Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/353

 continually defiling them, and no effort is made to remove the filth.

On the west coast there are many places where sea-water is ladled directly into the kettles and boiled down without any intermediate process of evaporation.

Sericulture is one of the historic industries of Korea, and can be carried on by a gentleman without derogation from his dignity. The in frequency of thunder-storms favours the industry, and the product is considerable, though not sufficient to figure in trade reports.

In textile industries Korea holds no very high place. Rough cotton, hemp and grass cloth are woven in clumsy hand-looms, and a cheap, plain silk is produced. The dyeing arrangements are very crude, and the product cannot in any sense be compared with that of China or Japan. Certain portions of the peninsula are almost ideal for the production of both cotton and silk, and the time will doubtless come when these important staples will be much more extensively cultivated.

History and archaeology show that at one time Korea produced good examples of the ceramic art, but to-day only the crudest work is done in this line. The same is' true of metal castings. Not for many centuries has Korea cast a great bell like those which hang in various towns and monasteries, as eloquent reminders of past and forgotten skill.

The goldsmiths and silversmiths turn out some interesting and curious pieces, but the monotony of design and carelessness of finish detract very greatly from their value, and the apparent ignorance of the use of alloys to harden the precious metals lessens the usefulness of the product. A kind of bronze work, mostly in the form of native dinner services, is turned out in considerable quantities, but the old work is so much superior to the new that here too we must conclude that the handicraft has deteriorated.

Mining is an industry as old as history. Gold is found all over the peninsula, and the Koreans mine it with great enthu