ased;
and by the side of this and following close after it are numberless
people each carrying a paper lantern stuck on a pole, who scuttle along,
singing, after a fashion, and muttering prayers and praises on behalf of
their deceased countryman. Frequently, if the latter is supposed to have
been possessed by evil spirits, and to have been carried off by them, a
man is hired, if no relation is willing to do it, to ring a hand-bell for
several consecutive days, near the house which the late unfortunate had
occupied, the shrill sound being supposed to have the power of showing
the unwelcome guests, that their presence has been noticed, and that they
had better retire and leave the house to its rightful owners. I need
hardly remark that a few hours of this noise is quite enough to turn the
best of good spirits into an evil one.

But to return to our funeral procession; this, when the "Gate of the
Dead" is reached, becomes broken up; the friends who were following the
hearse putting out their lights and ceasing from their singing and
praying. Only two or three of the nearest relations continue to follow
the coffin, still carried by the paid bearers, and when a suitable spot
is reached these proceed to bury the remains. A hilly ground is usually
preferred by the Coreans for the last resting place of the bones of their
dear ones. The coffin having been buried, a small mound of earth is
heaped up over it.

The spot for inhumation is generally chosen on the advice of magicians
who are supposed to know the sites which are likely to be most favourable
to the deceased. Sometimes the body is exhumed at great expense, still on
the advice of the same magicians, who, being in direct communication with
both earthly and unearthly spirits, get to know that the spot which had
been originally selected was not a favourable one. Under such
circumstances, a speedy removal is necessary, which, of course entails
both worry and money-spending and special fees for the reporting of the
ill-faring of the buried.

The relations and friends of a deceased person constantly visit the tomb,
and many a good son has been known to spend months watching his father's
grave, lest his services might be required by the parent underground.

The hills round the towns are simply covered with these little mounds of
earth, and the greatest respect is shown by the natives for all places of
sepulture. In course of time, many disappear by being washed away by the
r