his adversary, gets round him in a clever way, and when the strings meet,
by a hard pull cuts that of kite number one, which, swinging slowly in
the air, and now and then revolving round itself in the air, gently
descends far away from its owner, and is quickly appropriated by some
poor kiteless child, who perhaps has been in company with many fellows,
watching and pining for hours for such a happy moment. Pieces of broken
glass are often tied to the string at intervals, being of great help in
cutting the adversary's cord.

The people of Cho-sen seem to take as much interest in kite-flying as the
Britisher does in racing. The well-grown people bet freely on the
combatants, and it is not an uncommon thing for the excitement to reach
such a pitch that the battle begun in mid-air terminates with sound blows
in less aërial regions.

It is quaint to see rows of children with their little red jackets,
standing on the high walls of the city, spending hours in this favourite
amusement. They have barely room to stand upon, as the wall is hardly
more than a couple of feet wide, and it was always a surprise to me
that, amid the constant jerking and pulling the young folks were never
precipitated from their point of vantage to the foot, which in many
places would be as much as thirty feet in height. I have watched them for
hours in the expectation of seeing one of them have an accident, but
unfortunately for me they never did!

The little girls under ten years of age are exceedingly pretty. With the
hair carefully parted in the middle and tied into two tresses at the
back, a little green jacket and a long red skirt, they do indeed look
quaint. You should see how well-behaved and sedate, too, they are. It is
impossible to make one smile. You may give her sweets, a toy, or anything