The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-12-21

The principal food of the Coreans is
rice, as with all Eastern nations, but so
poorly is it cooked, being filled with
sand and dirt, that it is very unpalatable
excepting to the natives. They feed
themselves with chop sticks, assisted by a
flat spoon. All the china is crudely made;
it is thick sort of grecnish ware, rough
ly finished, and if at all ornamented it
is with the poorest grotesqnc figures. 1t
is almost impossible to believe that Japan
learned how to make her exquisite vases
from these people in ancient times.
Vegetation is luxurious in some re-
spects There is an abundance of the
best quality of hay, but this is
burned for fuel, wood never being used.
The cattle excel any found along the
coast of Asia, and, with good grazing
they would become profitable for expor-
tatiOn. There are not many varieties of
fruit, but peaches are large and luscious
and almost twice as large as those in
America. There are some nuts and the
chestnut is larger than any known in Eu-
rope. and twice as large as the Italian.
Vegetables are not abundant, but they
have several foreign species and they
have plenty of eggs. and splendid meat.
When n gentleman of high rank visits
another, it is the custom to take with
him not only presents, but all the food he
will require, and food for the family he
visits. To each person is assigned enor-
nous quantities of meat, more than one
could possibly eat with the best appc-
tite. The utensils for cooking are very
strange The stove is made of stone and
so arranged that the smoke from the fire
goes through pipe under the floor of
the house, and makes its escape from the
other SIDE and in every house the smoke
will be seen issuing from the floor
On asking for a wash-basin, the
utensil for boiling rice may be
handed YOU. The sleeping apartments
are used for every other purpose.
The bed, on the floor, is hard and
uncomfortable, and hot from the smoke
underneath. In summer, they lie down
in their clothes on the floor and rest their
heads on mere blocks of rough wood.
There is a lack of neatness about every
thing. 1t is almost impossible to get
clean water for drinking; the wells are
generally filthy, and even boiling the
water many times does not purify it. At
present there are not many foreigners in
the country, only the japanese and
American legations having been estab-
lished there, and for those few strangers
the inconvenience and hardships are be-
yond expression.
Language and learning are further adj
vanced than might be expected. The
written language is the same as
the Chinese, and thus with little
change the whole Chinese lit
erature is at their command. But
learning to read is a laborious task, so
tnat many do not reach high standard
of mental culture. Some of the Coreans,
however, surpass the japanese in writing
and reading Chinese. The spoken Ian
guagc is very much like the japanese,
and no doubt both are from the same
origin. In spite of many disagrceable
customs this people are far from being
unintcresting They seem eager to learn
and Interested in getting new ideas to
work from. They have thus far taken
kindly to innovations, and will probably
be as progressive as the japanese.