The two rows of shanties having been pulled down, its tremendous width is very conspicuous, being apparently about ten times that of our Piccadilly.  The houses on both sides are the mansions in which the nobles, princes, and generals live, and are built of solid masonry.  They are each one story high, with curled-up roofs, and here and there the military ensign may be seen flying.  Facing us at the end, a pagoda-like structure, with two roofs, and one half of masonry, the upper part of lacquered wood, is the main entrance to the royal palace.  Two sea-lions, roughly carved out of stone, stand on pedestals a short distance in front of the huge closed gate, and there, squatting down, gambling or asleep, are hundreds of chair-carriers and soldiers, while by the road-side are palanquins of all colours, and open chairs, with tiger and leopard skins thrown over them, waiting outside the royal precincts, since they are not allowed inside, for their masters, who spend hours and days in expectation of being invited to an audience by, or a confabulation with, His Majesty.  People of different ranks have differently coloured chairs—­the highest of the palanquin form being that covered with green cloth and carried by four men.  Foreign consuls and legal advisers of the King are allowed the honour of riding in one of these.  The privilege of being carried by four men instead of by two is only accorded to officials of high rank.  The covered palanquins are so made that the people squat in them cross-legged.  A brass receptacle, used for different purposes, is inside, in one corner of the conveyance.  Some of them are a little more ornamented than others, and lined with silk or precious skins, but generally they are not so luxurious as the ones in common use in China.

[Illustration:  AN OFFICIAL GOING TO COURT IN A MONO-WHEELED CHAIR]

But if you want to see a really strange sight, here at last you have it.  It is a high official going to Court in his state mono-wheeled chair.  You can see that he is a “somebody” by the curious skull-cap he is wearing, curled up over the top of his head and with wings on each side starting from the back of his head-gear.  His flowing silk gown and the curious rectangular jewelled stiff belt, projecting far beyond his body, denote that he is holding a high position at the Corean Court.  A coolie marches in front of him, carrying on his back a box containing the court clothes which he will have to don when the royal palace is reached, all carefully packed in the case, covered with white parchment.  Numerous young followers also walk behind his unsteady vehicle.  There you see him perched up in a kind of arm-chair at a height of about five feet—­sitting more or less gracefully on a lovely tiger skin, that has been artistically thrown upon it, leaving the head hanging down at the back.  Under the legless chair, as it were, there are two supports, at the lower end of which and between these supports revolves a