y imagined, then, how I was situated after
having swallowed large quantities of beef, potatoes, barley, millet, not
to mention about half a bushel of beans. Nevertheless, I was further
treated to lily-bulbs and radishes dipped in the vilest of sauces,
besides a large portion of a puppy-pig roasted, and fruit in profusion,
foreign and native wines flowing freely. The dinner began at noon and was
not brought to a legitimate close until the happy hour of 7 P.M.

Talk of suffering! To those who appreciate the pleasure of eating, let me
recommend a royal Corean dinner! No pen can describe the agonies I
endured as I was carried home in the green sedan. Every jerk that the
bearers gave made me feel as if I had swallowed a cannon-ball, which was
moving mercilessly from one side of my body to the other. I could not
help expecting an explosion at any moment, or, at all events, a rent in
my overtight skin! On my way home I swore that as long as I lived I would
never touch another mouthful of food, so disgusted was I with things
eatable; but--needless to say, I have since many times broken my word.

CHAPTER XIII

Students--Culture--Examination ground--The three degrees--The
alphabet--Chinese characters--Schools--Astronomers--Diplomas--Students
abroad--Adoption of Western ways--Quick perception--The letter "f"--A
comical mistake--Magistrates and education--Rooted superstition--Another
haunted palace--Tigers--A convenient custom.

[Illustration: THE EXAMINATION GROUNDS]

At the beginning of the New Year, and soon after the festivities are
over, the streets of Seoul are crowded with students who come up to town
for their examinations. Dozens of them, generally noisy and boisterous,
are to be seen arm in arm, parading the principal streets, and apparently
always eating something or other. Study and eating seem to go together in
Cho-sen. They wear peculiar gauze caps like bakers' paper bags, and a
large double apron, the latter hanging down front and back, and being
tied above the waist with a ribbon. A large piece of rolled up paper is
carried in the hand, and much excitement seems to reign among them. By
students, one must not imagine only young men, for many among them are
above the thirties, and some are even old men.

At certain hours processions of them pass along the royal street, then
round the palace wall, and finally enter the examination grounds,
situated immediately behind the royal palace. This is a large ope