The fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth of each month are called “broken days,” on which they avoid beginning anything new. These are the “Fridays” of Chō-sen. In the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year they post up on the doors of their houses slips of paper, on which are written mottoes, such as “Longevity is like the South Mountain,” “Wealth is like the Eastern Sea,” etc. Certain years in each person’s life are supposed to be critical, and special care as to health, food, clothing, new ventures, etc., must be taken during these years, which are ended with a feast, or, what is more economical, a sigh of relief. The fifteenth day of the first month is called “Stepping on the Bridge.” A man and woman go out together over the bridge at the rising of the moon and view the moonlit scenery, indulging meanwhile in refreshments, both of the solid and liquid sort. It is believed that if one crosses over seven bridges on this night, he will be free from calamities during the year. Not the least interesting of the local or national festivals, are those held in memory of the soldiers slain in the service of their country on famous battle-fields. Besides holding annual memorial celebrations at these places, which fire the patriotism of the people, there are temples erected to soothe the spirits of the slain. Especially noteworthy are these monumental edifices, on sites made painful to the national memory by the great Japanese invasion of 1592–97, which keep fresh the scars of war. A revival of these patriotic festivals has been stimulated by the fanatical haters of Japan, since this neighbor country broke away from Asiatic traditions. Though much has been written concerning the population of Corea, we consider all conjectures of persons alike unfamiliar with the interior and the true sources of information as worthless. These random figures vary from 250,000 (!) to 6,000,000. Dallet presumes a population of 10,000,000. A rude enumeration made thirty years ago gives the number of houses at 1,700,000, and of the people at 7,000,000. Our own opinion, formed after a study of the map and official lists of towns and cities, is that there are at least 12,000,000 souls in Chō-sen. A Japanese correspondent of the Tōkiō Hochi Shimbun, writing from Seoul, states that a census made last year (1881) shows that there are 3,480,911 houses and 16,227,885 persons in the kingdom. CHAPTER XXXIII. SHAMANISM AND MYTHICAL ZOÖLOGY.