Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-02-19
KOREA QUEER COUNTRY
A FIFTY MILE TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR
BY DIR. EDwORDS.
Huge Tiger Jumps Aboard Boat They Travel
on and Creates CONSERVATION. Descrip.
tion Of the Trip

On 1uO OIcatCS VUuStcIuatOus OCoCtlp'
tion Of the Trip
Chemulpo. Korea. Feb. ID. Korea
is undoubtedly the queerest country
it has been my fortune to visit. For
ages it has been known as the Her
NIT Kingdom, but that name hardly
gives an idea of what is here. It is
being dragged out of its seclusion
now, but if one 60 into the interior
he will find that there is no change in
the habits since so far back in the
past that memory Of man runneth not
contrary. Chemulpo, the seaport of
Seoul. has many modern improve
ments, telephones, street cars, and
dozens of other conveniences which
we of civilization think are necessi-
ties. yet if one but go few miles
away he will be in densest wilderness,
not only of nature. but of man. AT
the invitation of some friends I took
trip Of about fifty miles up the river
toward the mountains. We travelled
quietly along for few hours when
we came upon village where the
people were dressed in most fantas-
| tic garb, and it was with greatest
difficulty that our guard induced the
people to permit us to land. They
did not like the looks of white man
and said they were afraid we would
bring disease among them.
After leaving this village we ap-
preached the defiles of the mountains,
and here we found that the people al
ways travelled in companies and all
went heavily armed. l asked the
reason for this and was told that
tigers were numerous and very danger
Gus. The Korean tiger is different
from all other tigers. He is much
larger and stronger as well as more
blood thirsty. In other countries the
tiger is a jungle beast. lurking in
dense underground along rivers, and
springing from ambush upon his VIC
Tins The Korean tiger is largest of
all, being nearly twice as large as any
but the royal Bengal tiger, and instead
of skulking he stalks boldly forth aud
attacks man and beast He inhabits
the high lands. living principally in
the cold. snow covered slope of the
mountains. He is not afraid of man.
and as he has had little or no exrer-
ience with fire arms. is not afraid to
attack anything he meets.
My reason fer going into such mi
mute detail regarding the Korean tiger
is because we had an experience with
one during the night as we were pas
sing along the river. | was sleeping
soundly when was awakened by a
sudden scrambling of men overhead,
and then the boat bumped against the
bank and almost threw me out of my
thump on the deck as if some large
body had fallen l arose and started
for the deck when l was stopped by a
terror stricken boatman who yelled
something unintelligable at me in
Korean. 1t was only when my friend
with whom 1 was travelling came out
that | learned that "A tiger had taken
possession of the boat. He had
jumped from shore to the boat. for
tunately not striking any of the men.
and would remain there until he was
satisfied he could get nothing. After
long time one of the boatmen ven-
tured TO peep out and said the tiger
| had gone away. The men cautiously
| crept out and got the boat under way
again, and the rest of the night was
devoid of further incident.
The interior of Korea is vast, bar
rem, sterile waste. 1t is sparsely in
habited, and the natives raise scarcely
enough grain to keep them alive.
Along the water courses it is more
populous but there is constant savage
warfare between the clans or tribes,
and there is also constant fear of at
tack from wild beasts. In addition to
tigers There are DedTs, lSTOCiOuS l6O-
pards, and many poisonous serpents.
Crokodiles infest the rivers, and
sharks abound in the waters of the
| ocean. Taken all together it is not a
land where one could enjoy life to its
utmost, for there is too much con-
| tinual alarm over danger
| had expected to spend several
weeks in Korea but find that | shall
have to 60 60 the Philippines sooner
than | expected. If possible l shall
return here and go into the interior.
| where | am sure there are many in
teresting sights to see and stories TO
| tell. | could cover many letters by
descriptions of sights here and in
| Seoul. but there is so much TO cover
on this trip that shall have to bring
my stories down to the most interest
ing incidents. | leave this evening
for Manila, and as there is much talk
of the possibility of trouble between
Japan and our own country, L want
to see for myself Just what possibility
there would be for Japan to take the
islands aWay from us