and in the end I abandoned my expeditions to avoid the horrors of such spectacles. The Korean is quite callous to the sufferings of his animals. He will feed them well, and he will willingly disturb himself at night to prepare their food; but he will not allow ulcerated and running wounds to interfere with the daily work of the poor beasts. This is comprehensible; but he will not, upon his own initiative, even endeavour to bridge the sore by the tricky placing of a pad. However bad the gathering may be, on goes the load, the agony of the poor pony manifesting itself in a flourish of kicks, bites, and squeals.
In demonstration of this extreme callousness I may mention this incident. Once, outside Won-san, I saw a Korean seat himself upon the side of a stone, and leisurely proceed to rain blows upon the head of a dog which he was holding, until the poor thing collapsed insensible. He then beat it about the ribs, and put the body on the embers of a fire. We were several hundred yards off when this attracted my notice; but I chased the brute across two paddy stretches, until the heavy going compelled me to abandon it. At a later time I noticed that the grooms were most careful to dress the backs of the horses at our different halts, and also to endeavour to prevent the pack saddles from rubbing the wounds, prompted, I have no doubt, to this most desirable kindliness by the lesson which they had read between the lines upon the occasion of the dog incident.
The character of the native followers who accompany these journeys is a matter of great importance to the future welfare of the traveller. The proprietor of the Station Hotel, Seoul, secured me an excellent boy. Shortly after entering my service, an American missionary, who had been
