yard. There are pools of green, slimy, stagnant water that would start the ague running up and down the spinal columns of the board of health in any Western town; but not so here. The grandfathers and the great-grandfathers of this village have been squatting around smoking and chatting over these same pools for threescore years, while all their children have played in and around them from the time they were able to walk, and still they live to tell the story. Then, too, there are other unmentionable sights and smells that would make a decent bird of prey want to hold his nose and make a circuit of five miles rather than fly once over the town. I am thoroughly convinced that the matter of smell is only a matter of education.
The houses are all on the same general plan. There is a proverb that says: "If one wishes to build a house, it is first necessary to get a foundation." The foundation is prepared by first throwing up the dirt till it is higher than the surrounding ground. It is a strange sight to see a crowd of men packing this foundation. The leader of the band with a drum keeps time, while each man with a small stick pounds the ground, at the same time stamping it with his feet. The corner stones are then placed in position eight feet apart. In case there are to be more rooms than one, they are all placed in the same order, every eight feet, till as many as are needed have been placed. The next move is a post for every stone, and these become the main support for the roof. I heard an American gentleman remark once that his experience with Korean houses which he had bought had been that there was not much
