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28 butt, and even fight each other; probably the idea of killing one another never occurred to them. How much less, then, should be the prospect of it occurring to man?”

“Have you neither disputes nor quarrels among your people?” I asked.

“We have disputes about ownership occasionally,” was the reply, “for we have private property in everything except land, which belongs to the general Government. These disagreements, however, are generally settled by arbitration, and it is only in very rare instances indeed that they have to be referred to our high tribunal. The hour at which we dine, however, is drawing near, so you had better come with me, and stay for a time, at least, at my house. We shall endeavour to make you comfortable.”

I accepted his invitation, and on our way through the town we met many beautiful girls, walking in groups of two, sometimes more, and I noticed that many of them were known to my friend. This led me to inquire at what age they generally married.

“The girls generally marry from twenty to seventy,” was the response; “the men from thirty to one hundred. I am one hundred and fifty years of age myself,” he continued, “and have never