumph of
all usurping tenets, by the virulence of its persecution. Confucianism
now overspreads the whole peninsula. From the fourth to the fourteenth
century, when the religion of the Enlightened One prevailed, it was
studied and practised only by the learned classes. Buddhism predominated
throughout the southern half of the peninsula, and only partially
leavened the northern division of the Empire, where it was unable to
combat the teachings of Confucius. Throughout its development, however,
Buddhism has exercised a potent influence in Korean affairs, which
continued until the close of the last dynasty. The power of the bonzes at
one time controlled the Court and nullified the decrees of the monarch.
During its pristine supremacy it became the strongest and most formidable
factor in the education of the country. It wielded unlimited and
unrestricted power, while it guided the political and social revolutions
of the period. Great respect is still shown to the tenets of Buddhism in
Korea. New monasteries and temples are in process of construction—the
Buddhist priests of Japan and Korea making common cause against the
activities of Western missionaries. The Emperor has also shown himself
interested in the propagation of this faith, and, with Lady Om, he has
given large sums to the restoration of certain dilapidated temples
without the city. All things considered, Buddhism has left such a mark
upon the history of the little kingdom that, although the purely ethical
character of the teachings of Confucius be acknowledged, Korea must be
classed among the Buddhist countries of the earth.

[Illustration: AN ALTAR-PIECE]

CHAPTER XX

The Abomination of desolation—Across Korea—The east
coast—Fishing and filth

The peace, piety, and sublime earnestness of the monks of the monasteries
of Yu-chom and Chang-an is in startling contrast to the state of things
at Shin-ki-sa. The magnificence of Yu-chom-sa, and the charitable
benevolence of Chang-an-sa, engender a mood of sympathetic appreciation
and toleration towards those, whose lives are dedicated to the service
of Buddha, in these isolated retreats of the Diamond Mountains. The
spectacle presented by the monastery at the north-eastern base of the
Keum-kang-san, however, reveals the existence of certain evils which
happily do not disfigure the more important Buddhist centres in this
region. It is not time which alone has brought about the disorder; nor
would the material decay be so lamentable if the dignity and charm of a
picturesque ruin were not lacking. The tone of the monks here is totally
different. Everything is neglected, and every one is indifferent to the
needs of the temples. A litter of broken tiles lies about the buildings;
dirt and dust, the natural consequences of carelessness and neglect,
disgrace them within. The spirit of reverence is wanting. The scene is
changed.

Shin-ki is a small monastery. Perhaps its temples have never been
comparable with the shrines of Yu-chom-sa in grace and beauty. Nothing,
however, can excuse the disorder and neglect of its court-yards, and the
slovenliness of the temple service. There seems to be nothing in common
between this and those other monasteries, which rest within the heart
of the ranges. One looks in vain for the courtly dignity of the aged
Abbot of Yu-chom-sa, whose humanitarian spirit was so impressive. The
principles of consideration, politeness, and devotion that govern his
conduct are sadly lacking in the Abbot, the priests, and monks attached
to Shin-ki-sa. The contrast is indeed great. The most painful emotions
are excited by the decline which has taken place in the prosperity of
the temples. Anger and sorrow fill the soul. As one gazes beyond the
temples into the peace and beauty of the valley below, it is as if one
were looking across from a place of abomination into another and a better
world. The colourless skeleton of the past alone remains, and one longs
for the power to restore the fabric to its former self.

In its setting the monastery has caught something of the spirit of
nature. If there is any compensating element in its decadence, it is
found in the wild beauty of the rugged mountains, which tower above it
from across the valley. Beyond their granite faces lie the trials and
tribulations of the outer world; once enclosed within their grey embrace
the little ironies of life disappear. The hours are cool and undisturbed.
Primeval forests adorn the deep gullies of the ranges; a flood of colour
comes from the open spaces where wild flowers are growing and the tints
of the woodland foliage disclose an endless variety of green. In the
centre of a patch, cleared of its undergrowth and approached by a path
winding through deep woods, is Mum-sa-am. This retreat is given over to
the twenty nuns who are associated with Shin-ki-sa. I know nothing of
their lives, but from the state of their temples, and the roughness and
disorder of their surroundings, it did not appear to me that they, any
more than the sixty priests, monks, and boys of the lower monastery, find
the tenets of Buddha very elevating, or derive much satisfaction from the
surrounding scenery.

[Illustration: SHIN-KI-SA]

The history of our days in the more important monasteries of the Diamond
Mountains was uneventful. The anxious care and solicitude of the monks
for the welfare of their guests was hourly manifested, and some kindly
attention was shown to us at every possible opportunity. Cool and lofty
quarters were allotted for our entertainment; the resources of the
monastery were placed at our disposal. The Abbot of Chang-an-sa prepared
draughts of honey-water and cakes of pine-seeds for our refreshment.
Every morning supplies of honey, rice, and flour, and small bundles of
fresh vegetables were brought to the table; throughout the day nothing
was left undone, which, in the minds of these simple men, would be
conducive to our comfort. A deep pool in the tumbling mountain-stream
was reserved for our use, and when, in the fresh air of the morning, and
again when the cool winds of the evening had tempered the heat of the
day, we went to bathe, the Abbot, upon his own initiative, arranged that
we should be left in undisturbed possession of the water-hole.

The Temple, which we occupied during our stay at Chang-an-sa, contained
The Altar of the Three Buddhas. The building was spacious and impressive.
A wide verandah surrounded it, teak pillars supported a massive roof;
scrolls and allegorical pictures, illustrating incidents in the life of
Buddha, decorated the wall. Layers of oiled paper carpeted the floor;
an altar cloth of silk, richly embroidered, small mats, bronze incense
bowls and brass candelabra, embellished the altar, in the centre of which
was a large gilt image of the Three Buddhas. Every evening at sunset,
the monks who officiated in this Temple placed bowls of rice, honey, and
pine-seed cakes upon the altar, and lighted the small lamps and candles
which illuminated it. Prayers were not always said, nor were the services
always the same, the numbers of the monks varying nightly according to
the character of the special office. When the services concluded, there
were many who found something to attract them in our small encampment.
They gathered round the kitchen; they assisted the interpreter to cook,
and tasted his dishes. They handled with amazement the cooking utensils
of a camp-kitchen, the cutlery of a traveller’s table. Occasionally, as
their increasing familiarity brought about some small degree of intimacy
between us, the monks would display their beads and alms-bowls for our
inspection, requesting our acceptance of copies of their books in return
for photographs of their temples. The intricacies of a camera delighted
them, the appearance of a sporting rifle created consternation in their
breasts, and they were never tired of swinging in my camp-bed.

[Illustration: THE ABBOT AND MONKS OF CHANG-AN-SA]

Before the camp at Chang-an-sa was shifted to Yu-chom-sa, a fast
friendship, engendered by many kindly acts and the uninterrupted
expression of a thoughtful consideration for our needs, sprung up between
the monks and ourselves. They consulted us about their ailments, which
usually took the shape of an acute attack of indigestion or a form of
intermittent dysentery. My medicines were limited to some quinine pills
and a bottle of fruit salts; they accepted either prescription with
gratitude and much melancholy philosophy. But although they remained
always the same well-disposed visitors to our camp, I noted that they did
not frequently present themselves as candidates for treatment again. When
the moment came for our departure, many small gifts were pressed upon us.
For a long time, too, it seemed as if it would be impossible to obtain an
account of our indebtedness to the monastery. In the end the persuasion
of the interpreter prevailed. When we added to the reckoning a few
dollars for the funds of the monastery, the expressions of gratitude and
appreciation, to which our little gift gave rise, made it almost possible
to believe that the kindness and hospitality shown had been all on our
side.

Our quarters at Yu-chom-sa were in no sense inferior, and none the
less delightful in their situation, to those which we left behind at
Chang-an-sa. The guest-house in Yu-chom-sa affords views of the mountain
torrent as it dashes through the boulder-strewn, tree-clad slopes of
the valley. At Chang-an-sa we camped beneath the protecting eaves of
the spacious verandah which surrounds the Temple of The Three Buddhas,
avoiding whenever possible any general use of the sacred edifice. In the
case of Yu-chom-sa, this diffidence was unnecessary; the building placed
at our disposal being that usually set aside for the requirements of
those persons of official position who might be visiting the monastery.
The apartments were clean, comfortable, and bright. They were hung
with tablets, upon which had been inscribed the names and dignities of
previous visitors. High walls enclosed the buildings, and massive gates
preserved the compound from unexpected intrusion. The life in these
encampments is one of ideal peace and happiness. It was possible to work
undisturbed and unprovoked by any harrowing influences. Indeed, there
was no suggestion of any other existence. We lived in the seclusion of
a sanctuary, where mortal misgivings had not penetrated, and where the
tribulations, which oppress mankind, were unknown.

Beyond Shin-ki-sa, a journey of fifteen _li_, a well-made road leads
east north-east to the coast, which it touches at Syöng-chik. The sight
and scent of the sea, after the exhausting discomforts of Shin-ki-sa,
was peculiarly welcome. Between Yu-chom-sa and Shin-ki-sa the country is
intersected with marshes and rice-fields. The difficulties of marching
through these bogs and mud-holes greatly impeded the horses. The road
by the coast, if rough and stony in places, is at least free from these
obstacles, affording a tortuous, but none the less pleasant, course.
Wending across basaltic slopes, ascending their smooth surfaces by a
series of roughly-hewn steps, it drops to a level of burnished sand.
A sweep inland to the west and south-west avoids the rugged spurs
of a neighbouring range. The sea licks the white sand with gentle
murmurs and the slight breeze scarcely ripples the blue surface, the
constant variations, which the golden sands and glittering sea, the
open valleys and green hills present, adding to the charm and freshness
of the journey. The feeling of isolation, inseparable from travel in
regions where the sense of freedom is shut out by a world of enclosing
mountains, is at once lost in contact with the ocean and the ships that
go down to it. Far out, in the great expanse of the peaceful sea, were
fishing-boats, grey junks, hull down upon the horizon, their brown sails
bellying spasmodically in the fitful gusts of the breeze. In the shallows
off-shore men, brown and naked, dragged for herring and sprat while
their children gathered crabs, diving after their victims in the deep
pools with screams of delight.

Around the hovels, in all these clusters of small villages by the waves,
men slept in the blazing sunshine. While their lords reposed, the women
mended the rents in the nets, or busied themselves in constructing
crude traps, with the aid of which their husbands contrived to catch
fish. The aspect of these villages upon the beach was not inviting;
and they did not compare favourably with any of the inland villages
through which we had passed. They were dirty, tumble-down, and untidy;
the appearance of the people suggested great personal uncleanliness.
The air was laden with the smell of fish drying in the sun—of itself a
pleasant perfume, smacking of the salt of the sea—but here so mingled
with the odours of decaying offal, piles of rubbish, and varieties of
fish and seaweed in different stages of decomposition that the condensed
effluvium was sickening. The people, however, were neither curious nor
unkindly; for the great part they were indifferent, offering baskets
of fresh eggs, fish, and chickens readily for sale. The beach by these
villages was black with rows of fish, drying, upon the white sand, in
the most primitive fashion. The art of smoking fish is unknown, and the
careless manner in which the curing is done proves that the treatment has
neither principle nor system. Dogs lay upon these rows of fish, fowls
feed undisturbed off them, and, in many places, men slept peacefully with
a number of them heaped together, to serve as pillows for their weary
heads. Where such neglect prevails, it is perhaps not unnatural that much
of the disease among the Koreans should be attributed to the dried fish
which they eat so greedily.

The trade in salted and sun-dried fish is extensive and finds its way
all over the kingdom; an overland traffic of considerable importance
exists with the capital. Strings or stacks of dried fish are to be seen
in every village. Pack ponies, and coolies laden with loads of dried
fish, are met upon every road in the kingdom. The pedestrian who “humps
his own swag” almost always carries a small stock with him. The parallel
industry to the business of curing fish is the operation of making salt
from sea-water, a pursuit which is conducted in a manner equally rough
and casual. In both of these industries there is a crying need for simple
technical instruction, as well as for capital, the lack of which hinders
the work from achieving any particular success. There is so much fish
in the sea along the coast, that, if the catches were properly treated,
the beginning of a prosperous export trade could be readily laid. At the
present only a bare sufficiency is secured, the days of prosperity not
yet having begun to dawn. The industry is completely paralysed by the
exactions of the officials; the fishermen, like the peasants, knowing
only too well that an immunity from the demands of the _Yamen_ is found
only in a condition of extreme poverty.

Many fishing villages were passed through in the journey from the Diamond
Mountains. Each seemed to reflect the other, the sole difference between
them lying in their size, the number of fishing-boats drawn up on the
beach, the strength and density of their smells. The poverty and squalor
of these hamlets was astonishing. The people seemed without spirit,
content to live an idle, slatternly existence in sleeping, yawning, and
eating by turns. Despite offers of payment, it was impossible to secure
their services in a day’s fishing, although they generally admitted that
the boats, nets, and lines were not otherwise engaged. As the outcome
of this spirit of indifference among the natives, Japanese fishermen are
rapidly securing for themselves the fishing-grounds off the coast. Unless
these dreary, meditative, and dirty people arouse themselves soon, the
business of fishing in their own waters will have passed altogether from
their hands. The Japanese catch fish at all seasons; the Koreans at one
only—when it suits them. They have consequently a diminishing influence
in a trade so exceedingly profitable that some ten thousand Japanese
fishing-boats subsist by it.

[Illustration: A FAIR MAGICIAN]

The filthy condition of the villages renders any stay in them perilous.
It is wiser to camp beyond them in the open. It was my misfortune to
stay in several, but in the village of Wha-ding, seventy-five _li_ from
Won-san, the virulence and variety of the insects surpassed all my
experience in Australia, America, Africa, or Asia. Fleas were everywhere;
they floated through the atmosphere, much as the north-west winds of
New Zealand and the hot winds of Africa drive particles of fine sand
through the air. In this case, however, nothing remained without its
thin penetrating covering of fleas. One night in Wha-ding stands out as
the most awful of these experiences. It was impossible to stand; it was
impossible to sit; sleep was out of the question. We shook our clothes;
we bathed and washed and powdered. Every effort was a torture, and
each precaution increased the ironies of the situation. To add to the
plagues of this accursed place, we were deafened by the ear-splitting
incantations of a sorcerer, who had been hired by the proprietor of the
village inn to exorcise a devil that had bewitched him. We wondered,
afterwards, whether this accounted for the damnable activity among the
vermin. After a futile attempt to come to terms with the magician by
bribery and corruption through the medium of my interpreter, it was
arranged that one of the grooms should represent the evil spirit. He
passed out into the desolation of the night and howled plaintively, while
we, having collected the elders and the necromancer, solemnly fired our
revolvers into the darkness at the departing spirit. Unfortunately, we
did not convince the wizard that the devil had been expelled. It was not
until, losing my temper and my reason together, I dropped his gongs and
cymbals down a well, depositing him in it after them, that we were rid of
the agonies of this additional nuisance.

[Illustration: WITHOUT THE WALLS OF SEOUL]

CHAPTER XXI

Drought—Starvation—Inland Disturbances—Rainfall and disease

It is difficult for us in England to understand how far-reaching may
be the evils, resulting from the complete failure of the rainfall, in
countries where the population relies upon it for their daily bread. A
brief mention, in the Press, of the lateness of the monsoon gives no
sign of the anxiety with which many millions of people are regarding
the approaching harvest. Water means life to the rice-fields, and a
drought implies, not alone the failure of a staple crop, but famine,
with disorder and starvation, disease and death, as its accompaniments.
A drought in the rice-fields makes a holocaust of the people in the
winter. The forces of law and order at the disposal of the Government
of India place some restraint upon the populace. In the Far East, where
the civil administration is incompetent to deal with the exigencies of
the situation, and the systematic dispensation of relief is unknown, the
decimation of the population and the complete upheaval of the social
fabric follows closely upon the break-down in nature. Indirectly, too,
the consequences of famine in India prove this.

An even more emphatic evidence of the effects of a drought, where the
population live upon the rice crop, is afforded by the appalling loss
of life and the grave eruption of disorder, which took place in Korea
as the consequence of the famine in 1901. Widespread ruin overtook the
country; the inland districts were thronged with mobs of desperate
people. Persons, normally peace-loving and law-abiding, banded together
to harass the country-side, in the hope of extorting sufficient food to
keep their families and themselves from starvation. Hunger drove whole
communities from the villages to the towns, where no provision for their
welfare existed. Anarchy prevailed throughout the country, the dire
needs of the population goading them to desperation. A horde of beggars
invaded the capital. Deeds of violence made the streets of Seoul unsafe
after darkness, and bandits carried on their depredations openly in the
Metropolitan Province. From a peaceful and happy land of sunshine and
repose, Korea was transformed, in a few months, into a wilderness of
misery, poverty, and unrest.

The measures for relief were quite inadequate, and although rice was
imported, large numbers of the people, lacking the money with which
to buy it, starved to death. The absence of an efficient organisation
in the face of this further disaster increased the confusion. Before
any arrangements could be made for their relief, several thousands
had died. More than 20,000 destitute people were discovered in Seoul,
out of a population of rather less than 200,000. Reports from the
provincial centres disclosed a relapse into a state of absolute savagery
in many rural districts. Famine, pestilence, and death stalked abroad
in Korea for months, and many, who escaped starvation, lost their lives
subsequently in the great wave of disease which swept over the land.

[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, SEOUL]

It is impossible to believe that the famine would have assumed its late
proportions had the Government of Korea maintained its embargo against
the exportation of cereals from the country. There can be no doubt that
the withdrawal of this prohibition contributed to the scarceness of the
food-stuffs which were procurable by the people, when their straits were
most severe. Mortality returns from the areas devastated by the famine
prove that the welfare of more than one million persons was affected.
The action of Japan, therefore, in insisting upon the suspension of the
prohibition in order that the interests of some half-dozen Japanese
rice merchants might not suffer, deserves the utmost condemnation. The
primary responsibility for this great loss of life rests entirely with
the Japanese Government. In terrorising the Government of Korea into an
act, the consequences of which brought death to one million people, the
Japanese Government committed themselves to a policy which traversed
alike the dictates of reason and common sense, and outraged every
principle of humanity. The impartial observer must hold Korea guiltless
in this matter. It is, indeed, deplorable that the vehement opposition
of the Korean Government was not respected. Nevertheless, the incident
is valuable, as an illustration of the objectionable attitude which
distinguishes the Government of Japan in its relations with Korea.

At the beginning of the drought the inhabitants of Seoul believed that
the Rain God was incensed. The Emperor and his Court offered expiatory
sacrifices upon three occasions. As the rains were still withheld a
period of penance was proclaimed, in which prayers and fastings were
ordained, the populace ceasing from every form of labour and relapsing
into a condition of supreme idleness. Unhappily, while the great mass
of the people refrained from work, the Emperor continued to employ many
hundreds of labourers upon the construction of the new Palace buildings.
This proceeding was held by the superstitious subjects of His Majesty to
account for the singular inclemency of the Rain Demon, and some anxiety
was felt in the capital lest the usual calm of the city should be broken
by riots. These horrors were spared to Seoul, however, by the fortuitous
visitation of a passing shower. Men and women resumed their toil,
rejoicing in the belief that the evil influences had been overcome. It
was, however, but a brief respite only that was granted. In a short time
the drought prevailed throughout the land, drying up the rice-fields,
scorching the pastures, and withering the crops. Under this baneful
visitation, the circumstances of the people became very straitened.
Hundreds were reduced to feeding off the wild roots and grass of the
wayside, and isolated cases of cannibalism were reported.

The exceptional character of the drought lends interest to the
hydrometrical records for Chemulpo from 1887 to the middle of 1901,
which were forwarded to the bureau by the correspondent of the Physical
Observatory, St. Petersburg. The rain-fall given is for the years 1887
to 1900, inclusive, and the first half of 1901; the snow-fall is reduced
to the proportion of water which the melted snow would make. Professor
H. Hulbert has pointed out, however, that in estimating what is or what
is not a proper amount of rain, it is necessary to know in what season
of the year the rain has fallen. Thirty inches of rain in November would
be of less value to the rice-fields than half that amount if it fell in
June. In the cultivation of rice, rain must fall at the proper time.
Otherwise it is valueless, and, although adding to the actual measurement
of the fall, a very considerable deluge, under these conditions, would be
of no material advantage to agricultural interests.

HYDROMETRICAL RECORD

+------+---------+---------+-------++---------+---------+---------+
| YEARS| RAINFALL| SNOWFALL| TOTAL || FOG | RAIN | SNOW |
+------+---------+---------+-------++---------+---------+---------+
| | inches | | || | | |
| 1887 | 30.86 | 2.00 | 32.86 || 13d 3h | 19d 17h | 4d 2h |
| 1888 | 20.91 | 2.15 | 23.06 || 14d 5h | 12d 6h | 3d 3h |
| 1889 | 28.18 | 0.91 | 29.09 || 25d 13h | 25d 5h | 5d 9h |
| 1890 | 47.00 | 1.06 | 48.06 || 12d 18h | 27d 10h | 0d 64h |
| 1891 | 41.04 | 1.66 | 41.70 || 13d 5h | 30d 20h | 3d 7h |
| 1892 | 34.04 | 1.20 | 35.24 || 15d 20h | 16d 10h | 4d 6h |
| 1893 | 50.64 | 3.55 | 54.19 || 31d 5h | 36d 6h | 8d 11h |
| 1894 | 31.81 | 0.64 | 32.45 || 33d 18h | 21d 9h | 1d 8h |
| 1895 | 31.88 | 2.06 | 33.94 || 32d 7h | 29d 11h | 6d 17h |
| 1896 | 31.08 | 5.15 | 36.23 || 51d 7h | 27d 0h | 2d 0h |
| 1897 | 48.35 | 3.23 | 51.58 || 24d 5h | 31d 17h | 4d 18h |
| 1898 | 37.80 | 4.73 | 42.53 || 31d 14h | 29d 19h | 5d 15h |
| 1899 | 25.07 | 2.05 | 27.12 || — — | 18d 19h | 1d 3h |
| 1900 | 29.14 | 0.83 | 29.97 || — — | 21d 2h | 0d 20h |
| 1901 | 7.09 | 0.06 | 7.15 || 7d 5h | 3d 7h | 2d 0h |
+------+---------+---------+-------++---------+---------+---------+

I give, also, the rainfall during the years 1898-1901, at the period when
a plenteous rain is of supreme importance to the rice industry:

+------+------+------+--------+-------+
| YEAR | JUNE | JULY | AUGUST | TOTAL |
+------+------+------+--------+-------+
| 1898 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 25.5 |
| 1899 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 22.7 |
| 1900 | 2.0 | 6.2 | 4.5 | 12.7 |
| 1901 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 4.1 |
+------+------+------+--------+-------+

In a rice-growing country such as this is, it is essential that an
adequate supply of rain should fall during the three summer months to
allow of the seed-rice being transplanted and to ensure the maturing of
the grain. In 1901, owing to the lack of water, the bulk of the seed-rice
was never transplanted at all. It simply withered away.

It is, of course, inevitable that one of the immediate results of
famine should be a general increase of mortality throughout the country.
The impoverished condition, to which so many thousands of Koreans were
reduced, weakened their constitutions so seriously that, in many cases,
even those who were fortunate enough to escape starvation found their
powers fatally impaired. There were many whose inanition and general
debility, resulting from their deprivations, had rendered them peculiarly
susceptible to disease. More particularly was this the case in the inland
districts.

Under normal conditions, malaria is, perhaps, the most common disease in
Korea. It prevails in all parts of the country, but it is specifically
localised in sections where there are numerous rice-fields. Small-pox is
nearly always present, breaking out in epidemic form every few years.
Nearly all adults, and most children over ten years, will be found to
have had it. Leprosy is fairly prevalent in the southern provinces,
but it spreads very slowly. While this disease presents all the
characteristics described in the text-books, the almost imperceptible
increase, which distinguishes its existence in Korea, is strong
presumptive evidence that it is non-infectious.

The great enemy of health is the tubercle bacillus. The want of
ventilation, the absence of sanitation, and the smallness of the houses,
foster this little germ. Tubercular and joint diseases are common;
also fistula, hare-lip, diseases of the eye, throat and ear. The most
common disease of the eye is cataract; of the ear, suppuration of the
middle drum, in the great majority of cases the result of small-pox in
childhood. Cases of nasal polypi are also very numerous. Hysteria is
fairly common, while epilepsy and paralysis are among other nervous
disorders which are encountered. Indigestion is almost a national
curse, the habit of eating rapidly large quantities of boiled rice and
raw fish promoting this scourge. Toothache is less frequent than in
other countries; diphtheria and typhoid are very rare, and scarlet fever
scarcely exists. Typhus, malarial remittent fever, and relapsing fever
are not uncommon. Venereal disease is about as general as it used to be
in England.

In short, there is a preponderance of diseases which result from filthy
habits, as also of those produced by the indifferent qualities of the
food, and the small and over-crowded houses. Most of the diseases common
to humanity present themselves for treatment in Korea.

[Illustration: AN IMPERIAL SUMMER HOUSE

Erected to mark the spot where the corpse of the late Queen was burned by
the Japanese.]

CHAPTER XXII

The missionary question—Ethics of Christianity—Cant and
commerce—The necessity for restraint

The history of missionary enterprise in Korea abounds in illustrations
of the remarkable manner in which French missionaries may be relied upon
to offer up their lives for their country. It may be cynical to say so,
yet there is much reason to believe that the Roman Catholic priests in
the Far East of to-day are the _agents provocateurs_ of their Government.
They promote anarchy and outrage, even encompassing their own deaths,
whenever the interests of their country demand it. From the beginnings of
Christianity in China they have wooed the glory of martyrdom, and they
have repeated the process in Korea.

[Illustration: A BRIDGE SCENE IN SEOUL]

Christianity made its way into Korea about 1777, by the chance arrival
of a packet of translations in Chinese of the works of the Jesuits in
Pekin. From this small beginning the ideas spread, until the King’s
Preceptor was compelled to fulminate a public document against this
new belief. Finding this insufficient, examples were made of prominent
enthusiasts. Many were tortured; and others condemned to perpetual exile.
Persecution continued until 1787; but the work of proselytism proceeded,
despite the injurious attentions which converts received from the public
executioners.

The first attempt of a foreign missionary to enter Korea was made in
1791. It was not until three years later, however, that any Western
evangelist succeeded in evading the vigilance of the border sentinels.
Where one came others naturally followed, undeterred by the violent
deaths which so many of these intrepid Christians had suffered. While
the French missionaries were prosecuting their perilous labours, in
the face of the undisguised hostility of the great proportion of the
people, and losing their lives as the price of this work, the walls of
isolation which Korea had built around herself were gradually sapped.
Ships from France, Russia and Great Britain touched her shores during
their explorations and trading ventures in the Yellow Sea. Under the
association of ideas which sprang from the appearance of these strange
ships, the Koreans grew accustomed to the notion that their world was
not limited by the resources of their own country and the more distant
territories of China. However, judging the sailors who fell into their
hands by the standards of the French priests, who had set every law in
the land at defiance, they at once killed them. This practice continued
until 1866, when word reached the Admiral of a French squadron at
Tientsin of the slaughter of his compatriots in Korea. Upon receipt of
the news, an expedition was prepared, of itself an early manifestation of
that policy by which the French Government is inspired in its dealings
with missionaries and missionary questions in countries, the development
of whose geographical or industrial peculiarities may be turned to
advantage.

For many centuries the land was without any accepted religious doctrine.
Buddhism, which existed for one thousand years before the present dynasty
came to the throne, had fallen into disfavour; the tenets of Confucius
did not completely satisfy the minds of the upper classes, and Shamanism
was the worship of the more primitive masses. The moment was ripe for the
introduction of a more practical philosophy, and in time, as the gospel
of Christianity spread, opposition to the great creed of humanitarianism
lessened. Toleration of the many phases of Western belief is now general,
the Korean finding in the profession of Christianity an easy means of
evading the exactions of the officials. Nevertheless, the diffusion of
Christianity is not unattended with bloodshed and disaster. Apart from
this drawback to the propagation of Christian beliefs in Korea, it may
be doubted whether the methods of the various missionary bodies bear
the impress of that spirit of charity which should illustrate their
teaching. Without impugning the individual attainments of any of the
many missionary groups who administer to the needs of the Koreans, I
find it difficult to affirm that the principles of self-abnegation so
manifest in the lives of the Roman Catholic priests and the workers of
the Church of England Mission, are equally in evidence in the comfortable
existence which is led by the well-paid _attachés_ of the American
Mission Boards. The French priests live in abject poverty; striving
to identify themselves with the conditions of their flock, they accept
neither holiday nor reward as compensation for their services. In this
bare comparison of the principles of ministration, I do not wish, at the
moment, to venture into the domain of controversy, but merely to convey
some impression of the competing systems of procedure.

The Church of England Mission, which has become known as the English
Mission, under the direction of Bishop Corfe has adopted a system of
communism. The expenses of board, lodging, clothing, laundry and fuel are
met from a common fund, quarterly remitted from the Mission Treasurer to
the responsible head of each Mission House. In proportion to the number
of residents, the expenditure is returnable upon a _pro rata_ calculation
of about £70 per head per annum. This estimate includes the cost of the
male staff. The proportionate rate of expenditure in respect of the lady
workers of the English Mission is one-third of this annual disbursement
less. The _depôts_ of the Mission are situated at Seoul, Chemulpo,
Mok-po, and Kang-wha; in addition to the stations in Korea, a chaplaincy
is maintained in New-chwang. The chief centre of activity of this Mission
is upon the island of Kang-wha. The task of improving the condition of
the very poor, by means of education, kindness and patience, proceeds
quietly at Chemulpo and Seoul too, where particular attention is given
to the welfare of the sick. At one time, there were important dispensary
and hospital institutes in these places, the medical establishment at
Chemulpo, however, is now abandoned.

The members of this Mission endure no little privation in the primitive
simplicity of their surroundings. Their services, on the other hand,
display much unnecessary pomp; and the white, full-skirted cassock with
rough hempen girdle, which they wear in public and private, emphasises
their ritualistic tendencies, and is, to my mind, somewhat of an
affectation. Nevertheless, in their daily practice, those associated
with the Church of England Mission in Korea set before themselves that
standard of idealism in missionary enterprise which is represented by the
unnecessary sacrifices, the sublime heroism, and fortitude distinguishing
the priests of the Roman Catholic Church, a standard, I am compelled to
admit, that other missions in the Far East—American, English, Scotch, and
Irish—appear incapable of realising.

The American missionary in the Far East is a curious creature.
He represents a union of devices which have made him a factor of
considerable commercial importance. American missionaries in Korea were
formerly closely associated with the more important export houses in the
leading industrial centres of America. Owing to diplomatic representation
this practical demonstration of Western superiority is no longer openly
indulged. In Seoul, however, an American missionary inconsiderately
receives paying guests, causing a manifest loss of business to the
Station Hotel; in Won-san, another exploits his orchard. As a class they
are necessarily newspaper correspondents and professional photographers;
upon rare occasions—and here I refer especially to a small coterie of
American missionaries in Seoul—they are the scholarly students of the
history, manners, customs and language of the country in which they
happen to be placed.

The American missionary has a salary which frequently exceeds £200
a year, and is invariably pleasantly supplemented by additional
allowances. Houses and servants are provided free, or grants are made for
house rent; there is a provision for the education of the children, and
an annual capitation payment is made for each child. As a class, American
missionaries have large families, who live in comparative idleness and
luxury. In Korea, they own the most attractive and commodious houses
in the foreign settlements, and appear to me to extract from their
surroundings the maximum of profit for the minimum of labour. I do not
know whether it is with the permission of the executive officers of the
American Mission Boards that their representatives combine commerce with
their mission to the heathen. When a missionary devotes no little portion
of his time to literary labours, to the care of an insurance agency,
to the needs of a fruit farm, or to the manifold exigencies of casual
commerce, it seems to me that the interests of those who sit in darkness
must suffer.

American mission agents have made Korea their peculiar field. Converts,
who prattle of Christianity in a marked American accent, are among the
features of the capital in the twentieth century. Mission centres, which
have been created in a number of places, now show signs of prosperity.
They enlist no little practical sympathy and support from the native
population. The self-supporting character of much of the missionary
work in Korea bears out the spirit of toleration which distinguishes
the attitude of the people towards the propaganda. It is not to be
supposed that the work of the missionaries is agreeable to all shades of
native opinion. Riots and bloodshed disfigure the path of proselytism,
the credulity of the natives entailing heavy sacrifices of life. The
disturbances which have thus marked the spread of Christianity in Korea,
notably in the anti-Christian rising in Quelpart, a few months ago, are
due to the jealousy with which the heathen mass of the population regard
the protection from official rapacity, enjoyed by those who accept The
Light.

In the case of Quelpart, this feeling of animosity, and the immunity
from taxation which the French priests gave to their following, created
an intolerable position. Anarchy swept over the island, and some six
hundred believers were put summarily to death. Whatever may be the
compensating advantages of this martyrdom, the reckless and profligate
sacrifice of life, which missionary indiscretion in the Far East has
promoted, is an outrage upon modern civilisation. We have passed through
one terrible anti-Christian upheaval in China, and, if we wish to avoid
another such manifestation, it is necessary to superintend all forms
of missionary enterprise more closely. This, however, can be done only
by legislative supervision, imposing restraint in the direction which
recent events have indicated. It is imperative that certain measures
should be adopted in missionary work which will ensure the safety of
the individual zealot, and be agreeable to the general comfort of the
community. It is unfortunate, but inevitable, that such reforms must be
radical. The violence of missionary enterprise during recent years has
been altogether unbridled. The great activity of the different societies,
resulting from their unrestricted liberty, has recoiled most fatally upon
the more indefatigable, as well as upon the heads of many wholly innocent
of any unwarrantable religious persecution. The time has come, therefore,
when vigorous restrictions should chasten this vigorous, polemical
proselytism. The practice of scattering missionaries broadcast over the
interior of these Far Eastern countries should not continue; the assent
of the local Consul and a representative council of the Foreign Ministers
should be required in every case. Moreover, it would be wiser, if, under
no conceivable circumstances, single women were permitted to proselytise
beyond the carefully prescribed treaty limits of the different
settlements. Again, missionaries with families, as well as single women,
should not be allowed to live beyond the areas of these neutral zones.

[Illustration: THE STREETS ARE MAGNIFICENT]

These restraints upon missionary labours will, of course, be resented.
If the total number of lives which have been lost in Korea, China, and
Japan, by the interference of Western missionaries, were published,
their vast aggregate would reveal to the unthinking masses of the
public how urgent is the need for strong action. Such restraint is
morally justifiable by the appalling massacres with which the world is
now familiar. The blind perseverance of the missionary has frequently
brought about the simultaneous baptism and crucifixion of the convert.
What more does the fanatical enthusiast wish than that some one should
be thus doubly glorified by his means? The increasing death-roll among
masters and pupils supplies the only necessary argument for immediate
rectification of the entire system of missionary enterprise.

CHAPTER XXIII

Inland journeying—Ponies, servants, interpreters, food and
accommodation—What to take and how to take it—Up the Han River,
frolic and leisure

Travelling in the inland regions of Korea is not the most comfortable
pastime which can be devised, although it has many attractions. The
lively bustle of the roads gradually gives place to the passing panorama
of the scenery, which presents in constant variation a landscape of
much natural beauty, with hills and meadows, bush-clad mountains and
rice-fields, rivers, lakes, and raging torrents as prominent features.
The shifting camp soon leaves the outposts of civilisation behind. This
slow passing into the wilderness gives a subtle charm to the journey.
Each turn of the track emphasises the desolation of the ever-changing
scene. The wide expanse of plains and valleys makes way for the depths
of wild and gloomy forests, where the ragged mountain-paths are slippery
and dangerous. The ozone of a new life pervades the air. There is no
doubt that such moments seem, for the time, the most perfect existence
imaginable. Freedom is untrammelled by a care; the world for the day is
comprised within a space as great as can be seen. Upon the morrow, its
limitation is only a little more remote. The birds of the air, the beasts
of the field, the game in the bushes, supply the provender of the camp.
Villages provide rice, vegetables and eggs, the hillside springs give
water, the rivers permit bathing. The air is pure, and the whole aspect
of life is beautiful and joyous.

At the end of a trying day, one, perhaps, marred by an accident to an
animal, trouble with the native servants, rain, fog, or the difficulties
of the track, there is the evening camp. Those hours of rest and
idleness, when the horses are fed and groomed, the packs unswung, the
camp-beds slung beneath the mosquito curtains, and the evening meal
prepared, are full of a supreme sensation of contentment. I have always
loved these moments of peace, accepting what they brought as the best
that life held for me at the time. At such an hour the refinements of
civilisation and the restrictions of convention seem puerile enough.
Moreover, there is much material benefit to be derived from such an
undertaking. The trials and difficulties develop stability of character;
the risks and dangers promote resource and self-reliance. There is much
to be learnt from this contact with a human nature differing so radically
from the prescribed types and patterns of the Western standard. There
is something new in every phase of the experience. If it be only an
impression, such as I have endeavoured to trace in these few lines, it is
one which lingers in the mind long after other memories have faded.

Preparation for an inland journey of any extent takes a considerable
time; ponies have to be hired, servants engaged, and interpreters
secured. It is as well to personally examine the pack ponies which
are to carry the loads. Koreans treat their animals shamefully, and
the missionaries make no efforts to lighten the lot of these unhappy
beasts. In consequence of the carelessness with which the ponies are
treated by their Korean masters, the poor little brutes suffer from
back-sores larger and more dreadful than anything I have seen in any
other part of the globe. If the Koreans could be taught the rudiments
of horse-mastering and a more humane principle of loading and packing
their rough saddles, as well as some practical veterinary knowledge, the
lot of the unlucky little pony of the capital might be softened. But the
spectacle of broken knees, raw necks, bleeding backs, and sore heels
which these poor animals present, as they pass in quick succession along
the streets of Seoul, is revolting. The American missionaries boast so
much of their good deeds that it seems strange that they should neglect
such a crying evil as this. There is, I presume, no credit to be “gotten”
from alleviating the sufferings of a mere, broken-down, Korean pack pony.

Large numbers of the pack ponies of Korea come from Quelpart. They
are diminutive in size, little larger than the Shetland breed, and
rather smaller than the Welsh pony. They are usually stallions, given
to fighting and kicking amongst themselves, and reputed savage. Their
wildness is aggravated through a daily irritation by the rough surfaces
of their pack saddles of the inflamed swellings on their backs. They
endure longer marches and shorter food allowances than almost any
other species of horse; they are quick in their gait, very strong, and
willing, good feeders, and reveal extraordinary obstinacy, tenacity,
and patience. Much of the pleasure in my travels in Korea, however, was
entirely spoilt by the abominable neglect with which the native grooms
treated their charges. Their dreadful condition goaded one to fury, and
almost daily I remonstrated with one or other of the grooms for gross
cruelty. My remarks had not the smallest effect, however, save that they
wore me out, and in the end I abandoned my expeditions to avoid the
horrors of such spectacles. The Korean is quite callous to the sufferings
of his animals. He will feed them well, and he will willingly disturb
himself at night to prepare their food; but he will not allow ulcerated
and running wounds to interfere with the daily work of the poor beasts.
This is comprehensible; but he will not, upon his own initiative, even
endeavour to bridge the sore by the tricky placing of a pad. However
bad the gathering may be, on goes the load, the agony of the poor pony
manifesting itself in a flourish of kicks, bites, and squeals.

In demonstration of this extreme callousness I may mention this incident.
Once, outside Won-san, I saw a Korean seat himself upon the side of a
stone, and leisurely proceed to rain blows upon the head of a dog which
he was holding, until the poor thing collapsed insensible. He then beat
it about the ribs, and put the body on the embers of a fire. We were
several hundred yards off when this attracted my notice; but I chased the
brute across two paddy stretches, until the heavy going compelled me to
abandon it. At a later time I noticed that the grooms were most careful
to dress the backs of the horses at our different halts, and also to
endeavour to prevent the pack saddles from rubbing the wounds, prompted,
I have no doubt, to this most desirable kindliness by the lesson which
they had read between the lines upon the occasion of the dog incident.

The character of the native followers who accompany these journeys is
a matter of great importance to the future welfare of the traveller.
The proprietor of the Station Hotel, Seoul, secured me an excellent
boy. Shortly after entering my service, an American missionary, who had
been hankering after the lad for some time before he was brought to
me, suborned him. He deserted me upon the eve of my second expedition.
This trick is seldom perpetrated east of Suez between Europeans with
native servants; it is one of the few unwritten laws of the East and
observed everywhere. I reported the matter to the American Minister, Dr.
Allen, but the missionary kept the boy. Servants, grooms, and a coolie
of a sort, are all necessary upon these expeditions; one groom to each
horse is a wise allowance. Koreans like to send three horses to two men;
however, my division is the better. Europeans require a body-servant, who
will look after the personal effects of his master, and wait at table.
An interpreter, who can speak Chinese and some European language, either
German, French, or English, is invaluable. It is safer in each case to
take men who are not converts. A coolie is useful and gives a little
variety to the beasts of burden; he carries the camera, water-bottles,
and small impedimenta of the hour. A _chef_ is not really necessary—my
interpreter voluntarily served as cook. The interpreter in any journey
inland should be mounted; it saves considerable friction if the personal
servants be allowed to ride on the baggage ponies. Interpreters receive
from thirty to forty dollars a month; personal servants from eight to
twenty dollars a month; coolies from eight to ten dollars a month. The
hire for the horses, with whom the grooms are included, is a dollar a
day, half the amount paid down in advance upon the day of starting.
All calculations are made in Korean currency. The entire staff, except
the horses and grooms, is fed by the traveller. The interpreter takes
charge of the accounts. He will, if ordered, take down the Chinese and
Korean names of the villages, streams, lakes, valleys, plains, mountains
and roads which are passed. This is useful; the map of Korea is most
hopelessly out of date, and by forwarding these names to the Geographical
Society some little good is accomplished. The interpreter will pay the
coolies, grooms, and other servants in debased currency, and charge the
account in Mexican dollars, making a profit of seventy-five per cent.;
he is greedy and tenacious to the interests of his pocket, and he will
suggest that he requires a servant. For this remark he should be flogged.
He will muddle his accounts whenever he can; he will lose receipts if
he can find no other way of squeezing. He is apparently an innocent,
transparently honest, and devoted to the principles of sobriety and
virtue—unless there is an opportunity to go the usual path. Under every
condition he should be watched.

The Korean does not approach the Chinaman as a body-servant; he has
neither initiative nor the capacity for the work, while he combines
intemperance, immorality, and laziness in varying degrees. The master
usually ends by waiting upon his man. There is, however, an antidote
for this state of things. If sufficient point be put into the argument,
and the demonstration be further enforced by an occasional kick, as
circumstances may require, it is possible to convert a first-class,
sun-loving wastrel into a willing, if unintelligent, servant. Under any
conditions, his dishonesty will be incorrigible.

It is never necessary to take any large stock of provisions when
travelling in Korea. Eggs, fowl, fresh fish, fruit, matches, tobacco,
vegetables, and crushed rice flour can be procured at any village in
large quantities. The inhabitants will perhaps declare that there are no
such things in the village; that they are miserably poor. The village
usually bears the stamp of its condition pretty plainly, and I found
that where this occurred the most effectual remedy was to call up the
oldest man visible, to offer him a cigarette, to calm him down, and then
to give the interpreter some money and to send off the pair of them. Once
this system failed in a flea-infested hole on the west coast, where the
village inn had no stables, and I really thought there were no fowls;
of a sudden, as though satirising the expression of regret of several
villagers, two fowls fluttered over a wall into the road. The meeting
broke up in confusion. The grooms, the servants and the interpreter at
once tackled the mob, laying about them with their whips; little damage
was done, but considerable commotion ensued, and stables, fowls and eggs
were at once forthcoming and as promptly paid for. In regard to payments
made to the villagers, it is as well to make certain that the grooms pay
for the horses’ accommodation; if they can avoid it they will do so, and
a memory of this lingering in the mind of the inn-keeper, makes him shut
his doors when the next foreigner is passing. But, in a general way, if
everything is paid for, anything is procurable—even crockery and charcoal
stoves, at a pinch, when the difficulties of the precipitous track have
played unusual havoc in the china basket.

In the routine of the march, it is pleasant to camp beyond the village
for the noonday halt; near the river, if the weather permits bathing.
The food can be prepared in the sunlight under some trees. This picnic
halt gives an agreeable change from the native inn, over which the
missionaries wail perpetually; it is, indeed, always to be avoided.
I was several times in Korean inns, driven in by some sudden and
temporary downpour, which cut off my retreat. The evening camp made me
independent of them in general; every evening the interpreter found
the cleanest-looking private house and bargained with its proprietor
to let two rooms for the time of my visit. The arrangement was never
refused, nor was I ever subjected to rudeness or to any insult upon these
occasions. The family would freely help my servants, and when the grooms
had removed themselves and their horses to the inn stables, no one was
disturbed. The boy prepared breakfast in the morning. The space allotted
to us was always ample for my camp-bed, kit, and mosquito curtains. It
opened, as a rule, upon the courtyard, around which the house is built.
There was plenty of air, as one side was open; the flooring was of
thick timbers, raised from the ground. If the weather proved inclement
the place afforded warmth and shelter. Moreover, this system has much
to commend it on the score of cleanliness; the price paid by me, half
a dollar, for the rooms was of course usually double the price which
had been arranged. Occasionally while travelling, when these private
houses were unprocurable, other makeshifts had to be adopted, an open
encampment or the official quarters at the _Yamen_. This latter place was
inconvenient, and we always accepted anything of a private nature rather
than venture into the _Yamen_ or the inn. Many nights were passed upon
the verandahs of these houses, with a private room leading from it at the
back, in case it became necessary. Our beds were pitched as much in the
open as possible, the silent beauty of the night hours quite justifying
the measure. Many nights I undressed upon the edge of the street,
my camp-bed pitched beneath a verandah, a peaceful and inoffensive
crowd of Koreans smoking and watching me a few feet off. I would get
into my sleeping-suit, roll into my camp-bed, and close the mosquito
curtains, upon which the crowd would quietly disperse. As publicity was
unavoidable, and it was useless to object, it was easier to accept the
situation than to struggle with the curiosity of the spectators.

It is always well to dispense with everything which can be discarded.
A camp-bed well off the ground and more strongly made than those of
the usual American pattern, is essential; a field kit canvas valise,
the Wolseley pattern, containing a pocket at either end, with a cork
mattress, is also indispensable. It will carry all personal effects.
Flannel shirts, towels, socks and the like, including a book or
two, writing materials, mackintosh sheets, mosquito curtains, and
insect-powder are all which need to be included. Fresh mint is useful
against fleas if thrown about near the sleeping things in little heaps.
It is an invaluable remedy and usually effective, though, by the way,
I found the fleas and bugs in the houses of New York and Philadelphia
infinitely less amenable to such treatment than any I came across in
Korea during my stay there. A camera, a colonial saddle, Zeiss glasses,
a shot-gun, a sporting-rifle, a revolver, a hunting-knife, and a large
vulcanite water-bottle are necessary. A supply of sparklets is to be
recommended; these articles, with a coil of rope, balls of string, jam,
cocoa, tea, sugar, alcohol, potted meats, tinned fruits, and biscuits,
enamelled ware eating and cooking things, with a few toilet accessories,
completed my materials. It is good policy to take a small hamper of wines
and luxuries, in case the opportunity occurs of extending hospitality to
an official or some other travelling European. They are very serviceable
among the officials. Native tobacco is light, mild, and easily smokable.
I carried a pouch of it invariably. Canvas valises of the service type
are better than any kind of a box. With this arrangement there are no
corners or sharp edges to hurt the horses, and as a load, too, they do
not make such hard, unyielding objects against the side of a horse as any
leather, tin, or wooden contrivance. My bed and field-kit just balanced
upon one pony; my provisions and servants’ baggage fitted another. There
was one spare pony. The interpreter and myself rode; the servants were
mounted upon the baggage animals, the coolie walked.

At one time, when I was travelling with a German friend, our retinue
was exceedingly numerous; we each had our personal establishment and a
combined staff for the expedition. This, however, is not quite the way
to rough it. It was, moreover, comparatively expensive and a bother,
inasmuch that so large a cavalcade required no little managing. There
was, however, something luxurious and enjoyable in that procession across
Korea, although it is not the plan to be adopted in general.

There was little further to be accomplished by me in Korea. My journey
overland had taken me from Fusan to Seoul, and again from Seoul to
Won-san, my examination of the inland and coast centres of mining and
industry was concluded: the beauties of the Diamond Mountains, with their
Buddhist monasteries, had been studied. At the end of these labours,
I was weary and ill at ease; moreover the time was approaching when
my long journey overland from Seoul, the ancient capital of Korea, to
Vladivostock, the seat of Russian authority upon the Pacific coast, would
have to be begun. The heat in Seoul had been most oppressive, when one
day Mr. Gubbins, the British Minister, suggested a short spell of rest
and recuperation upon an island a few miles up the Han River. Before
nightfall, my staff and I were floating, with the turn of the tide, up
the estuary of the river. Sea breezes blew over the mighty expanse of
the smoothly gliding waters, and the burden of weariness which had been
depressing me, lightened under the influence of these gusty winds and
the freshening air from the harbour. The change from the hot and stuffy
surroundings of the capital, where the crowds had ceased to be attractive
and domestic bothers, arising from the preparation for my Vladivostock
journey, had begun to jar upon the nerves, was most entrancing. When the
moon burst out from behind a blackened canopy of cloud, as we sailed
easily against the rapid current of the river, the rugged outline of the
cliffs across the waters proved the reality of the transformation. During
the small hours of the night I lay awake, playing with the bubbles and
froth of the water in sweet contentment. I resolved to dally for a few
days upon the small islands in the stream, halting in the heat of the
sun and moving forward at night or in the twilight, when sea-birds could
be killed for the pot and fish dragged from their cool depths for the
breakfast dish. How delightful were the plunges into that swift current;
and how often they were taken in the cool shade of some island backwater!
Care and anxiety dropped away in those days of idle frolic, giving the
mind, worn by the strain of many months of travel and the hardships of
two campaigns, opportunity to recover its vigour. Then came some pleasant
weeks in the island monastery, where, from a Buddhist haunt, perched high
upon a lofty peak on Kang-wha, mile upon mile of smiling scenery lay open
to inspection from my chamber window.

[Illustration: BEYOND THE AMUR]

The salt water estuary of the Han is tempestuous and deep, given over
to much shipping and small craft. The river itself does not begin for
twenty miles above the tide-water mouth, the intervening stretch of
water belonging more correctly to the sea. Above Chemulpo, where the
full force of the Han current is hardly felt, the velocity of the stream
is quite five knots an hour. Where the breadth of the river narrows the
rapidity of the flow increases. At a point, where the river makes a
sudden sweep round some overhanging bluffs, which confront each other
from opposite banks, the heavy volume of water thus tumbling down becomes
a swirling, boisterous mill-race, as it twists and foams through its
tortuous channels into another tide-swollen reach. The place of meeting
between the sea and the river current shows itself in a line of choppy
water, neither rough nor smooth. The water is always bubbling and always
breaking at this point, in a manner poetically suggestive of the spirits
of the restless deep. The Han river gives access to Seoul. In the days
before the railway, the choice of route to the capital lay between
spending a night aground upon one of the many shifting sand-banks in
the river or the risks of a belated journey overland, with pack ponies
and the delights of a sand-bath in the Little Sahara. There were many
who found the “all land” way preferable to the “land and water system,”
to which many groundings and much wading reduced the experiment of
travelling by junk or steam-launch in those days. Now, however, the iron
horse rules the road.

[Illustration: ON THE HAN RIVER]

CHAPTER XXIV

Kang-wha, brief history of the island—A monastic retreat, an
ideal rest—Nocturnal visitors—Midnight masses—Return to the
capital—Preparations for a great journey—Riots and confusion

Kang-wha, the island to which I was sailing in these easy stages, lies
in the north-east quarter of the gulf, formed by the right angle which
the coast makes before taking that northerly sweep which carries it, with
a curve, to the mouth of the Yalu River. On the south and south-west,
Kang-wha is exposed to the open sea; on the north, the island is
separated from the mainland by the Han estuary; and on the east a narrow
strait, scarce two hundred yards wide, through which boats, journeying
from Chemulpo to Seoul must travel, severs the island from the mainland.

[Illustration: WASHING CLOTHES IN A DRAIN]

The geographical features of the island include four clearly-defined
ranges of mountains, with peaks attaining to an altitude of some two
thousand feet. Broad and fertile valleys, running from east to west,
separate these ranges, the agricultural industry of the population being
conducted in their open spaces. The villages and farmsteads, in which the
farming population dwell, are folded away in little hollows along the
sides of the valleys, securing shelter and protection from the severity
of the winter. Many hundred acres of the flats, which form the approaches
to these valleys from the coast, have been reclaimed from the sea during
the last two centuries, the erection of sea dykes of considerable
length and immense strength having proceeded apace. But for these heavy
earthworks, what is now a flourishing agricultural area would be nothing
but a sea of mud washed by every spring tide. The continuous encroachment
of the sea threatened at one time the extinction of all the low-lying
level land.

Kang-wha, with its curious monasteries and high protecting battlements,
now reduced to picturesque decay, played a prominent part in the early
history of Korea. It has repelled invasion, and afforded sanctuary to
the Royal Family and the Government in days of trouble; the boldness of
its position has made it the first outpost to be attacked and the most
important to be defended. Twice in the thirteenth century the capital
was removed to Kang-wha under stress of foreign invasion. With the
exception of the terrible Japanese invasion under Hideyoshi in 1592,
and the Chino-Japanese War in 1894-95, Kang-wha has felt the full force
of nearly every foreign expedition which has disturbed the peace of the
country during the past eight centuries, notably those of the Mongols
in the thirteenth, of the Manchus in the seventeenth centuries, of the
French in 1866, and of the Americans in 1871. Furthermore, Kang-wha
was the scene of the affair between Koreans and Japanese which led to
the conclusion of the first treaty between Korea and Japan in 1876.
The actual signing of that instrument, the first of the series which
has thrown open Korea to the world, took place in Kang-wha city. The
predecessor of the present Emperor of Korea was born in Kang-wha in 1831,
living in retirement in the capital city until he was called to the
throne in 1849. Upon occasion, Kang-wha has been deemed a suitable place
of exile for dethroned monarchs, inconvenient scions of Royalty, and
disgraced Ministers.

At two points in the narrow strait upon the east are ferries to carry
passengers to the mainland. Kang-song, where the stream makes an abrupt
turn between low cliffs, is the scene of the American expedition of 1871;
near the southern entrance of the strait, and close to the ferry, are
the forts which repelled the American storming-party. The famous rapids
and whirlpool of Son-dol-mok, whose evil reputation is the terror of the
coast, are close by. There are numerous forts dotted round the coast of
the island, recalling the Martello towers of Great Britain. They were
not all erected at one time; the majority of them date only from the
close of the seventeenth century, having been raised in the early years
of Suk-chong. The rampart upon the eastern shore, which frowns down
upon the straits and river below, was erected in 1253. Ko-chong, of the
Ko-ryö dynasty, fled before the Mongol invasion of that date, removing
his Court and capital from Song-do to Kang-wha. Kak-kot-chi, where there
is a second ferry, is a few miles beyond Kang-song. At the point where
the ferry plies, the hill of Mun-su rises twelve hundred feet high from
the water’s edge. From a junk a short distance from the shore it appears
to block the straits, so closely do the cliffs of Kang-wha gather to
the mainland. This little place became the headquarters of the French
expeditionary force in 1866.

The capital of the island, Kang-wha city, is a battlemented citadel, with
walls fifteen _li_ in circumference, and four pavilioned city gates. It
is a garrison town, beautiful in its combination of green vistas and
ancient, crumbling walls. The Chino-Japanese War, so fatal to many of the
old institutions of Korea, diminished the ancient glory of Kang-wha. For
two hundred and sixty years prior to this campaign, Kang-wha ranked with
Song-do, Kang-chyu, Syu-won and Chyön-chyön as one of the O-to, or Five
Citadels, upon which the safety of the Empire depended. It controlled a
garrison of ten thousand troops; the various officials numbered nearly
one thousand. The change in the destiny of the kingdom brought a turn in
the fortunes of the island, and it is now administered by an official
of little importance. It is still, however, the seat of government
for a widely scattered region, and the centre of trade and industry
for some thirty thousand people. Agriculture is the staple industry;
stone-quarrying and mat-making are other means by which the population
exists. At the water’s-side there are salt-pans; a certain amount of
fishing, a little pottery-making, smelting, the weaving of coarse linen,
to which work the wives of the farmers devote themselves, complete the
occupation of the inhabitants. One pursuit, horse-breeding, for which
Kang-wha was once famous, is now completely abandoned.

There are nine monasteries under the government of the island. Seven are
situated upon the island; the chief of these is the fortified monastery
of Chung-deung, the Temple of Histories, the sometime pillar of defence
of the Kingdom, thirty _li_ south of Kang-wha, famous as the scene of the
reverse suffered by the French troops in 1866. Mun-su-sa, standing upon
the mainland opposite, is included in this little colony of Buddhistic
retreats, as is another, upon the island of Ma-eum-to, called Po-mun-sa,
famous for the wildness of its scenery and for a natural rock temple in
the side of the hill upon which it stands. The monks of Chung-deung-sa
enjoyed military rank until quite recently. They were regarded as
soldiers in times of national distress; they received Government
allowances, food, and arms, in order to maintain them in a state of
efficiency. Buddhism has lost much of its hold upon the islanders,
although it existed before 1266. There is a branch of the English Mission
(Seoul) in Kang-wha, under the administration of the Rev. Mark Napier
Trollope, whose notes upon this island were presented in a paper which
their author read before the local branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
during my stay in Korea. They materially assisted me to collect the
interesting data from which these few paragraphs have been compiled.

I stayed five weeks in Kang-wha monastery, preparing the skeleton of this
present volume. Having gone there for a week at the outside, I found the
quiet and solitude of the spot such a sanctuary from trouble, and such
a panacea to the nerves, that I was loath to abandon it. After a few
days in the cramped confinement of the native junk which had conveyed me
from Chemulpo, delaying much _en route_, it was pleasant to stretch my
limbs again upon the shore. Landing one morning at daybreak, I fell upon
the unsuspecting guardian of the English Mission, Father Trollope, and
moved off at a later hour in the day across country to the monastery. The
monks were not at all disturbed by my intrusion. Although strangers are
not such frequent visitors to this monastery as to those in the Diamond
Mountains, their presence excites no comment, and they are allowed to
go their way with that kindly indifference to their existence which
is, under the circumstances, the height of courtesy. The Chief Abbot
was informed of my arrival, and, after a little explanation, ordered a
very airy building to be prepared for my reception. It was well raised
from the ground, and, situated just below the main courtyard, afforded
a magnificent view of the entire domain. In the distance I could see
the farm-lands of the island and the sparkle of the sunlight upon the
water; more within the picture, and quite near to my new home, were
two wells, a running stream, and a stretch of mountain slopes, cool,
fragrant, and overgrown with scrub and bush. Temples revealed themselves
in a sea of foliage, through which the drifting breezes played soft
music. At one end of this Hall of Entertainment were placed the cooking
and eating paraphernalia, in the middle my camp-bed, and, overlooking
the landscape, an improvised writing table with my books and papers.
There was no element of unrest in the setting of my little camp. Every
morning the Chief Abbot welcomed me to the glories of another day; in
the evening we, through the medium of my interpreter, talked together
upon an amazing variety of subjects—Buddha and Christ, this world and the
next, Paris, London, America. Duties in the monastery would prevent these
new friends from coming on certain nights; but they always forewarned
me of their absence, never disturbing me at my work, never taking me
by surprise. The sense of consideration and courtesy which their kindly
hospitality displayed was manifested in countless ways. The small return
which it was possible to make quite shamed me before them. Frequently, at
midnight, when my lights were burning, the Abbot would walk across from
his own apartments and force me to bed with many smiles and much gentle
pressure, covering my manuscript with his hands and nodding towards my
camp-bed. There was no screen to the front of my building, so it was
always possible for them to observe the stranger within their gates.
This inspection was most quietly carried on; indeed, if I turned to the
open courtyard, those who, perhaps, had been noting the structure of
my camp-bed, or the contents of my valise, hanging to air upon a stout
rope, flitted away like ghosts. I was left, as I wished, in peaceful
contemplation of my work and the splendour of the scenery around me.

Catering arrangements were quite simple during my stay in this monastery.
Rice and eggs and fowls were procurable from the villages beyond the
walls of the temple, and rice-flour or vegetables could be procured from
the butterman of the monastery. It was my plan to take breakfast about
ten o’clock in the morning, and to dine about six o’clock in the evening.
Between these hours was my time for writing, and I was always fully
occupied. Before breakfast I walked abroad or prepared my notes of the
work for the day; after dinner I received my callers, arranging anything
of interest in my notes when they were gone. Usually I witnessed the
midnight gathering of the monks, listening, with pleasure, to the booming
of the great bell of the monastery and the accompanying peals of smaller
bells of less melodious volume and much shriller tone. The vibration in
the air, as these wonderful noises broke upon it, filled the high woods
with melody and the deep valleys with haunted strains as of spirit-music.
After the midnight mass, when the echoes had died away, the delight of
the moment was supreme. In utter weariness and most absolute contentment
I stretched myself to slumber beneath the protecting draperies of
the mosquito-curtains, within the vaulted spaciousness of my Hall of
Entertainment.

[Illustration: A DAY OF FESTIVAL]

Visitors to Chung-deung-sa were frequent during my stay, some attracted
by the reported presence of a foreigner, others by their very genuine
wish to sacrifice to the All-Blessed-One. Two Korean ladies of position
arrived in the course of one morning to plead for the intercession of
Buddha in their burden of domestic misery and unhappiness. Presenting the
Korean equivalent for ten shillings to the funds of the monastery, they
arranged with the Abbot for the celebration of a nocturnal mass in the
Temple of the Great Heroes. During the afternoon the priests prepared
the temple in which the celebration was to be held; elaborate screens of
Korean pictorial design were carried into the temple from the cell of
the Chief Abbot; large quantities of the finest rice were boiled. High,
conical piles of sweetmeats and sacrificial cakes were placed in large
copper dishes before the main altar, where the three figures of Buddha
sat in their usual attitude of divine meditation. In front of each figure
stood a carved, gilded tablet, twelve inches high, exactly opposite to
which the food was placed, with bowls of burning incense at intervals
between the dishes. Lighted candles, in long sticks, were placed at
either end of the altar; above it, in the centre, serving as a lamp and
hanging from a long gilded chain, was suspended a bowl of white jade, in
which lay the smoking end of a lighted wick. Numerous side altars were
similarly decorated. The furniture of the temple comprised a big drum,
a heavy, cracked bell, cast in the thirteenth century, and a pair of
cymbals. There were five monks; the two women sat, mute, upon the left
of the Abbot. The four priests arranged themselves upon the right—one to
the bell, one to the drum, and two to the pair of cymbals, in the playing
of which they took turns. Upon each side of the temple, recessed right
and left of the main altar, were mural representations of the Ten Judges.
Save for the altar illuminations, the effect of which was to render the
interior even gloomier and more eerie than usual, the building was in
darkness.

The service began with the customary calling for Buddha. The Abbot
tapped upon a bamboo cane; every one leant forward, their faces pressed
down, and their foreheads resting upon the floor. The palms of their
hands were extended beyond their heads in an attitude of reverence and
humility. This prostration was accompanied by the intoning of a Thibetan
chant, to the accompaniment of a brass gong, struck with a horn handle
by the Abbot himself. Further prostrations followed upon the part of the
entire assemblage, the women joining in this part of the service. For
the most part they squatted silently and reverently in their corner of
the temple. As the different services concluded the Abbot shifted the
offerings before the main altar to their appointed stations before the
smaller shrines, when the prayers proceeded afresh. Protracted overtures
were made to the picture of the Ten Judges, before which the service
apparently became fully choral. One priest danced amazing and grotesque
steps, strangely reminiscent of a Kaffir war-dance, the sole of one foot
striking the floor to the accompaniment of a clash of cymbals as the
other leapt into the air. Another priest played upon the cracked bell,
and a third kept up a dull, monotonous thumping on the drum. The sole
idea of the priests, as conveyed to my mind by their celebration, seemed
to be the breaking up of the solemn silence of the night by the most
amazing medley of noises. At intervals, in the course of the unmusical
colloquy between the drums, the cymbals, and the big bell, the monks
chanted their dirges, which were, in turn, punctuated by the dislocated
tapping of the Abbot’s brass bell and wooden knocker.

It was deafening, the most penetrating discord of which I have ever been
the unfortunate auditor. With the conclusion of the exercises upon the
cymbals, which were beaten together in a wide, circular sweep of the
arms, then tossed aloft, caught, and clanged together after the fashion
of the South African native with his spear and shield, the performing
priest returned to the companion who relieved him. His more immediate
activities over, he stood aside laughing and talking with his colleagues
in a voice which quite drowned the chants in which his companions were
engaged. Then, panting with his late exertions, he proceeded to fan
himself with the most perfect unconcern, finally examining the hem of his
jacket for lice; his search repaying him, he returned to his seat upon
the floor and lifted up his voice with the others. After the sacrifices
and prayers had been offered before the main altar and those upon the
right and left, extra tables of fruit, apples, dates, nuts, cakes and
incense, together with the previous dishes of rice, cakes, incense and
bread, were spread before a small shrine placed in front of the screen.
Rice was piled into a bowl, and, while the other monks were laughing and
chattering among themselves in the temple itself during the progress of
the sacrifice, the two women approached the shrine and made obeisance
three times, then touching each dish with their fingers, bowed again and
retired to their corner. At the same time three priests, breaking from
the group that were talking by the doors of the building, sat down in
the centre of the temple upon their praying-mats, seven or eight feet
from the shrine. While one chanted Korean prayers from a roll of paper,
another struck and rang the brass bell repeatedly, and the third hammered
the gong. Throughout this part of the service the others chatted volubly,
until they, too, joined in a chorus and pæan of thanksgiving, breaking
off from that to chant, in low, suppressed tones, a not unimpressive
litany.

Repetitions of the services I have described continued all night.
Sometimes there was more noise, sometimes less, occasionally there was
none, the tired, quavering voices of the sleepy priests tremulously
chanting the requisite number of litanies. The women, who sat with
wide-opened eyes, watched with interest and were satisfied. The priests
seemed bored. Personally I was tired, dazed and stunned by the uproar.
During the progress of this strange service, I was struck by the utter
absence of that devotional fervour which was so characteristic of the
priests in the principal monasteries of the Diamond Mountains.

The ceremony presently shifted from the Temple of the Great Heroes to the
spacious courtyard in front of it. Here, when numerous fires had been
lighted, the Abbot and three priests, together with the two Korean women,
moved in procession. Their march was accompanied by the striking of many
gongs and bells. The monks offered prayers round heaps of pine branches,
which had been thrown together and lighted at the different spots. Chants
and prayers were repeated, and the same clashing of instruments went on
as before. It was not until a heavy rain descended that the worshippers
returned to the seclusion of the temple. I felt, somehow, quite grateful
to that shower of rain. In the morning, my interpreter told me that this
progress in the courtyard formed a part of services which accompanied
the offering of special prayers for rain. It would be a curious
coincidence if this were so. Next day, at the hour of my breakfast,
there was some desire to continue the celebration. My head was still
aching with the jarring discord of the bells, gongs, and cymbals of the
previous entertainment, and at the sight of the preparations my appetite
vanished. Breakfast became impossible; I relinquished it to pray for
peace. Happily this blessing was granted me; and it was decided to hold
no further service—the rain, I presume, having appeared—and to devour
the sacrifices. All that day the monks and their two guests ate the
offerings. It was therefore a day of undisturbed quiet, and as my prayer
also had been granted, each was satisfied, and we were a happy family.

[Illustration: RUSSIAN POST ON THE KOREAN FRONTIER]

My little holiday passed all too quickly. One day I found myself
preparing very sorrowfully to return to Seoul. This accomplished, the
news of my intended journey was quickly bruited abroad by my servants.
During these days curio-dealers crowded the compound of the Station
Hotel, where, made very comfortable by the kindly forethought of Mr.
and Mrs. Emberley, I was still living. There is little enough to buy in
Seoul: quaint, brass cooking-utensils; iron, inlaid with silver; tobacco
boxes, jade cups, fans, screens, and scrolls. My purchases were few; the
native furniture, massive presses, and cabinets faced with copper plates,
and small tea-tables, attracting me more than anything else. The Emperor
had already sent a present of silk and fans to my hotel, and, with these
few remaining articles, my stock of Korean relics was completed. The
dealers were importunate, and crowded into the private apartments of
the hotel like bleating sheep into a pen. Remonstrances were in vain,
and I found the specific cure for their pestiferous attentions to be
administered best in the shape of a little vigorous kicking. They took
the cuffing with much good humour, and retired to the courtyard, where,
at intervals in the day, a plaintive voice would be heard calling upon
His Highness to inspect the treasures of his slave. His Highness,
however, had concluded his inspection.

The atmosphere in these hot days in Seoul was very bad; the air was
heavy with malodorous vapour; the days were muggy and the nights damp.
The steaming heat of the capital emphasised the wisdom of an immediate
departure, and I hastened my exodus, touched up with a little ague and a
troublesome throat. The endless business of obtaining servants, guides,
and horses was repeated, until at last the day of my removal was arranged
and the hour of actual departure fixed. The prospect was alluring—a
journey from Seoul to Vladivostock, through a wild and desolate region,
nearly eight hundred miles in length, lay before me. Much of it was
unexplored. It was the chance of a lifetime, and, in thus embarking upon
it, I was very happy. My last farewells were said; my last calls had been
paid—the kindly hospitality of Seoul is not forgotten. The day had come
at last, the horses were pawing in the courtyard. My effects, my guns,
and camp-bed, my tent and stores, were packed and roped. The horses had
been loaded; the hotel account had been settled, when my interpreter
quietly told me that my servants had struck for ten dollars Mexican—one
sovereign—monthly increase in the wages of each. Mr. Emberley stood out
against the transaction; I offered to compound with half; they were
obdurate. It seemed to me that a crisis was impending. I was too tired
and too cross to remonstrate. I raised my offer to eight dollars; it was
refused—the servants were dismissed. Uproar broke out in the courtyard,
which Mr. Emberley pacified by inducing the boys to accept my last
offer—a rise of eight dollars Mexican. My head-servant, the brother of
my interpreter, repudiated the arrangement, but the significance of this
increase had assumed great importance. It was necessary to be firm. I
think now that it was unwise to have entertained any change at all in the
standard of payment. Upon the question of the additional two dollars I
stood firm; nothing more would be given. The interpreter approached me
to intimate that if his brother did not go he also would stay behind. I
looked at him for a moment, at last understanding the plot, and struck
him. He ran into the courtyard and yelled that he was dead—that he had
been murdered. The grooms in charge of the horses gathered round him with
loud cries of sympathy. Mr. Emberley called them to him and explained the
position of affairs. I strode into the compound. The head groom came up
to me, demanding an increase of thirty dollars, Korean currency, upon the
terms which he had already accepted; he wanted, further, three-quarters
of the contract price to be paid in advance; one quarter was the original
stipulation. I refused the thirty dollars, and thrashed him with my whip.

The end of my journey for the moment had come, with a vengeance. The
head groom stormed and cursed and ran raving in and out of the crowd.
He then came for me with a huge boulder, and, as I let out upon his
temple, the riot began. My baggage was thrown off the horses and stones
flew through the air. I hit and slashed at my assailants and for a few
minutes became the centre of a very nasty situation. Servants and grooms,
my interpreter, and a few of the spectators went at it keenly while the
fight continued. In the end, Mr. Emberley cleared his courtyard and
recovered my kit; but I was cut a little upon the head and my right
hand showed a compound fracture—native heads are bad things to hammer.
Postponement was now more than ever essential; my fears about my health
were realised. By nightfall upon the day of this outbreak signs of
sickness had developed; the pain had increased in my hand and arm; my
head was aching; my throat was inflamed. I was advised to leave at once
for Japan; upon the next day I sailed, proposing to go to Yokohama
and thence to Vladivostock, starting the expedition from the Russian
fortress. However, by the time my steamer arrived at Japan, I was in the
clutch of enteric fever. Further travel was out of the question, and
when they moved me from an hotel in Yokohama to a cabin upon a Japanese
steamer, which was to carry me to England, in my mind I had bidden
farewell to the countries of this world, for the doctor told me that I
was dying.

APPENDIX I

SCHEDULE OF TRAIN SERVICE

Leave Day Arrive

Port Arthur { Tuesday } Moscow
Dalny { and } 13 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes
{ Thursday }

Through trains from Moscow arrive at Dalny and Port Arthur on Wednesdays
and Saturdays.

The train comprises first- and second-class cars and dining-car.

The cost of the journey is almost prohibitive if compared with ocean
steamer charges.

The train service is very unreliable and subject to many interruptions.

The steamers of the Chinese Eastern Railway Company are scheduled to make
the connection with Korea upon arrival of the train. Time required, from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

The estimate of the length of time occupied by the journey between Korea
and Japan upon the completion of the Seoul-Fusan Railway is forty-four
hours.

Chemulpo or Seoul to Fusan 10 hours
Fusan to Moji by sea 4 ”
Moji to Kobe 15 ”
Kobe to Tokio 15 ”

APPENDIX II

RETURN OF ALL SHIPPING ENTERED AT THE OPEN PORTS OF KOREA DURING THE YEAR
1902.

+---------+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| | Chemulpo | Fusan |
| +--------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+
| | Sailing | Steam | Sailing | Steam |
| Flag +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
| |Number | |Number | |Number | |Number | |
| | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons |
| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|British | — | — | 3 | 7198| — | — | 1 | 4800|
|Korean | 167 | 4031| 187 | 34,877| 12 | 308| 77 | 32,633|
|Chinese | 73 | 406| — | | — | — | — | — |
|French | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1744| — | — |
|German | — | — | 1 | 1379| — | — | — | — |
|Italian | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2791|
|Japanese | 205 |12,945| 299 |186,050| 943 |28,447| 685 |326,858|
|Norwegian| — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 25|
|Russian | — | — | 42 | 58,332| — | — | 21 | 12,555|
|United | | | | | | | | |
| States | 6 | 162| 1 | 15| — | — | — | — |
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Total | 451 |17,544| 533 |287,851| 956 |30,499| 786 |379,662|
| ” 1901| 571 |18,839| 465 |220,053| 765 |30,147| 686 |312,029|
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Average, | | | | | | | | |
| five | | | | | | | | |
| years, | | | | | | | | |
|1898-1902| 596 |19,968| 415 |206,996| 726 |27,086| 569 |287,725|
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+

+---------+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| | Won-san | Chin-am-po |
| +--------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+
| | Sailing | Steam | Sailing | Steam |
| Flag +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
| |Number | |Number | |Number | |Number | |
| | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons |
| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|British | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Korean | 5 | 190 | 94 | 22,057| 412 | 6897 | 200 | 26,898|
|Chinese | — | — | — | — | 264 | 3113 | — | — |
|French | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|German | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Italian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Japanese | 77 | 8238 | 189 |106,755| 126 | 5349 | 52 | 31,263|
|Norwegian| — | — | 1 | 25| — | — | — | — |
|Russian | 4 | 294 | 41 | 22,752| — | — | — | — |
|United | | | | | | | | |
| States | — | — | — | — | 53 | 1408 | 31 | 465|
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Total | 86 | 8722 | 325 |151,589| 855 |16,767| 283 | 58,626|
| ” 1901| 65 | 6333 | 259 |112,583| 870 |18,424| 203 | 35,826|
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Average, | | | | | | | | |
| five | | | | | | | | |
| years, | | | | | | | | |
|1898-1902| 63 | 6085 | 243 |121,791| 716 |14,678| 195 | 36,793|
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+

+---------+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| | Mok-po | Kun-san[3] |
| +--------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+
| | Sailing | Steam | Sailing | Steam |
| Flag +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
| |Number | |Number | |Number | |Number | |
| | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons |
| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|British | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Korean | 9 | 154 | 92 | 20,694| 35 | 666 | 101 | 13,478|
|Chinese | 1 | 4 | — | — | 1 | 8 | — | — |
|French | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|German | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Italian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Japanese | 62 | 3672 | 281 |144,422| 33 | 818 | 66 | 22,297|
|Norwegian| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Russian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|United | | | | | | | | |
| States | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Total | 72 | 3830 | 373 |165,116| 69 | 1492 | 167 | 35,775|
| ” 1901| 75 | 4572 | 320 |133,494| 111 | 2731 | 141 | 36,163|
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Average, | | | | | | | | |
| five | | | | | | | | |
| years, | | | | | | | | |
|1898-1902| 100 | 4655 | 278 |121,014| — | — | — | — |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+

+---------+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| | Ma-sam-po[3] | Songchin[3] |
| +--------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+
| | Sailing | Steam | Sailing | Steam |
| Flag +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
| |Number | |Number | |Number | |Number | |
| | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons | of | Tons |
| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |Vessels| |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|British | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Korean | 1 | 31 | 2 | 847| — | — | 92 | 14,298|
|Chinese | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|French | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|German | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Italian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Japanese | 61 | 796 | 205 | 28,902| 9 | 858 | 127 | 30,646|
|Norwegian| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|Russian | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 7583|
|United | | | | | | | | |
| States | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Total | 62 | 827 | 207 | 29,749| 9 | 858 | 228 | 52,527|
| ” 1901| 72 | 1033 | 169 | 20,223| 4 | 294 | 196 | 32,565|
| +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+
|Average, | | | | | | | | |
| five | | | | | | | | |
| years, | | | | | | | | |
|1898-1902| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
+---------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+

+---------+--------------------------------+
| | Total for Korea |
| +--------------+-----------------+
| | Sailing | Steam |
| Flag +-------+------+-------+---------+
| |Number | |Number | |
| | of | Tons | of | Tons |
| |Vessels| |Vessels| |
+---------+-------+------+-------+---------+
|British | — | — | 4 | 11,998|
|Korean | 641 |12,277| 845 | 165,782|
|Chinese | 339 | 3531| — | — |
|French | 1 | 1744| — | — |
|German | — | — | 1 | 1379|
|Italian | — | — | 1 | 2791|
|Japanese | 1516 |61,123| 1904 | 877,193|
|Norwegian| — | — | 2 | 50|
|Russian | 4 | 294| 113 | 101,222|
|United | | | | |
| States | 59 | 1570| 32 | 480|
| +-------+------+-------+---------+
|Total | 2560 |80,539| 2902 |1,160,895|
| ” 1901| 2533 |82,373| 2439 | 902,936|
| +-------+------+-------+---------+
|Average, | | | | |
| five | | | | |
| years, | | | | |
|1898-1902| 2331 |75,352| 2053 | 833,334|
+---------+-------+------+-------+---------+

NOTE.—Japanese shipping (steamers of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Osaka
Shosen Kaisha and the Hori Company) easily occupies the first place. The
Korean share in the trade is increasing, and Russian steamers show a
larger tonnage in Korean ports than before.

APPENDIX III

RETURN OF PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF EXPORT TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES FROM THE OPEN
PORTS OF KOREA DURING THE YEARS 1901-1902.

+----------------------+-------------+
| | Average, |
| Articles | Five Years, |
| | 1898-1902 |
+----------------------+-------------+
| | £ |
|Barley | 1165 |
|Beans, all kinds | 185,839 |
|Bêche-de-mer | 7199 |
|Cattle and live-stock | 11,514[4]|
|Copper | —[5]|
|Fish, dried, salt and | |
| manure | 11,782 |
|Ginseng, red | 77,386[6]|
| ” white | 109 |
|Gold ore | —[5]|
|Hides | 53,652 |
|Millet | 1539 |
|Nutgalls | 1866 |
|Paper | 3161 |
|Rice | 314,081 |
|Seaweed | 8744 |
|Skins of all kinds | 2039 |
|Tallow | 1055 |
|Whaleflesh and blubber| 11,410 |
|Wheat | 9523 |
|Other exports | 44,641 |
| +-------------+
| Total | 746,705 |
+----------------------+-------------+

APPENDIX IV

RETURN OF PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF IMPORTS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES DURING THE
YEARS 1901-1902.

+----------------------+------+-------------------+-------------------+
| | | 1902 | 1901 |
| Articles | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
| | | Quantity | Value | Quantity | Value |
+----------------------+------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
| | | | £ | | £ |
|Cotton goods— | | | | | |
|Shirtings, grey and | | | | | |
| white— | | | | | |
| British |Pieces| 389,730|172,515| 402,156|176,892|
| Japanese | ” | 18,926| 3934| 19,236| 3933|
|T-cloths | ” | 18,771| 4169| 29,798| 6782|
|Drills— | | | | | |
| British and American| ” | 20,045| 9274| 34,970| 16,250|
| Japanese | ” | 2032| 1036| 919| 188|
|Turkey-red cloths | | | | | |
| British | ” | 6357| 1873| 6815| 1928|
| Japanese | ” | 9763| 1539| 10,274| 1904|
|Lawns and muslins | ” | 100,513| 10,133| 95,460| 9750|
|Lenos | ” | 33,602| 8797| 38,897| 10,296|
|Sheetings— | | | | | |
| British and American| ” | 134,282| 57,342| 189,554| 80,177|
| Japanese | ” | 173,907| 72,098| 171,235| 72,303|
|Cotton reps | ” | 21,094| 9461| 28,412| 14,598|
|Japanese piece-goods | ” | 658,462| 65,407| 909,811| 88,069|
|Piece-goods, | | | | | |
| non-Japanese | ” | 39,356| 3054| 39,699| 3517|
|Yarn— | | | | | |
| British and Indian | Lbs. | 111,333| 3923| 120,933| 4193|
| Japanese | ” | 4,154,533| 98,933| 5,028,800|119,781|
| Chinese | ” | — | | 4| 12|
|Other cottons | — | — | 23,282| | 33,235|
| | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
| Total | | |546,772| |643,808|
| | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
|Woollen goods | | | 7846| | 16,618|
| | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
|Miscellaneous | | | | | |
| piece-goods | | | 1701| | 1645|
| | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
|Metals | | | 59,266| | 74,156|
| | +-----------+-------+-----------+-------+
|Sundries— | | | | | |
|Arms, accoutrements, | | | | | |
| and ammunition | | | 9556| | 38,606|
|Bags and ropes for | | | | | |
| packing | | | 31,408| | 28,464|
|Clothing and | | | | | |
| haberdashery | | | 21,918| | 17,916|
|Cotton— | | | | | |
| Raw | Lbs. | 239,066| 3806| 447,866| 7883|
| Wadding | ” | 652,606| 12,340| 688,533| 14,650|
|Dyes | ” | 259,333| 8361| 327,466| 13,791|
|Flour | ” | 1,937,066| 7433| 1,899,066| 7860|
|Grain and pulse | ” | 3,998,266| 9337| 3,110,133| 6348|
|Grass-cloth | | | 57,310| | 53,979|
|Machinery | | | 14,608| | 12,546|
|Matches |Gross | 576,629| 18,110| 562,338| 17,747|
|Mining supplies | | | 46,659| | 39,267|
|Kerosene oil— | | | | | |
| American |Gallons 3,461,980| 77,988| 2,463,631| 62,833|
| Japanese | ” | 760| 17| 19,260| 530|
|Paper | Lbs. | 878,666| 7654| 901,733| 8033|
|Provisions | | | 19,154| — | 19,359|
|Railway plant and | | | | | |
| material | | | 46,112| — | 27,963|
|Rice | Lbs. | 11,447,466| 40,675| 10,963,200| 40,924|
|Saké and samshu | | | 15,924| — | 14,228|
|Salt | Lbs. | 17,491,733| 7998| 28,845,200| 13,879|
|Silk piece-goods | | | 86,444| — |125,381|
|Sugar | Lbs. | 2,501,600| 15,039| 1,992,933| 12,588|
|Tobacco, cigars, and | | | | | |
| cigarettes | | | 20,273| — | 17,425|
|Other sundries | | |188,642| — |161,838|
| | | +-------+-----------+-------+
| Total | | |766,766| — |764,038|
| | | +-------+-----------+-------+
| Grand total | | 1,382,351| — 1,500,265|
+----------------------+------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+

+----------------------+-------------+
| | Average, |
| Articles | Five Years, |
| | 1898-1902 |
+----------------------+-------------+
| | £ |
|Cotton goods— | |
|Shirtings, grey and | |
| white— | |
| British | 159,763 |
| Japanese | 2328 |
|T-cloths | 4400 |
|Drills— | |
| British and American| 9546 |
| Japanese | 298 |
|Turkey-red cloths | |
| British | 1934 |
| Japanese | 1726 |
|Lawns and muslins | 12,915 |
|Lenos | 9062 |
|Sheetings— | |
| British and American| 60,164 |
| Japanese | 52,961 |
|Cotton reps | 7707 |
|Japanese piece-goods | 75,405 |
|Piece-goods, | |
| non-Japanese | 8600 |
|Yarn— | |
| British and Indian | 5641 |
| Japanese | 105,454 |
| Chinese | |
|Other cottons | 42,003 |
| +-------------+
| Total | 559,919 |
| +-------------+
|Woollen goods | 8235 |
| +-------------+
|Miscellaneous | |
| piece-goods | 1148 |
| +-------------+
|Metals | 54,218 |
| +-------------+
|Sundries— | |
|Arms, accoutrements, | |
| and ammunition | 17,979 |
|Bags and ropes for | |
| packing | 25,011 |
|Clothing and | |
| haberdashery | 14,260 |
|Cotton— | |
| Raw | 5244 |
| Wadding | 14,596 |
|Dyes | 8814 |
|Flour | 6724 |
|Grain and pulse | 14,495 |
|Grass-cloth | 46,823 |
|Machinery | 8816 |
|Matches | 15,991 |
|Mining supplies | 28,859 |
|Kerosene oil— | |
| American | 55,691[7]|
| Japanese | 1873 |
|Paper | 6475 |
|Provisions | 15,695 |
|Railway plant and | |
| material | 33,816 |
|Rice | 24,348[8]|
|Saké and samshu | 13,247 |
|Salt | 13,031 |
|Silk piece-goods | 81,911 |
|Sugar | 10,984 |
|Tobacco, cigars, and | |
| cigarettes | 14,576 |
|Other sundries | 135,910 |
| +-------------+
| Total | 615,169 |
| +-------------+
| Grand total | 1,238,689 |
+----------------------+-------------+

APPENDIX V

COAST TRADE BETWEEN TREATY PORTS IN NATIVE PRODUCE (NET)

+--------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| | 1902 | 1901 |
| Port +---------+---------+---------+---------+
| | Imports | Exports | Imports | Exports |
+--------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| | Yen | Yen | Yen | Yen |
|Chemulpo |2,517,819| 91,443|1,991,757| 98,364|
|Fusan | 443,235| 587,513| 455,256| 445,963|
|Won-san | 514,936| 573,025| 306,909| 626,965|
|Chin-am-po | 83,805| 803,828| 34,662| 708,561|
|Mok-po | 105,577| 817,359| 104,926| 456,632|
|Kun-san | 73,691| 527,187| 57,122| 472,850|
|Ma-sam-po | 10,896| 191,547| 15,173| 110,968|
|Syöng-chin | 94,997| 84,892| 78,439| 74,829|
| +---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Total |3,844,956|3,676,794|3,044,244|2,995,132|
| +---------+---------+---------+---------+
| ” coast trade[9]| 7,521,750 | 6,039,376 |
+--------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

APPENDIX VI

CUSTOMS REVENUE

+---------------------+------------------+----------+
| | Amount | |
| Year +---------+--------+ Exchange |
| |Currency |Sterling| |
+---------------------+---------+--------+----------+
| | Yen | £ |_s._ _d._|
|1902 |1,204,776| 122,783| 2 0½ |
|1901 |1,325,414| 135,303| 2 0½ |
|1900 |1,097,095| 109,710| 2 0 |
|1899 | 902,955| 90,296| 2 0 |
|1898 |1,000,451| 101,087| 2 0¼ |
| +---------+--------+----------+
| Average, five years| — | 111,836| — |
+---------------------+---------+--------+----------+

APPENDIX VII

GOLD EXPORT TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES

+----+----------------------------+
| | AMOUNT |
|YEAR+---------+--------+---------+
| |Currency |Sterling|Exchange |
+----+---------+--------+---------+
| | Yen | £ | s. d. |
|1902|5,064,106| 516,961| 2 0½ |
|1901|4,993,351| 509,738| 2 0½ |
|1900|3,633,050| 363,305| 2 0 |
|1899|2,933,382| 293,338| 2 0 |
|1898|2,375,725| 240,047| 2 0¼ |
+----+---------+--------+---------+

+----------+-----------------------------+
| | VALUE |
| FROM +---------+---------+---------+
| | 1902 | 1901 | 1900 |
+----------+---------+---------+---------+
| | Yen | Yen | Yen |
|Chemulpo |2,538,101|2,556,095|1,927,665|
|Fusan | 104,915| 122,968| 121,809|
|Won-san |1,361,580|1,668,245|1,425,576|
|Chin-am-po|1,053,800| 646,043| 158,000|
|Mok-po | 5,710| — | — |
| +---------+---------+---------+
| |5,064,106|4,993,351|3,633,050|
+----------+---------+---------+---------+

+-------+-----------------------------+
| | VALUE |
| TO +---------+---------+---------+
| | 1902 | 1901 | 1900 |
+-------+---------+---------+---------+
| | Yen | Yen | Yen |
|China | 59,805| 136,150| 567,670|
|Japan |5,004,300|4,857,201|3,065,380|
| +---------+---------+---------+
| Total|5,064,106|4,993,351|3,633,050|
+-------+---------+---------+---------+

Exchange sterling, 2_s._ 0½_d._—2_s._ 0_d._½.—2_s._ 0_d._

APPENDIX VIII

TABLE OF MINERALS

GOLD.

Ham-kyöng.
Pyöng-an.
Hwang-hai.
Kyöng-keui.
Kang-won.
Chyung-chyöng.
Chyöl-la.
Kyöng-syang.

SILVER.

Ham-kyöng.

SILVER AND LEAD.

Ham-kyöng.
Kang-won.
Kyöng keui.
Chyung-chyöng.
Kyöng-syang.
Chyöl-la.
Pyöng-an.

TIN.

Chyöl-la.

IRON ORES, MAGNETITE AND LIMONITE.

Ham-kyöng.
Hwang-hai.
Kyöng-keui.
Chyung-chyöng.
Chyöl-la.
Kyöng-syang.

MERCURY.

Kyöng-syang.
Ham-kyöng.

MANGAN.

Kyöng-syang.

COAL.

Pyöng-an.
Kyöng-syang.
Ham-kyöng.
Kyöng-keui.
Kang-won.

The preceding minerals are yielded by the different provinces.

INDEX

A Tai-cho, 175

Agriculture Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Allen, Dr., 155

America:
Interests in Korea, 154-156
Trade with Korea, 139, 144, 146, 147

Am-nok River, _see_ Yalu

An-ak, 164

An-man-chai Pass, 233

An-tung, 29, 193, 206_n_

An-yang, 158

A-o-ya Pass, 164

Banks:
Dai Ichi Ginko, 28, 103-105
Russo-Chinese, 28, 194

Bauer, Herr, 218, 220

Belgian interests in Korea, 166-167

Bojisco, 202

Bourdaret, M., 162

Boxer disturbances, 138, 146

Broughton, Captain W. R., 5, 171

Broughton Bay, 6, 171-172

Brown, J. McLeavy:
Sketch of, 81-87;
Work of, 20, 32, 154;
Yi Yong-ik, Relations with, 60-61, 87

Bruce, Admiral, 86

Brünner, M., 201

Buddhism, 231, 235-240, 263, 288, 292-296

Cazalis, M., 90-91

Chang-dan, 164

_Chang-ot_, the, 38, 44

Chemulpo, 11, 29, 30, 32, 104, 141, 166, 182, 264;
Description of, 15-23

Chi-fu, 32, 140

Chik-san, 161

China:
Conservatism of, 10-12, 114
Korea:
Early Relations with, 10, 129-130;
Settlements in, 16-18, 108-110;
Trade with, 126, 141

Chin-am-po, description of, 182, 185-187, 188

Chin-eui, 158

Ching-kai-wan (Shin-hai, or Chin-hai), 200

Chino-Japanese War, reference to, 10, 29, 31, 136

Chin-san, 159

Cho Pyöng-sik, 104

Cho Sung-hyup, 202

Cho-san, 204

Christianity, 261-269

_Chun-kok_, 124

Chyang-pyöng, 159

Chyök-syöng, description of, 214

Chyöl-la, 124, 158, 179, 182

Chyön-eui, 158

Chyung-chyöng, 4, 6, 125, 158, 161, 182

Chyu-pung Pass, 159

Clemencet, M. E., 31

Communications Department, expenditure of, 98

Companies:
American, 19, 154
English, 151-152
French, 89, 161
Russian, 192, 200 _seq._

Concubinage, laws relating to, 113-114

Confucianism, 238-240, 263

Cooke, Miss, 154, 166

Corfe, Bishop, 154, 264

Corruption, Government, 105-107

Cotton trade, 138-139

Currency, debased, 92-3, 101-103

Customs, Imperial Korean Maritime:
Establishment of, 20-21
Hypothecation of, 60-61, 89-93
Mr. McLeavy Brown, Chief Commissioner of, 81-89
Revenue from, 307

Dalny, 19

de Lapeyriere, M., 162

de Plancy, Colin, 90, 94, 161, 162, 183

de Speyer, M., 94

Dress, Seoul, in, 35-40

Drought, effects of, 253-257

Dagelet, 7

Dun River, 171

Durock, 7

Education Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Education in Korea, 27-8, 65, 108-111

Emberley, Mr., 152, 296, 299

Emperor of Korea, the:
Character of, 62-69
Mr. McLeavy Brown, attitude towards, 87-89
Power of, 59, 114-115
Religion of, 239

England, _see_ Great Britain

Eun-san, 187, 217

Farming, methods of, 120-123

Finance Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Food-stuffs in Korea, character of, 124-127

Foreign Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Forest Concession, the, 201 _seq._

France:
Interests of, in Korea, 161-166
Policy of, in Korea, 61, 91-92, 95-6, 183-4

Fusan, 16, 30, 32, 104, 141;
Early Japanese incursions into, 129-132;
Description of, 176-178

Fusan, Old, 159, 176-177

Germany:
Interests of, in Korea, 166
Trade with Korea, 146, 147

_Gisaing_, 52 _seq._

Gold, export returns, 308
Mining, 217-220

Government corruption, 105-107

Great Britain:
Interests of, in Korea, 149-154
Policy of, in Korea, 91, 95-96, 184
Settlement in Korea, 18
Trade in the East, lack of enterprise, 141-147

Gubbins, J. G., 87, 88, 90, 95

Hai-chu, 164

Hai-yong River, 226

Hall, Basil, 6

Ham-kyöng, 9, 126, 175, 176, 189

Han River, 21, 163, 164, 280-283

Han-chu, 163

Han-ju, 164

Ha-ram, 123

Hart, Sir Robert, 20, 81

Hayashi, Mr., 205

Hermit Kingdom, the, 41, 43

Hideyoshi, 49, 285

Home Department, expenditure, 98, 99

Hulbert, Prof. H. B., 108

Hwang-hai, 125

Hyön-pung, 159

Im-chin River, 163, 164

Im-myöng, 190

Industries:
Domestic, 117 _seq._, 121-123, 180-181
Fishing and fish-drying, 247-249
Mining, 217-220
Salt making from sea-water, 249

Irrigation, 122

Island, Round, 21
Roze, 21

Japan:
Dai Ichi Ginko instituted, 103-105
Early relations between Korea and, 1, 4, 49, 128-134
Foreign goods counterfeited by, 167-169
Interests of, in Korea, 156-161, 172-173
Korean currency, action regarding, 102-103
Policy of, in Korea, 134-137
Russia, attitude towards, 194-200
Settlements in Korea, 16-18, 136-137, 160-161
Trade with Korea, 138-139, 141, 144, 146

Jordan, Mr., 152, 184

Kak-kot-chi, 286

Kak-pi Pass, 228

Kal-kan-i, 228

Kang, Lady, 68

Kang-kyöi, 216

Kang-kyöng, 158

Kang-song, 286

Kang-wha, 284-296

Kang-won, 8, 125, 126, 175, 176

Kap-san, 216

Keu-chai, 198

Keum River, 158, 182

Keum-kang-san, 227, 229, 232

Keum-san, 159

Ki-ja, 123

Kim Yueng-chun, 68

Knochenhauer, 217

Kobe, 32

Ko-chong, 286

Kong-chyu, 158

Konishi, 132

Korea:
Character of people, 117-120, 222;
Court of, 59 _seq._, 70-80;
Customs and dress of the people, 35-41;
Dancing, 56-58;
Development and progress of, 10-15;
Disease in, 259-260;
Early explorers of, 2-7;
Filth of people, 249-250;
Food, 126-127;
Geography of, 1-10, 13-14, 143;
Government, 10-11, 96, 105, 114-116;
Hunting in, 222-226;
Language of, 108-110;
Origin of people, 41-42;
Postal system, 30-32;
Slavery in, 49-52;
Superstition, 7-10, 251-252, 256-257;
Telegraphic communication, 26, 28-30;
Trade and shipping, 20-23, 138-147, 302-306;
Travelling in, 270-280
American interests in, 154-156
Belgian interests in, 166-167
British interests in, 149-154;
Policy in, 91, 95, 184;
Settlements in, 18
China and, early relations between, 10, 129-130;
Influence of, in, 42;
Settlements in, 16-18;
Trade between, 141
French influence in, 61;
interests in, 161-166;
Policy in, 91-92, 95, 183-184
German interests in, 166
Japanese, incursions and early relations with, 49, 128-134;
Influence, 134-137;
Interests in, 156-161, 172-173;
Policy in, 134-135;
Settlements in, 16-18, 136-137, 160-161
Russian influence in, 61;
Interests in, 171, 172, 192-206;
Policy in, 91, 94, 183-184

Ko-ryö, 175

Ko-yang, 164

_Kumungo_, the, 111

Kun-san, description of, 182, 188-189

Kuroda, 132

Kwi-po, 159

Kyöng-keui, 125, 158

Kyöng-syang, 124, 126, 158

Kyo-wha, 164

La Pérouse, 7

Law Department, expenditure, 98, 100

Law, marriage and divorce, of, 112-114
Penal, 111-112

Lazareli, 7

Lefevre, M. G., 162

Li Hung Chang, 201

Liao-tung Gulf, 129
Peninsula, 195

Lyne Sound, 179

Ma-eum-to Island, 288

Manchuria, Russian policy towards, 195, 196, 205

Man-sak-dong, 16

Man-san-po, 192, 196-200

Matunine, M., 94

Min Yeung-ik, 61

Minerals, Korean, 14, 165, 187, 189, 217-220
Table of, 309

Mines, British, 217
German, 217 _seq._

Mining, Korean methods of, 219-220

Missionaries:
American, 265-267;
Church of England, 264-265, 288;
French, 261-264

Mok-po, 32, 104, 158, 264;
Description of, 178-181

Monasteries:
Chang-an-sa, 226, 229-230, 233, 234, 243, 244-246;
Chung-deung, 288;
Kang-wha, 287-288, 289-296;
Mun-su-sa, 288;
Pyo-un, 229;
Shin-ki-sa, 241-242;
Sin-ga, 229;
Sok-wan, 175;
Yu-chom-sa, 229, 232-237, 241, 246-247

Mountains: Diamond, 8, 170 _seq._, 226 _seq._, 242;
Korean, description of, 13-14;
Nam-san, 25;
Peuk-an, 25;
Superstitions regarding, 8-10

Mukden, 193

Mum-sa-am, 243

Mun-chyön, 159

Mun-san-po, 164

Mun-su, hill of, 287

Nagasaki, 28, 32

_Nageum_, the, 111

Nak-tong River, 159

Nam-pu, 200

Newchang, 138

No-dol, 158

Om, Lady, 61, 65-69, 87, 239

_On-mun_, 109, 110

On-yang, 158

Oppert, 6

O-san-tong, 158

Paik-tu-san, 13

Pavloff, M., 94, 183, 193, 198

Pedlars’ Guild, 105

Pellisier, 7

Police Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Po-mun-sa, 288

Ponies, Korean, 271-273

Po-pheung, King, 229

_Po-ri_, 125

Port Arthur, 19, 32, 171, 172, 196;
Hamilton, 200-201;
Lazareff, 171

Postal Union, 30, 31

Prince Jerome’s Gulf, 6

Productions, farm, 122-127, 143

Pu-ti-chong Pass, 233, 234

Pyök-tong, 204

Pyöng-an, 125, 126, 175, 176, 217

Pyöng-tak, 158

Pyöng-yang, 29, 132, 155, 162, 164;
Description of, 182, 185, 187-188

Quelpart, 2, 6, 124, 267

Railways:
Seoul-Chemulpo, 156, 157, 158;
Seoul-Fusan, 19, 156-160, 177;
Trans-Siberian, 19, 163, 171

Rainfall, 257-259

Revenue, sources of, 96-101, 307

Rice crop, importance of, 153-154

Russia:
Interests in Korea, 171, 172, 192-206;
Japan, attitude towards, 194-200;
Policy in Korea, 61, 91, 94-96, 183-184;
Policy in Manchuria, 195, 196;
Yong-an-po, appropriation of, 201-206

Ru-yong-san River, 179

Ryang-san, 159

Ryöng-san, 159

Ryön-san, 159

_Sang-no_, the, 49-50

Schwartz, 7

Seoul, 16, 103, 104, 141, 264;
Description of, 24-42

Shamanism, 238

Shanghai, 31, 32, 140, 142

Shantung, 18, 129

Shibusawa, Baron, 103

Shimonosaki, 10

Shipping, Chemulpo, 19-23;
Scheduled returns of, 302-304

Sho-ho, _see_ An-tung

Shufeldt, Admiral, 16

Si-heung, 158

Sin-chyön, 164

Sin-gyo, 158

Slavery, Korean, 49-52

Son-dol-mok Rapids, 286

Song-do, 162, 163

Steamship Companies:
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, 32, 142;
Osaka Shosen Kaisha, 32, 142-3

Suk-chong, 286

Syn-won, 158

Syök-kyo-chyön, 159

Syön-chyön-po, 184-185, 187

Syöng-chik, 247

Syöng-chin, 182

Ta-bäk Mountains, 167

Ta-dong River, 185-186

Tai Won Kun, 65

Tai-hoang-kyo, 158

Tai-ku, 159

Taku, 32

Tan-bal-yang Pass, 226

_Tap-kok_, 124

Taxation, 96-97

Teh-chang-chin, 216

Temples, Buddhist, 235, 236, 288, 292-295

Tiger, the Korean, 224

Tokio, 19

Tong-ko-kai, 166, 207, 217 _seq._

Tong-lai, 159

Trade:
Chemulpo, of, 20-23;
Exports and imports, value of, 21-23;
Scheduled return of articles, 305-306;
Native produce, scheduled return of, 307

Train service, schedule of, 301

Trollope, Rev. Mark Napier, 288

Tsu-shima, 29, 131

Tumen River, 201, 206

Tun-po, 158

Ul-lyang, 201

Unkoffsky, 7

Un-san, 155, 156, 187, 217

Vladivostock, 32, 142, 171, 172, 193, 196

Wai-koan, 159

War Department, expenditure of, 98, 100

Washington Gulf, 179

Wei-hai-wei, British demonstration at, 61

Wha-ding, 250

Whan-gan, 159

Wi-ju, 13, 29, 161, 163, 193, 202;
Description and opening of, 183-184

Women, Korean:
Character of, 48;
Condition of, 41, 43-58;
Education of, 108-111

Won-san, 30, 32, 141, 142, 143, 193;
Description of, 170-176

Yalu River, 161, 201, 206 _n_

_Yamen_, 117, 118, 249

Yang River, 159

Yang-san, 159

Yang-tse, 145

Yang-wha-chin, 164

Yi-cha-sun, 54

Yi-yong-ik:
Character of, 62;
Customs loan, attitude regarding, 90;
Dai Ichi Ginko, opposition to, 104-105;
Mr. McLeavy Brown, relations with, 60-61, 87;
Transactions of, 106-107

Yokohama, 142

Yong-an-po, 183, 184;
Russian appropriation of, 193, 201-206

Yong-chyön, 202, 204, 206

Yöng-dong, 159

Yong-san, 158

Yong-tong-po, 156, 158

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
London & Edinburgh

[Illustration: MAP OF KOREA

PREPARED BY ANGUS HAMILTON

1904]

FOOTNOTES

[1] The Japanese Government, on December 22nd, 1903, decided to find
the capital necessary for the immediate completion of the railway. An
additional million sterling has been allotted for this purpose, and the
line will be finished within the course of 1904.

[2] Ten _li_ equal three English miles.

[3] Opened May 1, 1899.

[4] Large rise in price owing to increased demand at Vladivostock and
elsewhere.

[5] No returns for 1898.

[6] To China by Korean Government.

[7] Highest on record. Large direct import in sailing-vessels from
America.

[8] Large quantity imported from Saigon by Government to relieve national
distress.

[9] Increasing annually with greater transport facilities.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KOREA ***

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