is generally deemed advisable.

There are two free nights, besides, on the fourteenth and fifteenth days
of the first moon, and on one of the days at "half-year" in the sixth
moon. That is all.

[Illustration: THE MARBLE PAGODA]

At no great distance from the "big bell," down a tortuous little lane, we
come to what is undoubtedly a very ancient work of art. This is a pagoda,
made of solid marble, and adorned with beautiful carvings all the way up
to the top. To me this pagoda seemed to be of Chinese origin, but, though
much speculation has been exercised in Seoul as to how so strange a
monument came to be placed in the Corean capital, no reliable data, or
facts that might be considered of historical value, have as yet been
forthcoming to explain satisfactorily its presence there. Beyond
wondering at its antiquity, therefore, and admiring the skilful
bas-relief upon it, there is little more for us to do; so, moving out of
the courtyard in which this pagoda is situated, we proceed to inspect
another monument, equally curious from an archaeological point of view.

It cannot but seem strange that the Coreans should be ignorant regarding
the little pagoda above mentioned. I call it "little," for I do not
think it stands more than fifteen or twenty feet from the base to the
top. Probably in Seoul itself there is not more than one man out of fifty
who knows of its existence, and those who are acquainted with it, beyond
telling you emphatically that it is not a Corean work, can give you no
information about it. It is not improbable that, in the course of some
friendly or unfriendly intercourse between the Chinese and the Coreans,
this pagoda was brought or sent over from China.

The other curiosity is a huge stone tortoise carrying a tablet on its
back.

As I have already mentioned, the Coreans in many ways resemble, and have
appropriated or carried with them to their place of settlement some ideas
which are common to the Manchus, the Mongols, and the Northern and
Southern Chinese. Among these may be instanced the great respect for, if
not worship of, fetishes and rudely made images of animals, both
imaginary and real, which are supposed to be embodied there with all
their good and evil qualities. The Coreans have an especial veneration
for the tiger, the emblem of supernatural strength, courage and dignity.
Now when veneration comes into play, the extraordinary, as a rule, soon
takes the place of the ordinary, especiall