Chap. III. the Kingdm of Corea. 1003 
and Jafan^ which is what they could not bear, and muft 
be attended with a long and dangerous War, to re- 
move an Evil of which they are fo appreheniive. It 
was for this, and no other Caufe, that they infifted fo 
peremptorily on making the River Amur the Northern 
Boundary of their Dominions, becaufe they judged that 
this would effedlually cut off all Communication between 
the Riffians and the Coreans^ or rather all Poffibilit) of 
a Communication, as by Land it really does. But they 
made ufe of a very plaufible Pretence, which was, that 
the Ruffians difturbed them in their Pearl Fifhery in 
that River, a Thing in itfelf of no great Confequcnce 
to either Nation, and which therefore the Ruffians rea- 
dily gave up in Hopes of a fettled and quiet Trade 
with China. This was alfo the Secret and true Reafon, 
why the Chinefe Minifters would not long endure the 
Prefence ©f a Ruffian Refident at Pekin^ notwithffand- 
ing that they kept him in full as great Reftraint, as 
they do the Corean Embaffadors, and at laft led them 
to infift upon the fending away the Sieur du Lange, 
who had that Charader from the Czar of Mufcovy. 
But after all, thefe Precautions need be no Bar to the 
Ruffians, whilft the Paffage is open and eafy by Sea, 
and as will be fhewn hereafter *, the Coreans themfelves 
making Ufe of it to carry on a fmall and inconfidera- 
ble Trade with the Subjeds of Ruffia, without know- 
ing from what Country they come, or of what Nation 
they are. 
4. The Reader has been already told, that there is 
Reafon to believe, this Country made formerly quite a 
different Appearance from what it does at preient ; and 
that the whole Gulph, which feparates Corea from the 
oppofite Coafl of China, and which extends to full fe- 
ven Degrees of Longitude, was formerly dry Land. 
The Reader has been alio told, that in the mofl ancient 
and authentick Hiftories, this Country is faid to have 
been inhabited by various Nations ; and in the 
Accounts we have of the Provinces into which Corea 
is now divided, we are told to which of thefe 
ancient Nations they belonged *, but at the fame 
Time we find the Names of other Nations whofe Dwel- 
lings are not to be found, and who from the Aftions 
recorded of them appear to have been all fettled on the 
Weft Side of the Peninjula, which affords another Argu- 
ment to prove, that a vaft Trad of Country was an- 
ciently either fubyerted by an Earthquake, or overflow’d 
by the Sea. 
Our prefent Bufinefs is with what remains, and v/ith 
the Kingdom of Corea as it Hands at this Day, when it is 
divided into eight Provinces •, the firft of thefe is Hien 
king, which is as much as to fay, the profperous Court ; 
it is the North- eaft Quarter of Corea ftretching all along 
the Sea of Japan, which by the Way is almoft as clofe 
fiiut up as the Black Sea *, and this is the Reafon that 
when there are any Kind of Winds, the Navigation is 
extremely dangerous, the Waves running exceffively 
high, and beating with prodigious Fury upon the Coafts, 
which is but bleak and inhofpitable, except at its very 
Extremity where it is divided from the Country of the 
Man tcheou ’Tartars by a very large River, on the Banks 
of which are feveral good Towns, and the Diftrids 
round them are very well cultivated. I'his Province was 
the native Seat of the Kaskiuli, a Nation that in Procefs 
of Time overcame all the reft, and ftretched their Sway 
over the whole Country. It is from this Province, that 
the Inhabitants in their fmall Veffels glide along the 
Coaft under a Notion of Pearl Fifliing, but in Reality 
that they may trade with their Northern Neigh- 
bours, and fometimes with the Ruffians, who take them 
for Japonefe, 
The next Province to this is that of Ping ncan, which 
makes the North weft Side of Corea, or, ftridly fpeak- 
ing, of the Continent of Corea, for this with the Pro- 
vince before-mentioned, lie to the North of the Penin- 
fula, and make a Part of the great Continent of JJia, 
This Province, the Name of which fignifies the peace- 
able Land, or the Country of ^iet, is bounded on the 
Weft by the Province of Leaotong, and on the South 
by the Tellow Sea or Corean Gulph. It is through this 
Province that the River Talou rolls its Courfe, till it falls 
VoL. II. 138. 
into the Tellow Sea^ and it may not be amifs to obferve, 
that according to th.^ Chinefe oi diftinguifhing 
their Rivers by its Colour, this has received the Name 
of Talou Kiang^ that is as much as to fay, the Green 
River, from the Tindure of its Waters^ which are 
fuppofed to be mineral, and are therefore feldom 
drank till they have been boiled, and have flood fo 
long as to precipitate a Kind of yellow Sediment. This 
is a very large, populous, and well-built Province, 
which is chiefly owing to the River, that is navigable 
above ninety Miles, and has feveral large trading Towns 
upon its Banks. It was the ancient Habitation of the 
Tcbao ffien, which, as we have heretofore obferved, is 
the Name now beftowed in the Records of China upon 
the whole Country of Corea. 
The Province of Kitang yuen lies On the North-eaft 
Side of the P eninfulci, and the Name fignifies the River’s 
Source ; it ftretces along the Sea of Japan, and has 
under its Jurifdidion a great Number of fmall Iflands, 
inhabited chiefly by Fifliermen. The Climate of this 
Country is remarkably pleafanc, being neither excef- 
fively cold in the Winter, nor fcorching hot in the 
Summer. It is finely diverfify’d with Hills and Plains, 
and the beftTimber in Corea forHoufe and Ship-building 
grows here. It is very populous, but the People live 
moftly in Villages and fmall Towns, as being addided 
chiefly to Pafturage, Tillage, and Fifhing. In the 
Time of the Wars between the Japonefe and Coreans 
this Country was the principal Scene of Adion, and 
confequently fuffered extremely ; and therefore to this 
Caufe we may reafonably refer there being no Cities, and 
but very few great Towns within its Limits j and per- 
haps to this likewife is owing the Adivity, Hardinels 
and martial Genius of its Inhabitants, who are all well 
difciplin’d, and remarkably skilful in military Exercifes. 
This Province is likewife famous for a good Breed of 
fmall but ferviceable Horfes. 
The oppofite Province, or the North-weft Side of 
the Peninfula, is ftiled Hoang hai, which is as much as 
to fay, the Tellow Sea, from its ftretching along the 
Coafts of it. It extends Northwards as tar as the 
Mouth of the River Talou, and ftretches from thence 
Southwards for the Space of two hundred Miles. It is 
for the moft Part a flat and fruitful Country, aboundino' 
with People who live in Cities and large Towns, and 
are much addided to Trade and Manufadures j on the 
Coaft there are feveral very large Iflands, particularly, 
Tfiao tong and Tftang hoa, the latter deriving its Name 
from a great City, the Inhabitants of which are chiefly 
empl ,yed in making a Kind of Stuffs that are very 
thin and light, but withal very clofe and w'arm. This 
was anciently the Seat of a Nation called Mahans, tho’ 
they ought rather to be regarded as a Tribe, for the 
true Name of the Nation was Han, the largeft of all 
thofe feparate People that originally inhabited this 
Country, and therefore divided into three Tribes, in- 
habiting as many different Diftrids. 
The middle Province is called King hi, the former 
fignifying, as we have often before obierved, a (Aurt, 
the latter a Region, Province, or Dijlri^l ; and it is fo 
called, becaufe the City of Kingki tao, which was the 
ancient Capital of this Country, Hands therein. This 
is the only Inland Province in Corea, and lies precifely 
in the Heart of the Country, being about two hundred 
Miles from North to South, and near an hundred from 
Weft to Eaft. There can be hardly imagined a Coun- 
try more pleafant, more fruitful, or better peopled than 
this is, full of large Towns and almoft innumerable Vil- 
lages, and containing befides feveral great andv well- 
built Cities. The Inhabitants are remarkable for Lear- 
ning and Politenefs, and the Buildings in this Country 
are little, if at all inferior, to thofe of China, even in its 
beft Provinces. The King has in this Country many 
noble Palaces, adorned with fin<^ Gardens, and fDarionq 
Parks well Hocked with Game. The People of this- 
Province are a Mixture of all the Nations chat formerly 
inhabited Corea, and it appears from their Hiftories, 
chat this is a new Province taken out of the reft, and 
peculiarly fubjecl: to the Tribunals of the Royal Cities, 
from whence Mandaryns are fent to govern the feveral 
I ^ Y ' Diftrids 
