mously high. The idea seems to be that as he is working government property he must divide the proceeds, just as a farmer often does when he works another man's land. The annual revenue from this source is subject to great fluctuations. Sometimes it rises to nearly half a million, and then it may drop to a hundred thousand.
Copper mining is a considerable industry in Korea; but as the profits are relatively smaller than those of gold mining, the government takes only thirty per cent of the proceeds, or, more exactly, five ounces out of every sixteen. It is difficult to get at the figures to show what revenue is derived from this source. There are a number of iron mines, but they are carried on in only a small way comparatively. The government receives a tax of about nine per cent of the gross output. There are said to be over fifty iron mines in the peninsula, mostly in Kang-wun Province, east of Seoul.
Korean fisheries annually render a neat sum to the national exchequer. The tax is levied not on the amount of fish caught but upon the boats themselves. These are of about ten grades, according to the number of the crew and the size of the nets. Such is the law, but it must be confessed that when the money is actually collected cognisance is taken of the amount of fish caught, and the amount of money paid bears no special relation to the sum received by the central government. The Korean government possesses no navy, but from time immemorial it has owned a large number of boats along the coast, which are supposed to be ready for use in time of war. These are regularly let out to fishermen, and the revenue from them is naturally much larger than from the native-owned craft. Of late years these boats have been sold in considerable numbers to the fishermen, but so far as we can learn the proceeds have not sufficed to put the Korean navy on a firm footing ! Furs have always been an important product of Korea, and have frequently figured in the tribute to China, and in indemnities paid to Chinese, Manchu or Mongol. They have been
