KOREAN MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAINEERS. 235 



of the rest of Korea led me to examine the soil wherever an up- 

 rooted tree or a freshly dug deer-pit furnished the opportunity. 

 Beyond a thin coating of leaf -mold on the surface, there was seldom 

 anything else than broken pumice, broken to the size of a very 

 coarse sand. According to the hunters, this was the subsoil every- 

 where in the forest. . . . Nearing the mountain, we get the clear- 

 est evidence of the character and recency, geologically speaking, 

 of the eruptions which spread this vast quantity of volcanic ma- 

 terial over such a wide area. Ten miles due south of the White 

 Mountain, the Yalu, now eight or ten yards broad and very shal- 

 low, flows between banks like a railway cutting, sheer, clean, and 

 absolutely devoid of vegetation, for denudation was too rapid to 

 permit the slightest growth. The sections thus exposed were 

 often over a hundred feet in depth, and at one of the deepest por- 

 tions I counted thirteen layers of black volcanic dust, all varying 

 in thickness, and each separated from the layer above by a thin 

 stratum of volcanic mold. So fine was this dust that the least 

 breath of wind caught it and scattered it freely over the adjoin- 

 ing snow, to which it gave a grimy, sooty appearance. The for- 

 ests of South Manchuria, though uninhabited now, were, we learn 

 from Chinese records, the home of many races in ages past. The 

 comparatively recent kingdom of Ko-ku-rye, which arose in the 

 first century b. c, is said to have occupied the Ch'ang-pai Shan 

 and the head-waters of the Yalu River." Very few, if any, traces 

 of these ancient peoples are found now ; but this is hardly to be 

 wondered at, considering their low civilization and the temporary 

 character of their dwellings. 



Captain Younghusband, speaking to Mr. Campbell's paper, 

 described the trip which he, Mr. James, and Mr. Fulford made to 

 the mountain from the northern or Manchurian side in the sum- 

 mer of 1886. At the foot of the mountain they found some most 

 lovely meadows covered with iris, lilies, and columbine, surpass- 

 ing even those of Kashmir. " Passing on up through the forest, 

 we came to the summit of the Ch'ang-pai Shan. Before us were 

 two prominent peaks seen from the north side there are really 

 five all round and between these the saddle. Arriving there, we 

 expected to see a view on the other side toward Korea ; instead 

 of that, however, we saw, straight under our feet, this wonderful 

 lake situated right at the top of the mountain. It was of the most 

 clear deep blue, and surrounded by a magnificent circle of jagged 

 peaks, ascending one of which I got a clear view of all this country, 

 over which Mr. Campbell traveled later on. We saw through the 

 forest the course of this Yalu River and the Tumen River, which 

 both rise on the spurs of this mountain, and out of this lake flowed 

 a small stream which eventually runs into the Sungari, perhaps 

 the most important tributary of the great Amur River, which 



