12 



NA TV RE 



[March 31, 1898 



MRS. BISHOPS KOREA} 



WHEN, after returning from the perils and hardships 

 of her adventures in the Bakhtiari country of 

 Persia, Mrs. Bishop announced her intention of making 

 an extensive journey in Eastern Asia, her friends knew 

 that she would not return without having something of 

 interest to tell regarding her travels in little-known regions. 

 Although unfortunately ignorant of the languages of the 

 countries in which she was to travel, and therefore de- 

 pendent on others to a large extent, Mrs. Bishop had 

 most carefully prepared herself for making all necessary 

 observations and records. She is particularly to be con- 



FiG. I. — A Canyon in ihe Diamond Mountains. 



gratulated on her skill as a photographer. The points of 

 view were very carefully chosen, and the exposures 

 accurately calculated, while the practice of developing tlie 

 plates at the time, allowed duplicates to be taken if the 

 tirst negative proved defective. The result is one of the 

 best collections of photographs which we have seen as 

 the result of a travelling amateur. We must congratulate 

 the publishers also on the manner of reproduction em- 

 ployed : the more important views are printed as separate 



1 " Korea and her Neighbours. A narrative of travel, with an account of 

 the recent vicissitudes and present position of the country." By Mrs. Bishop 

 (Isabella L. Bird), K.R G.S. With a preface by Sir Walter C. Hillier, 

 K.C M.G., late H B.M.'s Consul-General for K>rea. With maps and 

 illustrations. 2 vols. (London : John Murray, 1898.) 



NO. 148.V VOL 57] 



plates by the half-tone process, the others are reproduced 

 as line-and-stipple blocks in the text, allowing the book 

 to be printed on unglazed paper, and giving the volumes 

 a lightness which is as desirable as it is rare. 



Mrs. Bishop deals here with only a portion of her 

 recent travels. Her important tour through Sze-chuan, 

 on which she read a paper to the Royal Geographical 

 Society — the first paper ever read by a lady to that 

 Society— is not referred to, and the. journey through 

 Manchuria is but lightly touched on. Korea is the central 

 therne ; and although the interests of the authoress were 

 obviously with the social and political aspects of the 

 country rather than with its physical and biological con- 

 ditions, she succeeds in giving an excellent 

 general account, all the more valuable be- 

 cause not a little rubbish has been written 

 by chance visitors at the treaty-ports. We 

 may be pardoned if we feel a little regretful 

 that — for example- the character of the 

 interesting rock in the foreground of the 

 photograph we reproduce (Fig. i)is not de- 

 scribed ; but doubtless, the pioneer work 

 having been accomplished, scientific travel- 

 lers will follow, who can tell us whether the 

 stone is merely water-worn or bears the 

 sign-manual of ice. 



We have one definite fault to find, and 

 that is with the spelling of Russian place- 

 names. Wladivostok is an incorrect trans- 

 literation. A German would write Wladi- 

 wostok properly enough ; but the Russian 

 letter R can only be represented by v in 

 English, and the usual form of the name 

 Vladivostok is the only correct one. There 

 are some other slips — such as Richofen for 

 Richthofen, and the terms flora and denu- 

 dation are applied in a popular rather than 

 a scientific sense. 



Mrs. Bishop describes her landing at 

 Chemulpo, and the journey to Seoul by 

 land ; one could hardly say by road, for 

 " traffic has worn for itself a track, often 

 indefinite, but usually straggling over and 

 sterilising a width enough for three or four 

 highways, and often making a new de- 

 parture to avoid deep mud- holes." A resi- 

 dence in the insanitary and unsavoury 

 Seoul followed, and then a journey by 

 sampan up the south branch of the Han 

 River, which was previously almost un- 

 known to Europeans ; then up the north 

 branch of the river, and on ponies to the 

 Diamond Mountains, and northward to 

 Wonsun on the east coast. Returning to 

 Chemulpo by sea, Mrs. Bishop was strongly 

 advised by the British Consul to leave the 

 country, and so crossed to China and made 

 her way via Newchwang into Manchuria. 

 It was a journey full of interest and of 

 danger from floods, and the undisciplined 

 Chinese armies on their way to the Korean 

 war. Then ,she went via Nagasaki to Madivostok, 

 studied the Korean colonies in Siberia, and tried to enter 

 Korea from the north ; but the rivers were impassable, 

 and another long sea-voyage was necessary. A second 

 residence in Seoul led to a journey northward along the 

 old road to China for 200 miles. A third and final visit 

 to Seoul occupied the last few months of 1896. As Mrs- 

 Bishop lived in the village inns when travelling, and was 

 in constant communication with the diplomatic agenta 

 and missionaries while in the capital, her opportunities for 

 seeing native life and learning the state of affairs in the 

 country were exceptionally good. 



Her special study was the people. In a note we learn 



