PORT HAMILTON AND QUELPART.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 7563, 30 May 1885, Page 5

PORT HAMILTON AND QUELPART.

All the English papers were completely mystified when the occupation of Port Hamilton was announced. The Times, Pall Mall Gazelle, Truth, and the rest of the leading papers, took it for/granted that the place was in the island of Quelpart, and gravely published loiig descriptions of it, at the same time, commending the judgment and foresight of the Government in annexing the island. As we have already pointed out. Port Hamilton is some distance from Quelpsrfc, and nearer the coast of Corea. There are two larger islands, so shaped as to almost enclose a placid deep sheet of' watei', with a third

smaller island in the middle. As the Evbsians have shown some signs of retaliating; by seizing Quelpart, some description of that hitherto unknown spot will not be out of place. The island, which lies sixty miles distant from the southern coast of Corea, and o.jmmands the straits between that Peninsula and Kiushiu, the southern island of Japan, has been termed “ the Sicily of the Italy of the East.” The comparison is not inappropriate. Local tradition still preserves the memory of its origin, as the myth which forms part of the superstitious creed of the people bears out the natural supposition as. to its having been created by .the action of a submarine volcano. The island is about forty miles in length, and, at its widest point, seventeen miles broad. It is well populated; and is under close and careful cultivation. Moreover, the scenery provided by its dense woods and lofty peaks is exceedingly beautiful, and the white rocks of Mount Auckland, or, as the natives call it. Aula, the highest point in the Island, 0500 ft, wear the appearance of being covered with perpetual snow. The forests consist of pines and a tree giving a red wood resembling mahogany. There sre large herds of cattle, and numerous horses of a small breed, which are in great demand on the mainland. Quelpart produces numerous cereals, and the islanders also follow the pursuit of fishermen. An active and flourishing industry is also provided by the manufacture of straw-plaited hats, which are in general use throughout Corea. Quelpart has been frequently used as a penal station by the Corean Government, and it is, therefore, not surprising that the islanders should have had an evU reputation. Their ferocity and animosity to Foreigners appear to have been much exaggerated, or, perhaps, their remarkable material prosperity has toned down their faults.