d a curse, and
from all these the paupers are exempt. There is a perpetual effort on
the part of the wealthy to induce the paupers to accept gifts, just
as among us the poor try to rob the rich. Among the wealthy there is
a great and incessant murmur at the obstinacy of the paupers. Secret
movements are sometimes set on foot which aim at a redistribution of
property and a levelling of all classes, so as to reduce the haughty
paupers to the same condition as the mass of the nation. More than
once there has been a violent attempt at a revolution, so as to force
wealth on the paupers; but as a general thing these movements have
been put down and their leaders severely punished. The paupers have
shown no mercy in their hour of triumph; they have not conceded one
jot to the public demand, and the unhappy conspirators have been
condemned to increased wealth and luxury, while the leaders have
been made Meleks and Kohens. Thus there are among the Kosekin the
unfortunate many who are cursed with wealth, and the fortunate few who
are blessed with poverty. These walk while the others ride, and from
their squalid huts look proudly and contemptuously upon the palaces of
their unfortunate fellow-countrymen.

The love of death leads to perpetual efforts on the part of each to
lay down his life for another. This is a grave difficulty in hunts and
battles. Confined prisoners dare not fly, for in such an event the
guards kill themselves. This leads to fresh rigors in the captivity of
the prisoners in case of their recapture, for they are overwhelmed
with fresh luxuries and increased splendors. Finally, if a prisoner
persist and is recaptured, he is solemnly put to death, not, as with
us, by way of severity, but as the last and greatest honor. Here
extremes meet; and death, whether for honor or dishonor, is all the
same--death--and is reserved for desperate cases. But among the
Kosekin this lofty destiny is somewhat embittered by the agonizing
thought on the part of the prisoner, who thus gains it, that his
wretched family must be doomed, not, as with us, to poverty and want,
but, on the contrary, to boundless wealth and splendor.

Among so strange a people it seemed singular to me what offences could
possibly be committed which could be regarded and punished as crimes.
These, however, I soon found out. Instead of robbers, the Kosekin
punished the secret bestowers of their wealth on others. This is
regarded as a very grave offence. Anal