New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-26
LAND OF THE MORNING CALM
The STORY OF : WINTER IN CoREA.

Mr. Lowell accompanied the CoTean embassy to
the United States in 1885, with the rank OF foreign
secretary and counsellor. He joined the party III
Japan and at the close of their visit returned WITH
Them to their own country, where he was Hospitality
entertained for q whole winter as Goyerhmeht
euost. lie saw tie country, therefore, uhder
advantages which can rarely fall to the lou Oh
foreigner and lie hes given MS his observations III
a hook which will take rank among tho most
entertaining of recent narratives OF travel Corea'
or Chosen to uso the native name. is among all the
civilized lands in the world tie one Of winch we
know the least. and il IS also one Of tae most
eurious. The poof,o are AKIN to TIE japanese, ana
fhcy obtained from China most Of tier arts and
learniug but tLcy differ gtcatly iiom both thor
nelghbOrs aud in soHio respects tho d"icienccS 80
very deep The scciuscn in which they renamed
so long was owirg not only 20 tie natural ah1
artificial difficulties OF access t. Their inhosptaDio
kingdom bat also TO the fIct that they o. eIei 10
Termination 10 commercial adventure. Ihcy h"'
very little which the world wanted ana VIVA I"sy
had they did not cave ab59t selling. For trade
even now thoy show no taste; ana although iA-le
Of their ports have recently been oPCN'd -
4,rei,Ders their intercourse 18th tho tcst %
mankind mast be slight until they become
animated with new spirit o. ambition aud
epterprsa Mr. L0ve.ta aCcarat OF them is by no
means complete; indeel. taa GeIrcncts oil MS
hook. as description OF Cosoa aud the CoTcan5, are
very striking: but be tolls great de1l that we
did not know before in So lie somewhat dlAus'
and at times laloaouslg hsat. but generally
readable
with the retaining oW5assg he laojc1 from
Japaucse steamer az tie Port-or more properly the
r,,5av roadste3d--of CLe,aElpo, on tie west coast
and thence travelled, IN oold' cherries December
Weather. over dull bare country TO Soul, the
t,.r1o
vehicles of any kiud in Corea, and consequently
ma roads exceut rude tracks which arc never
repaired Bulls are tho principal beasts OF burden
Horses are used to some extent fer riding. 1r3Y-
,Ilors above the rank of the common people are
,sually carried in close palanquin a sort Oh box
without seat IN which the unfortunate passenger
,onst gather himself upon his launches. There arc
no inns Tho traveller carries his own provisions
and depends for shelter upon private hospitality
Mr.. Lowell and his party-tho hcad Of the embassy
had hurried on in adVance-lelt ChemulDo IN chalge
Of a colonel in the army and when night fell TINS
oaiciol onartered them unceremoniously upon
Householder by the way:
Passing through q doorway IN wall of mud, we
{onud ourselves IN the courtyard. The night was
40 dark that the buildings winch surrounded IL
cou,d hardly be made out against the sky. In tue
,nlCst of Ills clNemOus lnetSur5 several hgaIcs
vero bustliuG about, revealed IN sllh"uelte ny Il
lpril glow that came apparently out OF H0'c IN
..r,aa.J nm sfufling brushwooI. 1 lie subterrauean
criter and It's attendant demons were all that was
10 be se,u. IL argued lor the warmth OF COIeah
hospitality, but 1t N.Fi0ly suggested tuo Jaws "a
-, iffI,,al re lion. Ii was called, IN Coreau, not
irarDr0pr;atelv, the mouth" u turned ont % be,
;noflppsyplV enough, the opening OF inc KHAN. Il
som Of underground furnace, whose IGes take tie
place Of basement TO house and are made 81 sucA
vate.i5,s-stUuC and wood that t49 AUCF @O9S,e'
go. llqtel is kept WaUl during tho night. Ihc
,nrn were t that moment heating it up for Us. The
room on top of it was lu TINS case exceedingly
SMALL mere little cell about eight feet square,
and having Tor apert1res only small door ana
tiny hole completely covered over Wlth oll-paVtT,
80 that very little At at any tll' 2i~ -lsO4uley
10 alr, COuld enter through IT,
supper such as it was 10 he, was pTar'I Hbj .N
in the meantime my young japanese and squattet
on he floor of the ceil,-ior there are DO chairs l
q Corean hOu se.-wmrped ourselves IN our robes
ANA, Ion Liug for the eb4tn beneath 70 Lcat aticl
tot trGe warmer by anticipation, BAD l"I
IN vain. st last after repeatedly feeling
carefully ali parts OF the flooring, We dlscoY-
cred slight inSTeaso IN inc 9t 0o
the me without, the change slowly spread tIi
every past OF tie oi-paptI, "Ic4 ," w. SC' ne
beneath. had become warm 10 the tcNth FROM l-9
Or fhe Let WAS connuni Gated 70 ire air. and We
hp.ln to throw aside our wraps, one by one; ana
b, the time supper was over and we were IeaAy 10
a. t ,eeu The room had become quite Co-h4oildt A.
EsIying Ip N things remaining as tIey Woio "L.4e
We slept aud ignorant OF the cLaric .erol tHe
demon We had evoked, we dozcd on; but oblivion
KS short-lived. 10 was not long before awe. e.
win n start 20 find myself IN an atmosp! ere Itie
e. Ia a
scrambled 90 the door, throw II open, anu urea To-
breathe: hut tho doorway was very small, ana
instead of leading INTO tie open an III gave cAl
Z, an auteYOOm CWfu only on one SIDE so luol ll'
ventilation i'm consequence was almost nOthin1
and The heat from below, instead IF abalnA NJ
creased. threw OF as much OF what WAS sui lei'
,usuy- degrees below the freezing point, and, r,
freed again courted sleep. but al TO 10 purpose.
was painfully aw&ke
They reached SJul tie next day. after pa,sin,
of Tdtl
rally consolidating as they approached the capital
they trayorsod dcGle in the hills turned q corner
and came suddenly upon the great walled town
superDly situated IN circular valley c.o,eiy sur
rounded by mountain peaks over whose slopes an'
cr,sts tho crcnelated wall. Of granite backed Wit
earth is carried in bold defiance OF all enginecrn,
difficulties Eight gates, with large gqtc-hou.es
give access to The city. The dwellings are all low
with tiled or thaIchcl roofs and no attempt %
architectural display; the shops arc few poor an'
inconspicuous. and there arc no temples; SO tia
the general aspect of tie place IS sngularly monot
onous Our traveller was conducted 10 a large AM
handsome house belonging TO the Foreign Once
This was to be at his disposal as long as he chose
stay. The colonel, his companion on the road, W.
detailed to act as major-dOmO and secretary frOu
the Foreign ONCE was ST ecally charged with find
ing out " hat Mr.. Lowell wanted and supplying il
Th re was a largo mob of servants, bat they seer
to have been generally incompetent:
House-waTming here most literally applied we
begun | was conducted over the rambling cole,
zion OF houses which was TO be mine as long a.
chose to remain in 1t. 1t was q set Of buildings
connected as TO give the idea OF suite OF rooms
seen from within and a suite Of houses looked a
from without. 1t was known as the Guest-hOus
OF the Foreign Once. This was recent titll
Before this It had belonged in turn to variou
Coreans: among the last 10 Min. the present couT
5avorte. 1t had almost as many gardens an
courts as it had buildings and one might easll
have lost himself while still strictly within th
limits OF his own dwelling As 20 the whole con
poupd of which il formed the northeastern corne
there was so much OF it that simply IN cnumerat
the parts would be an objectionable pTeSumptiO
upon the readers patience. By the time l a
mastered its intricacics had learned the rest @