Our friends had kindly begun before our arrival at Wonsan to make arrangements for the trip which we wished to take through the Diamond Mountains, so that a few hours sufficed to complete them. An attractive route was suggested by a native who knew the passes; the time at our disposal was only eight days, so we were obliged to give up all hope of doing the principal pass, which is lofty and very arduous for travellers. The one selected took us through a fine part of the chain of mountains which runs down the eastern coast of Korea, and enabled us to visit an important monastery. We started with four ponies and three men to look after them, and the price stipulated was 64 yen (a little over £6), the distance to be covered being approximately 225 miles. It was probable that the men would get some loads for the return journey, but that could not be counted on. We had no saddles, so our bed bags had to take their place, but they made precarious seats. At first one thought it would be only possible to retain one’s seat by holding on all the time, and the thought of the necessity of using a handkerchief owing to a severe cold in the head was an anxious one, but time soon made us able to dispense with any grip. Mr. Chiao found his bedding a much more satisfactory seat than ours, for the usual Chinese bed bag seems to have been specially devised for the purpose; he looked completely at his ease, though he had never ridden before, and he hopped on and off his pony with astonishing rapidity. The fourth beast carried our two modest baskets of stores and clothing, and the cots which had been kindly lent to us for the occasion. Having lost our umbrellas we bought Korean paper waterproof coats, at the cost of about one shilling each, and waterproof paper for lining our other things, as there was some fear of wet weather on the mountains.