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16 Imgin, the Han, and the Keum Rivers. These all form important waterways for the commerce of the country, being navigable for the native boats hundreds of miles inland; while small steamers go up some of them as far as a hundred miles. The southern point of the peninsula is separated from Japan by the Strait of Korea, which will likely be remembered by any one who may chance to cross it in a small steamer when the waves are on duty.

Seoul, the capital, is situated on the Han River, twenty-six miles from the open port of Chemulpo, and has a population of about two hundred thousand. There are some other cities, some of them having a population of as many as fifty thousand; but Korea is preëminently a country of villages. Korea has an area of about ninety thousand square miles, which makes it about twice the size of the State of Virginia. It lies in the same latitude with that State, being about 34 to 43 north latitude; so that if it were possible to travel direct from Richmond, Va., to Seoul, Korea, the journey could be made without crossing a single parallel of latitude. There are no statistics that are absolutely correct as to the size and the population of the country, so the figures must be taken as only approximately correct. The population is variously given at from eight to fifteen millions, the truth probably being about twelve millions. As compared with China and Japan it is not thickly populated, and I am sure that it is capable of supporting twice the number of the present inhabitants.

The climate is good, being very much like that of