Another point which differentiates the south from the north was the fact that a walled town was a thing unknown in the south; as the Korean writer puts it “There was no difference between town and country.” Their houses were rough thatched huts sunken a little below the surface of the ground, as is indicated by the statement that the houses were entered from the top. These people of Ma-han were strong and fierce and were known by the loudness and vehemence of their speech. This accords well with the further fact that they were the virtual governors of all south Korea, for it was Ma-han who furnished rulers for Chin-han. These people did not kneel nor bow in salutation. There was no difference in the treatment of people of different ages or sexes. All were addressed alike. Another marked difference between these people and those of the north was that the Ma-han people held neither gold nor silver in high repute. We may safely reckon upon the acquisitive faculty as being the most keen and pervasive of all the faculties of eastern as well as western peoples, and that the north should have been acquainted with the uses and values of these metals while the south was not, can argue nothing less than a complete ignorance of each other. The southern people loved beads strung about the head and face, a trait that naturally points to the south and the tropics. In the summer they worshipped spirits, at which time they consumed large quantities of intoxicating beverages while they sang and danced, several “tens of men” dancing together and keeping time with their feet. In the autumn, after the harvest, they worshipped and feasted again. In each of the little settlements there was a high priest whose business it was to worship for the whole community. They had a kind of monastic system, the devotees of which fastened iron drums to high posts and beat upon them during their worship. Another striking statement is that tatooing was common. This is another powerful argument in favor of the theory of a southern origin, for it is apparent that tatooing is a form of dress and is most in vogue where the heat renders the use of clothing uncomfortable. As might be expected, this habit has died out in Korea, owing without doubt to the comparative severity of the climate; but within the memory of living men it has been practiced on a small scale, and today there is one remnant of the custom in the drawing of a red colored thread under the skin of the wrist in making certain kinds of vow or promises. In the larger towns the ruler was called Sin-ji and in the smaller ones Eup-ch’a. They had tests of endurance similar to those used by North American Indians. One of them consisted in drawing a cord through the skin of the back and being hauled up and down by it without a murmur.