Chosen, or Korea, is a peninsula that lies between the Japan Sea and the Yellow Sea. It formerly belonged to China, but it now belongs to Japan. It is as large as the state of Minnesota, but it contains 7 times as many people. Locate it on the map. How far is Chosen from the main islands of Japan? Seoul is the capital of Chosen, and its chief city. It is almost as large as Detroit, but is it a very different kind of city. A general view of it is to be had here. The little, low houses are thrown together regardless of streets. The white covering you see is snow. Beneath the snow are roofs made of straw. If you were to go inside the houses, you would find a dirt floor. The furniture is simple and made of bamboo like that of the Japanese. But you would be welcomed, for the Koreans are a very kind people. You would be asked to eat

dried or smoked fish and to drink a cup of tea. If you were a boy, you would not have a chance to see the women of the household. It is bad taste for a Korean woman to appear before strange men. The women lead a very dull life. The men dress themselves in white, no matter what the season of the year. They are proud of their white clothes. These are not always clean, but they are scrubbed and scrubbed by the patient women. In the view the men are seen selling cheap pottery. On account of the shape and the location of their country, the Koreans have been shut off from other peoples. They have few good harbors, and the tide runs high on their rough shores. As long as they had only sail-boats they were cut off from trading with their neighbors. Chosen is rich in forests and minerals.