ghfare. It is
certainly the widest street in the Corean capital. So wide is it, in
fact, that two rows of thatched houses are built in the middle of the
road itself, so to speak, forming out of one street three parallel
streets. These houses are, however, pulled down and removed altogether
once or twice a year, when His Majesty the King takes it into his head to
come out of his palace and go in his state chair, preceded by a grand
procession, to visit the tombs of his ancestors, some miles out of the
town, or to meet the envoys of the Chinese Emperor, a short way out of
the west gate of the capital, at a place where a peculiar triumphal arch,
half built of masonry and half of lacquered wood, has been erected, close
to an artificial cut in the rocky hill, named the "Pekin Pass" in honour
of the said Chinese messengers.

I witnessed two or three of these king's processions, and I shall
describe them to you presently. In the meantime, however, let us walk up
the royal street.

The two rows of shanties having been pulled down, its tremendous width is
very conspicuous, being apparently about ten times that of our
Piccadilly. The houses on both sides are the mansions in which the
nobles, princes, and generals live, and are built of solid masonry. They
are each one story high, with curled-up roofs, and here and there the
military ensign may be seen flying. Facing us at the end, a pagoda-like
structure, with two roofs, and one half of masonry, the upper part of
lacquered wood, is the main entrance to the royal palace. Two sea-lions,
roughly carved out of stone, stand on pedestals a short distance in front
of the huge closed gate, and there, squatting down, gambling or asleep,
are hundreds of chair-carriers and soldiers, while by the road-side are
palanquins of all colours, and open chairs, with tiger and leopard skins
thrown over them, waiting outside the royal precincts, since they are not
allowed inside, for their masters, who spend hours and days in
expectation of being invited to an audience by, or a confabulation with,
His Majesty. People of different ranks have differently coloured
chairs--the highest of the palanquin form being that covered with green
cloth and carried by four men. Foreign consuls and legal advisers of the
King are allowed the honour of riding in one of these. The privilege of
being carried by four men instead of by two is only accorded to officials
of high rank. The covered palanquins are so made that