Page:A modern pioneer in Korea-Henry G. Appenzeller-by William Elliot Griffis.djvu/33

 Rh that excel the storied shepherd's coat or a kingly robe. Their country is beautiful, and the people know and feel its charm. One might almost call this the Land of Lilies, were it not that other families of flowers, violets, eglantine, roses, white and red, lilacs and rhododendrons are equally prolific, while in the orchards, peach and pear blossoms fill the land with glory and beauty. In the endless procession of the seasons there are lovely blossoms from snowfall to snowfall again. Hills and valleys become a riot of colour from the azaleas, that strike the gamut of tints from snowy white to deepest orange. One botanist, in a single afternoon's ramble over the hills around Söul brought home a bouquet of forty-seven varieties of flowers; another near Chemulpo, in one day, exceeded this number by a dozen.

Not all the flowers are affluent of sweet odours, but enough of them carry aroma in their chalices to make the breezes sweeping from the mountain heights delicious to the senses. In spring time, especially, the winds often come perfume-laden to refresh and delight. In the autumn odour yields to colour and the hardier flowers. Among these, the aster and golden rod drape the hills in scarlet, gold, purple and varied tints. Even if one were blind, he would learn from the Korean's delighted exclamations while on the road, from his heart that speaks in his face, from his poetry and folklore, from the habits of travellers and even from the common burden bearers who are cultured to enjoy, how fair is nature and how lovely is the landscape