THE SAILING OF THE SAMPAN
At a point when the difficulties in the way of my projected journey had
come to be regarded as insurmountable, owing to the impossibility of
getting an interpreter, and I had begun to say “_if_ I go” instead of
“_when_ I go,” Mr. Miller, a young missionary, offered his services, on
condition that he might take his servant to supplement his imperfect
knowledge of Korean. Bishop Corfe provided me with a Chinese servant,
Wong, a fine, big, cheery fellow, with inexhaustible good-nature and
contentment, never a cloud of annoyance on his face, always making the
best of everything, ready to help every one, true, honest, plucky,
passionately fond of flowers, faithful, manly, always well and hungry,
and with a passable knowledge of English! He was a Chefoo _sampan_-man
when Bishop Corfe picked him up, and nothing could make him into a
regular servant, but he suited me admirably, and I was grieved indeed
when I had to part with him.
The difficulty about money which then beset every traveller in the
interior cost a good deal of anxious planning. The Japanese _yen_ and
its subdivisions were only current in Seoul and the treaty ports,
there were no bankers or money-changers anywhere, and the only coin
accepted was the _cash_, of which at that time 3,200 nominally went
to the dollar. This coin is strung in hundreds on straw strings, and
the counting of it, and the carrying of it, and the being without it
are all a nuisance. It takes six men or one pony to carry 100 _yen_ in
_cash_, £10! Travellers, through their Consuls, can obtain from the
Foreign Office a letter to officials throughout the country called
a _kwan-ja_, entitling the bearer to their good offices, and
especially to food, transport, and money. But as it usually happens
that a magistrate advancing money to a foreigner is not repaid by the
Government, however accurately the sum has been paid in Seoul, the
arrangement is a very odious one to officials, and I promised our
Consul that I would not make use of it for money. Consequently, the
boat which I engaged for the earlier part of the journey was ballasted
with _cash_, and I took a bag of silver _yen_, and trusted to my usual
good fortune, which in this case did not altogether fail.
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF CENTRAL KOREA
The Edinburgh Geographical Institute John Bartholomew & Co.
Fleming H. Revell Company.]
[Illustration: THE AUTHOR’S SAMPAN, HAN RIVER.]
In addition to this uncouth and heavy burden, I took a saddle, a
trestle-bed with bedding and mosquito net, muslin curtains, a folding
chair, two changes of clothing, Korean string shoes, and a “regulation”
waterproof cloak. Besides, I took green tea, curry powder, and 20 lbs.
of flour. I discarded all superfluities, such as flasks, collapsing
cups, hand mirrors, teapots, sandwich tins, lamps, and tinned soups,
meats, bouillon, and fruits. The kitchen equipment consisted of a
Japanese brazier for charcoal, a shallow Japanese pan and frying-pan,
and a small kettle, with charcoal tongs, the whole costing under two
dollars! The “table equipment” was limited: a small mug, two plates
and a soup plate, all in enamelled iron, and a knife, fork, and
spoon, which folded up, a knife, fork, and spoon of common make being
reserved for the “kitchen.” Tables, trays, tablecloths, and sheets
were from thenceforth unknown luxuries. I mention my outfit, because
I know it to be a sufficient one, and that every pound of superfluous
weight adds to the difficulty of getting transport in Korea and in
many other countries. Besides, I was encumbered for the first time
with a tripod camera weighing 16 lbs., and a hand camera weighing 4
lbs., with the apparatus belonging to them, and had to reduce other
things accordingly. On the whole, it is best to trust to the food of
the country. Korea produces eggs, and in some regions chickens. The
chestnuts are good, and though the flour, which can be got in a few
places, is gritty, and the rice is a bad color, both are eatable, and
the foreigner, always an object of suspicion, is less so when he buys
and eats native viands, and does not carry about with him a number of
(to Koreans) outlandish-looking utensils and commodities.
Regarding much of the region which I purposed to visit no information
could be obtained, either from Europeans or Korean officials, and the
best map, a reduction of a Japanese map by Sir E. Satow, turned out
to be astray. Mr. Warner, of Bishop Corfe’s Mission, had ascended the
north branch of the Han, but it is still doubtful whether any European
has been up the south and much larger branch which I explored on this
journey. It was certain only that the country was mountainous, and that
the rapids were numerous and severe. It had also been said earnestly,
and with an appearance of knowledge, by several people that it would be
impossible for a lady to travel in the interior; and certainly much of
what I heard, supposing it to be fact, was sufficiently deterring, but
from many similar statements in other countries I knew that a deduction
of at least fifty per cent. must be made!
On the 14th of April, 1894, when the environs of Seoul were seen
through a mist of green, and plum and peach blossom was in the
ascendant, and the heliotrope azalea was just beginning to tint the
hillsides, and the air was warm and muggy, I left the kind friends who
had done much to make my visit to Seoul interesting and agreeable, and
went on ponyback through the south gate, passing the temple of the God
of War, and over a pine-clothed ridge of Nam-San to Han Kang, four
miles from Seoul, a little shipping village, where my boat lay, to
avoid a rapid which lies between it and Ma-pu. Up to Ma-pu, 56 miles
from Chemulpo, there is a very considerable tidal rise and fall which
ceases at the rapid.
A limp, silent crowd of men and boys denoted the whereabouts of the
boat, from which Mr. Miller’s servant, Che-on-i, emerging with the
broad smile with which Orientals announce bad news, informed us that
the boat was too small! There were very few to be got, and I had not
seen this one, Mr. Wyers, the Legation constable, having engaged her
for me; and I went “on board” at once, with much curiosity, as she was
to be my home for an indefinite number of weeks. And small she truly
was, only 28 feet over all, by 4 feet 10 inches at her widest part,
and with her whole cargo, animate and inanimate, on board she only
drew 3 inches of water. The roof which was put on at my request was a
marvel. A slight framework of a ridge pole and some sticks precariously
tied together supported some mats of pheasant grass, with the long
blades hanging down outside and over the gunwale, which was only 12
inches high. These mats were tied together over the ridge pole, and let
in a streak of daylight all the way along. At its highest part this
roof was only 4 feet 6 inches. It was just possible to sit under it
without stooping. By putting forked sticks under what by courtesy were
called the rafters, they could be lifted a foot from the gunwale to
let in light and air. Two or three times in a strong breeze this roof
collapsed and fell about our heads!
In the fore part of the boat, 7 feet long, one boatman paddled or
poled, and in the hinder part, 4 feet long, the other poled or worked
an oar. But the fore part was also our kitchen and poultry yard and
the boatmen’s kitchen. There also were kept faggots, driftwood,
and miscellaneous stores, with the food and water in unappetizing
proximity. There, too, Wong and Che-on-i spent their day; and there
they all cooked, ate, and washed clothes; and there at night the
boatmen curled themselves up and slept in a space 4 feet × 4. The rest
of the _sampan_ divided itself naturally by the thwarts. My part, the
centre, was originally 8 feet × 4 feet 10 inches, but encroachments by
no means gradual constituted it a “free coup” for sacks, rice-bags,
clothing, and baskets, till it was reduced to a bare 6 feet, into
which space my bed, chair, saddle, and luggage were packed for five
weeks. In the hinder division, 7 feet × 4 feet 4 inches, Mr. Miller
lived and studied, and he, Wong, and Che-on-i slept. It was scarcely
possible for six people and their gear to be more closely packed. Mr.
Miller, though not an experienced traveller, cheerfully made the best
of everything then and afterwards, and preserved the serenity of his
temper under all circumstances.
The _sampan’s_ crew of two consisted of Kim, her owner, a tall wiry,
picturesque, aristocratic-looking old man, and his “hired man,” who was
never heard to speak except on two occasions, when, being very drunk,
he developed a remarkable loquacity. On the whole, they were well
behaved and quiet. I saw them in close proximity every hour of the day
and was never annoyed by anything they did. Kim was paid $30 per month
for the boat, and his laziness was wonderful. To dawdle along, to start
late and tie up early, to crawl when he tracked, and to pole or paddle
with the least expenditure of labor, was his policy. To pole for an
hour, then tie up and take a smoke, to spend half a day now and then on
buying rice, to work on my sensibilities by feigning exhaustion, and
to adopt every dodge of the lazy man, was his practice. The contract
stipulated for three men, and he only took one, making some evasive
excuse. But I have said the worst I can say when I write that they
never made more than 10 miles in a day, and often not more than 7, and
that when they came to severe rapids they always wanted to go back.[12]
Mr. Wyers busied himself in putting a mat on the floor and stowing
things as neatly as possible, and when curtains had been put up,
the quarters, though “cribbed, cabined, and confined,” looked quite
tolerable. The same limp, silent crowd looked on till we left Han Kang
at midday. In a few hours things shook into shape, and after all the
discomforts were not great, possibly the greatest being that the smoke
and the smell of the boatmen’s malodorous food blew through the boat.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] I took very careful notes on the Han, but as minute details would
be uninteresting to the general reader, and would involve a good deal
of apparent repetition, I shall give only the most salient features
of a journey which, if it has ever been made, has certainly not been
described.