226 



EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



circular comb. A free use is made of oil and lamp-black in arranging it. Two large hair-pins 

 are then passed through the mass, to keep it in place, and the front end of the lower pin is 

 finished with a head in the form of a star. The different metals of which the pins are made 

 indicate the rank of the wearer. They are of gold, silver, brass, lead, and pewter. The lower 

 class generally wear brass, though the very poorest use sometimes the metals last named. 

 The literati or dignitaries use gold and silver. The pin, therefore, tells the rank at once. 

 The lowest order of the people consists of the public slaves, (oo-hang,) who have no civil rights 

 nor personal freedom, and must obey the slightest beck of the literati. Their condition is one 

 of utter degradation. The intermediate class next above these is composed of the peasants 

 or field laborers, (Ha-koo-shoo.) These farm the country, paying to the government one-half 

 of the products in lieu of taxes, and paying also an exorbitant rent. We have already stated 

 that two-tenths is all the laborer gets of the results of his toil. By this toil the literary class, 

 which never works at all, is supported. The highest grade in the lower class is made up of 

 the messengers, spies, menial oflicers, &c., in the service of government, and includes also the 

 small traders and mechanics. This caste is known by the name of We-dae-o-gang . When 

 doing duty for the government these receive no wages, nothing but their food, and the distant 

 hope of promotion to the honor of substituting for the brass pin one of silver. The rich some- 





Tombs in Lew Clujw. 



times purchase from a poor man his services for life, (a system of slavery,) but more generally 

 for a term of years. The price of a common slave of this kind is from two to ten dollars. 



Great respect is shown for the dead, and tombs elaborate and costly attest this feeling. They 

 are constructed of stone, and often form a conspicuous feature in the landscape. Indeed, upon 



