ached by white marble steps. It was spacious, but architecturally
far inferior to those we had seen elsewhere. The upturned roof was
interesting.

The marble pagoda, rising seven stories above the base, was really very
beautiful. It had a special small enclosure about it, filled with
flowers. This enclosure was in a large park, which contained an artistic
pavilion, evidently for the convenience of people who wished to view the
pagoda.

There are said to be eighteen palaces in Seoul. Some of these at present
are not in use. We passed the new marble palace where the Emperor was
staying. Then we went on to the large old palace which has been vacant
ever since the assassination of the Queen. There were imposing entrance
gates here, and many preliminary buildings before we reached the most
important ones. The Audience Hall is very spacious and very well
proportioned. The approach to it is fine, consisting of many marble
seats where the high officials sat when his Majesty appeared. From the
exterior the Audience Hall seems to have two stories, as there are two
of the peculiar Chinese roofs, but inside it forms one very high room.
The Audience Hall as a building is a great decorative feature in the
palace grounds. There is one other large room in it called, I believe,
the Hall of Congratulation.

[Illustration: _An old tomb of a high official_]

We passed on to the palace of the assassinated Queen. This has now been
torn down by order of the Resident General, on account of its unpleasant
association both to the Koreans and to the Japanese. It originally
covered a good deal of ground and must have been spacious. The grounds
are very large and interesting, containing many lovely trees. One
building therein was raised like an immense pavilion and surrounded by a
miniature lake, very pleasing with its setting of green and at times
covered with water-lilies.

Quite a pretentious building, with its wide projecting Chinese eaves
open on all sides and showing columns, was the one which contained the
monument erected in honor of the Emperor's jubilee.

A picturesque feature of the city consists of the gates of the Wall. We
took drives through these to different points near by. Particularly
noticeable is the Western Gate, or Gate of General Righteousness. This
is massive, showing the thickness of the wall, and the high roof over
the arch is very effective.

All the hills around Korea are considered sacred and are dedicated to
b