Chemulpo, the Japanese settlement commands the one situation which is adaptable for commercial purposes. The approaches to Mok-po lie through a network of island and rock-strewn channels, the largest of which is some six hundred yards wide. The harbour is the embouchure of the River Ru-yong-san, the main water-way of the province, some ninety miles long. It can accommodate forty vessels of large tonnage. The best passage is through Lyne Sound, but easy access is given, from the south, by Washington Gulf. The width of the harbour is a little less than two miles, with a depth at low water of eleven fathoms, rising to nineteen on a full tide. At ebb tide the current averages five knots an hour; during the spring tides this velocity increases, adding to the disadvantages offered by an indifferent holding-ground.
Mok-po is situated in the south-western corner of the Province of Chyöl-la, sometimes called the granary of Korea. The port takes its name from a large island, which faces it on the north, and forms the entrance to the river. It is picturesque and stands sufficiently high to break the monotony of the surrounding country. Rough and barren to look upon, it possesses the nucleus of what will become an important settlement as trade increases. The buildings of the Japanese Consulate and the Customs House are the most imposing structures at present in the place. The British Consulate, a mass of rock, unadorned, bluff, bare and bleak, is the most desolate and depressing. A vista of mud flats does not add to the beauty of this spot. A well-built sea-wall, behind which some acres of marshy shore have been reclaimed, indicates the spirit in which the Japanese set to work to improve their concessions.
A composite trade centres at Mok-po, exceeding one
