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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



We remained at the Samcheyong for 

 several days and then started to cross the 

 watershed toward the Yalu River. After 

 leaving the summit of the mountain the 

 forest became denser than that near the 

 Paik-tu-san and the trees larger. Great 

 larches stretching up 150 feet were on 

 every side, their trunks and branches cov- 

 ered inches thick with lichens and moss 

 and their bases buried in tangled under- 

 growth. The ground was soft and wet, 

 and soon we were in a series of swamps 

 which made travel well nigh impossible. 

 The only way in which they could be 

 passed was to cut down trees or drag 

 heavy logs, lay them end to end, and 

 drive the horses over. 



LIFTING OUR HORSES OUT OF THE SWAMP 



When an animal slipped off the logs and 

 became mired, it would lie quietly in the 

 water until the packs had been removed, 

 and even then make not the slightest ef- 

 fort to extricate itself. Fortunately the 

 horses were small, and with six men lift- 

 ing at the legs, head, and tail, and the 

 cook shouting with all his strength we 

 could usually get the brute upon the 

 bridge again. During the whole day we 

 covered only six miles, but the swamps 

 were finished. 



Two days more of cutting our way 

 through the wilderness and we came into 

 a thin forest, where a broad trail led 

 down the mountain side. Picking our 

 way among huge boulders, which in 

 many places the horses could barely pass, 

 we descended nearly 2,000 feet to the 

 valley below. There, in a clearing just at 

 the Qdge of the forest, were four log 

 houses constituting the village of Poti- 

 san, the first habitations on the Yalu side 

 of the watershed. We remained over 

 night, and the next day crossed another 

 heavily wooded mountain to the village 

 of Potaidpn. 



WHITE MAN ATTRACTS A MULTITUDE 

 OE THE CURIOUS 



Although Japanese gendarmes often 

 come there, the Koreans had never seen 

 a white man, and I was an object of even 

 greater curiosity than to those on the 

 Tumen River side of the watershed. We 

 camped not far away, in a little grove of 



trees on the bank of the river, and my 

 tent was surrounded by a curious crowd 

 of natives within a very few minutes 

 after it had been pitched. The next day 

 Koreans were coming from every direc- 

 tion to see our camp and the strange 

 man there. 



After collecting at. Potaidon for some 

 time, we started across the mountains 

 toward Heizanchin, on the Yalu River, 

 the largest city in north central Korea. 

 A good road led over the hills, and upon 

 the top of one we came to a picturesque 

 little temple, where I found a poor old 

 man almost crippled with rheumatism. 

 For five days and nights he had been 

 praying at this shrine, called the "Tem- 

 ple of Good Fortune," asking the god to 

 relieve his sufferings, and, although it 

 had been raining much of the time, the 

 old fellow had been sleeping on the wet 

 ground. 



Beyond the temple we descended into 

 a treeless valley where, in one of the huts, 

 a funeral was in progress. A woman 

 had died and the corpse was lying in the 

 largest room of the house, while a great 

 many relatives and friends, all dressed 

 in coarse cream-colored cloth, were sit- 

 ting about the door and courtyard drink- 

 ing quantities of strong sake and keeping 

 up a, continuous monotonous wail. As 

 soon as I appeared the corpse lost all its 

 attraction, and every man in the entire 

 assembly rushed outside to get a look at 

 me, the women alone remaining within 

 to continue the dismal wail of eigo! 

 eigo! So long as I remained near the 

 house the funeral was forgotten. 



THE PICTURESQUE RUINS OP KOREANS 

 SENTINEL CITY 



The country which we traversed was 

 becoming more and more deforested, and 

 in many places somewhat reminded me 

 of the Egyptian sand-hills near Cairo. 

 There was little vegetation except on a 

 hilltop now and then, where a few trees 

 had been left to shelter a Korean grave. 

 Nearing one of the tributaries of the 

 Yalu River, however, we found the hill- 

 sides covered with beautiful flowers 

 Purple azaleas, buttercups, and violets 

 were everywhere, and, farther on, the 

 banks of a rushing mountain stream 



