ced by another, prayers at the same time being
offered up to the spirits as well of the fires as of the wind. The
loudness of these prayers, I may add, grew and decreased in intensity,
according to the aspect which the fire took from moment to moment; if a
flame rose up higher than usual, louder prayers were hurriedly offered,
and if the fire at times almost went out, then the spirits were for the
time being left alone.

The conflagration went on for a considerable number of hours and
destroyed several houses. No one sustained any serious injury, though
one old man, who was paralytic and deaf, had a very narrow escape. He had
got left, either purposely or by mistake, in one of the houses. Two out
of three of the rooms had already burnt out, and he was in the third. And
yet, when they had pulled down the outside wall and brought him safely
out, he expressed himself as astonished at being so treated, having
neither heard that any fire was in progress, nor being aware that
two-thirds of his own house had already been destroyed!

Here again, let me note a good trait in the Corean character. Whenever,
through any unexpected occurrence, a man loses his house and furniture,
and so gets reduced from comparative wealth, say, for seldom does a
Corean possess more, to misery and want; in such circumstances his
friends do not run away from him, as usually is the case in more
civilised countries; no, instead of this, they come forward and help him
to re-build his house, lend him clothes and the more necessary utensils
of domestic use, and, generally speaking, make themselves agreeable and
useful all round, until he can spread out his wings once again, and fly
by himself. Thus it is, that when a man's house has been burnt out it is
no uncommon occurrence for friends or even strangers to put him up and
feed him in their own homes until he has re-constructed his nest.
Looking, therefore, at both sides of the medal, the man of Cho-sen may
have a great many bad qualities from our point of view, yet he also
undoubtedly possesses some virtues on which we who are supposed to be
more civilised and more charitable, cannot pride ourselves. Believe me,
when things are taken all round, there is after all but little difference
between the Heathen and the Christian; nay, the solid charity and
generosity of the first is often superior to the advertised philanthropy
of the other.

CHAPTER XX

A trip to Poo-kan--A curious monastery.

On