times， t_~OUl*ltless visitors， or course， ltqt [)ab.bJUL~ uu:~uLqjL~vn~:<br >They marveled at the Iron 1)og and tile ][louse of the Chines<br >Master， they pontificz~ted about New }tav， they caught sore~<br >thing of the atmosphere in memoirs， in novels， in poetry--<br > ~ . . the ~，reen-grey shoFe that seame~z swear is liar，<br > Beyond the raciny， tumble o~ its foam.<br >Nobody however wrote a proper book about the place. It xv:<br >almost as though a conspiracy protected the peninsula from tc<br >frank or thorough a description.<br > I count myself lucky in having seen it for the first time lal<br >in a traveling life， for it was itself a little compendium of tk<br >world s experience， historically， aesthetically， even perhaps spit<br >tuallv. It reminded me constantly of places elsewhere， but r，<br >mained to the end absolutely， often paradoxically and occasioJ<br >ally absurdly itself.<br >