Page:A modern pioneer in Korea-Henry G. Appenzeller-by William Elliot Griffis.djvu/30

22 forester by habit, Korea is the Land of Treeless Mountains.

"WilfulWillful [sic] waste makes wofulwoeful [sic] want." To-day the energies of millions are wasted in raking up grass and leaves for fuel and warmth where abundance of excellent timber ought to be and might yet, by wisdom and care, be at hand. Already have the new masters of the land replanted millions of little trees to redeem the error of the past. Forbidding are the bare hills and inhospitable seems the land from a ship's deck, but once within, the rich valleys and fertile farms reverse grandly the picture. Let no one judge, while at sea, the country's resources or dwell in his prejudices created by coast impressions. Looking like a cave from the outside, it is like Ali Baba's crypt of treasures when seen from within. When the Russo-Japanese war in 1904 was precipitated by the Russian spoliation of the great timber forests at the head waters of the Yalu, the world was surprised at the amazing resources of Korea in lumber.

Like country, like people. As one must not judge the face of the land wholly by its appearance along the coast, so must one withhold his verdict upon the people when studied only at the seaports, or by tourists who get up late and saunter out doors. Korea is above all a farming and village country. Nine-tenths of the people till the soil. The peasantry is a hardy and industrious one.

The land is well watered. The rivers are sufficiently abundant to carve and cut through the rocks, make beautiful scenery, furnish a certain