Vice-Admiral Willes to the Secretary to the Admiralty.

(Extract)
“Audacious,” at Poisette Bay, August 31, 1883

AT Chosan (Fusan) and Gensan (Port Lazareff) the Coreans came on board the ships in large crowds, and behaved with marked courtesy and hospitality to the officers and men on leave. I found it no longer necessary to impose any restrictions on the recreations of the officers on shore, and they freely penetrated the country in search of game. At each place there were European gentlemen regulating the Customs, but they informed me that trade is diminishing rather than increasing, and the only hope the Coreans have of attracting foreign intercourse is by discovering that their country possesses mineral wealth—a discovery not yet made. The objections made by the Chamber of Commerce to the ratification of the Jinchuen Treaty on the score of Tariff and dues now possess only a ludicrous significance.