There is not much to be seen in the town of Seoul, though it boasts a museum and zoological gardens. The present palace is beautifully situated near the east gate amongst fine pine-trees, and the present Emperor lives a secluded life there since the Japanese insisted upon his ascending the throne. Naturally these buildings are not open to the public.
There are various missionary bodies at work in the capital, where they have their headquarters, but all the leading people seemed to be away itinerating in the country. The Roman Catholics and Anglican Missions are active, but, as one of its members informed me, the work of the latter has only been fully developed during the last few years. The Young Men’s Christian Association have fine premises presented by an American, and the Salvation Army are the newest comers in the field.
KOREAN GRAVES
The Japanese have built fine banks, post-office, railway station, and other public offices, but they prove desperately slow in transacting business. I had already experienced in Moukden that it required nearly an hour to get a few pounds on a letter of credit at a Japanese bank, and here they were equally slow. To my joy I saw a nice slab of Indian ink and a brush on the counter for signing names, for the Japanese, and Chinese, and Koreans still paint instead of writing their signatures. I thought I would utilise the time by completing a sketch in my book while the clerk was busy calculating how much the sum I wanted would come to in Japanese money. I was soon disabused of the idea, for the whole staff of the bank collected round to watch the proceeding, including the clerk who was doing my business. No doubt they found it a pleasant distraction, and time seemed to be of no importance. Their calculations are all done with an abacus, and when I asked them simply to double the sum I had originally asked for, it took exactly eighteen minutes to calculate twice five! It is obvious that the interests charged on banking transactions must be large to cover the cost of stately buildings and numberless clerks, combined apparently with a minimum of business. The Japanese have imposed a Japanese currency on the country, and the bulk of the money used does equally for both countries, but there is a small quantity of coin bearing the Korean stamp which is not current in Japan.
It seems absurd to the traveller to hear the Japanese pretending that they have not annexed Korea, for they have, practically speaking, taken possession of everything in the most high-handed manner; they have dispossessed the Koreans of all riparian rights, of fishing, game shooting, of the coasting trade, of large quantities of land, for which a purely nominal price has been given, and which the Koreans have been forced to sell contrary to their wishes. The railways, post, and telegraph, the currency, taxation, and customs, are entirely in their hands; what is left for them to appropriate? The bitterness of the bondage is aggravated by the fact that so few of the Japanese trouble to learn the language, so that misunderstandings constantly arise. They have given different names to the places, even to the capital. The courtesy, which is such a universal characteristic of the Japanese at home, he has left behind. However, it is to be remembered that this is a transitional period, and it is ardently to be desired that the Japanese Government will continue their good attempts to withdraw those who have been creating disturbances and to place a better class of officials in power. Some progress has already been made in this direction, especially with regard to the judges. The Koreans are reaping the harvest of neglected opportunities and churlish exclusiveness, and it is a bitter harvest.
One of the saddest losses Koreans have suffered of late has been that of Prince Ito, their best friend amongst their rulers, the irony of fate being shown in the fact that it was a Korean who murdered the Japanese prince. The murderer was taken for trial to Japan, and faced his death sentence with great equanimity. As he was engaged at the time in writing a poem, the authorities postponed his execution for ten days in order that he might have time to finish it!
CHAPTER XI
Fusan
The journey from Seoul to Fusan is through lovely cultivated land, everywhere varied by hill scenery, of which it has been estimated that three-fourths of Korea consists. The largest proportion of grain cultivated is rice, but wheat, barley, beans, millet, and other cereals grow equally well. It is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, has a beautiful climate, and if well governed ought to be most happy and prosperous. It is not subject to earthquakes, nor to any other great disasters, such as floods and plagues. Last year, it is true, cholera broke out in Seoul, but by the splendid exertions of the Japanese it was quickly brought under control with small loss of life.