Reviews — Orography of Korea. 325 



''Similarly, the peninsula of Italy is limited on the north by 

 the Alps and the plain of the Po. Both peninsulas stretch about 

 10 degrees meridionally ; Korea from 33° to 43° North lat., Italy 

 from 36^° to 46^°. They lie, as we have seen above, in nearly 

 the same latitude of the Temperate zone, and enjoy an agreeable, 

 transitional climate, neither too wet nor too dry. Both are inTiabited 

 by peoples of very ancient culture. 



" However similar in their general outlines there are yet many 

 points of dissimilarity, especially in regard to their internal geological 

 oomponents and structures and their external land forms. Italy is 

 not wanting in young geologic formations, while Korea is in the 

 main built up of Archaean and Palgeozoic rocks. Though both curve 

 a little to the east, Korea is mountainous on the side of the Sea of 

 Japan and rather flat towards the Yellow Sea, while in Italy the 

 Apennines run along the axis of the country. 



"This Asiatic Italy, fitly called by W. E. Griffis the 'Land of 

 the Hermit Nation,' was secluded from the rest of the world for 

 a long time, and even her old neighbours, the Japanese and the 

 Chinese, were strictly and vigilantly prevented from penetrating 

 into the country. It is a unique patch of the earth's surface, a terra 

 incognita in all respects, excepting eight free ports and the two 

 inland towns, where over 20,000 Japanese and men of other 

 nationalities have made themselves at home, but know nothing of 

 what lies a few kilometers from them in the interior. Only a few 

 Westerners have made trips into the country and studied the land 

 and its people." 



Lately, Professor Koto twice made journeys in the peninsula, in 

 1900-1 and 1901-2, extending over 14 months, travelling over the 

 interior in a caravan with six men and four ponies, marching 

 20 kilometres daily, and covering 6,300 kilometres in these trips, 

 crossing and recrossing the peninsula from one shore to the other 

 in nearly equidistant lines so as to enable him to obtain a general 

 idea of the land formation and geology of the country. 



Professor Koto found that only two previous explorers had made 

 reliable reports on the country, namely, Professor v. Eichthofen 

 and Dr. C. Gottsche, whose works serve to give a general idea of 

 the geography and geology of the peninsula. 



Professor Koto thus summarises his orographical sketch of Korea 

 (p. 54): — "The Archeean formation, composed, as elsewhere, of gneiss- 

 granite, gneiss, and mica-schists, is thrown into broad, undulating 

 folds on the front side of the peninsula, in the western portion 

 of the Han-land and Paleo-Chyo-syon, becoming steeper as we 

 go south. The axis of folding stretches from S.S.W. to N.N.E. or 

 from S.W. to N.E. Two prominent crests of this type are the 

 No-ryong and Chhya-ryong ranges, which extend obliquely across 

 Chyol-la Do and Chhyung-chhyong Do. Besides, many small 

 swellings of the crust surface can be seen in the Paleo-Chyo-syon 

 Land, though deeply hidden under the mask of Paleozoic formation. 

 Nearly half of the area of the peninsula is occupied by folds of this 

 olass. These specialized folds should be classed, according to my 



