distance as circumstances demand. A different order of things is essential to a successful installation of Western machinery, and the public require some proof that there is, within workable distance, a sufficient quantity of ore to yield a fair profit on their investments. This has yet to be proved in the case of the British mine; in respect of the German concession, the business resulted in a fiasco. That these mining enterprises should be successful is desirable in the interests of both natives and foreigners. They afford steady employment at a fair wage to thousands of Koreans, at least, part of whose earnings is expended in the purchase of foreign goods. It is perhaps, however, not altogether unfortunate that the Korean Government is averse, at present, to grant further concessions.
During our halt at Tong-ko-kai, one day was spent in climbing the mighty peaks to lofty spots where, at a height of some thousands of feet, native prospectors were driving into the granite facing of the mountain in an effort to strike the main reef. Another day was passed in a hunt across the crests of the ranges after bear and deer. At daybreak, a little after 4 a.m. upon the morning of this excursion, Herr Bauer escorted us to a prospector's hut in the damp recesses of a distant valley, where our beaters, gun-carriers, and hunter-guides had been ordered to rendezvous for a bear hunt. Alas! the Korean cannot bestir himself! His late rising on this occasion delayed our departure from the hut two hours. The sun had risen when the expedition moved off, a motley retinue of professional hunters and beaters accompanying us to the gorge, wherein lay the bear. Hunters and beaters attached themselves to each of us, and we proceeded across the mountain, pursuing a narrow and broken track, which cleft the bare summit of the highest ridges
