COREA. 



241 



that any survivors of the General Sherman 

 might be delivered to him. The latter con- 

 tained the same assurance, and a request that 

 the former should be immediately delivered to 

 the King. In the mean time, pains were taken 

 to cultivate friendly feelings with the natives. 

 They seemed to be kindly disposed, but in 

 great dread of their Government, and came as 

 little in contact as possible with the crew of 

 the Wachusett. They spoke with great re- 

 serve when questioned in reference to the Gen- 

 eral Sherman, but all told the same story : that 

 the vessel had been burnt up the Ping- Yang 

 River, and all her people, 27 in number, killed 

 in a melee on shore by the natives, and not by 

 order of the mandarins. On the morning of 

 January 29th a Corean officer who said he 

 came from the capital city of the province, 50 

 miles up the Pa-tong River, came on board the 

 Wachusett. In reply to Commander Shufeldt's 

 queries, his answers were very unsatisfactory. 

 He denied all knowledge of the loss of the 

 General Sherman, and prayed that the Wachu- 

 sett should immediately leave the coast. Com- 

 mander Shufeldt says: "I have no doubt that 

 this man lied systematically from the beginning 

 to the end. * * * The manner of this officer 

 was haughty and imperious, and he presented 

 in his person the most perfect type of a cruel 

 and vindictive savage." Nothing further was 

 heard of the messenger sent from Commander 

 Shufeldt to the King, and, as it was judged 

 that no satisfactory termination of the mission 

 of the Wachusett could be obtained, she re- 

 turned to Shanghai. Commander Shufeldt 

 was informed that the Wachusett was the first 

 foreign vessel of any description that had ever 

 anchored on that portion of the Corean coast. 



On January 20, 1868, the commander of H. 

 B. M. ship Dove informed the commander of 

 the American squadron that a report had been 

 received that two men, supposed to be of the 

 crew of the General Sherman, remained in 

 confinement in Corea. It was determined to 

 investigate the above reports, and on April 1, 

 1868, Commander Febiger, in the United States 

 steamship Shenandoah, sailed for the Corean 

 coast. He was so fortunate as to secure the 

 services of the pilot who had accompanied the 

 General Sherman, and afterward the Wachu- 

 sett. The services of an American missionary 

 in China, and of our consul at Che-foo, Mr. 

 Sanford, were secured as interpreters. Con- 

 siderable difficulty was experienced in enter- 

 ing the Ping-Yang River, and, taking sound- 

 ings as they advanced, the Shenandoah pro- 

 ceeded cautiously in the endeavor to reach the 

 point where the General Sherman had been 

 burnt. 



On the 19fch of April a communication ad- 

 dressed to the commander of the Wachusett was 

 brought on board the Shenandoah by a Corean 

 boat's crew. This was in answer to the com- 

 munication addressed a year previous, by Com- 

 mander Shufeldt, to the Corean chief magis- 

 trate, but failed to reach the coast until after 

 VOL. XL 16 A 



the Wachusett had sailed. On the 21st of 

 April the survey of the river had been carried 

 about 25 miles, the Shenandoah dropping up 

 with the tide. On the afternoon of this day 

 one of the United States surveying-boats was 

 fired upon, but fortunately no one was hurt. 

 Commander Febiger demanded of the district 

 magistrate the cause of the outrage, and was 

 informed that nothing less could be expected 

 if the ascent of the river was persisted in. 

 Commander Febiger deemed it best to in no 

 way provoke hostilities, and so determined to 

 drop down the river and await at its, mouth an 

 answer to his letter, addressed to the Corean 

 King, demanding the release of the survivors 

 of the General Sherman, supposed to be held 

 in confinement. From the new anchorage of 

 the Shenandoah a series of letters and replies 

 passed between Commander Febiger and the 

 district magistrate. The fact of any survivors 

 of the General Sherman being confined within 

 Corean territory was denied, and an old pris- 

 oner, bearing a heavy cangue around his neck, 

 was produced, who, it was charged, had re- 

 lated the story of the survivors to the Chinese 

 pilot who bore it to Chee-foo, and was thus 

 punished for his perjury. 



Soon after, Commander Febiger was shown 

 a communication addressed by the Chinese 

 Board of Rites to the Corean chief magistrate, 

 explaining the reasons of the visit of the She- 

 nandoah. To this the Corean Government 

 forwarded to Pekin a reply, repeating their 

 story of the loss of the General Sherman ; 

 again denying that any survivors of that ves- 

 sel were alive ; and praying his Imperial Ma- 

 jesty at Pekin " to grant a public proclama- 

 tion, setting forth his mandate for the dissolv- 

 ing of suspicions and doubts, that there may 

 not be again a wilful seeking of difficulty." 

 Commander Febiger awaited at the mouth of 

 the Ping-Yang, until May 2d, an answer to the 

 communication which he had addressed to the 

 Corean sovereign, and he was then informed 

 by the district magistrate that he could not 

 venture to forward to his sovereign a dispatch 

 from a subordinate of another nation. Com- 

 mander Febiger, therefore, deemed his further- 

 stay upon the coast useless, and the Shenan- 

 doah returned to Chee-foo. In reporting the- 

 results of his expedition, Commander Febiger- 

 expressed himself of the opinion that " none- 

 of the crew or passengers of the General Sher- 

 man are now living, but I do not think that 

 the statements given by the Corean authorities 

 as leading to the destruction of the Sherman 

 are at all probable. A schooner of 60 tuns, 

 whose object was trade, would hardly dare to 

 proceed slowly up such a river as the Ping- Yang,, 

 destroying and robbing junks and murdering 

 their crews. It is probable that they seized 

 upon and confined the official spoken of for 

 their own protection, and that they were fired 

 upon first, and by retaliating brought on the 

 result." 



On the 9th of April, 1870, Admiral Rodgers- 



