When we arrived, the chiefs attempted to throw all the blame upon the head mandarin, but the captain would no longer stand their humbug. He replied to them, that if any of their principal men had visited the ship they would have been treated with respect and kindness, and that the number of their armed retainers would have made no difference in their reception; that he considered them as faithless in all their protestations of good-will, and from thenceforth he should place no reliance on any thing that they said; that for the future he would act as he thought proper without consulting them, and that he would shoot any one who attempted to interfere with him. We then got into the boats and returned on board, where we heard that the cutter's crew had been compelled to kill or wound some of the natives, who had come down in a body and attacked one of the men with fire-brands. The cutter was at anchor a short distance from the shore; on the natives approaching they seized their muskets, but did not fire until their shipmate was in danger of his life. Two of the natives had fallen and had been carried off by their comrades. [Illustration: QUELPARTIANS. F. M. DELT. M. N. HANHART LITH. PRINTERS LONDON; LONGMAN & CO. 1848] The Quelpartians cultivate paddy (from which they distil their sam-schoo), sweet potatoes, and radishes, which, with shell-fish, form the principal articles of food with the lower classes. Pigs, bullocks, and fowls appeared to be plentiful, although we obtained but few. All their towns are enclosed with a stone wall; the houses are also built of stone, and mostly tiled with a species of red slate; but we had few opportunities of inspecting them, as the natives kept so strict a watch upon us, and so outnumbered us. These Coreans presented a strong contrast to the Loo Chooans, who are so polite in their manner and kind in their demeanour. These Quelpartians, on the contrary, are very unprepossessing in their appearance, rude and boisterous in their manner, and of very gross habits. They insisted upon feeling and inspecting every article of our clothing, even baring our breasts to ascertain their colour, and in many other respects proving themselves very annoying. This was submitted to at first, with the hope of securing their good-will, but afterwards very decided measures were taken to repulse these dirty wretches, whose clothes smelt most offensively. They have the high cheek bone and elongated eye of the Tartar, or northern Chinese, from whom I am inclined to think they are descended. The crown of the head is closely shaved, leaving a circle of long hair, which is tied in a knot on the top of the skull (similar to the people of Loo Choo), but without any ornament. Round the forehead is fastened a bandanna, about four inches in width, resembling fine net-work in texture, but it is made with horsehair. This is used to keep the hair in its proper position. But the most singular part of their costume is the