The chief out-door manly sport in Corea is, by excellence, that of archery. It is encouraged by the government for the national safety in war, and nobles stimulate their retainers to excellence by rewards. Most gentlemen have targets and arrow-walks for practice in their gardens. At regular times in the year contests of skill are held, at which archers of reputation compete, the expense and prizes being paid for out of the public purse. Hamel says the great men’s retainers have nothing to do but to learn to shoot. The grandees rival each other in keeping the most famous archers, as an Englishman might his fox-hounds or as the daimiōs of Japan formerly vied with each other in patronizing the fattest and most skilful wrestlers. Other manly sports are those of boxing and fist-fights. Young men practice the “manly art” in play with each other, and at times champions are chosen by rival villages and a set-to between the bruisers is the result, with more or less of broken heads and pulpy faces. In large cities the contestants may come from different wards of the same city. In Seoul, usually in the first month, there are some lively tussles between picked champions, with betting and cheering of the backers of either party. Often these trials of skill degenerate into a free fight, in which clubs and stones are used freely; cracked skulls and loss of life are common. The magistrates do not usually interfere, but allow the frolic to spend itself. Another class of men worthy of notice, and identified with out-door life, are the sportsmen. The bird-hunters never shoot on the wing. They disguise themselves in skins, feathers, straw, etc., and lurk in some coigne of vantage to bring down the game that comes within their range. The skilled fowler understands perfectly how to imitate the cries of the various birds, particularly that of the pheasant calling his mate. By this means most of the female pheasants are captured. The call used is an iron whistle, shaped like the apricot-stone, and similar to that used by the Japanese hunters. The method of hunting the deer is as follows: During the months of June and July deer-horn commands a very high price, for it is at this season that the deer-horns are developing, and the “spike-bucks” are special prizes. A party of three or four hunters is formed. They beat up the mountain sides during several days, and, at night, when obliged to cease for awhile, they have a wonderful instinct for detecting the trail of the game, except when the earth is too dry. Usually they come up to their game on the third day, which they bring down with a gunshot. The horn is sold to the native physicians or is exported to China and Japan, where hartshorn and valuable medicines are concocted from it. A successful deer-hunt usually enables a hunter to live on his profits for a good part of the year, and in some cases individuals make small fortunes. Those who hunt bears wait for the occasion when the mother bear leads