I am painfully conscious of the demerits of this work, but believing that, on the whole, it reflects fairly faithfully the regions of which it treats, I venture to present it to the public; and to ask for it the same kindly and lenient criticism with which my records of travel in the East and elsewhere have hitherto been received, and that it may be accepted as an honest attempt to make a contribution to the sum of the knowledge of Korea and its people, and to describe things as I saw them, not only in the interior but in the troubled political atmosphere of the capital. ISABELLA L. BISHOP. _November, 1897._ Contents CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 11 I. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF KOREA 23 II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CAPITAL 35 III. THE KUR-DONG 49 IV. SEOUL, THE KOREAN MECCA 59 V. THE SAILING OF THE SAMPAN 66 VI. ON THE RIVER OF GOLDEN SAND 71 VII. VIEWS AFLOAT 82 VIII. NATURAL BEAUTY--THE RAPIDS 98 IX. KOREAN MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 114 X. THE KOREAN PONY--KOREAN ROADS AND INNS 121 XI. DIAMOND MOUNTAIN MONASTERIES 133 XII. ALONG THE COAST 150 XIII. IMPENDING WAR--EXCITEMENT AT CHEMULPO 177 XIV. DEPORTED TO MANCHURIA 185 XV. A MANCHURIAN DELUGE--A PASSENGER CART--AN ACCIDENT 192 XVI. MUKDEN AND ITS MISSIONS 199 XVII. CHINESE TROOPS ON THE MARCH 206 XVIII. NAGASAKI--WLADIVOSTOK 213 XIX. KOREAN SETTLERS IN SIBERIA 223 XX. THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD 239 XXI. THE KING’S OATH--AN AUDIENCE 245 XXII. A TRANSITION STAGE 261 XXIII. THE ASSASSINATION OF THE QUEEN 269 XXIV. BURIAL CUSTOMS 283 XXV. SONG-DO: A ROYAL CITY 292 XXVI. THE PHYONG-YANG BATTLEFIELD 301 XXVII. NORTHWARD HO! 320 XXVIII. OVER THE AN-KIL YUNG PASS 330 XXIX. SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN 338 XXX. EXORCISTS AND DANCING WOMEN 344 XXXI. THE HAIR-CROPPING EDICT 359 XXXII. THE REORGANIZED KOREAN GOVERNMENT 371 XXXIII. EDUCATION AND FOREIGN TRADE 387 XXXIV. DÆMONISM OR SHAMANISM 399 XXXV. NOTES ON DÆMONISM CONCLUDED 409 XXXVI. SEOUL IN 1897 427 XXXVII. LAST WORDS ON KOREA 445 APPENDIXES 461 APPENDIX A.--MISSION STATISTICS FOR KOREA 1896.