hat rebellion has been rife
in Korea for some months past, hence the endeavour of the insurgents to
procure arms; while the Korean Government has been making every effort
to put down the rebellion without the necessity of asking for outside
assistance or intervention. The attempt, however, has not been a
success, for the rebels are making headway all over the country; to such
an extent, indeed, that the Korean Government has at last been obliged
to apply to my Imperial master, the Emperor, for assistance. That
application arrived some weeks ago; but it was only a few days ago that
the necessary arrangements could be completed for armed intervention on
our part. It was necessary to get together troops, transports, and so
on, and to recall some of our men-of-war to act as convoy; and all this
naturally took time.

"The preparations were finally completed, however, and four days ago I
embarked the troops and left Wei-hai-wei for the port of Asan, where we
now are, and which was reported to me as being a centre of disaffection,
a hotbed of rebellion. But I most certainly never anticipated, when I
left, that I should have the pleasure of rescuing a fellow sailor from a
most serious predicament. However, to continue. By the convention of
1884 at Tien-tsin, between China and Japan, it was agreed that, should
either country have occasion to send an armed force into Korea, the
sender should inform the other country of the circumstance, giving full
particulars of the reason, the strength of the force sent, and any other
information deemed necessary. This was done by cable, before I left
Wei-hai-wei, and the Japanese reply arrived by cable, also before I
left. It was curt in tone to a degree, and intimated briefly that Japan
intended to send a guard to Seoul for the protection of her ambassador--
as though we ourselves could not afford him the necessary protection--
and hinted very strongly that she might consider it advisable to send an
armed force of her own--to see that we do not run away with the country,
presumably.

"Little enough, you will say, to cause misgiving on our part; but the
fact remains that relations between China and Japan have been very
strained for some time past, and our Council feels that this action on
our part will bring matters to a head, especially in view of the veiled
threat that Japan may perhaps find it necessary to land an armed force
herself. Matters look very ominous, Mr Frobisher, in th