The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-20
ANOTHER VIEW OF KOREA.
December Weather Like Siberia, July
Like TimbHctOO.

Prosperity Of the Country Will De-
pend on It's Mines Rather Than on
It's Agrioulture-Sand Brilliant With
Spangles of Gold - Noblemen Ty-
rants, Women Slaves, and Butchers
Despised - Descriptions of Social
Customs and Historical Facts.
Edmond Planchut in lie Temps Paris
After he has left behind him the gay
perspectives of the wood-covered islands
of Japan, the traveller who arrives in
view of the southern coast of Korea is
surprised by the aridity of the elevated
lands which appear to him at a distance.
His surprise is not less great at the ex-
cessive cold than at the torrid heat which
he feels in a latitude which is no other
than that of Malta and Southern Italy.
In December it is the climate of Siberia,
in July that of Timbuctoo A missionary
says: Wherever you are in Korea you
see only nights You are imprisoned be-
tween rocks and hills"
Independently of the pepinsular there
are great number of islands, the larg-
est of which is Quelpaert. In clear
weather, from the japanese islands of
Tron-Sima, the Korean coast may be
clearly seen.
1t is from the chain of mountains over
which the white-pea ked Paikton San
predominates that the two largest rivers
| of Korea take their source. Between
these two rivers is country black with
| forests, forming a nameleSS territory
where bandits of Manchooria and of
China live. 1t was from the south
| eastern part Of this district that
| the Mon COl59ng anG THp HUpC n fO
conquer Western Asia and great part of
Europe.
Agriculture is here honored as in China,
ana yet many mountains are covered with
forests They would be virgin forests if
indigenous Catholics had not lived for a
time in them for fear of persecution. In
the valleys they gather crops Of rice, mil
let, and many textile plants, among others
; the famous gen-Seng, the root of which is
} held in such great esteem by the Celestials
that it is valued at coo a pound.
The day will come when the prosperity
of the country will depend on its mines,
rather than on its agriculture. In Ger
tain southern REGIONS its is sufficient to
scratch the earth in order to find gold,
and the sands of the rivers are brilliant
with spangers of gold. 1t is severely pro
hibited to exploit the mines. The gov
eminent, fearing the invasion of strangers,
has ever tried to produce the impression
too heavy a load for man to carry.
Nothing was ever better imagined to pre-
vent the circulation of money. The for
ests, which cover one-third of the coun-
try, are peopled by tigers, whose victims
are considerable, because the Korean
peasants are not authorized to use fire
arms.
AS in China, hairless dogs are re-
| garded as most delicate dishes. The gov
eminent prohibits the raising of sheep
and goats. The king alone has this privi-
| lege. He uses the sheep for sacrifice to
his ancestors and the goats for offerings
to Confucius
Korea is unbearable for European, for
, ! other reasons than these. 1t is covered
l with vermin. There are enormous
reaches, which in the summer are inf
; nitely multiplied. Inhabitants of temper
ate zones find this country detestable and
yet Chinese author says that among
: barbarian countries none may be compared
: with Camboge in wealth, with Japan in
. fPankness, with Cochin, China, in fertil-
ity and with Korea in pleasantness."
The Koreans resemble the southern
= japanese, but their features are finer and
| more regular The women are strong and
= tall, most of them taller than feet 2
inches 1t seems that the mass of the
people is a combination of various races.
= | Peace and the oppression of the govern
ment has made it soft and ignorant. 1t is
not intelligent The idea that it is an
! error due to the persstencY with which
they refuse to reply to questions of
| strangers. They detest new faces, and
think. like the Malays, that the monkeys
do not talk because if they did they would
. have TO pay taxes
The Korean woman who should become
acquainted with a foreigner would be con
demned to death. AS soon as she sees
one she takes tight, and, if her retreat is
iyuDocCi h1n hpr fa "a nit h1V
In doing this, she fears more her country
, men than foreigners. One day an English
officer who was making soundngs at Ma
samfO saw two women who were working
alone in the fields, and talked to them.
! They replied in words which he could not
!, understand. A Korean appeared at dis
lance, and they fed.
The fate of the men in Korea seems to
be to smoke and to do nothing from birth
to death. They are soft in temperament,
polished il their language, and like fat
terry. To those who ask them how they
are, they reply Thanks TO the favor
which you 90 me in making this question,
my health is good - A patient says to a
visitor: Thanks for your visit; / feel
better" When they talk to the Japanese
the only foreigners with whom they con-
sent TO talk at all, they begin always by
saying You are so learned, - or You
are so great When Korean sees a
!
the coffin and says: Il profoundly regret
the loss of this virtuous man" even il he
never knew the man, or the man was not
Virtuous.
Manners are frightfully corrupt. aud
woman is in a state of abject inferiority
She is not the companion OF man; she is
only d slave, to whom neither the.:man-
ners nor the laws of the country acknowl-
edge any right or any moral existence. II
is a principle admitted and consecrated by
the tribunals oil Korea tina. an unmarried
woman is everybody's property. 4 we'll
bred Korean never talks with his wife,
VINO is infinitely inferior to him in his
view. After marriage women of the no.
bility are unapproachable. They cannot
look in the street without their husbands
permission. There are usages which pro
coed, evidently, from the contempt in
which the weaker sex is held Unmarried
women may go everywhere at any time in
the capital, but after O'Clock in the eve
ming, when the curtew bell is rung, until
2 o'clock In the morning, man may not
90 out in the street without being arrest
ed and fined.
Parents make the marriages of their
children. Girls may not marry until they
are 20. When the wedding day comes,
a platform richly ornamented is placed in
I.L.y l.. 8 "a.