OF THE SOUTH-PLATEAU DE LANGRES PLATEAU OF LANGRES; CANAL DU MIDI CANAL OF THE SOUTH; CANAL DU CENTRE CANAL IN THE MIDDLE (of France); -ISLE DE FRANCE ISLAND OF FRANCE (this region is island-like, surrounded as it is by the rivers Seine, Marne and Oise); - FRANCHE COMTÉ THE COUNTY; Place de LA CONCORDE PLACE OF HARMONY (in Paris).

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FREE

LE HAVRE THE HARBOR, or HAVRE DE GRACE= HARBOR OF GRACE;- NEUCHATEL="NEWCASTLE (in Switzerland);-ROCHEFORT=FORT ON THE ROCK;-BELFORT=THE BEAUTIFUL FORT;-ST. DENIS SAINT DENNIS-ST. ETIENNE SAINT STEPHEN.

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CHAMPAGNE THE PLAIN;-LES LANDES THE HEATHS (sandy plains along the Bay of Biscay).

GREEK: Toe=city, and Gratianopolis, now Grenoble, means the CITY OF GRATIAN (so named A. D. 379) ;— viz victory, hence Nicæa, now in Italian NIZZA, in French NICE CITY OF VICTORY.

LATIN mons-mountain;-provincia province; -provincia=province; aquæ=waters;—clarus=clear;-trans-beyond.

GALLIA TRANSALPINA=GALLIA BEYOND THE Alps (so modern France was named by the Romans);—Provincia, now PROVENCE=PROVINCE (of the "Roman Empire"); -Clarus Mons, now CLERMONT=THE CLEAR MOUNTAIN; -Aqua Sextia, now Aix (founded by Sextius Calvinus 22 B. C.) WATERS OF SEXTIUS (battle 102 B. C.). Aureliana, now ORLEANS CITY OF THE AURELIANS (an illustrious Roman family).

CELTIC: móri=sea; cebin-mountain-ridge;-late= marsh;-ardu=high;—ar, are=on.

CEVENNES RIDGE OF MOUNTAINS;-Ardennes=THE

HIGH WOOD.—ARMORICA=COUNTRY ON THE SEA (So modern Bretagne was called in the time of Cæsar); ARMOR ICANS INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTRY ON THE SEA; ARE LATE, now ARLES=(situated) ON THE MARSHY GROUND.

LORRAINE is a corruption of the Latin Lotharingia= KINGDOM OF LOTHARIUS II., who reigned from 855 to 869 A. D.-BRETAGNE LAND OF BRITONS, a Celtic tribe.GASCOGNE, formerly Vasconia LAND OF THE BISCAYANS. -NORMANDY is that part of France, which was occupied by the NORMANS or Northmen.—PARIS, in Latin Lutetia Parisiorum marshy city of the PARISII, is named from its inhabitants mentioned by Cæsar.-RHEIMS was in the ancient times the capital of the REMI, a people of Gaul.

FROM COREA TO QUELPAERT ISLAND: IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF KUBLAI KHAN.

BY

COLONEL C. CHAILLÉ-LONG.

Ex-Secretary of Legation and Consul General and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Seoul, Corea.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE OF COREA.-The land of Corea or Chosön, for such is the native name of the country, drops down in a peninsula from the Manchurian plateau from the 43d parallel to the 33d parallel north, and is contained within the 125th and 130th meridians east. The northern frontier is marked by the rivers Yalu and Tumen, each having its source (supposed) in the famous Pak-Tu-San, Ever White Mountain, a place of many mysteries and innumerable legends. The Yalu running westward pours into the Yellow Sea and the Tumen flowing eastward empties into the Sea of Japan.

The contour of the peninsula is in singular conformity to the shape of a dragon, the ideal emblem of power, which exerts the most potent influence over the Corean mind; which, once swayed by Buddhism and subsequently by the ethics of Confucius, is now almost wholly influenced by Shamanism or the worship of the spirits of earth and air, the Dragon being the supreme agent and recognized alike by prince and peasant. It is not improbable that this configuration of Chosön has lent a double significance to " Dragon worship" in which" worship of ancestors" is accounted a mere incident. To establish the comparison, the reader may imagine the dragon's head to rest upon the mouth of the Tumen River in the Sea of Japan, the ears to project to Cape Bruat, the neck to form the indentation at Broughton Bay, the shoulders and back at capes Duroche and Pelissier, the tail at Fusan in the south, prolonged to Quelpaert Island, and the pedal extremities resting upon the islands of the archipelago in the South Yellow Sea and northward in the mouths of the Ta-Tong and the Yalu rivers. The backbone of the dragon on the eastern part of the peninsula is a sinuous range of mountains forming a sort of wall along the Japan Sea throughout the entire length south. The country descends in slopes and circuitous monticules toward the west, forming a succession of fertile valleys through which on their way to the Yellow Sea run the rivers Han, the Ta-Tong, the Yalu and others of less

importance. The climate of Corea is dry and cold in winter, wet and hot in summer. The four seasons in fact are well marked, the three months of spring are mild and temperate, while the autumn months are unsurpassed for their evenness of temperature.

The flora presents a varied and unlimited field of wild specimens, and the mountains which encircle the capital city are adorned in season with flowers of every hue.

The fauna consists of the bear, boar, deer, leopard, and the tiger. The presence of this latter, to be found in great numbers north of the capital and with longer hair and more vigorous body than his Chinese brother from whence through Manchuria he has come to Corea, must vex the naturalist, who will be at a loss to understand why the tiger should have abandoned his native haunts in the jungle to seek the cold and somewhat barren steppes of Manchuria and the distant mountains of Corea. Game of almost every kind is plentiful, and the black and white swan, wild geese, ducks, bustards and golden pheasants abound. The rivers afford fish, oysters, clams and terrapin.

The mineral resources of the country are reputed to be great, and the natives report rich deposits of gold, silver, lead and coal, but for a fact the government hesitates to award concessions to have them opened, alleging that digging into the earth and above all the hill-sides, would disturb the Dragon, and all sorts of ills would surely come out of such desecration. His Majesty Li, however, under a pressure of need of money seems quite disposed to grant concessions now, and only recently an enterprising American missionary visited the United States for the purpose of disposing of royal grants of this nature, but American capital was not allured even by the enthusiastic representations of the sacerdotal agent.

Corea, heretofore known to the outside world as the “ Hermit Nation" by reason of her isolation, first opened her ports to Japan in 1876 and in 1882 made a treaty with the United States and subsequently with England, Germany, Russia and France, all of whom maintain, together with China, representatives at Seoul. It is a matter of justice to state that Corea was induced to abandon her policy of seclusion and treat with the outside world-whom she looked upon as " Barbarians from the Western Ocean "-through the friendly offices of Li-Hung-Chang, the liberal minded and distinguished statesman and Viceroy of China.

The change from the old to the new régime was not left unchallenged. Corea possessed a large class, and there is but little doubt that she possesses it to-day, a majority who hate the foreigner and who are wedded to the ancient order of things. The Tai- Wen-Kun, who was regent during the days of persecution and massacre of the missionaries and their