was struck by a Korean or by a Japanese but the overwhelming probability is that it was done by one of the armed Japanese The body was wrapped in some sort of blanket, saturated with petroleum and burned at the edge of a pine grove immediately to the east of the pond which lies in front of the royal quarters. The Royal family had been aware for two days of the danger which threatened. The guards at the palace had been reduced, the arms had been taken away and the movements of Japanese troops were very suspicious. The King advised the Queen to go to a place of safety and she said she would do so if the Queen Dowager would also go, but the latter refused. Chong Pyŭng-ha who had been raised to high office through the patronage of the Queen but who had struck hands with the Japanese urged with great insistence that there was no danger to Her Majesty’s person and it was the confidence expressed by this traitor that did the most to set at rest the apprehension, of the King and the Queen. During all the time leading up to these events, the palace guard was in charge of Gen. Dye but his efforts to carry out the wishes of His Majesty were continually thwarted and the guard was merely a nominal one. At about the time when the Queen was being killed the Tă-wŭn-gun came into the presence of the King and took the direction of affairs at the court. As might be supposed, both the King and the Crown Prince were in anything but an enviable frame of mind. They had been pushed about and insulted by low Japanese and felt that their lives were momentarily in danger. Col. Yi Kyŭng-jik the Minister of the Household Department had taken his stand at the door of the Queen’s apartments and had there been cut down by the Japanese or Koreans but succeeded in making his way, desperately wounded, into the presence of the King. He was there stabbed to death by the Japanese before the eyes of His Majesty. This did not tend to reassure the King and the Crown Prince but the coming of the Tă-wŭn-gun tended to quiet them somewhat. Of course they had no idea as yet that the Queen had been despatched. Before dawn began to break the King learned that Japanese troops were pouring into the barracks in front of the palace, and as some semblance of order had been restored in the immediate presence of His Majesty, a note was sent in haste to the Japanese Minister asking what all this meant. The messenger found Miura and Sugimura already up and dressed and sedan chairs at the door. Miura told the messenger that he had heard that troops had been marched to the barracks but did not know why. The Minister and his secretary thereupon proceeded rapidly to the palace. Immediately upon their arrival all the disturbance suddenly quieted down and the _soshi_ dispersed and left the palace grounds. The Japanese Minister and secretary immediately sought an audience with His Majesty, accompanied only by an interpreter and another Japanese who had led the _soshi_. The Tă-wŭn-gun was also present.