minuscule ponies, I went on foot, sending my baggage on in advance on a
pack-saddle on one of them. I was still suffering considerably from an
accident I had sustained to my foot among the hairy folk of the Hokkaido,
and I thought that the long walk would probably be beneficial to me, and
would take away some of the stiffness which still remained in my ankle.
At a short distance from the port I came to a steep incline of a few
hundred yards, and crossing the hill-range which formed the background to
Chemulpo as one looks at it from the sea, I soon descended on the other
side, from which point the road was nearly level all the way to the
capital. The road is not a bad one for Corea, but is, of course, only fit
for riding upon; and would be found almost of impossible access to
vehicles of any size. The Japanese had begun running _jinrickshas_,
little carriages drawn by a man, between the capital and the settlements;
but two, and even three men were necessary to convey carriage and
passenger to his destination, and the amount of bumping and shaking on
the uneven road was quite appalling.

These little carriages, as every one knows, generally convey only a
single person, and are drawn by two men, who run in a tandem, while the
third pushes the _ricksha_ from the back, and is always ready at any
emergency to prevent the vehicle from turning turtle. This mode of
locomotion, however, was not likely to become popular among the Coreans,
who, if carried at all, prefer to be carried either in a sedan-chair, an
easy and comfortable way of going about, or else, should they be in a
hurry and not wish to travel in grand style, on pony or donkey's back.
Europeans, as a rule, like the latter mode of travelling best, as the
Corean sedan-chairs are somewhat too short for the long-legged foreigner,
and a journey of six or seven hours in a huddled-up position is
occasionally apt to give one the cramp, especially as Western bones and
limbs do not in general possess the pliability which characterises those