ler, exists a short distance beyond the Pekin Pass outside
the West Gate. It may also be noted that trees are frequently planted,
and tablets erected, in proximity to Corean graves.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] Word used in the East for a conglomeration of houses
enclosed by a wall.

CHAPTER VIII

Seoul--The City Wall--A large image--Mount Nanzam--The
fire-signals--women's joss-house--Foreign buildings--Japanese
settlement--An anecdote--Clean or not clean?--The Pekin Pass--The
water-carrier--The man of the Gates.

[Illustration: MOUNT NANZAM]

The ground in and around Seoul is very hilly. The wall that surrounds the
capital uncoils itself, like a gigantic snake, up and down the slopes of
high bluffs, and seems a very marvellous work of patient masonry when it
is borne in mind that some of the peaks up which it winds its way are so
steep that even climbing on foot is not an easy task. The height is not
uniform, but where it is highest it reaches to over thirty feet. The
North Gate, for instance, is at a much higher level than the town down
below, and it is necessary to go up a steep road to reach it. From it, a
very good idea is obtainable of the exact situation of Seoul. Down in
the valley, a narrow one, lies the town itself, completely surrounded by
hills, and even mountains, covered with thick snow during the winter
months.

The wall, several miles long, goes over the hill ridges far above the
level of the town, except towards the west, where it descends to the
valley, and is on almost level ground, as far as the East Gate. It has a
rampart in which holes have been pierced, for the defence of the town by
archers and gunners; and, to let out the water of the streams, which
intersect the town, low arches have been cut in the wall, provided with
strong iron bars, and a solid grating through which no man can penetrate.
Outside the town, bridges of masonry have been constructed; for instance,
there is one of four arches, a short distance from the North Gate, being
the continuation of a portion of the wall protecting the river valley on
the north of Seoul. Not far from this bridge, is a monastery, and a small
temple with curled-up roof supported by columns, painted red and green.
The latter protects an enormous block of stone upon which has been carved
a large image of Buddha, the surface of which has been painted white.
When I saw it, close by the river side, with the sun shining on it, and
its image ref