KOREA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2397, 8 February 1900, Page 59

KOREA.

(An Extract from " A Holiday in Korea," in the Sunday at Home.) A curiously out-of-the-AVorld place is Seoul, the capital of Korea, as the foreign resident;* at times keenly realise, though the natives are quite content that it should be so, and cA T en seem to resent the intrusion, of outsiders. The situation of the city is very fine, for it is surrounded on all sides by hills, bare granite hills with jagged peaks. The houses for the most part are mean, thatched and mud-built, and only one-store3 r ed. £ Avail in long bygone times Avas built all round it, with a circuit of 14 miles, and in those times it must have been very strong, built as it is of huge blocks of granite, but noAV it serves more for picture&quenesa than for defence, whilst ampelopsis and other climbing plants creep oA*er it everyAvhere, and the creA'ices nourish many small plants and mosses, and occasionally even a tree of fair size finds roothold. This Avail climbs over threejiillss, respectively 1200 ft, 1000 ft, and 900 ft high. Eight gates pierce it at irregular distances. One of them — tae North Gate — is never opened, except in times of disturbances, when the sovereign has to leave the city for jthe fortress on Pouk Han, a mountain which lies a few miles to the north. All

the gates are round-arched, A*ery deep, and surmounted by a guard chamber with curved double roof, and are closed at sunset, or shortly after, by huge Avooden doors heaA'ily clamped Avith iron, and fastened by heavy locks. A feAV years ago only a royal order could open them before dawn, so belated travellers had to spend the night outside as best they could. Noav, hoAveA r er, admission can be obtained usually at the south (the principal) gate. There are but few English residents in Seoul, and all are engaged in definite occupations, which give but feAV inteiA'als of leisure, and a holiday is rarely possible. Last autumn, hoAvever, four of us found Aye could arrange to be free at the same time, and so we resolved to explore the country a little and to make closer acquaintance Avith some of the mountains at Avhich Aye had often looked Avith longing eyes. Of course it Avas necessary to take Avith us e\*erything that Are should be likely to require : bedding, food, and tAvo or three cooking utensils. The bedding Avas Korean, and comprised a small, thin, Avadded mattress, Avhich could be rolled up into a pilloAV, and n Avadded quilt, large enough to envelop the Avhole person. . . .

Korean houses are built Avith mud floors, the mud being trampled down till it is very hard, Avhen it is coA-ered A^ith thick oilpaper, and under the.se floors are built fiuc^ (called '"Kongs"). Avhieii run the length of the room. The "Kongs," being filled Avith lighted avoocl, Avarm the Avhole floor, the smoke escaping through an outside chimney. To a European the heat is often unbearable, and the atmosphere close and airless, but a Korean levels in it. Besides these "Kong"' rooms, Bft square, every house has a room open to the air on one or more sides, raised some feet from the ground, and Avith a Avooden "floor. It is called " the maru," and in summer is, I beiieA'e, the chief liA'ing room of the family. Here our "maru"' ran the whole length of the building, and was about 4ffc Avide. The night was very dark, and Aye could see nothing of our surroundings, except the hig-h peaks which rose straight above us ; and, though Aye tried a little exploring, Aye could not see where we Avere going, and thought bed Avould be better than risking ankles or neck, and the morning shoAved it> avo were Avise. Hot, hard, mud floors did not conduce to sound sleep ; so soon after daybreak Aye Avere out, rejoicing in the fresh mountain air, and searching for a remarkable shrine to Buddha Avhich Aye had been told Avas to be found here.

Buddhism is proscribed ir> the capital and ho Buddhist priest or temple is alloAved Avithin the Avails, but in the mountains all round are to be found many 'small monasteries, very poor, I believe, and Avith only a foAV inmates, and this one seemed no exception. We saAv only one priest and one monk. We judged that this must be a specially sacred monastery from its name, and from its possessing both a temple and a shrine. The shrine Aye saAv perched on a ledge of rock far above us, and at once tried to get there, and proved lioav hard a pilgrimage to it could be. Once, indeed, Aye feared that Aye should have to turn back Avithout achieA T ing our desire, for suddenly the narroAV track Aye were folloAving Avent right round on the very edge of a. sharp rocky spur, OA-erlooking a gully, up Avhich the Avind was tearing strongly enough to make it probable that any one trying to go along the feAV-inches-Avi'de path Avould be bloAvn off his feet. At any rate, Aye dared not risK it, and, deeply disappointed, avb Avere about to retrace our steps, Avhen one of the party Avho had been clambering about amongst the fantastically shaped rocks which pinnacled the ridge, saw high above her head a curious cleft in one of the rocks which she surmised might make a connection with the lost track, and climbing up on hands and knees till it Avas possible to look OA r er the edge, found it Avas so. To- drop doAvn on to the recovered pathway Aras the Avork of only a feAV seconds, and presently the shrine Avas reached by a narroAV " hog-backed " ridge of rocks Avith a sheer descent on either side of about 300 ft. The spur of the mountain on which the shrine has been placed. is separated entirely from the lest of the range, except where this narrow ridge connects it. A little platform has been heAvn out of the solid rock, .and has been artificially built up also Avith granite blocks Avhere the rock did not lend it&elf coirveniently for the purpose. From here the view Avas magnificent ; Aye were nearly 2000 ft above the river. The descent of Kuanak San shoAred us the appropriateness of its name, Avhich, translated, means " The Hill of Quick Descents."