}
COREA.
Corea, or Choseu (the native name), is a peninsula situated to the north of China, and hangs down between that Empire and Japan, separating the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, between the 34th and 43rd parallels north. It is bounded on the north by Manchuria, on the north-east by Siberia, on the east by the Sea of Japan, on the west by the Yellow Sea, and on the south by the Channel of Corea. It has a coast line measuring 1,740 miles, and with its outlying islands is nearly as large as Great Britain. The name Corea is derived from the Japanese Korai (Chinese Kaoli); and the Portuguese, who where the first navigators in the Yellow Sea, called it Coria. Chosen is translated into “Morning Calm." The eastern half of the peninsula is a sinuous range of mountains of which western Corea is the slope. The chief rivers of importance are naturally to be found on the western sile, and most of the harbours are situate on that coast, Corea is divided into eight do or provinces, named Piug-an, Whang-bai, Kiung-kei (which contains the capital), Chung-chong, Chulla, Kiung-sang, Kang-wen, and Ham-kiung. The climate is considered healthy and temperate, bracing in the north and milder in the south, where it is more exposed to summer breezes. The Han river at Seoul is often frozen for two mouths in the year. The fauna includes tigers of the fiercest kind, leopards, wild deer, wild hogs, and in the south moukevs are to be foun 1. A species of alligator is sometimes found in the larger rivers, and the salamander abounds in the streams. A stunted breed of horses exists, and immense numbers of oxen are raised as food; goats are rare, and sheep are only imported from Chiua for sacrificial purposes. The pheasant, eagle, falcon, crane, and stork are common. A great portion of the soil is fertile, and the mineral wealth of the kingdom is believed to be considerable, though hitherto mining bas been forbidden. The history of Corea, like that of its neighbours, is lost in the mists of obscurity, but according to native and Chinese tradition a Chinese noble named Kishi or Ki-tsze, who migrated with his followers to Corea in 1122 B.C., was the founder of the Corean social order and the first monarch. His descendants
The present are said to have ruled until the fourth century before the Christian era. dynasty is descended from Ni Taijo, a young soldier who was the architect of his own fortunes, and who succeeded in deposing the Wang dynasty. It was at this time, in the 14th century, that Han-vang, known as Seoul, was selected as the national capital. His Majesty King Li Fin is the twenty-eighth sovereign of the present line. The kingdom is governed, under the King and three Prime Ministers, by six boards or departments--namely, Office and Public Employ, Finance, Ceremonies, War, Justice, and Public Works. The general method of procedure is modelled on that of Peking. The State revenue is derived from the land tax, and it is estimated to amount to about £200,000.
For centuries the Coreans successfully resisted all efforts to induce them to hold intercourse with foreigners. The King of Corea is nominally a vassal of the Emperor of China, but the latter attempts no interference in the administation of Corean affairs. In former times Corea was invaded by both Chinese and Japanese, but for some centuries she enjoyed rest and seclusion, and not until 1876, when she signed the Treaty of Kokwa with Japan, were any foreigners admitted to the kingdom. Since the establishment of Japanese in the ports of Fusan and Yuensan, the prejudice against foreign intercourse has gradually abated, and on the 22nd May, 1882, & treaty of friendship and commerce was signed by the Corean Government at Rensan with Commodore Shufeldt on behalf of the United States. Shortly after- wards treaties were signed with England and Germany, but the provisions of these agreements not proving acceptable to the Governments of those powers, new treaties have been negotiated, and one with England was signed by Sir Harry Parkes on the 26th November, 1883. The "Hermit nation" has now fully emerged from its isolation, In the autumn and a growing trade is springing up at the newly opened ports.
The popula of last year a Corean Embassy was despatched to the United States. tion of Corea, according to the last Government census, was 10,518,937. The value
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COREA-SEOUL.
of the trade with Japan in 1882 was $3,553,681 as compared with $3,827,394 in 1881. The decrease is ascribable to the serious political disturbances in July, 1882. The value of the imports in 1882 was $1,783,183, and of the exports, $1,775,498; the principal articles of import were cotton manufactures, and of export, rice, hides and bones, beans and gold. Latterly there has been some trade with China, and a Foreign Customs service on the model of that of the last-named country has been established.
SEOUL.
The capital city of Han-yang, better known to foreigners as Seoul (which is merely the native term for capital), is situated almost in the centre of the province of Kiung-kei, on the north side of the river Han, about thirty-five miles from its mouth. It lies in 37 deg. 30 min. X. lat. and 127 deg, 4 min. long. E. Han-yang means “the fortress on the Han." The city is enclosed by crenellated walls of varying height, averaging about twenty feet, with arched stone bridges spauning the water-courses. Mr. J. C. Hall, who visited it in 1881, says the city is in the form of an irregular oblong, and stretches lengthwise in a valley that runs from north-east to south-west. On its northern side is a range of bold granite hills, the topmost peaks of which are about 3,500 feet high; ou its southern side, trending to the east, is a long chain of hills about half that height. The city wall is carried along the top of the southern hill; but the steep crags of the northern side require no artificial strengthening. The houses are about eight or nine feet high, built of stone or mud, and mostly roofed with tiles. A long main street, about 100 feet wide, running east and west, divides the city into two nearly equal portions. In the northern half are the walled inclosures containing the king's palace, and the more important public buildings. The royal inclosure is bounded on its north side by the precipitous sides of the granite peaks above-mentioned; on its south side it is entered by three great wooden gates, the central and principal one of which is called the Thoi-bwa-mun; the one to the east of this is the Hwing-hwa-mun; that to the west the Kwang-hwa-trun. Inside the inclosure are two palaces. The older of the two, in which the king bas The other, close resided for the last eight years, is close to the Thoi-hwa-mun.
to the Kwan wa-mun, was built about forty years ago. The king lived in it for about si. years after his accession to the throne, but a conflagration which partly destroyed it compelled him to move into the old palace. It is now being rebuilt. A street about 50 feet wide from the front of the Thoi-hwa-mun intersects the main street at right angles, dividing the northern half of the city into eastern and western quarters. At the point of intersection stands a pavilion called Chong-kak (the "Bell Kiosk") from a large bell about seven feet high which is placed there. This spot is regarded as the centre of the city; and from it another street, as wide as the main street, branches off to the south west and terminates at the Nan-tai-mun. The four wide streets which thus radiate from the "Bell Kiosk" are known as the four Chong-ro or "Bell roads." Another conspicuous feature of this ceutral part of the city is the row of large warehouses two storeys high, the lower portions of which are divided off into little shops, opening into a small court-yard instead of facing the street. The chief public buildings, apart from the royal inclosure, are three palaces, two of which belong to the king, while the third belonged to his father, the Daj In-kun. The Nam-kung, or "South Palace" stands near the south great gate. The Nam- prōl-kung, or South Separate Palace," stands near the western great gate, and is reserved exclusively for the reception of the Chinese Envoys. The Un-byōn-kung, or "Cloud-Mound Palace," isin the northern side of the city, between the royal inclosure and the main street in front, and between the central and western palace gates (the Thoi-hwa-mun and the Kwang-bwa-mun). This was the city residence of the ex-Regent. It is by far the strongest inclosure in Seoul. It is surrounded by a strong stone wall, and some of the stones of the main gateway are of immense size. The style of architecture of these palaces is that of the one-storeyed