is only a matter of opinion. The inhabitants of the land of Cho-sen, from
my experience, are not much given to washing and still less to bathing. I
have seen them wash their hands fairly often, and the face occasionally;
only the very select people of Corea wash it daily. One would think that,
with such a very scanty and irregular use of water for the purpose of
cleanliness, they should look extremely dirty; but not a bit. It was
always to me irritating to the last degree to see how clean those dirty
people looked!

But let us notice one or two more of the people that are passing by. It
is now snowing hard, and every one carries his own umbrella on his head.
Boys do not wear hats, and are provided with a large umbrella with a
bamboo-frame that fits the head, as also are the bachelors. Here comes
one of the latter class. His face is a finely cut one, and with his hair
parted in the middle, and the big tress hanging down his back, he has
indeed more the appearance of a woman than that of a man; hence the
mistake often made by hasty travellers in putting down these bachelors as
women, is easy to understand. When one is seen for the first time, it is
really difficult to say to which sex he belongs, so effeminate does he
look.

It is part of the ambition of the male Corean to look wise, no matter
whether he is or not as a matter of fact. And to assume the coveted air
of wisdom what more is necessary than to put on a huge pair of round
spectacles of Chinese origin with smoked glasses enclosed in a frame of
gold or tortoiseshell, and with clasps over the ears? Oh how wise he
looks! He does indeed! And you should see his pomposity as he rides his
humble donkey through the streets of Seoul. There he sits like a statue,
supported by his servants, looking neither to one side nor to the other,
lest he should lose his dignity.