Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-01-18
THE @HERmIr KINGDOM
Brief Sketch Of Korea and its Many
charaeterlstlcs.


Korea Is the country occupying the
peninsula between the Yellow sea and
the sea ~ Japan. reaching northward
along fhe coast % latitude a. degrees.
TIE Ilnmen river. Shang Pal noun.
tains and faiu river separate Il. from
hanchurla In an Irregular northwest
Eortlcasf iae ~ nafuFaI boundaries.
Z ~ aapl' eaf mres fang. aorth and
fnNia aat tsf miles Wi1e. and con
tl.as asull Tf.alg sruare ulles
Khe anrtasfn hair 81 fhis territory
ia u.ls.rIulae ana aeH wooded. wlth
paaAs tN anl tHe feet hsh: a
raEEe ul meantalnl rans along the
casters arataarl. a1I alothcr range
Reaches aoau ia fee aauthwesf point
oi tae En.ueaIa asa reappears In the
eEancf Faeana Ewf Auckland. or
hanraesnl 81 Queinau ISLAND The
eaet eaaaf Is abrupt and rocky. with
ieR haraurs. the best being Wonsan
lof oenstul aud Fussn.
The south and wcsf coasts are low.
studded via ISLANDS entered BY sew
eral rivers anording lghtdraft nayi-
gallon. and abound in harh0rs. but the
high tides and lerce currents make
approaches dangerous. The Ma Kong.
which empties near Fusan: the Han.
flowing into Chemulpo bay and giving
steamboat navigation 10 Seoul. the
Taidong. In the northwest. which is
navigable IS miles to Pingyang. and
no al he r.fx ,,
mention. The Yalu can be assembled
by large vessels for about 80 miles
and by boats to Wi-wen. about It's
miles above its mouth.
The northern rivers freeze over in
winter. and snowy winters rule there
from December to March; but the
southern half of the country is much
warmer. The climate, on the whole.
is healthful and rather dry The
western side of the country is mainly
monotonous plains. dry, fertile and
nearly denuded of wood.
Wagon roads hardly exist and in
terror traffic is by boat, packhorses
and human porters, travellers going on
pony back or in sedsn-chairs. A rail-
way extends between Seoul and Che
mulpo (26 miles,, and is being pushed
north toward Pingyang. Win and Man
churia. Another line is building under
japanese auspices from Fusan to
Seoul
Korea was conquered by the Man
chus in the 18th century, and until
1894 was a yassal of China. but after
the China-Japan war Korea became
Independent Previous to 1876, when
Japan made a treaty of friendship
with the country. Korea had been
completely closed to foreigners. and
was called The Hermit Nation but in
1876 Wonsan and Fusan were opened
10 trade. in 1880 Chemulpo and since
then several other ports. The latest
opened is Win. which will be very
important when peace returns In
1888 a treaty was made with the
United States and diplomatic relations
were established. Japanese influence
has had a persistent struggle against
Russian influence; but in the early
spring Of 1904 Japan placed her
armies in Korea without opposition.
and made 1t the seat of their military
operations against Russia, proclaim
ing. however, that they did not intend
to annex the country.
The general customs, manners and
costumes of the people partake Of
both Chinese and japanese character
istics, but the people, as whole, are
very backward, though physically bet
ter than the average of their neigh
bors. A census in 1900 gave 5,60S.S51
adults liable for imperial taxes. The
total population may be 100000.