great statesmen and transacted the business of the Hermit Kingdom all unknown to the curious outside world. If the walls and columns of this old hall could talk, the stories that they could unfold would thrill the world with horror.
See the group of high peaks just back of the North Mountain. This is Sam Kak San, or the Three-Peaked Mountain. There among those peaks, some two thousand feet above sea level, is a fortification inclosed by a wall nearly as large as the one that incloses the capital itself. This was built hundreds of years ago for a place of refuge in case the capital should be invaded by an enemy. It is called Puk Han, or the North Fort, and in it there is a palace which is kept intact to this day in order that his Majesty may have a place to which he may retire in times of danger.
Around the North Palace there are acres of tile-roofed houses which are the homes of the officials. This is where much of the "blue blood" of the city lives and dies. The big street leading out from the North Palace gate, which is guarded by two huge stone tigers, is the street on which the buildings for the different departments of the government are located.
Yonder in the distance, inside and outside the great East Gate, we see the brown straw-thatched roofs that shelter the common people. There are also many of these humble houses to be seen in all parts of the city; and they are a sure mark of poverty, as no one cares to have a straw-thatched roof in the city if he can afford one of tile.
