Korea

by A. Hamilton

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.