JOURNEYS THROUGH KOREA. 197 



The whole island of Qaelpart or Cluj'6i-jiju is volcanic, and 

 from Korean works I have noted down ten or more old cones or 

 craters scattered about in the island. The island is the only 

 active volcano tliat I know of in all Korea ; the active crater is, 

 however, not on the top of Hal-la-san, but on an islet by the 

 name of Sö-san '' off the southwest corner near Tai-cliyöng. We 

 have a record of an eruption in 1003 a.d. (See page 141). 



y) Hornblende -andésite. — At Chyang-heung on the south 

 coast, a purplish-brown, brecciated hornblende-andesite "^ was seen 

 which evidently makes up the high, rugged Sui-in-san with its 

 perpendicular cliffs of picturesque aspect. It is a devitrified 

 glassy base with granules of iron, in which corroded grass-green 

 hornblende is found porphyritically imbedded. A little colourless 

 augite and much apatite are present. 



o) On the south of Clujang-gi on the east coast, we find a 

 biotite-hornblende-andesite of a trachytic aspect and struc- 

 ture with colourless hyalopilitic groundmass ; its mode of occur- 

 rence was not ascertained in my hasty journey (p. 98). 



IX. The Alhivium 



Korea is a semi-desert created in part by Nature, but chiefly by 

 the careless hands of its inhabitants. Mantle rocks or regoliths are 

 not commonly met witli in this country. The ground is naked and 

 desolate ; but Providence has provided it with a high percentage of 

 alkalies, lime and magnesia which somewhat offset its sterility. 

 Moreover, clays are rare things in the peninsula except on the 

 low coast of the Yellow Sea. The lowlands are sandy ; and as we 



1) 3|g Uj 2) See ante, page 53. 



