The Placer herald., 1860-04-07
The Kingdom Of Corea.

dependent on CHINA, but nOmlnally, O
which very little is known to the civilized
world An entering wedge Of civilization
has, however, been driven into this country
by the faith and perseverance OF Mr. Ma
bault, Catholic missionary, who, twenty.
two years ago, landed on its shores from a
Chinese Junk, alone and unprotected. His
boldness was rewarded with martyrdom, but
not until others had joined him, and in ls47
there was established church, count. g 76S
adult communicates, and AGO catechumen.--
Through these missionaries something has
been learned of the peninsula, which we find
in private letter of Baron Chassiron, com
municated to the 1nnalis des Voyages
Corea is divided into eight provinces, each
ruled, like the Chinese provinces, by man
DARN. The government is absolutely des.
potic, but the King has council of min
listers. The crown is hereditary; the King
never recognizes more than one legitimate
sou; and when there is no heir to the crown,
it is made the duty of the ministry to find
one and to announce him rs the regular sue
cessor. The army consists Of about 10000
men; every man carries on his own trade,
but none the business of fighting; it is a rab
bic with no more Organization than the Chi
nese army. There is never any use for this
army. The soldiers are armed with match
locks, and in the capital, the missionaries
say, there are some imm0yeoble cannon.
AS in China, the mandarns have their
train Of shock boys, heavy, miserable set,
the outcasts Of all the East, who support the
shoulders of their masters, while standing or
walking, carrying bis tiger-skin, chains, and
insignia Of power, and do lis body work gen
ally.-They use the most revol! ng cruel
ties on criminals, such as cutting the belly
out of a live man, half burying him alive,
hacking off his limbs, and endeavorng in
every way to proIong his suflerings.
According to a royal census made some
years ago, the population ofCorea is 1912,
36l, but its imperfectness leads to the belief
that it was eight orl nine millions AS in
Japan, everything bows before noble,
whether rich or poor. lie is amenable to no
law; the people dare not smoke in his pres
ence; they must yield to him in the street,
and if riding on horseback dismount as they
pass his house. He may borrow or buy and
never pay, because he is noble. The Corean
is of medium size, active and frank, and
though great friend Of quiet he is contin-
ually hard at work. lie stands far ahead of
the Cinnamon in whatever he does. He
wears cotton clothes in the Summer, which
he lines with fur in the Winter, and though
he is his own manufacturer, yet he buys con-
siderable amounts of European manufactures,
most of which come through Pekin.
The slaves are completely in the power Of
their owners. who may kill them whenever
they choose. The women are slaves, at least
among the rich, who have as many as they
can buy or keep. They are rarely permitted
to visit their parents, or the graves of their
dead shut up in closed Sedan chairs, through
which no friend or foreigner can penetrate and
are severely watched. Among the common
people they have more liberty, but daugh-
ter is never considered as a member of the
family, nor has she Inheritance. She is mar
ried off or sold by her father, as he chooses,
and after his death the same power descends
to her eldest brother, or the next heir
Sons, on the contrary, are half deified; often.
times they are not weaned until they are
eight or ten years old.
Nearly five hundred years ago cotton was
introduced from China, and its culture, with
that of rice, now constitutes the chief bus
mess of the country. Wheat and other ce'
reals are known but of little value. In the
southern peninsula, where the thermometer
does not usually 90 beneath 10 deg. below
zero in the coolest of the winter, apples,
pears, peaches, and even grapes ripen, but
they are insipid. Grape wine is unknown;
the inhabitants replace it by a kind OF beer,
used in other parts Of the East. Tobacco
grows remarkably well, and is very cheap.
The commerce of Corea is only carried on
with China and Japan, and at stated times
and ports Our domestic animals are found,
but they are used differently; the OK is used
in agriculture, and in carrying loads, never
for food; while the horse is never used in ag-
riculture, but only to mount the nobility.
The interior is very rich in mines of gold,
silver, iron, copper, and coal; but the govern
ment has secured complete monopoly OF
the gold and silver mines by placing them
under the guard of the evil spirits, so super
stitous are the Coreans.
CALlroRN1A AGAINST THE WoRLD.-Bav
ard TAYLOR in one of his letters, says that no
country in the world can grow such vegeta-
bles as are raised in this State, and tells
what he saw at the State Agricultural Fair:
"Coming upon a pile of green bonlders-
huge geodes of malahite, you snspect-yon
find them to be watermeloDs; walking down
a glen, between rounded masses of orange
colord rock, you see, at last, that they are
only pumpkins, weighing two hundred and
sixty pounds apiece! What is this silvery
globe, the size of your head' Bless me, an
onion Are those turnips, or paving stoness
white columns of celery, rising from the
floor, curl their crisp leaves over your head;
those green war clubs are cucumbers; and
n tl,n nnN clad