Korea and the sacred White Mountain, being a brief account of a journey in Korea in 1891

Front matter

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Introduction

The following narrative of the way in which a few weeks’ leave was spent in Korea in 1891, does not pretend to any literary merit or to be a detailed account of that little-known country ; it is simply an amplification of my diary during that time.

It was at first intended that Captain Goold- Adams, R.A., and I should jointly publish the accounts of our journeys, but as he is still in the Far East, the collaboration had to be abandoned. However, Chapter viii. is a short narrative of his ascent of the “ White Mountain,” in which, for reasons given in my story, I was unable to accompany him. Unfortunately his map, and notes of his observations for position during his solitary journey, were lost by a friend to whom he lent them.

My thanks are due to Mr. C. W. Campbell, of the Chinese Consular Service, for kindly allowing me to make use of some of the photographs which he took during his journey to the ‘‘White Mountain” in 1889; also to Mr. Hillier and Mr. Brazier for their photographs.

INTRODUCTION

The photograph of the lake on the summit of the “ White Mountain” is combined from three views taken by Captain Goold- Adams ; owing to the defective state of the films, our Kodak pictures were, with this solitary exception, total failures.

The native sketches were executed for me by a Korean gentleman, and are, I think, interesting as illustrations of the manners and customs of the country ; it is to be regretted that more of the artist’s colouring could not be reproduced.

We cannot express sufficiently our gratitude to the many foreign residents in Korea, Shanghai, and Chefoo, from vrhom we received the utmost kindness and hospitality.

We shall never regret the time spent in Korea, amidst its strange people, wild scenery, and lovely climate. The small discomforts we had to undergo are inseparable from travel in a country some three thousand years behind modern civilisation, and, in our case, these were reduced greatly by the civility of the Mandarins and officials.

A. E. J. CAVENDISH.

Edinburgh, 1893.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction . 5

CHAP.

I. Koreans in winter clothing, ] Fu-san j

^ Photo

. Frontispiece

Chemulpho at low-tide from 7 north-west . . . . )

■ Photo — Mr. C. W. Campbell

2Kige

Soul, looking south .

„ — Mr. Hillier .

• M

Rough sketch of coolie pack- , frame . . . . . '

• 5)

Ready to start ....

Photo — Mr. Hillier .

• 5)

Rough sketch of water-mill

Prefectural Yamen at Won-san .

Photo — Mr. Brazier .

Won-san, looking east-north-east

to face „

A tiger-trap ....

J)

Rough sketch of native cart

1 1 1

1 1.

Rough sketch of bridge at Teuk- ] sil-tong j

• 55

Settler’s hut near Un-chong

Photo — Mr. Campbell

J?

Hunter and guides, Po-chon

• 5)

Distant View of Paik-tu-san or i White Mountain . . . '

J- Sketch — Captain Cavendish

to face „

The Amnok or Yalu, near the , “ White Mountain ” . . I

[ Photo — Mr. Campbell

?5

Korean bearers ....

)5

Chinese hunter’s lodge

5) 5?

The lake on the “ White Moun- ] tain ” j

1. — CajDt. Goold-Adams

Puk-chong, looking south-west .

Photo — Mr. Campbell

Ham-heung Bridge, looking ] south-east . . . . J

MAPS.

1. Map of Korea to face -page ii

2, Map of Part of Korea, showing the Author’s Koute . . . „ ,,214

MAPS.

1. Map of Korea to face page ii

2, Map of Part of Korea, showing the Author’s Koute . . . „ ,,214

KOREA

AND THE

SACRED WHITE MOUNTAIN

Chapter I. Hong -kong To Soul

On Friday, August 28th, we reached Chemulpho, the maritime port of the capital of Korea, after a journey of thirteen days from Hong-Kong, having left that place on the 15th for Shanghai. After staying at the Shanghai Club, which is the pride of the Far East, and a luxurious haven of rest for the traveller, for four days, during which time we engaged a cook and a servant, we again embarked on the 23rd. Early morning of the 25th saw us at Chefoo, ’where we had to change steamers ; the landing with all our goods was accomplished at 8 A.M. at a stone pier surrounded by coal-barges, on which, as on many of the junks and sampans, the coolies were working stark naked. Having been armed with a letter of introduction to Mr. Donnelly, a prominent resident, Goold- Adams and I were, by his kindness, enabled to make use of the club while boarding and sleeping at the hotel close by.

Chefoo is the watering-place for Korea, Pekin, Tientsin, and Shanghai, but the foreign portion of it is very small, with three indifferent boarding-houses, but good pears and good bathing, if you do not mind a naked fisherman or two about. The chief exports appear to be straw plait for hats and bean-cake for manure. Whilst here, we were most kindly entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly, and with them and Mr. and Mrs. Bellington, we crossed the bay to visit a fort which was built twenty-five years ago by General Snell, a German employe of the Chinese Government. No guns have ever been mounted and the fort is rapidly falling into ruins ; in any case, it would be useless against artillery fire from men-of-war. A very fine view of Chefoo is to be obtained from the dilapidated ofiicers’ mess-house, which crowns the highest part of the hill on which the fort is built. Chefoo rejoices in a garrison of 500 Chinese soldiers, of whose drill and discipline I had no time to obtain any idea ; but their dress and equipment, judging from a brief glimpse, is a strange medley of prehistoric and modern ideas on weapons, drill, and costume.

Bellington, who is the Superintending Engineer of the Tientsin Railway, told us some stories about the Chinese and their extraordinary ideas on the subject of railways. The track is not fenced in, and people kept crossing it to the danger of their lives ; wherefore the local mandarins said the engine must have eyes painted on it, to enable it to see where it was going. A junk has to have eyes to see its proper course ; why not a railway engine ? They were not satisfied when told that the buffers did as well, but said a man ought to be sent on ahead mounted on a donkey to warn people off the track. This might do very well for some English and European railways, but on this little line the ordinary speed is twenty-five miles an hour ! Once there was a collision and a good deal of rolling stock was damaged ; the mandarins wanted to leave the debris where it was, and build a new track round the heap ; they were naturally much astonished when they found the line cleared by the next day, a work which included the lifting of two 42-ton engines.

The captain of the Tsurugu Maru, the steamer of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha line, which conveyed us from Chefoo to Chemulpho, Devenish by name, had been chief officer of the steamer when it rescued some Chinese sailors from drowning. It seems that these men (thirteen, I think) were capsized in their junk while on their way from Chefoo to Chemulpho, and when found, had been clinging to the bottom of their craft for eight days ; when brought on board the steamer, the instant the first man stepped on its deck, he snatched a pipe from one of the Chinese passengers and took a couple of hearty puffs from it. He and his companions all recovered from their exposure and were sent back to Chefoo. In addition to their junk, they lost 200 dollars, which were in a locker in the hold, and could not be got at. In recognition of his services and kindness, the Guild of traders to which they belonged presented Devenish with a square scarlet tablet, on which were set forth in gold letters the story of the rescue and their appreciation of his humanity.

CHitMULPHO AT LOW TIDE, FROM NORTH-WEST.

It was high tide at Chemulpho when we landed to pay onr respects to Mr. Kerr, the British Vice-Consul, and we got ashore without difficulty. It being exceedingly hot (88°), and hearing that a Japanese steam-launch would be going to Soul next day, we decided not to go by land, a distance of twenty-seven miles, although the road is good except in wet weather, but to trust ourselves and onr baggage in the

Japanese craft, in spite of sinister rumours concerning its habit of running aground, &c. Accordingly we transferred our baggage to the steam-launch, a thing about fifty feet long, and after lunching with Kerr, we went for a walk round the place with Devenish, on the chance of getting a little snipeshooting, but we saw nothing. On our way back through the native village, we were overtaken by the Prefect of Inchhon, who is the Korean Superintendent of Trade here, borne along in a box-like chair, preceded and followed by attendants, some armed with pikes, some with trumpets, and some with fans. A respectful demeanour is required from the bystanders when the great man passes by, and we were amused to see one of his “ soldiers,” every now and then, rush at a man who had not left off smoking, seize his pipe, break it in pieces and throw them away, at the same time whacking the smoker over the head with his fan. After dining with Kerr and Laporte, who is the assistant Customs officer here, we passed the night at Steward’s Hotel ; Steward being a Chinaman, who had been a steward on a ship, hence the name he adopted for his hotel and store here and at Soul. The hotel was primitive in its ways and the beds were mighty hard, but we were most agreeably surprised to find anything of the kind and so clean and comfortable in the place. Inchhon is the name of the prefecture, of the second class, whose magistrate resides five miles from Chemulpho, while i6 the Chinese name for the latter place is Jenchiian, and the Japanese is Jinsen.

Next morning at 7 a.m. we succeeded in getting on board the steam-launch, which, however, did not start till an hour later, and this delay was the cause of our subsequent troubles, by making us miss the tide. Chemulpho at low water presents a remarkable sight, for owing to the rise and fall of the tide being thirty-six feet, very little water remains in the harbour, only a narrow channel in the middle, just wide enough for a steamer to swing in, while the rest of the harbour becomes a vast expanse of mud flat, only broken in one place by a small rocky island.

It was hot enough to-day (87°) for the coolies belonging to the junks and sampans, both Korean and Japanese, to work stark naked, as at Chefoo. Whilst waiting on board the launch we saw the late Russian Envoy to Korea, M. W^aeber, getting himself and his baggage on board the Tsurugu Maru, en route back to ' Russia. Under his auspices a very fine embassy has been erected in a good situation in Soul, compared with which the new British Consulate-General in the capital is remarkably hideous. Our fellow-passengers consisted of “Brother” Jones, a young American missionaiy, who had come with us from Chefoo; Steinbeck, a German, who kept a store in Chemulpho ; his servant ; about fifty Japanese men and women, and a few Chinese and Koreans ; one of the latter smoked and expectorated incessantly. This custom is, to an Englishman, one of the most annoying habits of the Koreans ; the Chinese are bad enough in this way, but they apparently do not spit unless they really have an obstruction in the throat, but Koreans, after clearing their throats with a great deal of disgusting noise, produce nine times out of ten nothing at all. I timed this particular gentleman, and found he cleared his throat on an average six times in five minutes during the whole time we enjoyed his company on the launch, which, I fancy, equals the performances of any Scotch loafer ! Soon after eight we started, and steamed slowly along the coast and up the river Han with the tide, the influence of which is felt a long way past the capital.

The shifting bed of the river, its shallowness, numerous sandbanks, and strong current at ebbtide render its navigation very difficult. Low rocky hills, gradually merging into barren, brown, and dreary mountains, enclosed the valley of the river, here from 100 to 300 yards wide ; every two or three miles, on either bank, a stone wall, three or four feet high, ran from the water s edge to the top of the hill, as a protection against invasion, while on every eminence was a small stone fort, which, like the walls, was in ruins ; a dilapidated wall also ran along the right bank of the river, broken here and there by small villages or ferry stations ; these fortifications were erected after the Japanese invasion of 1592. At noon we grounded on a sandbank, remaining fast i8 for fifteen minutes, but after much going astern of the engine, we managed to get off and go ahead once more. However, at 3.30, by which time the tide was on the ebb, we grounded once more, and nothing would move us. The Japanese in charge of the launch, seeing some Koreans in a small boat towing a junk down-stream, put off in their skiff and seized the boat, not without a lengthy altercation with the owners and some blows with a bamboo. Returning in triumph, they made some of our Korean passengers get into the boat, with the object of lightening the launch, but she had so much cargo on board that this was in vain. After some time they told us we should have to stop there for the night, and as there was no accommodation of any kind and we wanted our dinner, we prevailed on a Korean junk, which was gaily sailing up the river, to take us on board ; but no sooner had we boarded her, than the owners said the current was too strong and they must anchor.

We would not allow this, and took charge of the junk ; but we were not enough to hoist and work the huge unwieldy sail and likewise steer, so we put the master of the junk to do the latter while we did the former. By “we,” I mean Goold-Adams, “Brother Jones,” Steinbeck, myself, Steinbeck’s boy, and three Koreans ; the rest of the crew sulked and did nothing. However, after the steersman had twice purposely let her fall away, we gave up and drifted down to the launch, getting on board her again with some difficulty. Very shortly after this, two naked Japs on board a Japanese junk agreed to take us to Mapuh, the river port of Soul, and we (as before) transferred ourselves to their craft. We sailed merrily along until 6.30 P.M., when the wind died away, and the current being too strong to row, or rather ‘‘ulo” against, w^e had to anchor for the night about five miles short of our destination. Goold-Adams and I were tolerably hungry, as all we had had during the day was an egg for breakfast, and some sandwiches and a bottle of beer for luncheon. Fortunately Steinbeck had some bread, claret, and brandy left in his basket, and he kindly shared what he had amongst the four of us. The Japanese were very civil, made us some tea, spread mats on the deck of the junk for us to lie on, and stretched the sail over the boom to form an awning to keep off the dew. We w^ere very uncomfortable, however, and although the junk was as clean as it could be, yet, as the cargo consisted of matches, dried fish,' and cabbage, the smell was awful. One of the Koreans transferred himself to a Korean junk, which anchored alongside us, and the two others slept in their white cotton clothes on the roof of the junk; they presented next morning a miserable spectacle of wet, blue, and shivering humanity ! We had each brought a bag with us, leaving the other things on the launch with the servants, so we were able to make some sort of pillow for ourselves, but we slept very little ; that smell was too much !

Rousing ourselves at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, we found a dense fog hanging over the river, and had great difficulty in getting the Japs to start before daylight ; at last we got off, but after they had “ uloed ’’ for half-an-hour, they swore they were going down-stream. However, by dint of much explanation through Steinbeck’s cook, who could speak some Japanese, we persuaded them that, as long as the bow pointed S.E. according to their compass, we must be going right, and that we had not again passed a cliff' near which we had anchored for the night. We stopped once or twice and let down the anchor, while we inquired of a passing Korean junk or sent the boat ashore to ask at a house where Soul was ; but the Koreans all lied, some saying it was in one direction, others in a totally different one.

The day was now breaking, and the Japs recognising the shore, finally landed us at Hang-pai-do, a ferry about two miles from the regular landing-place, Mapuh, at 6.30 a.m. ; we each paid the boatmen one dollar for their trouble and civility, except the Koreans, who, more suo, each paid nothing, and after getting some men to carry our bags, we walked the six miles into Soul through a most fertile country, along a road which was now decent, but in wet weather must be impassable mud in places. In every valley grew castor-oil plants, rice, beans, maize, chillies, millet, tobacco, “ su-su,” &c., right up to the suburbs of the capital. We entered Soul by the west gate, an erection about forty feet high, with the usual curled roof of tiles and official painted ornamentation ; the wooden gates were about twelve feet high, and studded with iron nails, while the wall itself was about twenty feet high and twelve feet thick. Through terribly smelling lanes, Goold-Adams and I were kindly piloted by “ Brother Jones ” to the gate of the house, where Mr. Hillier, the Consul-General, was temporarily living while the new Consulate-General was being built, and we thankfully got to a comfortable dwelling at 8.30 a.m. Mr. Hillier was at church, but turned up in time for breakfast, giving us a hearty welcome. After our toilette he took us to the Consular office, where we were introduced to Mr. Scott, the Vice-Consul, an ardent Korean scholar, and author of a vocabulary and dictionary in that language. Afterwards we called on Mr. Schoenicke, head of the Korean Customs department, and also on the Italian Consul, where we met Lieutenant-Colonel Nienstead, the instructor of the Korean army.

The Colonel arrived in Korea in 1889 a captain, in 1890 he was made a major, and in 1891 he became lieutenant-colonel ; he told us some amusing facts about the Korean army, but naturally made the best of it. Mr. Hillier most kindly insisted on our staying with him while we remained in Soiil, and with Mr. Scott busied himself in getting an interpreter and ponies for our journey to Won-san; he also sent a

‘"soldier” to show us round the town, but as the man could not speak anything but Korean, we were not so much struck with things as we might otherwise have been.

The streets were narrow and tortuous ; on each side was a gutter, into which the refuse and sewerage of the houses was put ; some of the cross lanes did not possess a gutter, in which case the roadway was the receptacle of every species of filth. The street leading up to the King s palace, however, was sixty yards broad, bordered by the barracks of the garrison, while the approach to the lofty entrance gate was a flagged terrace thirty yards long and twenty wide, at the outer edge of which visitors to the palace had to dismount from chairs or ponies, and thence enter on foot. Near here is the great bell, by which the hours of restriction, curfew, &c., have been regulated since 1468 a.d. ; at 6. p.m. the gates of the city are shut, and cannot be opened again until dawn the following morning, and after 8 p.m. no Korean man may be abroad under pain of being arrested by the patrols and flogged.

CHAPTEE II.

SOUL.

Soul, pronounced Sowl by foreigners, but So-ul by the natives, is the capital of the country and of the province of Kyong-

SOUL, LOOKING SOUTH.

kwi, and it is also called Han-yang, from the river Han close by. It has over 30,000 houses, with a population of about 250,000, and covers, within its walls, an area of ten square miles. It is as much the heart of Korea, or rather more so, as Paris is the heart of France. It is the object of every Korean gentleman to live in the capital, for there every pleasure and vice is more easy of attainment, the chances of getting favourite posts by judicious flattering and canvassing of superiors are multiplied, while the flnest and best of the native and foreign produce is to he procured. There is to be found the fountain-head of official corruption and “ squeezing,” for every member of the well-born class spends his time' in seeking his share of the loaves and Ashes of dishonesty (in a European sense) ; there lives the King, the Lord of the 10,000 islands, the Son of heaven, the Father of his people ; and the sun of royalty is felt to vivify and illumine each inhabitant of Soul, be he ever so humble- The contempt shown for provincial life by all officials and every Soul-born man is most amusing, and many were the lamentations we subsequently heard from town-bred men, obliged to live elsewhere, over their sad and uninteresting existences. The acceptance of office in the provinces is merely a means to an end — that is, the amassing of wealth which may be spent in the pleasures of this life in the capital of Korea. The darkest side of the picture lies in the crowded collection of hovels, swarming with human (and insect) life, absolutely devoid of even elementary sanitation ; where the use of soap and water is confined to a few of the highest classes ; where

S -

V

SOUL disease and vice have lived in close partnership for several hundred years ; where dishonesty and oppression are carried to their utmost limits ; where torture and cruelty exercise full sway, and where private and political intrigue hampers and hinders any improvement in, or amelioration of, the conditions of life of the great bulk of the community. But the King is father of his people, and as such, the persons and property of his subjects are absolutely at the mercy of his parental will. Fortunately or unfortunately, the constitutional weakness of mind and body, inherited from a long line of debauchees, makes the King a mere puppet in the hands of his Queen, a strong-minded woman, whose relatives and adherents till almost every appointment. The Queen only tolerates one wife — that is, herself — and should she detect His . Majesty intriguing with any of the palace ladies, the wretched female is promptly degraded and despatched to some remote district, or else succumbs to some rapid and mysterious illness !

The revenues of the country go into the royal treasury, and are undoubtedly, in a great measure, spent in ministering to the luxuries and caprices of an absolute monarch. Since the officers of the Chinese Customs have administered the trade duties, the King’s income has been vastly increased, but no material improvement in the condition of the people or country has resulted. The net revenue from customs in 1890 was over 500,000 dollars, but how much of this was spent in improving the country ? As examples of the King’s extravagance and of the universal corruption, the following tales will serve. Some time ago the King imported, at great expense, a small steam-launch for use on the lake in the palace-grounds, which is nearly 100 yards in diameter; he used it once, but did not like it, and it lies there still, rotting in the water. Forced somewhat to keep pace with modern ideas, the King started a Royal Hospital, and when a foreign physician visited it; he found that although not a single patient had been admitted during the nine months it had been open, yet thirtytwo “ Choosahs ” (secretaries) and thirty servants, with all their families, were living on the premises ! Also, in the progressive mood, a Royal College was started, and a foreigner was obtained to teach in it ; but after he had been there two years, he was told he was no longer wanted, as native teachers now knew enough to do without him. Then came the problem, what was to be done with the deposed pedagogue ? It was solved thus-wise : the Government kept him on for three years at double salary but with no duties !

An American hospital here was presided over, during the temporary absence of the physician in charge, by Dr. Wylde, who was formerly in the English Army Medical Department, and is voluntarily devoting his life and skill and fortune in ministering to the many medical needs of an ignorant, disi • ti:

.5 \

SOUL trustful, and suffering race. One of the difficulties he has to contend with is the aversion his patients have to ablution : a Korean is said to be washed only twice in his life, once when he is born, and once when he is dead ; but I have, however, seen both children and adults bathing in the rivers. Amongst the crowded inhabitants of Soul immorality of all kinds is rampant, and as a consequence the general condition is syphilitic. Small-pox carries off great numbers every year, and infant mortality from it is very high, though innoculation is practised, as in China.

, Although Koreans do not wash their bodies much, yet they are very particular about their clothing being clean, reversing the Japanese system of keeping the body clean however dirty the clothing may be. The white garments of a Korean are most carefully washed, and are beaten with wooden rollers and boards until a fine glaze is obtained. The chief sources of expense to a man lie in his clothes and his pipe ; the ordinary common black hat costs three or four dollars, while a mandarin’s may cost over twenty, also the constant washing and beating of the cotton clothes soon wears them out. A Korean is hardly ever seen without his long-stemmed pipe, the head of which is often of jade, though generally of brass, and the quantity of tobacco he gets through in the year must be enormous.

In. spite of the heat (87°), we got our baggage up from

Mapuh by 9 a.m., and did a little business. Mr. Hillier had obtained for us a “ Toonsah ” or interpreter, who was supposed by some to be a Korean, and by others to be a Chinaman ; the truth probably being that some of the Chinese soldiers had adopted him when a child, and taken him to China, where he learnt the language. I believe he was Employed by Mr. Yiian, the Chinese Resident, to hunt down evil-doing Chinamen in Korea, and he affected the Chinese dress, the pig-tail, and shaven forehead. He could not speak or understand English, but proved himself to be a most willing and useful attendant. The two Chinese servants we had brought from Shanghai were perfectly useless, and professed to be in fear of their lives ; wherefore we decided to send them back there under escort of Mr. Scott, who was proceeding to England, and engage others. Steinbeck’s boy came to see us in the afternoon, and as we had seen how useful he was during our passage from Chemulpho to Soul, we engaged him as cook. Besides having a good character in that capacity, he could speak a certain amount of English, Korean, and Japanese. He had to go to Chemulpho to get his clothes from Steinbeck’s house there, and promised faithfully to be back by September 2nd, on which day we hoped to be able to start, if the rain, which might come on at any time, did not last long ; but in this we were doomed to disappointment, for next day it came on wet at one o’clock, and we were weather-hound

SOUL until the 5th. The cook, having been detained by the elements, caused us some uneasiness, but turned up in the evening of the 4th with his belongings ; the latter comprised a large canvas kit-bag with “ W. R. Carles ” painted on it, a large box, a large bundle of rugs, an umbrella, a Japanese sword, a pair of winter boots (something like half- Wellingtons), and a battered old straw hat, which we thought an excessive amount for one boy, but its weight increased afterwards. To-night after dinner, which we had in the open air in spite of the mosquitoes, came in Mr. Stripling, who has had a somewhat chequered career, and is now living on a small salary, irregularly paid by the King, as a prospector for gold and other minerals. Hearing we were in want of a servant, he very kindly offered us his own boy, a Korean, who had travelled with him a great deal in the interior, and could speak a fair amount of English. What his complete name was I have forgotten, but he answered to that of Yeung, one of the four family names in Korea, and looked about twenty-five years old ; eventually we engaged him as servant and interpreter, and he turned out most useful and willing, though not over-scrupulous in some ways.