KOREA. 249 



half-a-dozen men-of-war and a few troops as a guard 

 to the minister plenipotentiary, whose demands were, 

 roundly, that the Japanese were to be allowed to 

 survey the coast, that three ports were to he open, 

 and that a mail service between the two countries 

 should be established. All this was done at once. 

 And I found, wherever I went in Korea, my Japanese 

 servants were looked upon in a most friendly manner, 

 the officials always making them presents, and asking 

 at once, on coming on board, " Have you any Japanese 

 with you?" There was no bloodshed, or anything 

 approaching it, when the people from the country of 

 the Eising Sun crossed over, and quietly but firmly 

 insisted on their demands. I should imagine that an 

 isolated harbour, such as Port-Hamilton, is not exactly 

 what would suit the Eussians. They ought, and must 

 have, one on the mainland, a continuation in fact of 

 their at present extensive coast line, including a port 

 or ports, as the case may be. Port-Hamilton ought, in 

 anticipation of such an event, to be taken possession of 

 by ourselves. 



The Goto Islands, forty miles west of Nagasaki, 

 are wild and rugged in the extreme. They are very 

 thinly peopled. Most of the islands are cut into by 

 creeks and bays ; some of the creeks are of great length, 



