Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-Choo Island

British naval ships approach Korea's island-studded western coast while an embassy continues its work in China. Basil Hall records the 1816 voyage of the Alceste and Lyra through coastal waters and onward to Great Loo-Choo Island. His account follows meetings with local chiefs, efforts to communicate, visits ashore and the practical difficulties of finding safe anchorages. Compiled from contemporary journals with help from Lieutenant H. J. Clifford, the narrative presents encounters through the observations of visiting naval officers.

The book also gives substantial space to the work behind the voyage. An appendix gathers charts, nautical notices, weather records and geological notes, while Clifford contributes a vocabulary of the Loo-Choo language. Hall acknowledges the limits of a hurried survey along Korea's coast. Readers interested in maritime travel and early descriptions of Korea and the Ryukyu Islands can examine both the personal encounters and the measurements on which these accounts depended.