the first to mention a country which he called Coria; after whom came the
Franciscan missionaries. Little, however, was known of the country until
the Portuguese brought back to Europe strange accounts of this curious
kingdom and its quaint and warlike people. According to the story, it was
a certain Chinese wise man who, when in a poetic mood, baptized Corea
with the name of Cho-sen. But the student of Corean history knows that
the name had already been bestowed on the northern part of the peninsula
and on a certain portion of Manchuria, and that it was in the year 1392,
when Korai was united to Shinra and the State of Hiaksai became merged in
it, that Cho-sen became the official designation of united Corea. The
word "Corea" evidently is nothing but a corruption of the dead and buried
word "Korai."

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Long gown, the national dress of Japan.





CHAPTER III

The road to Seoul--The _Mapu_--Ponies--Oxen--Coolies--Currency--Mode of
carrying weights--The Han River--Nearly locked out.


[Illustration: THE WEST GATE, SEOUL]

I left Chemulpo on January 2nd, but instead of making use of the