No. 117
The Marquis of Salisbury. KG
Yedo
November 25, 1878

My Lord,

In my Despatch No. 113 of the 11th instant reporting the wreck of the British schooner “Barbara Taylor” on the Island of Quelpart and the hospitable behavior of the Corean Authorities and people, I mentioned that I should confer with the Japanese Foreign Minister as to the best way of conveying to those Authorities my thanks for the great kindness they had thus shown to our distressed countrymen.
Having mentioned to His Excellency that I thought it desirable to send a Secretary of this Legation to Quelpart for the above purpose in one of Her Majesty’s ships, His Excellency concurred in this course, and willingly consented to give me the assistance of the Japanese Interpreter in Corean who accompanied Mr. Paul. He also concurred with me in thinking it desirable that the Officer selected for the service, after visiting Quelpart, should proceed to the Port of Fusan on the mainland, which is now open to Japanese trade in order that the Corean Authorities there might be accurately informed of the object of the visit, and thus be able to make a correct report of the same to the Central Government at Seoul.
Having then observed to the Foreign Minister that I would send Mr. Satow to Quelpart, he at once furnished him with a letter to the Prefect of Nagasaki instructing him to place the services of the Interpreter in Corean at his disposal, and also with a letter to the Japanese Consul at Sorio (Fusan) directing him to assist Mr. Satow with his good offices in case he should require them.
I also thought it well to seek the cooperation of the Chinese Minister at this Court on account of the influence which I believe China maintains in Corea, and also because no less than nine out of the twelve men who were saved from the “Barbara Taylor” were Chinese. His Excellency approved of the propriety of the course I was taking and spontaneously offered to give Mr. Satow a Note to the Chief Authority of Quelpart (the “Taionshiu”) in order to assure him of the real object of the visit and to request him to give Mr. Satow a friendly reception.
I then applied to Captain Poland, the Senior Naval Officer in Japan, for the services of Her Majesty’s Ship stationed at Nagasaki, and I instructed Mr. Satow to proceed to that port by the Mail Steamer of the 13th instant. I have heard from Mr. Consul Troup that Mr. Satow arrived at Nagasaki on the night of the 17th, and that he was to leave for Quelpart in H.M.S “Egeria” on the morning of the 19th.
I now beg to enclose a copy of the instructions I furnished to Mr. Satow. I carefully thought over the course I directed him to take, and I do not think it possible that any risk of misunderstanding with the Corean Authorities can thereby be incurred, or that it can expose us to any slight at their hands. It appears to me to be clearly incumbent upon us to acknowledge the great kindness shown to our shipwrecked people by the Corean Authorities, and I have desired Mr. Satow to do this in the manner that shall be most acceptable to those Authorities. I cannot suppose that they will not be willing to receive him with the same friendly feeling as they showed towards the master of the “Barbara Taylor,” and subsequently to the party of foreigners who visited them in the Norwegian steamer “Hakon Adelstein,” but if this anticipation shall not be realized, I shall feel that we have at least done our duty in the matter, and Mr. Satow may still be able with the assistance of the Japanese Consulat Sorio (Fusan) to satisfy the Corean Government that the visit was well meant, and was prompted by a legitimate and praiseworthy object.
I add an English version of my letter to the Chief Authority of Quelpart (the Taionshiu) which was written in Chinese, as I believe that the written character of that language is understood by all Corean officials. I was also able to send with Mr. Satow the Chinese writer Liu Shegan, whose employment at this Legation I had previously recommended to your Lordship, and who can assist Mr. Satow in communicating with the Corean Authorities in written Chinese, in case the spoken language should be unintelligible to them.
I also enclose a translation of the Note of the Chinese Minister to the Taionshiu, and beg to recommend to Your Lordship notice the good feeling he has shown in writing in such favorable and appropriate terms.
It remains for me to add a copy of my letter to Captain Poland, requesting the services of H.M.S. “Egeria,” and in which I pointed out the necessity of the utmost care being taken to guard against any offence being offered to the Coreans―I feel satisfied from my knowledge of Commander Douglas, who is an officer of great experience, and was selected by the Admiralty in 1873 as the Director of the Naval College in Japan, that no endeavour will be wanting on his part to give effect to this request, or to assist Mr. Satow in his mission.
Your Lordship will observe that both the Chinese Minister and myself, in our Notes to the Chief Authority of Quelpost{Quelpart}, have impressed upon him the impropriety of the Corean officers insisting upon burning all foreign vessels thrown upon their coast, in which practice, as they stated to Mr. Paul, they were guided by the existing Corean law. I trust that these representations, which will be supported by Mr. Satow in his communications with the Corean Authorities, will lead to the abandonment of such an undesirable rule.
In addition to the report of his visit to Quelpart which I forwarded to Your Lordship in my Despatch No. 113, Mr. Paul has now furnished some Notes on Quelpart, of which I enclose a copy. It contains some interesting particulars respecting the productions, government, and the people of that island and some acceptable evidence of the earnestness of the friendly demonstrations of the latter towards their recent foreign visitors.
In concluding this Despatch I beg to express the hope that my proceedings in this matter may be approved by Your Lordship. I trust I shall not be disappointed in the expectation I have formed that it will serve to promote friendly impressions towards us on the part of the Coreans, while it will at least afford us an opportunity of judging the extent of the improvement in their disposition towards foreigners which is now attributed to them.
I have, &c.

Harry S. Parkes

Inclosure

Mr. Satow’s visit to Corea. Sir H.S. Parkes’ Instructions.

Yedo
November 13, 1878

As I am of opinion that the humane and friendly conduct of the Corean Authorities of Quelpart Island, in the matter of the wreck of the “Barbara Taylor,” should be officially acknowledged, I wish you to proceed to that island in order to convey to them my thanks for their kind treatment of the shipwrecked crew and for the generous assistance which they rendered to the master of that vessel in salving the cargo.
You will accordingly proceed to Nagasaki in the Mitsu Bishi mail steamer leaving from Yokohama today, and on passing Kobe you will communicate personally with Captain Poland, the senior naval officer in Japan, and deliver to him the accompanying despatch. He will instruct Commander Douglas, of Her Majesty’s Ship “Egeria,” at present at Nagasaki, to convey you to Quelpart and he will give you his instructions to Commander Douglas.
It is desirable that you should be accompanied by Mr. Paul of H.M.’s consulate at Nagasaki, who has lately visited Quelpart, and I have therefore requested Mr. Consul Troup to place that officer under your orders. As arranged between the Foreign Minister and myself, you will apply to the Prefect of Nagasaki for the services of Mr. Takeda the Interpreter in Corean, who lately accompanied Mr. Paul to Quelpart, and in order that you may be able to communicate in China, I also attach to you Mr. Lew Shegan.
I have requested Captain Poland to instruct Commander Douglas to proceed at first to the spot where the “Barbara Taylor” was wrecked, and on arriving there you should endeavour to communicate with the officer, called by Mr. Paul in his report of the 31st October, the “Pu-on-shin.” You will inform him that you have been sent by me to thank him and the chief Authority of the Island―called by Mr. Paul the “Tai-on-shin” ―for the kindness they showed to the Master and Crew of the “Barbara Taylor.” You will explain to him why Mr. Paul was unable to accept the invitation of the Tai-on-shin to visit him at his residence at “Che-ju-pu,” and you will state that I wish you to proceed to that city to deliver my thanks to the “Tai-on-shin,” and the letters which I and the Chinese Minister at Yedo have addressed to that Functionary. Should the Pu-on-shin object to your proceeding to Che-ju-pu, you will not insist upon doing so, although you will endeavor by friendly persuasion to induce him to consent. He may perhaps wish to take the instructions of the Tai-on-shin on the point. If, in the end, you find that you cannot communicate directly with the latter, you will then hand the two letters to the Pu-on-shin, and request him to forward them to the Tai-on-shin and to give you a receipt for them.
You will inform him of the character of the contents of these letters, and you will mention that I have requested that on any future occasion of a British ship being wrecked at Quelpart, the Corean Authorities will not burn the stranded hull unless it shall have been abandoned by the master or owners as worthless and irremovable. You will at the same time state that I do not complain of their having burned the hull of the “Barbara Taylor,” as it was of no value, but you will explain that in other cases it might be possible to float a stranded hull, or to break up and bring away the materials which may sometimes be of value to the owners. If you succeed in seeing the Tai-on-shin, you will also draw his attention to this subject, and you should explain to him or the Pu-on-shin that although appreciating the gratuitous assistance they rendered in salving the cargo of the “Barbara Taylor,” we neither expect nor desire that the cost of such assistance should in future be borne by the Corean Authorities.
After visiting Quelpart, I think it is desirable, as I have stated to Captain Poland, that Her Majesty’s Ship “Egeria” should proceed to Fusan, as [ _______ ] have had more experience of Foreign questions than those of Quelpart, and are in more immediate communication with the Government at the Capital. It is important that the latter should receive a correct account of this case of wreck, and of the object of the visit of Her Majesty’s Ship “Egeria” to Quelpart.
On anchoring off the Japanese settlement at Sorio, you will ascertain whether it is possible to communicate with the Corean Authorities of Fusan, and, if you succeed in doing so, you will express your readiness to wait upon the Prefect of Sorio, if he is willing to receive you. You will inform him, or such of the Corean Authorities of Fusan as you may be able to see, of all of the particulars of the wreck of the “Barbara Taylor,” of the highly satisfactory action of the Quelpart Authorities, and of my wish that my thanks for their kindness should be conveyed to the Government at Seoul. You will furnish copies of my letter and that of the Chinese Minister to the Tai-on-shin, and will also draw their attention to my request that stranded British ships should not be burned or destroyed until they have been abandoned as possessing no longer any value to the owner.
If you find the Corean Authorities at Fusan unwilling to hold any communication with you, you will then request the Japanese Consul at Sorio to be so good as to explain to them the object of your visit, and to deliver to them the copies of the letters to the Tai-on-shin. The Foreign Minister has been so good as to furnish you with a letter to the Consul at Sorio, instructing him to render you his good offices in this matter.
As the main object of your expedition is to impart favorable impressions to the Corean Authorities, and to induce them to perceive that we only entertain friendly feelings towards them, you will be careful not to take any step to which they object, or which you find would cause them annoyance. It is of course desirable that you should hold as much communication with them, and acquire as much information as possible on commercial or other subjects, but in doing so you will carefully avoid exciting their suspicion or distrust, and will chiefly endeavor to make your visit an opportunity for improving their feelings towards ourselves. I have no doubt that Commander Douglas, to whom you will show these instructions, will cordially cooperate with you in this important object. I feel that I can add no advice as to the time of your stay at Quelpart or at Fusan, as he and you must naturally be guided in this respect by the circumstances of the position, and the manner of your reception by the Corean authorities.

(signed) Harry S. Parkes

Inclosure

Sir H.S. Parkes to the Chief Authority of the Island of Quelpart, Corea

Yedo. November 12, 1878

Mr. Satow deputed to convey thanks of H.M.’s Minister to Authorities of Quelpart for kindness shown to shipwrecked crew of British merchant ship.

Translation
Sir Harry Parkes, Her Britannic Majesty’s Minister in Japan, addresses this communication to the Chief Authority (Taionshin) of the Island of Quelpart in Corea.
The British Consul at Nagasaki has reported to the Undersigned that on the 21st September a British merchant vessel bound from Shanghai to the Russian Settlements on the Amoor with a cargo of tea encountered a heavy storm and was thrown upon the coast of the district of Tsuigi (Chegui) within your honorable jurisdiction when she became a wreck. The Master and the crew escaped to the shore where they at once received friendly succour from your Officers and people, who housed them, supplied them with food, and exerted themselves to the utmost to save and store in safety the cargo of the ship. The honorable Sai-on-shin was then so good as to arrange that the Master should proceed to Nagasaki in a Japanese junk, for the purpose of engaging a vessel to remove the crew and cargo, and when he returned to Tsuigi (Chegui) in another ship accompanied by an officer of the Consulate, they again experienced the same kind treatment from your officers who gave over to them the crew and cargo, and would not allow the master to make them any compensation for the expenses incurred either in the entertainment of the shipwrecked men or in salving the freight.
The Consul concluded his report by recommending to my notice the humane feeling and generous disposition towards foreigners which had thus been shown by the Corean Officers and people.
The Undersigned could not fail to be deeply impressed by this report, and he at once felt that it was incumbent upon him to endeavour to convey to the honorable Tai-on-shin a suitable acknowledgment of his high appreciation of the exceedingly kind services which had [ ] distressed countrymen. But being sensible that he cannot adequately express his thanks in writing he has deputed Mr Satow, a Secretary of Her Majesty’s Legation (who is accompanied by a literary Chinese in the Minister’s service named Liu Shegan) to proceed to Quelpart on one of Her Majesty’s ships in order that he may personally deliver to the honorable Tai-on-shin the thanks of the Undersigned. The latter hopes by this means to increase the friendly feeling which already exists, and he feels assured that that feeling may be relied on to promote hereafter a good understanding between the two countries.
H.M.’s Minister has been informed that the wreck of the vessel was burned by the Corean Authorities, and as it possessed no value he does not take objection to that course having been followed in this instance. But he requests that whenever a shipwreck again occurs the Corean Authorities will allow the Master or the persons interested in the vessel, either to repair or to break up the hull, as they may desire. In the event however of their determining to abandon the wreck as worthless, the Corean Authorities will then be at liberty to deal with it as they may see fit.
As nine of the sailors of this vessel were Chinese, and as they received the same kind treatment as the rest of the crew, the Undersigned has informed the Chinese Minister in Japan of this circumstance and the latter has also written a letter of thanks which he has entrusted to the Undersigned for delivery to the honorable Tai on shin.
The Undersigned begs to conclude this communication by wishing the friend whom he addresses the attainment of the highest prosperity.

(signed) Harry S. Parkes

Inclosure

Chinese Minister in Japan to the Authorities of Quelpart Island

Translation.

To the Chief Authority of Tse-chow (Quelpart)
The Undersigned having been accredited as Minister of China to Japan, has resided here for a year, and is therefore in relation with the various resident foreign Ministers of other countries. His intercourse with the Envoy and Plenipotentiary of Great Britain is of particularly friendly character. From him he has learned that in the course of the last ninth months a British ship laden with tea fell in with a heavy storm at sea, which drove her on the coast of the district of Tsuig-i (Chegui) belonging to your honorable country; that the Corean officers and people promptly succoured the shipwrecked men and salved the cargo; and, in addition to this, they also housed and fed the crew, carefully supplied all their wants, and declined to accept from the Master any remuneration for these generous services.
Thus, by a single act, a twofold good was performed. Good feeling was shown towards a foreign nation, and distress was treated with benevolent consideration. The Englishmen belonging to the wrecked vessel were exceedingly grateful for the kindness they received, and the Master on his return to Nagasaki spoke of his treatment with unbounded admiration. The British Minister is now sending a Secretary of his Legation in a ship to Quelpart, for the special purpose of expressing to you his grateful thanks; and in view of the dependent connection which exists between your honorable country and the high Court I represent, he has requested me to assist him in making his sentiments known by adding a note to the communication which he himself is addressing you.
To this invitation I cordially respond, as I have experience of the sense of right and the regard for courtesy which actuate the great European States, and can appreciate the desire of the British Minister to prove to you his estimation of the kindness you have shown his countrymen. As the natural feelings of courtesy and right draw you towards each other, the rules of friendly intercourse will not fail to be observed (between you). I therefore particularly request that you will receive the British officers now visiting you as guests who merit your confidence, and I sincerely trust that you will inform all the people within your jurisdiction that they come for the purpose of offering you thanks, and that their visit need not be regarded with any apprehension or distrust.
As it appears that eight Chinese were among the crew of the wrecked British ship, and as they also participated in your kindness, I feel that I should add my own thanks to those of the British Minister.
I thank the opportunity afforded me by this communication to express my wishes for your happiness.

(signed) Ho Ju Chang
Kwang-su, 4th year, 10th month, 18th day-(November 12, 1878)

Postscript.
I am informed that the wreck in this case was burned (by the Corean Authorities). I should therefore point out that on any similar occasion you should render the disabled vessel all the assistance in your power, and if you are not successful (in saving the ship) you should then leave it to the Master or the owners to take what steps they please, but you should not burn or destroy the wreck.