Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/353

 CORDOVA COREA terior, occupies the fourth side. Its houses are mostly built of stone. The soil of the surround- ing country is rich, and the climate being moist and warm, it is very productive. Tobacco, coffee, and sugar are raised and exported in large quantities, and cotton, woollen goods, and leather are manufactured. CORDOVA, Fernando Fernandez de, a Spanish general, born in Madrid in 1792. He entered the military service in 1810, and was rapidly promoted during the war with Napoleon. In 1841 he was implicated with Gen. Concha in the movement instigated by O'Donnell against Espartero. In 1847 he was a short time min- ister of war, and was appointed inspector gen- eral of infantry. Two years afterward he was sent to Gaeta in Italy at the head of an army to aid in the restoration of the pope. On March 8, 1850, he was appointed captain gen- eral of New Castile, in the following year of Cuba, and in 1853 general-in-chief of the cavalry. Immediately after the outbreak of the revolution of 1854, he was called upon by Queen Isabella to form a new cabinet. This he declined, but he ordered his soldiers to fire upon the insurgents, and when the latter proved victorious he fled to France. In 1856 he returned to Spain, and in 1864 was made minister of war in the cabinet of Narvaez. CORDOVA, Francisco Fernandez de, a Spanish navigator, born in the latter part of the 15th century, died in Cuba in 1518. He com- manded a small expedition which sailed from Havana in 1517, discovered Yucatan, where he had several encounters with the natives, and touched at Florida on his return. His report led to the expedition of Juan de Grijalva, who received the credit of the discovery. CORDOVA, Gonsalvo de. See GONSALVO DE CORDOVA. COREA, a kingdom on the E. coast of Asia, bounded N. by Mantchooria, N. E. by the Rus- sian Amoor country, E. by the sea of Japan, S. by the strait of Corea, and W. by the Yel- low sea and the Chinese province of Liaotung, and lying between lat. 34 25' and 43 N., and Ion. 124 and 130 30' E. ; area, 90,000 sq. m. The population has been variously estimated from 8,000,000 to 20,000,000. No accounts of the geography or constitution of the Corean kingdom are in existence, and only the barest notion of the internal configuration of the coun- try has been arrived at. It comprises a penin- sula 400 m. long and 140 m. wide, most of the adjacent islands, especially numerous on the "W. coast, and a part of the main continent. Its length from N. to S. is 660 m. It is sepa- rated from Mantchooria by the Shangpeshan mountains, and the Chimtai range follows the E. coast along its whole extent. Nearly all the principal rivers run W. down the larger water- shed which slopes from the Chimtai to the Yellow sea. The largest is the Yalu in the northwest, which is deep and rapid, and navi- gable for large ships 22 miles. South of this are the Tatong and the Han. On other water- sheds are the Falu, which flows from the Chim- tai into the strait of Corea, and the Tumen, a large river in the northeast which flows into the sea of Japan. The coast, which is general- ly high and rocky, is particularly abrupt on the E. side. On this side there are few islands except in lat. 39 45' N., in Broughton's bay. In the strait of Corea there are many islands, and between lat. 34 and 35 N., on the W. side, are the Amherst isles and the Corean archipelago. These coast islands are seldom more than three or four miles long, are rocky and high, but generally inhabited. The island of Quelpaert, 60 m. S. of the peninsula, is about 60 m. in circumference, and on it is Mt. Auck- land, 6,558 ft. high. The climate is cold, espe- cially in the north, where the Tumen is frozen for six months in the year, and barley is the only grain which can be raised. In the southwest, where the climate is more temperate, the soil is more fertile than elsewhere. The country pro- duces wheat, rice, millet, cotton, hemp, ginseng, and fruits. Tobacco and cotton are cultivated to some extent. The orange, citron, hazlenut, pear, chestnut, peach, mulberry, and wild grape are common. Cattle, a breed of diminutive horses, hogs, and many domestic animals com- mon to Europe, are raised. The keeping of sheep, however, is said to be prohibited by the government. In the forests of the coast and mountainous districts of the north bears, wild- cats, panthers, deer, and the sable and other fur-bearing animals are found. The royal tiger is a native of the country, and has a longer and closer fur than in Bengal. Gold, silver, iron, and salt are said to abound, but mining is re- stricted by the government to its own require- Coreans. ments. Coal is also said to exist. The inhabi- tants are of the Mongolian race, of larger size than the Chinese, resembling the Japanese, but with features more prominently Mongolian