KOREA. 237 



After visiting the Tartary coast we came south ; the 

 vessel I was in touching at Chosan, in Korea, on our 

 way to Nagasaki. A little incident which happened 

 will show the extreme objection the officials at that 

 time had to have any communication with foreigners. 

 I had been laid up with a bullet through my leg for 

 some weeks, and my messmates were anxious to get 

 something fresh in the shape of vegetables for me. A 

 few had landed and persuaded a native to sell a chicken ; 

 before they left the beach, however, an official arrived, 

 and had the seller of the fowl immediately flung on 

 the ground, and bastinadoed. 



Of late years it has been pretty well understood 

 that Eussia has cast longing eyes on Korea. We knew 

 as little about the country as our neighbours. On a 

 few different occasions during the present century, a 

 ship had been sent to examine the southern coasts ; 

 but one and all had met with opposition, insult, and 

 downright refusal to allow any surveying work to be 

 done, or, in fact, any communication with the shore. 

 Such was the state of affairs in 1878, when I — being in 

 command of H.M.S. Sylvia surveying the coasts of Japan 

 — was sent across to do what I could in the way of 

 examining the coast. I pointed out before leaving 

 the almost certainty of my meeting with or receiving 

 exactly the same treatment as my predecessors. There 



