The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-09-10
INTO LONG, CLOSED COREA.
An Occasion Of Hink Ceremony with the
CHIEF Magistrate of Chosnn.

OFF CoREA July 20.-I write this in a vessel
anchored on the coast of a country which for
1000 years has taken all foreigners for deadly
enemies. to be excluded rs a threatening
plague. Look in your atlas. and you will find
Corea outlined as II large peninsula projecting
from the northeast coast of Asia between the
Yellow Sea and Japan Sea; but you will SEQ only
the shape of the country. with an interior un-
marked by any information as to tho teeming
population. We may now expect however
that the treaty made by the King of Corea with
feldt will open the long.closcd gates Of Corean
cities. hitherto put slightly ajar for the Japan
sss Of e asa CT cora ne
together with some Jarnnese officials. 10y ma
tiySs belonging to the amt'iii Tor, party ,,n
prssticaiiy ' iRnpsnetrabs iand ' Tie arst
th III" eastern sag coast W. found ne. large
bay surrounded on MI sides by high islands
an an, the mn,nnnd nna @WIy up II r6. "or Tr
rather tail. wcil-formed iativrs. rather darker
than American muln,toes nnd much dirtier.
TUNES Of u fabric Ike the commoncst sack
cloth. consisting of bqgay trousers and short
never having occurred 10 the wcarers. Their
hair was either bunehcd in a topknot or hang
ing in plat behind. few had hats OF horse
hair. with crowns up small and high. and wore
them over close skull cars made Of the same
material. The caps seemed to bc distinctive of
VI
gowns cut like civilized night shirts except
that they were slit W ~ high AS the, arms in
the front back and sides. These had the ap
pearance of n swallow-tail cont multiplied by
four. Even the men weafn,. these extra gar
mcnts were the worst of bc.;sars. taking every
thing they could get, and having nothing to
give in return.
party from our steamer went ashore and
were met ut once 10y Il growing crowd Of, ma
tivcs. They allowed us to land. but would not
let US enter their houses nor 60 ten fec from
we ~ moi
hurt us If we did not quit. They kept their
women carefully out OF sight. old as well as
had brough, tobacco cigars. combs, knives.
scissors, ana soap from the shin, with a. view
exchange. They scrambled iuriousiy for these
things. howeyer ana thrust their hands into
our pockets They even ru e, Lighted ed, c,Ears
SILK paper with bamboo ribs. A native with a
hat always carries such an umbrella to re;
liciously protect it from the rain. No man had
two hats or umbrc las. however. and as no one
would part with his only onn could not
cure any. We made several different landings
in our desire to go into house. or u little way
into the Interior. but at each point were OPP
lies fifteen miles inland. The measreness Of
outsi ic knowledge is shown By the fact that we
in 1854 and the French in 1850 certainly wrong.
Our departure from SazaTnf was :pr Chosan
on tho southeast coast, Inc iand which we
though treeless. What was inlnnd' The fact
that We could not explore II made us curious.
bctokeniins cro@Ied popaSticn. II looked as
though the inhabitants of these places were
fishermen; aud yet the run oi fish is moi plenty.
except in the winter when the people from the
interior locK 10 IA" coast % inY in supply OF
food They ash with small odd shaped SCENES
OF grass. ChO.an j. the name of the district us
well IA the city and there are several towns
skirtng the harbor. n one corner OF which we
boat anchored near by Some o' nc went 10 the
walls OF Chosap. hut could not get inside. The
joining village. watch wa: more than ihe rest;
dents usually permit 10 foreigners. The mud
and bamboo hopsss were matched with stray
An oven pVorudcd from each. and Il hole in The
wall let ont the smoke. y glimps" OF AN in
terror showed H. "A mud Noor covered with
straw mating The filthy streets were only
ten feet wide.
Although we could not so into Chosan. the
Chief Magistrate OF Chosan could come to us.
He was accompanied aboard the Monocacy by
number u men who probably wore officials
though they didn't look it, He wore a flowing
robe of the night shirt pattern. but made Of
different color-, and the material was muslin.
He had a girdle too, and the four tails flew
astray dc worea hat with cap underneath
and on top Of the hat was n stur.: Of carved
was WASH pipe brer He u said Tint ih atsy since
the signing II the Snuieidt treaty; he had re-
nation. n he EXPRESSED i to vsi, any United
States vessel that might enter the harbor and
r. eNend a. Inc h0sht"a. ties IS IN ms powfr
n bottle OF wine. and soma tea fruit. all of
which no presented to US. We showed him the
the sWnfd an d wham he depnr @ a red s
lutte OF nine guns. The Chief Magistrates err
rand was to invite Us to visit s% on 9a es NOR
GtonsuHs ofcs. T AND there Tue joined "s'" the
messenger from the Chief Masi-trate ,soon
c,gme with ,rcrlers 70 conduct US through Tie
sonri ponies were provided for rs 70 ride. one
Of these honstS was Il trchsier, with u keen
was bitter, kicker walker on his hind legs
II very d-Eil. Tho Coreans laughed AZ his an
tic. and the man on his back came of with a
bounce. N,"r this rs preliminary. we start
ed oil in single file. according to native usage.
Ny pony vas no; the smallest. and yet my feet
Were down ,,pre,y near ear. his , own, For
through two villages and then turned inland
The streets Of the VILLAGES were crowded with
woman was among them. Two soldiers pre-
coded us by a hundred yards. shouting in II
ST aII WopcH to got @nt Of sIs& The S not
only obeyed, but We saw that all the windows
were IN tho fields fell on the ground and COW
cred their faces. so that we saw only their heels
and clothes, Ths guards feared That we might
them from closing in behind us. The soldiers
carried no weapons, however, and were simply
distinguished hy felt hats with feathers on the
cIoiWns. Ihnlr sarment, Mels Ike those 81
through cultivated valleys amid wheat rice.
lettuce and ,otner gr4wths Lean oxen were,
drawing wooden ploughs. The farmers stopped
Wort; 10 gaze at Us. NJ the end Of Ten or twelve
mi lrs We came To long stone bridge. with an
immense mu1tImd" IA hgred near. We heard
horns blown rs signal for all women to hide.
Martial music of q discordant kind was played
~ We crossed The hridsr and entered the city
through II gate in the wal.
Thus We entered Tora the capital Of Cho-
san. We were n once haired. and carefully ar
ranged in line. according To rank Then va
rode through s"y"la. streets and under two
Stone arches to III" chief Mag Strate's palace.
We dismOuuted. brushed the dust oA our uni
forms. and were ushered into what had been
Buldhi-, Temple but was then occupied los tho
chief civic Official. 1t was opCn'd on ait sides,
and the Chic, Magistrate stOod within. with u
srrup "f lesser ljEnitarics. We shook hands
with the latter and bowed low 10 the former
Two or tuge' hundred soldiers we're formed IN
lines, as though ~ prevent Ne from going far
aside. We were shown 10 large arnchars with
rcd arms ana blankets thrown over the backs.
The Chic! Magistrate sat IN one wen removed
rom H.. while his attendants stood by him
Three Interpreters sat midway between the
two groups. orr Captain would SPEAK
70 tho one Of these who understood Eng
lish he would translate il to Il second. and
the latter would repeat il ~ TN" Magistrate in
turcan. The conversation WAS slow bur that