58 



COEEA. 



quiry Concerning the Indications of Insanity ; " 

 " The Construction and Government of Lunatic 

 Asylums ; " and extensive contributions on this 

 class of subjects to the " Cyclopaedia of Practi- 

 cal Medicine," the " Transactions of the Provin- 

 cial Medical and Surgical Association," and to 

 the " Lancet," and " British and Foreign Med- 

 ical Review." 



COEEA, a dependency of China, which, in 

 1866, became noted for a French expedition 

 against it. It is an extensive peninsula, bounded 

 east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Strait 

 of Corea, and west by the Whanghai or Yellow 

 Sea and the Gulf of Leaotong. It is governed 

 by a king, who, though tributary to China, ex- 

 ercises virtually an absolute power. The pre- 

 vailing religion is Boodhism. Confucius also 

 has many folio wers. Area, about 87,550 English 

 square miles ; the population, according to a cen- 

 sus of 1793, was 7,342,361, and is now estimated 

 at 9,000,000. In February, 1866, two Roman 

 Catholic bishops and seven priests, all natives 

 of France, were put to death by order of the 

 king, for preaching a forbidden religion. Three 

 others succeeded in concealing themselves, and 

 one of them arrived at Chefoo in a Corean junk, 

 having been sent by the other two to com- 

 municate the sad intelligence. The escaped 

 missionary asserted that there were fifty thou- 

 sand Christian converts in the Corea, and that 

 great consternation was produced among them 

 by the compulsory renunciation of their faith, 

 of the destruction of books and dictionaries, and 

 of the sacred vessels of the priests. He pro- 

 ceeded to Pekin, to invoke the aid of the French 

 ambassador. A preparatory expedition was 

 dispatched to explore the river, on which is 

 situated the capital, Sayool, about sixty miles 

 above its embouchure. The river was found to 

 have a current of five miles an hour, and to be 

 navigable without much difficulty as far as 

 Konghoa, forty miles from its mouth; gun- 

 boats were able to ascend twenty-six miles 

 higher up to within sight of the wall of the 

 royal city, Sayool but with difficulty, owing 

 to shoals, rocks, abrupt curve?, and the rapidity 

 of the current by which the explorers were 

 several times brought to a stand. Stone forts 

 of rude construction were met with, on which 

 useless guns were mounted. Military officers 

 there first presented themselves, who were on 

 the eve of obstructing the progress of the 

 French by sinking a fleet of junks, but relin- 

 quished their object as soon as the gunboat sent 

 a shot among them. Mandarins then came on 

 board and presented the French with presents 

 of provisions a fat ox among other things 

 and requested the French to withdraw, which 

 they did, after taking drawings, soundings, and 

 plans. On their return down the river they 

 were fired upon from several points, but in 

 each instance a few shots seemed to disperse 

 the timid Coreans, access to whose strongholds 

 thus for the first time became known to the 

 outer world. The squadron then returned to 

 the Chinese port of Chefoo, from whence it had 



sailed. On the llth of October Admiral Roza 

 again set sail for Corea, this time prepared to 

 inflict punishment. His fleet consisted of seven 

 vessels, having on board four hundred riflemen. 

 Three days' easy steaming brought him to the 

 coast of the peninsula. The gunboats of the 

 expedition proceeded up the river, taking posi- 

 tion before eleven forts, which proved to bo 

 without defenders. There was no movement 

 of any kind in the forts, and not a soul in the 

 way of garrison was visible, although the muz- 

 zles of guns could be seen in the embrasures. 

 On the following day the fleet ascended higher,, 

 and landed the riflemen without encountering re- 

 sistance, although they were ready to fire. They 

 entered a village which was wholly deserted ; 

 the inhabitants in their flight had taken with 

 them their portable valuables, leaving in their 

 houses furniture, clothing, and a quantity of pro- 

 visions. A number of muskets, gingals, some 

 bows and cannon, and a powder magazine, 

 were the useless trophies, together with poul- 

 try, pigs, and vegetables, which were useful. 



Next morning, October 15th, the riflemen 

 advanced three miles higher, which brought 

 them to the city of Konghoa, which is situated 

 on an island, and regarded by the natives as 

 one of their strongest places, hut which the 

 French found wholly indefensible. 



Captain D'Orzery went into the city to dis- 

 lodge a firing party which was posted on the 

 ramparts at a distance of over 1,800 yards, but 

 who fired too high for effect. The fire was 

 returned by the French riflemen, when the 

 garrison fled, and sought refuge in an arch- 

 way of one of the city gates, from which they 

 were driven, when the gate was forced with 

 axes. The captain did not care to retain pos- 

 session of the city, although eighty men would 

 have proved a sufficient garrison for its defence. 

 After surveying the place and burning the de- 

 fences of the gates, he retired to the river banks, 

 carrying with him a flag which was seized on 

 the walls. No Frenchman was wounded, and 

 only three Coreans were killed. On the 16th 

 the admiral entered Konghoa, and found that 

 the inhabitants had. all fled to the hills during 

 the previous night, taking with them all that 

 they could carry. A few persons were taken 

 prisoners, who stated that the mandarins, on 

 quitting, had directed the inhabitants to leave 

 also. The French soldiers scattered over the 

 city, and took some bed-covers, pigs, fowls, and 

 like curiosities. The officers penetrated the 

 public offices, and swords, arrows, and other 

 weapons, and at last the government chest, were 

 discovered, containing 190,000 francs in silver 

 ingots, carefully wrapped up in paper. One com- 

 pany garrisoned the city, the remainder return- 

 ing to the headquarters on the banks of the 

 river. Konghoa is described as a small, poor, 

 and filthy city, of about 10,000 inhabitants. 

 The fortifications were utterly insignificant. 

 The success of the French brought out the 

 Christians of the neighborhood. Before the 

 capture of that city a mandarin waited on Ad- 



