266 



COREA. 



COSTA RICA. 



a consul-general in New York, the abolition of 

 the old fairs at the frontier-gate, and the con- 

 centration of trade at the ports, promise well 

 for the commercial development of the country. 

 The Outbreak of 1884. The early history of 

 the Japan of our generation is repeated in 

 Corea. At the end of 1884 the popular feel- 

 ing against the rapacious Chinese soldiery was 

 very bitter, while at the same time the Liberal 

 leaders were threatened by plots, of which ob- 

 taining knowledge, they, in self-defense, or- 

 ganized an uprising by which obnoxious Con- 

 servatives were to be removed. The military 

 forces of the two rival (almost hostile) nations, 

 Japan and China, were then encamped in and 

 near the capital. During the riots, which be- 

 gan on the 4th of December by the attempted 

 assassination of Min-Yong Jk at the banquet 

 given to celebrate the opening of the postal 

 bureau, incendiarism and commotion filled the 

 city, and the palace was surrounded by an an- 

 gry mob. The King sent for the Japanese 

 legation guards to protect him, and the Con- 

 servatives stirred up the Chinese to march 

 against them. A battle ensued, in which the 

 Japanese were obliged to retreat from the pal- 

 ace and city, in which several score were killed 

 or wounded, the latter being treated by Dr. H. 

 N. Allen, an American surgeon. Five or six 

 of the Conservative ministers were slain, and 

 some of the Liberal leaders. The riot, in its 

 origin a popular uprising instigated by radical 

 Progressives against Chinese influence, became 

 'an anti- Japanese demonstration. The Con- 

 servatives came into power, with the aid of 

 Chinese rifles, and a number of prominent Lib- 

 erals fled first to Japan and then to the United 

 States. The house of Hong Yong Sik, be- 

 headed by the Chinese, was turned into a hos- 

 pital, now under Dr. Allen's care. Negotiations 

 between the Chinese and Japanese envoys at 

 Tientsin, conducted in English for the sake of 

 clearness, resulted in a treaty, ratified May 7, 

 1885, by which the troops of both countries 

 were withdrawn from Corea. The British 

 Government has leased Port Hamilton, in the 

 Nan How group, a few miles northeast of Quel- 

 paert, as a coaling-station, and connected it, 

 November, 1885, by telegraph, via Shanghai, 

 with Hong Kong. In place of Herr von Mol- 

 lendorf, dismissed, Mr. O. N. Denny, late con- 

 sul-general of the United States at Shanghai, 

 has been appointed. 



Ports. The ports open for trade are (in Co- 

 reari) In-chinn, Pu-san, and Wen-san (Chinese, 

 Jenchuan, Fu-san, and Yuen-san; Japanese, 

 Nin-sen, Fu-san, Ger-san). In-chiun is four 

 miles from the actual sea-port, Chi-mul-po, 

 which is at the entrance of Han river, on 

 the west coast, opposite Roze Island, in lati- 

 tude north 37 28' and longitude east 126 33'. 

 The facilities for landing cargo at Chi-mul-po 

 are poor. The tides rise and fall twenty-eight 

 feet in the estuary, leaving, at low 'water, a 

 long stretch of mud between vessels and shore. 

 Larger vessels must anchor 1 mile from the 



jetty, but lighters and vessels drawing not 

 over 15 feet can anchor in a creek or narrow 

 channel near the shore. The distance by land- 

 roads to Seoul is 25 miles, but by water is 

 over 50. Fusan, on the southeast coast, in lati- 

 tude north 35 7' and longitude east 128 2', is 

 situated at the foot of a conical pine-clad hill, 

 10 miles from the city of Tong-nai. The har- 

 bor is spacious and inclosed by sheltering hills, 

 with good anchorage. The Japanese dwellers 

 here since 1876 vary in number between one 

 and two thousand, and have five public build- 

 ings. Wen-san, on the northeast coast, in lati- 

 tude north 39 19' and longitude east 127 25', 

 is on Broughton's Bay. The Japanese settle- 

 ment, made in 1880, contains good buildings 

 on poor land, and the European quarter lies on 

 a hill-slope two miles or more distant. The 

 Corean town of Wen-san is a mile distant from 

 the Japanese settlement. 



Commerce. The chief Corean exports are 

 gold, silver, hides, horns, bones, beans, fish, 

 gall-nuts, sea-weed, pearl-shells, hemp, copper- 

 ore, tobacco, cotton cloth, various grades of 

 paper, ginseng, raw silk, and timber. The 

 chief imports are cotton and woolen goods, 

 petroleum, tin-plate, glass, dyes, watches, small 

 machinery, and notions. All indications point 

 to the great natural wealth of the peninsula in 

 gold, coal, and other metals and minerals, but 

 the oppressive sumptuary laws will long retard 

 industrial and commercial progress. 



Guilds. In Seoul there are guilds having a 

 peculiar kind of monopoly, known as the six 

 magazines and the six warehouses. The six 

 magazines comprise the silk-shops, dealing in 

 every sort of that fabric, and those for Co- 

 rean cotton goods, for Corean hempen fabrics, 

 for gray shirtings, etc. The six warehouses 

 comprise the various shops for the sale ot 

 boots, hulled rice, paper, Chinese wares, fancy 

 goods, etc. These shops have the monopoly 

 both of wholesale and retail trade, and have 

 control over the small dealers throughout the 

 city, who are allowed to engage in retail busi- 

 ness only on condition of buying their stocks 

 from the shops of the guilds. The latter make 

 a practice of acting in concert, and raising and 

 lowering prices at their pleasure. The power 

 of these guilds extends even to the provinces, 

 and wherever there is a branch establishment. 

 The system is the same as at the capital. Be- 

 yond these limits, however, the power of the 

 guilds does not extend, and both wholesale and 

 retail trade can be carried on freely. Owing 

 to this abuse, the quantity of goods going into 

 Seoul is ordinarily very small, whereas the 

 wares sent straight into the provinces are plen- 

 tiful. 



OSTA RICA, one of the five Central Amen 

 can republics. The area is estimated at 19,1 

 square miles. The census of Nov. 30, 1 

 gives the number of inhabitants at 182,07i 

 for the electoral census of June, 1885, it waj 

 assumed to have increased to 189,425. 



GoYernment On March 11, 1885.. Don Ber 



