Charles Chaillé-Long: In the footprints of Kublai Khan, part 3

by robert neff on November 27, 2009

Jeju Island in 1890

For those who have been keeping track – this is the third part of Charles Chaillé-Long’s expedition to Jeju Island in 1888.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from the article:

Wearing the uniform he wore while in service in the Sudan, he and Kim, who was dressed in his finest clothing, made their way ashore and were promptly surrounded by a mob of curious Koreans. Chaillé-Long later wrote that although his uniform was somewhat worn, it “was still elegant and attractive [and] the gold lace and rich braid struck a chord in the fancy of the people who crowded” around him to get a better look. Those who got too close were beaten back by Korean policemen armed with conjangs (wooden paddles) “which in Chae-Ju, as in Corea, inspires the public with some respect…”

Perhaps at this point he felt like he was experiencing deja-vu. He had worn this same uniform in 1874 when he visited Uganda and had an audience with King Matusa – a regent infamous for his cruelty. More than ten thousand Ugandans had gathered to witness the event – an event that King Matusa honored with human sacrifices. The king commanded a group of his warriors to rush into the crowd and lasso all of those within reach, then, with clubs beat out the brains of their victims’ right in front of Chaillé-Long.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Part One is here. Part Two is here
The picture is from “Korea 100 Years Ago in Photographs”by Kim Won-mo and Cheong Song-kil and depicts a port on Jeju in the 1890s

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 driftingfocus November 28, 2009 at 2:44 pm: These posts are really fascinating.
2 trebor November 30, 2009 at 10:47 am: As Robert says in part 1, our hero was apparently prone to error and exaggeration. So I was curious about the truth of this bloody encounter with King Matusa of Uganda. It seems the king’s full name was Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira and he ruled Buganda (as Uganda was then known) from 1856 until 1884. He had 85 wives and 96 children. Spelling elsewhere is Mutesa. There was no mention of the human sacrifices here: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197806/the.expeditions.of.chaille-long.htm

Whatever… back to work
3 robert neff November 30, 2009 at 7:25 pm: Driftingfocus
Thanks for the kind comment

Trebor -
Like you I had my doubts but I did check several different accounts of Chaille-Long’s adventures in Uganda and there is some element of truth to the account. The articles/posts are not based on just one source – I am using two primary sources (both by Chaille-Long, one his official report to the American government and the second published a year later in the New York Geographic Society) and augmenting the information with other sources. There is no doubt he exaggerated but I think this incident was pretty straight-forward.