For those unwilling to brave the cold, swans could be purchased in the market. Robert Neff Collection

In mid-February 1889, two Presbyterian missionaries — 31-year-old John W. Heron, who served as physician for the foreign community as well as the palace, and 28-year-old Daniel L. Gifford — decided to take a short excursion to the Han River to relax. Heron was especially in need of a respite; he spent long hours in the government hospital and was on constant call for medical concerns in the palace and, to make matters worse, his wife was confined to her bed.

The two men quickly gathered up their gear. Heron, an avid hunter, brought his shotgun, eager for some bird hunting. Gifford, a decidedly poor hunter and reluctant to embarrass himself in front of his companion or the ducks, opted instead to bring his ice skates.

Mounted on two white horses — one owned by the doctor and the other provided to the doctor by the king’s stables — and accompanied by Heron’s black hunting dog and two servants to carry their goods, they made their way through the streets of Seoul. The city was quite “resplendent with little children adorned like Joseph of old in ‘coats of many colors,’” while elderly Korean men, “clad in spotless, white, new garments, went about visiting their friends with oriental effusiveness of respect” for it was the period of the Lunar New Year celebrations.”

Gifford described the ride as pleasant, but upon reaching the river, he found the ice too fragile for skating. With hunting still in mind, the two men eventually arrived at the same popular hunting ground that Dalzell A. Bunker, the American teacher, had visited in late November 1887. There, along the riverbank, was a row of large Korean riverboats, grounded and ringed by a “shell of thin ice.” Beyond the ice, several flocks of swans swam enticingly in a stretch of open water.

Excited by the sight, Heron quickly shed his Western-style overcoat and donned a white Korean garment — perhaps inspired by Bunker’s earlier experience. He then “craftily sauntered down to the water’s edge,” pretending to examine the boats as if he were one of the villagers. But the swans were not fooled and “deftly glided” out of gun range. However, the good doctor was not one to give up. Heron went to one of the large boats and attempted to manhandle it into the water but the boat was too heavy, and with the tide out, the water level was too low for him to succeed.

A little over a century ago, this area was an ideal spot to hunt swans. Robert Neff Collection

Fortunately — or, unfortunately, depending on your view........

© The Korea Times