1 48 KOREA — THE HERMIT XI TION 



the principal seaport of the country, snow falls frequently from 

 December to February, but does not remain on the ground for any 

 length of time, owing to the proximity of the two seas bordering it 

 on the east and west. The winter season, however, becomes very 

 tedious by reason of the i)ersistent winds which find their way 

 through the innumerable gorges, chilling the traveler to tlie bone 

 and rendering comfort impossible. They start far away to the 

 north among the mountains and plains of Manchuria and sweep 

 across the Korean peninsula with great force. It is for protection 

 against the \yinds that the Korean tiger, that singular exotic from 

 tropical regions, wears a thick coat of fur in place of the thinly 

 distributed hair with which we are accustomed to see his Bengal 

 brother clothed. In northern Korea rich harvests are gained by 

 hunters of the smaller fur-bearing animals, such as squirrels, mar- 

 tens, and foxes, which find their principal market in China, a few of 

 the poorer sorts going to Russia. 



One of the striking objects in every landscape is the immense num- 

 ber of graves clustering on the sides of hills and in the neighborhood 

 of groves of evergreens. On casual inspection these graves appear 

 to be simple circular mounds of earth, varying in size according to 

 the importance of the person buried and scattered without plan or 

 order; but a careful examination of several hundred graves has con- 

 vinced me that instead of being arranged subject to the whim of the 

 survivors a very definite plan is followed, not only in their shapes, 

 but in their disposition and arrangement. I found them, without 

 exception, following the outline of the tortoise. So much care is 

 bestowed upon this fancy that even the serrations of the shell and the 

 flimsy tail possessed by the animal are carefully wrought out in these 

 mementos of the dead. 



Trees are generall}' planted in close i)roximity to a favorite ceme- 

 tery, and it is looked upon as an act of desecration to destroy a tree 

 standing near a grave. Respect for ancestors takes a curious direc- 

 tion here. While it is not unusual to hear one's father reviled in no 

 measured terms without inciting anger, if so much as a pebble is cast 

 at the grave of that father blood alone can wipe out the affront. 



In appearance the Korean differs materially from his neighbors, 

 the inhabitants of China and Japan, the coloring matter in his skin 

 belonging to a different class from either. In common with them, 

 however, his hair is black, straight, and coarse, and it is rarel}' that a 

 bald Korean is seen. Their eyes do not have the slanting appearance 



