Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-17

edge of the ravine, are the sacred apart
ments of the King, and they are kept il
perfect preserva alton and hourly readines
for his coming.
The morning after our arrival I was waket
BY roars of unfamiliar laughter. Tracking
the sounds, came upon Captain Wake
per orming his ablutions in the midst OF 10t
monks, and delighting them at intervals
with the narrative, in excellent barytone, O.
! how
The old woman in the garrett
Let loose the talking parrot,
And there was another jolly row down
stairsl
All round the group were the great heavy
eaved temples, through the open doors Of
which could be seen the solemn faces Oh
squatting gilded gods, while already half a
dozen priests were bending before the affairs
with incense and drum. But some people
have no reverence. Not that the monks
themselves cared, for half an hour later l
was startled by gunshots close at hand, and
discovered the irrepressible navigator pick.
ing the pigeons off the roo is of the very tenn
pie in which worship was being offered, at
the urgent request of the crowd, who gathered
up the dead birds with the greatest eager
ness. Yet we had been told that the Korean
monks never ate flesh.
CURIOUS ARCHITECTURE.
All the buildings of An-pien are In the
style to which the traveller so soon gets used
In the East-rectangular wooden structures
with high-peaked roofs and richly carved
nj l1ry y-,th H.
one side and the chief idol facing the largest
central entrance. Be ore him are sets of
altar utensils and little brass tallow lamps
and Joss-sticks, which the pious visitor pur-
chases for few cash and lights at his pray
ers. The walls are covered with silk and bro
cade, mostly very old and time-stained; the
ceiling is marvelously carved and gilded,
perhaps a huge dragon appearing at one
end and worming himself in and out of the
masses of ornament to the other; and halt
dozen gongs and drums invite the hand of
the too-willing pilgrim. The interior of
these temples is tawdry, but the
massiveness of the wooden architecture,
its bright colors, its picturesquely
contrived vistas of gate and gable
and column and pavilion, taken together
with the wonderful natural situation of the
place. form an impressive and romantic
spectacle. The most curious sight in the
monastery, however. is iour huge idols of
brilliantly painted wood, carved with a
good deal of appreciation of the heroic hu-
man face and .orm. which stare at one an
other across narrow passage IRON behind
the bars Of two great cages, pair OF war
gods being on one side, and King and
Queen (the latter playing a colossal man.
dolin) on the other. Every priest carried
or wore rosary Of red wooden beads, pol
ished like crystal by ceaseless lingering.
told my interpreter to ask one of them by
and by privately whether a string of these
could be purchased as a souvenir. He,
however, blurted out the question to the
Chief Abbot in the presence of 80 priests,
and the hospitable and delight ul old
gentleman instantly took of his own rosary
bracelet ofespecially big beads and handed
it to me, saying: "They Cannot be pur-
chased, this is present." Naturally be-
fore leaving I wished to make him some
present in return, but ransacking my bag
produced nothing whatever suitable. NV
revolver or knife could not spare, the old
gentleman had already refused to taste
whisky, and there appeared to he literally
nothing to give him. l recollected, how
ever, that had had some new silk hand
kerchiefs made and embroidered in Japan,
and one OF these presented with many airs
and the explanation (from the Captain that
the monogram on the corner was tgood
JOSS" satisfied him completely. For our
we left few dollars in the
treasury, the amount, attested BY our au-
being solemnly and elaborately
entered in the great ledger Of the monastery,
and when at noon we mounted our ponies, a
hundred of the white-robed, much-hated
priests, led by the venerable abbot himself,
came little way down the hill with US to
give US goodby.
KOREAN TRAVEL.
For three hours we climbed steadily up
the narrow pass and then through it. The
road was merely bride path, or the dry
bed OF mountain stream strewn with stones
of all sizes. But the ponies never slipped
Or even hesitated, and our little train wound
along in single file without moments rest
till dusk. From II o'clock till $3.50 it was
blazing hot, and my helmet, with its two
inches of solid pith, was none too thick.
Then it began rapidly to grow chilly, and
long before dusk had lrieze riding coat |
buttoned up to my chin. BY o'clock we |
have descended somewhat to an extensive |
plateau, and in the distance we can hear the |
logs of village. As We we enter it they
range themselves in a swapping, yelping |
band at our heels, and from every low door
way an inhabitant crawls out to look at u.s.
In the middle of the village-the 20 or 30 |
thatched dwellings hardly deserve
he name-we came to halt and Cha
Sam approached. "What is 'it?" 1 ask |
and bo nth c,o II To,n |
word, "We will sleep" 1 looked ut the
rouse before us and my heart sank. True,
knew that Korea did not boast Palace
Hotel, but this was rather too much. A
zig, tumble-down, badly-thatched hovel
yard; all round this, stalls
or ponies and bullocks. Cha Sam flung
pen the door-about two feet by three-and
lowed me in. The floor was hammered
arth; the walls were mud, covered in spots
Tth very dirty paper; the material oil the
eiling was concealed by the dirt and smoke
1 generations and tapestried with spiders
Tel's. At first, of course, I was highly
with Sam for bringing me to
uch vile hole, but from the look Of genu-
ne surprise on his handsome, placid counte-
ance l soon gathered that this was the
ngular Korean hotel, and that I had moth
ng else to expect. Therefore, accepted
he inevitable with what joy could, and
18th difficulty crowded myself, my bag,
ug and provision boxes into the room.
hen tin of soup, hall a pound of corned
eef, two bowls OF tea, nip pour tuer lie
er, pipe, a few pages Of diary and sleep
The people Of the country varied very
uch. Two villages out Of three were very
iendly, highly inquisitive and easily \
owed to laughter. The third was general
, sullen and its inhabitants would not