JOURNEYS THROUGH KOREA. 11 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FIRST TRAVERSE 



(Plates I-IX.) 



My first trip was along tlie soutlierii coast of Korea from 

 tlie free port of Fu-san to tliat of Mok-pho. Tliis occupied a 

 fortnight, the distance in a straight hne being over 242 km, which 

 corresponds to the breadtli of the southern extremity of the 

 peninsula. The coast abounds in indentations w'itli headlands 

 and promontories as counterparts of bays and inlets. The 

 labyrinthic coast is fringed with countless islands, a feature 

 without a parallel in Eastern Asia, if we except the southeast 

 coast of China. Both coasts belong to a special type to which 

 Feh. v. Richthofen has given the name rias. 



The islands are so numerous that no one except the natives 

 knew them all, this part, called Nam-liai or the " South Sea," 

 was until recently when surveyed by the Japanese Hydrographical 

 Office. One can best form a rough idea of the complexity of the 

 archipelago from the following general description by Captaiii 

 Basil Hall, who navigated the sea early in the nineteentli century. 

 He says : " We threaded our way for upwards of a hundred 

 miles amongst islands (of Nam-liai), which lie in immense clusters 

 in every direction. At first we thought of counting them, and 

 even attempted to note their places on the charts which we are 

 making of this coast ; but their great number completely baffled 

 these endeavours " ^\ 



1) ' Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea and the Great Loo-Choo 

 lElands.' London. Also, Keane : ' ÂBia,' p. 332, London, 1836. 



