ioo6 A curious and concije Dejcription of Book HI. 
The Coreans likewife bring as Curiohties, fine Pencils 
made of theHairof their Wolves Tails ; a Sort of yellow 
Varnifh that fhines like Gold, made of the Gum of a 
Kind of Palm-tree, as alfo feveral Iron and Steel Wares. 
Once in three or four Years, when the Seafon affords 
them a fafe Paffage over the Mountains, they bring their 
Caravans by Land, and in them great C^iantities of 
Silver, that they may -buy up the more raw Silk, which 
they manufadture for their Trade, though the Chinefe 
prohibit them dealing with any foteign Nation what- 
-ever, and have a Mandaryn2it the King of Corea^sComt 
to fee that this Prohibition is obferved •, and he is very 
careful in this Particular in all Cafes but where he is 
largely paid for not being fo. 
It is not eafy to enter into the Reafons why the Chi- 
nefe are fo exceffively jealous of the Coreans having any 
Commerce with Strangers, except the Dread they have 
of Foreigners eftablifhing themfelves in that Country, 
from whence they might fo eafily pafs over into China 
itfelf. But of all Nations they moft dread xhs. Ruffians^ 
and it is not fo much through Ignorance as Cunning, that 
all their Maps of the Frontiers of Corea are fo incorredl. 
But this Kind of Precaution can only be of Ufe in de- 
ceiving the Europeans^ for as to the Natives of Corea, 
they have fo much of the Chinefe in them, that they 
have falfify’d their Maps and Charts likewife, and re- 
prefent the North-eaft Coaft of their Country as utterly 
innavigable, on Account of Shallows, Rocks, and Banks 
of Sand, which is only with a View to cover their Trade 
on that Side, ii> which they employ a great Number of 
Veflels under the Pretence of the Fifhery. For in the 
Japonefe Sea there are Shell fifh of a moft enormous Size, 
which being broke fo as to get out the Fifh, they hang 
up and dry it, fprinkling it from Time to Time with 
Salt Water ; this dried Fifh, which in Tafte referable 
Codfouns, are held a great Delicacy in China, and are 
fold at a pretty good Price *, but the Coreans will tell 
you that they get Millions by them, which alludes to 
their clandeftine Trade, that is chiefly covered by 
Prefents of thefe- Fifti made to the Chineje Mandaryn 
refident in Corea. 
7. In ancient Times, as has been already obferved, 
the Intercourfe between the People of Corea and of Ja^ 
pan was very great, and highly beneficial to both Coun- 
tries *, and we have likewife fhewn how this Intercourfe' 
was interrupted, and the Means by which it was follow- 
ed with Hatred as implacable on both Sides, as their 
former Friendftiip was cordial and fincere. In Procefs 
of Time however, and by a Sufpenfion of Injuries on all 
Sides, this Enmity is again in a great Meafure wore out, 
at leaft among the People of both Nations, for the Go- 
vernments ftill keep at their old Diftance, the Japonefe 
from political Jealoufy of all Strangers, and the Coreans, 
becaufe the Court of China hasftridtly forbid all Traffick 
between them and the Japonefe, 
But for all this, the Commerce is conftant, regular, 
and even publick enough between the two Nations, and 
the Manner in which it is managed is this: There is a 
pretty large Ifland between Corea and Japan, but nearer 
to the Coafts of which in our European Map is 
called Sufma, but by the Coreans Rui la tao ; and this 
by the Japonefe Government has been yielded to the 
King of Corea, with an evident Intention to facilitate 
the Trade between their Subjedts, notwithftanding the 
Prohibitions on both Sides. In this Ifland, the Property 
of which, as we have obferved, belongs now to the Co- 
reans, the Japonefe Merchants have vaft Magazines, fo 
that all Ships that come hither are very fpeedily laden 5 
and on the other Hand, the Coreans have their Maga- 
zines at Efin tchfion, in the Province of ^fuen lo, from 
whence they are brought by two navigable Rivers, one 
of which falls into the other, and the Mouth of the latter 
is direftly over-againft the Ifland of 'Eui la tao, at the 
Diftance only of eighteen Leagues. 
It remains now to give an Account of the Merchan- 
dize in which the Traders of both Countries deal ; and 
firft with Regard to the Japonefe their Magazines are 
conftantly full of Pepper of Sapan, and other fweet- 
feented and fine Woods, Boufflers Horns, which the Co- 
reans burn, and ufe the Powder in makmg their Ink j of 
Deer and Goat-skins, and of various European Commo- 
dities, which they purchafe partly from the Butch in 
their own Country, and partly from the Chinefe. The 
Koreans, on the other Hand, barter with the Japonefe 
Tyger Skins, Furrs, Lead, Ginfeng, feveral Sorts of 
Varnifh, and the Balance of this Trade, generally in 
Favour of the Japonefe, is paid in Ingots of Silver. They 
likewife change their Ingots for Spamjh Ducats, upon 
which they receive a Premium, of Six or Seven per Cent. 
and the Defign of this is to carry thefe Ducats to China] 
to conceal the better that Plenty of Silver which they 
have of their own j but the Ducats produced by this 
Trade are believed not to amount to a tenth Part of 
what the Coreans carry to China *, and how they com© 
by the reft will be explained hereafter. 
Befides thisTrade with the Japonefe, they carry on a Sort 
of fmugling Commerce at the Ifland of Kelpraet or ^el^ 
praet, where there are- alfo Magazines of both Nations, 
but not near fo great as thofe of Eui ta lao ; for,' as we 
fhall hereafter inform the Reader, this Ifland is chiefly 
remarkable for a Kind of Smugling or contraband Trade, 
for which there never was a Place better fituated or difl 
pofed by Nature, as having convenient Ports on all Sides. 
Some modern Writers fay, that Coreans exchanged 
this Ifland with the Japonefe for that o^Tui ta lao, which 
is a Point that hitherto is not fupported by fufficient 
Evidence. TheD«/c^ Seamen that were fliipwreck’d here 
in 1662, and whofe Account of Corea is almoft the only 
one publifhed, make this a Place of much too great 
Confequence to be exchanged ; and as other Accounts 
we have from the Philippines admit there are great Num- 
bers of Japonefe fettled here, perhaps this may b« 
thought Foundation enough for fuch a Report. 
It is indeed very certain, that the printed Relations of 
all thefe Countries are very fuperficial, and are to be 
read with great Caution; the Miffionaries in Japan were 
able to give no Account of Corea, but as they met with 
it in Japonefe Books ; fince they fairly acknowledge, that 
none of their Fathers ever went there, and if they had, 
perhaps they would not have learned much rnore than 
thofe who went to Jedzo, and yet were not able to fay 
whether it was a Continent or an Ifland. The laft of 
the Miffionaries Account of China admit, that what is 
contained in the Chinefe Maps and Books concerning 
Corea, cannot well be depended upon. His Excellency 
Mr. Tshrants Ides, who with vaft Pains and Difficult^ 
made a large Map of his Travels, which he fent-to 
Burgomafter Witzen, and who fettled his Geographical 
Faith upon it, though he is very accurate in defcribing 
the Countries through which he paffed, is miferably mi- 
ftaken in all thofe that he has ventured to lay down 
from Information. As for Corea, he makes it a fmall 
Ifland, with a Strait to the North between it and China 
almoft as broad as the Gulph, by which it is really divi- 
ded from that Country on the Weft ; and as to the 
North-eaft Continent of Afa, it is laid down within the 
fame Longitude with Corea, whereas the Country of 
Kamskatska ftretches feveral Degrees to the Eaft, and if 
produced, would lie in a Manner parallel to Corea, as 
the Peninfula of Corea lies parallel to the Continent of 
China. The Butch, while they were poflefled of For- 
mofa, had great Opportunities of becoming acquainted 
with the Coaft of Corea, and accordingly by the Fa- 
vour of a very worthy Perfon, I have feen feveral re- 
markable Paliages in the Journals of a Perfon in a di- 
ftinguifhed Station at Formoja, which are vaftly clearer 
than any Thing publifhed of late Years, tho’ written 
above a Century ago. 
As far as I know, there is Nothing of this Sort 
printed ; and as for the Shipwreck of the Butch Seamen 
on ^elpraet, it will be a ufeful Thing to thofe who 
have read this Sedlion, becaufe they will then fee the 
Reafon of the Treatment thofe Seamen met with from 
the Coreans, and of the great Dread thefe People had of 
the lartars, by whom they had not then been fubdued 
full thirty Years. We might expedt fome tolerable 
Account of thefe North-eaft Parts of Afia in the Spa- 
ni[h Hiftories of the Philippines, if there were any 
fuch, of modern Date, but we know only of one, and 
that printed at Madrid in 1733, and fupprefled for 
Reafons 
