Sir H.S. Parkes to Earl Granville.―(Received June 19)

(No. 66)
Tôkiô, April 28, 1883

My Lord,

I HAVE the honour to forward a copy of a despatch, with two inclosures, handed to me by Mr. Aston on the 26th instant, in which he reports the steps he had taken, during his recent visit to Corea, to secure the refusal of building sites for use of the Diplomatic or Consular officers who may be appointed by Her Majesty’s Government to that country.
The comments which I shall have to submit to your Lordship in support of Mr. Aston’s proceedings will form the subject of a subsequent despatch.

I have, &c.
(Signed) HARRY S. PARKES

Inclosure 1

Mr. Aston to Sir H.S. Parkes.

Hiôgo, April 24, 1883

Sir,

IN compliance with the instructions contained in your despatch of the 6th March last, to endeavour to obtain from the Corean Government the refusal of suitable sites for Consular residences in that country, I have the honour to report as follows.
On the 2nd and 9th April I had interviews with the Corean Foreign Ministers, at which this subject was discussed.
With regard to the accommodation which might be required for a British Diplomatic Representative in the city of Söul, they said that they proposed to leave the matter altogether to the owners of land or houses and myself, and I was accordingly placed in communication with a house agent, along with whom I visited four residences of Corean noblemen which were for sale. All were in every respect inferior to the house provided for me during my stay in Söul, and, as this was also in the market, I obtained a promise from Mr. Kim Ok Kiun that it would not be disposed of to any one else until Her Majesty’s Government had an opportunity of deciding whether or not to purchase it.
This house is within the walls of the city, between the south and west gates, and about a mile from the Palace, the Foreign Office, and the Japanese Legation. There are a large number of detached buildings on the site, none of any great size, and the rooms are low and small. All the buildings have most of the rooms heated by flues underneath the floors in the manner usual in Northern China. Mr. Bonar has prepared a description and plan of the principal building and of the whole premises, to which I have the honour to refer you for further details. (A) and (B) might be joined by a covered gallery so as to form the principal residence; (C) would do for a chancery; (D) might be made to serve as quarters for an Assistant; and there are smaller buildings which might be converted into stabling, &c. The main building is in tolerably good reparir, but a good deal of alteration will be required to suit it for occupation by Europeans, and it can only be regarded as a temporary shelter until permanent buildings are erected. There are no houses in Söul suitable for permanent quarters. In making the necessary alterations, stoves, window-glass, wall-paper, locks, hinges, and other fittings would be among the articles required. None of these are procurable in Corea.
As a site for building, this is on the whole an eligible position. It contains 1,700 to 1,800 tsubos (about 7,000 square yards), and occupies a rising ground sloping off in steep banks on three sides, and commanding a fine view of the whole city. On the fourth side, where the entrance is, it slopes gradually to the streets below. The lots immediately adjoining are occupied by Coreans of rank.
The chief objection to this site is that it is approached for some distance through narrow and very filthy alleys, but the same objection applies to nearly every site in Söul that I have seen. There is a somewhat better approach on another side; and as the ground here belongs to the Corean Government, by whom it is used as a timberyard, it would no doubt be easy to arrange with them for a right of way through it. There is no well on the premises. It is indispensable to sink one, as the wells in the neighbourhood from which water is at present procured are close to fetid gutters, and the water, though clear and pleasant to drink, cannot be wholesome. The depth of a well would be 50 or 60 feet,
The price of this site, with the buildings on it, is 7,500 “nyang” of Corean money, equal at the present rate of exchange to a little over 1,400 Mexican dollars. House property has become very cheap in Söul since the disturbances of last year. No rent would be payable subsequently, and there is at present no land or house tax in Söul. The Foreign Minister, however, informed me that houses or land purchased by the British Government in Söul would be liable to pay similar taxes to those which might afterwards be levied on native property, I hardly think that a better permanent site than this can be obtained; but before closing with the offer, further inquiry would be desirable, if opportunity offered.
I was informed on the day previous to my departure that the house of his Excellency Pak Yöng-hio would be for sale. It is in excellent repair, and could be occupied at once. The situation, however, is low and confined, and could not be recommended as a building site. It is close to the public offices and to the residences of the principal high officials.
Some information as to the nature and cost of the building materials procurable at Söul will be found in the Memorandum which I have the honour to annex herewith.
At Yanghwa-chin the only building which is at all suitable for occupation by Europeans is the King’s cottage referred to in my Memorandum of the 12th October, 1882. I can now confirm from personal observation the information given there with respect to this building. The formal reply of the Corean Foreign Minister to my request for a refusal of this place was that it would be given to the first Power which asked for it after their Treaty was ratified; but I received private assurances that no difficulty in respect to it need be apprehended. The house is small, and the doors and windows are not in very good repair, but the situation is charming, as it commands a fine prospect in both directions of the river, which is here about 300 yards wide, and 2 to 3 fathoms in depth. It is 4 miles from the capital by an indifferent road, which like all the [_____] I have seen in this country, is not passable for wheeled vehicles.
It was discovered that the site originally p.ched(Sic.) upon by the Japanese for a Settlement at Yanghwa-chin is flooded every spring to the depth of several feet, and M. von Möllendorff has selected a spot about a mile up the river. The latter site seems well chosen, at least in so far as can be judged with the present imperfect survey of the river. M. von Möllendorff thinks that the chief trade will be here rather than at Chemulpho; but except it turns out that vessels of greater draught than it is at present supposed (9 to 10 feet), can reach this point, this would seem rather doubtful.
I suggested to Mr. Kim Ok Kiun that his Government would do well to reserve this cottage for the accommodation of any British official who might be sent to Corea to make ulterior arrangements respecting the Treaty. The distance from the capital, I said, was of little consequence in comparison with the increased facilities for water transport. The capital, for many reasons is not a pleasant place of residence, and in times of popular excitement there the advantage, on the score of safety, of a residence on the river would be considerable. It is quite near enough to any probable site for a foreign Settlement here to serve for a Consulate, at least temporarily, and it is close to one of the roads from Chemulpho to the capital. Yanghwa-diin is to be opened to Japanese trade in September next.
The site of the foreign Settlement at Inchhön (Jinchuen) is not yet finally determined. I found that M. von Möllendorff and Mr. Ma Kie Tchang were in favour of a site on the north end of Wölmi (Roze Island), and I could see that their opinion had considerable weight with the Corean Government. The Japanese, on the other hand, prefer a site on the mainland at the village of Chemulpho. The Wölmi site has the advantage of being much nearer to an anchorage for large vessels, and a jetty could be easily constructed here for cargo-boats. But it is separated from the mainland by a strait nearly half-a-mile in width, so that a double transport would be necessary for all merchandize transported by land to Söul. The great rise and fall of the tide (34 feet at springs) would make a bridge or causeway here a very costly undertaking.
M. von Möllendorff is of opinion that most of the trade will be carried on by means of the river, but against this it is to be observed that the distance to the capital by this route is 55 miles, as compared with 24 by land; that one part of the river is only passable at certain times of the tide, and that the upper reaches are closed to traffic by the ice for three months every year. Wölmi is a rugged and precipitous island, and does not afford sufficient level ground for the site of a foreign Settlement, chemulpho has the disadvantage of lying l¾ miles from the place where large vessels would have to anchor, and this, in a river where the tides run so strongly, is a very serious objection. Small vessels could, however, lie in the strait between it and Wölmi, there being at the lowest spring tides 9 feet of water here, and much more at other times. By dredging, this channel could probably be improved. A jetty for cargo-boats could be constructed here as easily as on Wölmi. The Chemulpho site is very suitable for a Settlement, the ground sloping up not too rapidly from high-water mark, and it is capable of being indefinitely extended if necessary. That it is on the mainland is, of course, the chief consideration in its favour. The road to the capital is tolerably level, and could be easily made practicable for wheeled vehicles. The River Hangang would be the chief difficulty, as there is no bridge at present, nor is one likely to be constructed for some years.
Temporary buildings have been erected at Chemulpho for the Japanese Vice-Consulate, and as quarters for a number of Japanese soldiers who are stationed here, but when I first arrived there were no Japanese merchants and no sign of commerce, the only representative of trade being a Corean who sat in front of his cabin with a scanty stock of straw shoes, eggs, and dried persimmons displayed on a mat before him. The site for the permanent Japanese Consulate had been levelled, and the materials for building it were deposited close by, but no work was going on.
I do not think the Japanese will readily consent to abandon the Chemulpho site, more especially as it is in the district of Inchön, as provided in their Treaty, whereas the proposed Wölmi site is in a different district, a fact of which I suspect M. von Möllendorff to be ignorant.
Mr. Ma Kie Tchang gave me to understand that an objection to this site which had great weight with the Corean Government and their advisers was that, if now definitively fixed on, an opportunity would be afforded to the Japanese of establishing themselves here in advance of other Powers, and so getting possession of all the best sites. It is the intention of the Corean Government not to have distinct Settlements for each nationality, but common Settlements, somewhat after the model of those in Japan.
Having come to the conclusion that the Chemulpho site, though open to one serious objection, is not only, upon the whole, the best procurable, but is the only possible palce which answers to the description of Inchhön as laid down in the Treaty, I requested the Foreign Minister to depute a Corean official to select along with me a provisional site for a British Consulate at this place. The Foreign Minister reminded me that this Settlement had not been finally determined on, but said he had no objection to my selecting a Consular site there, subject to conditions as to rent, &c., to be subsequently arranged on the basis of such similar charges as might be fixed upon for the rest of the Settlement. He declined to authorize the selection of a site outside the limits of the Settlement.
On arriving at Chemulpho I selected a vacant space of over 1,200 tsubo, or about. 5,000 square yards, in area, the four sides measuring from 60 to 90 yards each. It is in the centre of the proposed Settlement, and faces the sea. The front of this lot forms a steep bank, rising at one end to about 16 feet above the high-water mark, and at the other to about 7 or 8 feet. It slopes gently upwards towards the hill behind, no part of it having an inclination too steep for building purposes. It will probably be separated from the adjonining Japanese Consular lot by a road. The Corean official who accompanied me remarked that it might be necessary to take earth from this site for the purpose of filling in the sea in front of the Settlement. I replied that this was a matter which could be afterwards arranged by the authorities of the two countries, At my request, this official had pegs, inscribed (Sic.) with the Chinese characters for “British Consulate,” driven in at each corner of the site, and I subsequently arranged with the Japanese Vice-Consul to have these replaced by substantial posts, 5 or 6 inches square and 5 or 6 feet in height.
It was fortunate that this matter was not longer delayed as on the following day three vessels arrived with a number of Japanese merchants, who had come to establish themselves here, and a large Japanese steamer passed Simonoseki on the 20th instant with her decks crowded with passengers for Inchhön. The Japanese Government, in the exercised of a Treaty right, formally notified that this port was open to Japanese trade from the 1st January last, and some provision for letting land to Japanese subjects must be made at once. Had this site not been reserved, it would, in all probability, have been occupied by them. I pointed it out to the Japanese Vice-Consul in person, so the there can now be no excuse for interference with it by his countrymen.
At Söul I found that the question of the site of a foreign Settlement at Pusan was still undecided. Some of the officials had an idea, which I did my best to discourage, that the Japanese Settlement would do for other foreigners as well. M. von Möllendorff had seen my Report of last year, in which this subject was touched upon, and had translated it into Chinese for the information of the Corean Government. He thought favourably of the site suggested by me, and said that he hoped to examine it personally in the course of a few weeks. Assuming that this spot would be selected, I proceeded to Pusan, provided with a letter from the Corean Minister of Foreign Affairs to the chief local functionary there. With this official I visited the place, and having chosen site for a Consulate, and obtained from him a promise that it would not be interfered with or disposed of to any one else without consulting us, I had a number of stout posts driven in to mark the boundaries. This site comprises the top and slopes of a hill about 100 feet in height. The summit has sufficient flat ground for a Consul’s residence, not much above the level of the main road between the Japanese Settlement and Pusan which skirts the site. On the side next the sea there are precipitous cliffs, but on that facing Pusan, where the foreign Settlement would be situated, the slope is not very steep, and there is an eligible position for Consular offices at a point a little above the sea-level. The site is an extensive one, but much of it is too steep for building purposes. It commands, however, a view of the whole harbour, and the elevated situation would be found a great advantage in a climate so hot as that of Pusan, There are one or two graves on it, in removing which it would be necessary to avoid offending the feelings of the natives.
As I observed in my previous Report, all building materials used here are imported from Japan. The timber comes chiefly from the Island of Tsushima, 40 miles away.
I endeavoured to obtain the refusal of houses in the Japanese Settlement which might serve as temporary quarters pending the erection of a permanent Consulate, but I found that the inducements I was able to hold out were not sufficient to tempt the owners to run the risk of refusing eligible offers which might be made to them. I saw two houses which I was told might be had. One had four rooms of 6 mats, or 12 feet square, in the first storey, and three rooms of the same size on the ground floor, besides kitchen, bath-room, servants’ room, and a small but substantial godown. The house stands in a side street, and has no garden. The other house is about the same size, new, and in good repair, and in the main street. There is access to it from the sea, and boat davits have been provided. It has also a godown. These are fair specimens of the houses procurable here. They could be had, if engaged now, for about 30 dollars each per month, but when Pusan is opened to foreign commerce they may command much higher rates, as the first settlers will have to rent Japanese houses for a time.
At Söul I requested that the hill immediately above the Japanese Consulate at Wönsan might be reserved as a site for the British Consulate, and I addressed a letter to the Japanese Consul informing him of this fact, and requesting him to make it known to any person who might wish to erect buildings in this locality. It is improbable, however, that there will be any necessity for a permanent Consular establishment at this place, at least for some time to come, I did not visit this port.

I have, &c.
(Signed) W.G. ASTON