The following is from Homer B. Hulbert’s A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF THE KOREAN LANGUAGE AND THE DRAVIDIAN DIALECTS OF INDIA – 1906

(Quelpart is the name formerly used by Europeans to refer to Jeju Island.)

An English member of the Chinese Customs staff once described to the writer a visit which he paid to the almost inaccessible haunts of one of these wild tribes, and he fully confirmed the fact which we had heard before that the women of Formosa are proportionately much superior to the men in looks. He affirmed that they were, on the whole, the handsomest lot of women he had ever seen.

The same is true of the Korean island of Quelpart where the women are amazons and are the virtual rulers of the community. This state of things is now passing away since the Japanese have broken up the women’s fishing industry there, but their physical superiority still remains and forms a strong point of resemblance between them and the Formosans. An other curious coincidence is found in the fact that in both Formosa and Quelpart a sort of raft is used the ends of the sticks being turned up in front. In Formosa this raft is made of bamboo and is called “The Bamboo Boat,” while in Quelpart bamboo is never used, because un available, and yet the name “Bamboo Boat” survives. It is difficult to imagine how the Quelpart people came to use this name unless they brought it from abroad.