Shock Arrival: the Wanderer's 1882 Visit to Busan

It was at dawn on January 4, 1882, when the Wanderer sailed into Busan harbor to the "semi-fortified Japanese settlement" known then as Fusan. It was a fairly large ship ? 186 feet long, with a displacement of 840 tons ? powered by steam and sail and able to glide through the water at about 12 knots an hour.

The British flag flew from its mast and its smartly dressed crew of 50 men and 13 passengers gave it a formidable appearance as it sailed past the Korean junks. But it was not a warship, it was a private yacht owned by Charles Lambert.

Lambert was a very wealthy Englishman who desired adventure and had the money to buy it. He bought and outfitted the Wanderer so he could embark on a round-the-world cruise starting from England, around the tip of South America, then up through the Pacific to Japan, where he would then sail along the Chinese coast and Southeast Asia and around Africa back to England. It was an epic adventure that would take about 22 months to complete.

Accompanying him was his wife and their four children: Helen Mark, Beatrice Kate, George Maximiano and William Stanley. As his guests, Lambert invited the Reverend H.E. Witherall and Robert T. Pritchett, an artist. The Lamberts also brought their personal servants: Julia Power, governess; Agnes McAllan, ladies' maid; Elizabeth Cordell, nurse; John Harris, valet, and John Dadge, footman.

Lambert's reason for visiting Korea probably stemmed from an unexpected and brief encounter in Yokohama:

"[On December 17] we fell in with some Coreans, part of an embassy sent to Tokio to settle differences, and discuss appearances of Russian aggression in their part of Asia. They are chiefly remarkable for their broad-brimmed hats, with open horsehair work in the upper part of the crown. One of them, who looked about twenty, had a singularly good-tempered and lively look, and laughed with every muscle of his body, as he looked at us with a critical eye, and said inquiringly: 'Yankee? English? French?'"

The conversation was in English, but, unfortunately, it was very short. It did, however, awaken a desire in Lambert to visit the land popularly known as the Hermit Kingdom. His expectations, however, were not met.

Whereas he found the Japanese to be "very clean and orderly," he found the Koreans to be the opposite. His observations were biased and highly critical:

"The [Korean] men were of a finer physique than the Japanese, but the expression of their faces is decidedly evil. They wear...