4 AKT 1.— B. KOTO: 



however, highly significant, and served to give me a general idea of 

 the geography and geology of the peninsula. 



Referring to the principal mountain range the latter says from 

 his own personal observation that it runs along the eastern coast. On 

 the north, the range trends from S.W. to N.E. (a part of the Hyang- 

 san) 2) ; in the middle from N.N.W. to S.S.E. (the Thai-Päik-san), and 

 on the south from N.E. to S.W. (the Syo-Päik-san). In the north- 

 western peninsula, there runs meridionally an independent ridge 

 which shifts the course of the Am-nok Gang. Generally the 

 geological axes are identical with those of the mountains, one exception 

 to this general rule being a small ridge, the Myör-ak-san, which traverses 

 Hoang-hai Do at right-angles to the axis of the peninsula. The mount- 

 ains owe their origin to two systems of earth-folds, and they never ex- 

 ceed the limit of 1,500 meters. In general the country is an extensive, 

 but low mountainous land which approaches neither to the character of 

 a plateau, nor that of a plain. — Thus far Gottsche, who, it will be seen, 

 has hit the mark so far as the fundamental elements of his topo- 

 graphy are concerned. 



In 1881, v. Richthofen 3) had already spoken of two systems of 

 mountains in Korea, from an inspection of a map. " At right-angles 

 to the axial direction of Liau-tung," he says, "a long extended arm 

 juts out to sea, forming the peninsula of Korea. It is attached to 

 the continent at the north-west corner, where the peninsula has its 

 greatest breadth, and here starts a land of different character which 

 governs nearly the half (north) of all Korea, and is drained by two 

 rivers, viz., the Am-nok and the Tu-nian. If we should try to 

 reconstruct mountain-chains from the net-work of rivers and the 



1) ' Geologische Skizze von Korea.' Sitzungsberichte der Kon. Preuss. Akad. der Wissen- 

 schaften zu Berlin, XXXVI, Berlin, 1S86. 



2) San or moi (Mj) signifies mountains. 



3) •China.' II. S. 131. • • 



