Directory_and_Chronicle_1909 — Page 785

CUSTOMS

MASAMPO-MOKPO

關海浦山馬國韓

DIRECTORY

Comsnr.--W. McC. Osborne (Fusan)

Acting Asst. in charge-W. Armour

JAPANESE HOTELS

Iwamiya

Horiye

Kochizuki

Taiko

Yoshikawa

官事本日

Resident-K. Mimashi

JAPANESE RESIDENCY

Vice Resident-S. Wadda Secretary-M. Sakane

647

S. Ishikawa, H. Noguchi, S. Shimizu Fishery Department-H. Kimura Interpreter-S. Shimao

Chief Inspector of Police--N. Michino Inspector of Police-C. Fukuyama

MISSIONS

MISSIONS ETRANGÈRES

Rev. G. Mousset

Post Office (Japanese)

Director-G. Tojo

Chief Clerk-K. Uchida

MOKPO

浦木 Mok-po

Mokpo, which, like Chinnampo, was opened to foreign trade on the 1st October 1897, in pursuance of a resolution of the Council of State, is a seaport in the provinco of Chulla, and has an excellent harbour capable of providing anchorage accommodation for thirty or forty vessels of large tonnage. Chulla is a great rice-growing district, and has the reputation of being the wealthiest province in the country, and Mokpo lies at the mouth of a river which drains nearly the whole province. Mokpo has undergone a great transformation since it was opened. In 1897 ít consisted of a few Corean huts surrounded by paddy fields and mud flats. The foreign settlement, which comprises about 225 acres of ground, was bought up within a couple of years, and the mud flats were rapidly converted into a town, with well laid out streets, occupied by about 1,200 Japanese and a number of substantial Chinese residents. A seawall was built and a bund road, over a mile in length, was made. The climate of Mokpo is healthy and salubrious; the scenery much resembles that of South Japan and is picturesque in the extreme. Good shooting may be had, pheasants, geese, ducks, deer, wild boar and leopards abounding. Even tigers will be met with by those who care to hunt for them. Instances are not at all rare in which pigs, dogs and even men are carried off by these beasts. Many of the natives are experts in training eagles to hunt smaller birds, like pheasants, &c.

The anticipations which were entertained of Mokpo at the time of its opening have proved over-sanguine, doubtless because the port of Kunsan was subsequently opened to foreign trade, and has flourished at the expense of Mokpo. But Mokpo would appear now to be regaining its old position, for while in 1906 the trade of the port was represented by £43,210 for exports and £41,494 for imports, in 1907 the respective values had risen to £134,403 and £63,322.

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