h two eyes, which are turned in opposite directions.

Mehanki, with three eyes.

Panasuki, with four eyes.

Harramba, whose eyes occupy the whole forehead; and finally,

Skodolki, who have a single eye in the neck.

The most numerous and powerful of these races, are the Nagirians. Kings,
senators and priests are always chosen from this class. None are
admitted to any office, but those who acknowledge and testify by oath,
that a certain table, dedicated to the sun and placed in the temple, is
oblong. This table is the holiest object of mardakanic worship. The
oath, to be taken by aspirants to honors, is as follows:

"Kaki manaska quihampu miriac jakku, mesimbrii caphani crukkia, manaskar
quebriac krusondora."

In English:

"I swear, that the holy table of the sun seems oblong to me, and I
promise to remain in this opinion until my last breath."

When the neophyte, of either class, has sworn this oath, he is taken up
among the Nagirians, and is qualified for any office. On the day after
my arrival, as I walked in the market-place, I met a party bearing an
old man to the whipping post. I asked them the nature of his offence,
and was told that he was a heretic, who had publicly declared that the
holy table of the sun appeared square to him.

I immediately entered the temple, being curious to know whether or not
my eyes were orthodox. The table was certainly square to my view, and I
said so to my landlord, on my return. This tree, who had been recently
appointed a church-warden, drew a deep sigh on this occasion, and
confessed that it also seemed square to him, but that he dared not
express such an opinion, openly, from fear of being ejected from office,
if not worse.

Trembling in every joint, I quietly left this region, fearful that my
back might suffer on account of my heterodox vision.

The duchy of Kimal is considered the mightiest and richest of the states
on this planet. There are numberless silver mines within its borders:
the sand of its rivers is colored by gold, and its coasts are paved with
pearl oysters of the finest water.

The people of this province, nevertheless, are more miserable than those
of any other I visited. They are miners, gold-strainers and
pearl-divers, condemned to the most infamous slavery, drenched in water,
or secluded from air and light, and all for the sake of dear gain. How
strange and senseless is the lust for brilliant baubles!

The possessors of wealth are obliged to ke