Chap. III. the Kingdom G o k E A. 1007 
Reafons of -State. The Truth of the Matter is, that 
the Spaniards are as fufpicious and jealous of that Colony 
as the Chinefe are of Corea^ and with fome Reafon, for 
Manila is incredibly rich, and the Trade driven there 
is not of a Nature to be difclofed, as appears from fome 
Memoirs lately tranfmitted from Batavia^ in which we 
are told, that if this Country was in the Hands of any 
but the Spaniards, it would produce as much Benefit to 
Europe, as all the other trading Settlements in the Eaji 
Indies put together. 
8. After what has been already faid of the many Dif- 
ficulties that occur in obtaining Accounts that may be 
depended upon of the Commerce of the Coreans, the 
Reader will, no Doubt, be pleafed with whatever can 
be rationably given him upon this Subjeft, though it is 
not quite fo full, fo clear, or fo -certain as either he could 
defire, or we could wifh ; but upon this he may de- 
pend, that we fliall fet Things before him in a juft 
Light, and leave that to his Decifion, which perhaps 
fome Writers would have delivered with a greater De- 
gree of Confidence, and confequently lefs Refpeft to 
Truth. In the firft Place, we lay it down as a Thing 
abfolutely certain, that notwithftanding all the Precau- 
tions of the Chinefe, the Coreans carry on a very large 
Trade *, which appears thus : 
They purcbafe vaft Quantities of raw Silk in China, 
beyond the Degree of Confumption in their Country, 
which they muft manufadlure and difpofe of fomewhere, 
otherwife their Trade with China would have declined, 
whereas it increafes. They take off large Quantities of 
manufaflured Silks in China, more elpecially of that 
Sort of Damask, which from its being chiefly in De- 
mand from them, the Chinefe call Kao li Toanza, i. e. 
Core an Damask, very little of which however is worn 
by them. They pay for moft of their Goods mSpanifo 
Silver, which SpaniJhSxlvQT muft be acquired by Trade. 
They purchafe no European Commodities at Pekin, and 
yet they are common enough all over Corea-, they muft 
therefore have them fome other Way. They purchafe 
fome fmall Quantities of Ruffian Furrs, when they are 
to be had, in China, and yet the fineft Ruffian Furrs 
are commonly worn by Perfons of Diftindtion in Corea, 
which therefore they muft obtain by fome other Chan- 
nel. They have Spices and other Indian Commodities 
amongft them, though none of thefe are bought from 
the Chinefe and they have alfo Amethifts and Eme- 
ralds, which is a Proof of their having Correfpondence 
with fome Nations that trade to America. We will 
endeavour to give a probable Account of the Manner 
in which they come by all, or at leaft moft of thefe Com- 
modities and Manufadtures, and in feveral In fiances we 
fhall confirm our Conjectures by indifputable Teftimo- 
nies, which in a Matter of this Nature is all that we 
pretend to do, and is much more than has hitherto 
been done. 
The Country of Corea, or to fpeak with Striftnefs 
and Propriety, the Peninfula of Corea, excluding the 
two Provinces that belong to it upon the Continent, is 
very carefully laid down in the modern Maps of China ; 
but the fame thing cannot be faid of the adjacent Coun- 
tries to the Eaft and North-eaft, as will appear to any 
competent Judge who will compare the feveral Maps of 
thofe Countries that are extant, hardly any two of which 
are alike, and confequently, tho’ it is very polTible they 
rriay be all falfe, yet it is impoffible they fliould be 
all true, and more than probable the greateft Part have 
no Refemblance to Truth. 
In the Sieur Beilin's Map, of the laft Difcoveries 
made by the Ruffians, there is a large Gulph which he 
calls the Gulph of Kamfchatska, which feparates that 
Country from the Continent to 'which Corea is joined, 
and from this Map it appears to be very eafy for the' 
Coreans to fail along the Coaft as high as the River Amur, 
the Mouth of which is there laid down in the Latitude 
of 46 Degrees, and palling up this River they trade 
with the Subjedls of the Ruffians, and fometimes with 
the Ruffians themfelves, as appears from what Mr. 
Tsbrant Ides tells us of People who come thither dreft in 
Robes of blue Silk, with long Beards, who pretend that 
they dwell in an Ifland lying North-eaft of that Coaft. 
Yol. II. N^ CXXXIX. 
NoWi in the firft Place, we ktlow that the Coreans ac" 
tually drefs in this Manner, and on the other Hand it is 
very certain, that the Inhabitants of any Ifland lying to 
the North-eaft: of the River Amur, could not well have 
Silk of their own Growth, or purchafe it in Chind 
v/ithout our hearing of them. 
The Reafon why the Coreaiis make ufe of this Method 
to deceive the Ruffians, is to prevent their Commerce 
coming to be made known to the Chinefe, which they 
are very ftudious to avoid, as the Chinefe appear to be 
much more jealous of the Ruffians than of any other 
Nation. It may be enquired, how it is pofilble for them 
to avoid a Difcovery, fince the Chinefe Dominions are 
now extended to the River Amur? To which the plain 
Anfwer is. That thefe Countries do not belong to the 
Emperor of China in that Quality, but as he is the So- 
vereign of the M.an tchou Tartars, and thele People 
are not of fo jealous and iulpicious a Nature as the ChT 
nefe, and therefore content themfelves very probably 
with fuch Accounts, as for their own Conveniency the 
Coreans are pleafed to give. It is alfo not at all unlike- 
ly that they may trade with the Inhabitants of the op- 
pofite Coaft of Kamfchatska, but what Commodities they 
obtain from them we cannot pretend to fay. 
After having thus Ihewn how they obtain rich Furrs, 
and other Northern Commodities, we will endeavour to 
defcribe their Trade to the South, in reference to which 
the Reader is to obferve, that under Colour of failing 
to the Ifland \)f ^elpraet, they take in from the Ma* 
gazines there full of Chinefe Commodities, a proper 
Cargo for the Philippines, and paffing behind the Ifland 
of Formofa by the Help of the proper Trade Wind, 
they come fafely to the Port of Manila, where they 
trade under the Name of Chinefe, and by this Means it 
is that they obtain fuch Quantities of Spanilh Silver, 
without which they would find it very difficult, if not 
impradlicable, to carry on their Chinefe Trade. Here 
likewife they purchafe Spices and other Indian Com- 
modities ; nor is it at all improbable that they trade iii 
their Pafiage home with the Inhabitants of thofe Iflands 
that lie between Manila and Formofa. 
It may be asked, What Certainty we have of this ? 
To which I anfwer. That fince we are certain they have 
Spani/h Silver, and fince we are as certain that no Euro^ 
pean Nation trades with them in their own Ports, we 
may be fure that they have it this Way, becaufe they 
can have it no other Way. Befides, I am fure they did 
carry on this Trade above an hundred Years ago, and 
this from theLights given me by fomePapers relating to 
the melancholy Maflfacre at Amboyna,(tvcrdd of thofe who 
were ftiled Japonefe, and who fuffered with the Englifh 
for their pretended Con fpi racy againft the Dutch, were 
in Reality Coreans, If therefore they were expert enough 
to enter into this Navigation then, y/hat Reafon is there 
to doubt that they carry on the fame Commerce now j 
more efpecially fince we know, that fo late as the Year 
1702, their Merchants brought a large Quantity of 
Spani/h Silver to Pekin. 
It may alfo be enquired, how the Coreans efcape be- 
ing difcovered by the Chinefe at Manila ? And the An- 
fwer to this is very ftiort .and eafy. The Trade to Ma~ 
nila is as much a contraband Trade to the Chinefe as to 
the Coreans, and therefore it would be impoffible for 
them to difcover fuch an Offence to their Government, 
without confeffing themfelves guilty of the fame Crime ; 
and every body knows that the Chinefe are much too 
cunning to do that. I forefee alfo that it may be de- 
manded, why, if they trade to Manila, they may not 
alfo tviidLC to Batavia ? To which I can only fay, that 
there are no Proofs of it, nor any great Probability, 
whereas with Refpedl to their other Commerce we have 
both Evidence and Probability. 
I have already obferved, that we are far from hav- 
ing diftindt Accounts of the Commerce at Manila, 
we only know in general Terms, that Veffels from 
almoft all the Countries in the Eaft refort thither, not 
only for the Sake of trading with the Spaniards, 
but with each other. It may indeed be faid, that 
cao lies more conveniently for the Coreans, and that 
they might be furniftied there with European, and per- 
1 1 Z jhaps 
