Climate. The physical configuration of Korea gives it a climate of almost unsurpassed excellence. The winter quality is superb; the summer is supportable. It is without asperity, and there are no extremes of heat or cold to guard against. Foreigners are not affected by climatic maladies, and European children thrive. Because of the length of the peninsula, the winter at the N. is considerably colder than at the S. At Shingishuu it opens earlier, and the spring 30 days later, than at Fusan. Persons accustomed to life in the Temperate Zone find the Korean climate exhilarating; particularly the cold, dry, bracing winter. It is much superior and more agreeable than that of Japan. The summer heat, though strong, is tempered by sea-breezes, and is without the disintegrating quality of the heat in Japan or the savage torridity of that of Hong-kong. January is the coldest month, the mean temperature being 15° at the N. and 35° at the S. The northland is sometimes covered with deep snows from Sept. to March, but with bright, beautiful clear days, and still, frosty, moonlit nights that suggest packs of running wolves, and 'frosty but kindly' tonic effects. The golden quality of the sunshine is so apparent, and the early mornings are of such rare beauty, that the name of the country, 'Land of the Morning Calm,' is derived from them. The Yalu and the Tumen Rivers are frozen over for 3-4 months, and the Han for 2-3. The ice is usually thick enough to permit the passage of any army with impedimenta. For 9 months of each year one can customarily count upon bright blue, unclouded skies from the Yalu to the Korea Channel. The winter at the S. is bright and mild, with a crisp tang like that of the climate of the Mexican tableland.

The hottest month is Aug., with a mean temperature of 72° at the N. and 77° at the S. The mean summer temperature at Seoul is about 75° F. and, that of winter about 33°. The mean of the E. coast is from 2° to 4° higher than that of the W. coast in the same latitude, during Feb. and March; the reverse being the case during April-July. From Oct. to March northerly wins prevail; in April and Sept. they are variable, and from May to Aug. they are usually southerly. The rains are will distributed during the year; the average rainfall is 36 in. in a year, and during the summer rainy season 22 in. Irrigation is necessary only for the rice crop. -- the RAINY SEASON occurs in July-Aug. on the N.E. and W. coasts, and April-July on the S. coast; the annual rainfall in those localities being about 35, 42, and 30 in. respectively. It is dry on the W. coast from Sept. to Jan., on the S. in Feb. (where the rainfall is more evenly distributed throughout the year than elsewhere) and on the N.E. coast from April to Aug. Europeans find the fiercely hot summer (mid-July to mid-Sept) trying but not unhealthy. Fogs frequently occur on the N.E. coast in summer, and occasionally at the beginning and end of winter; on the W. coast from March to July, and on the W. coast from March to July, and on the S. from April to August.