Village books

This naked wild man of the woods seemed to hold the said
court in tolerable contempt, and demanded immense supplies, all which he
got; and moreover, some time after, an invitation to come down the ensuing
year for more, which he took care not to forget.
This noisy chieftain boasted so much of his dynasty and domain that the
Government was induced to send up an expedition into his territories to see
if he had spoken the truth, and nothing but the truth. It appeared,
however, that his palace was nothing but a hut, the monarch a needy savage,
the heir-apparent nothing to inherit but his father's club and bow and
arrows, and his officers of state wild and uncultivated as the forests
through which they strayed.
There was nothing in the hut of this savage, saving the presents he had
received from Government, but what was barely sufficient to support
existence; nothing that indicated a power to collect a hostile force;
nothing that showed the least progress towards civilisation. All was rude
and barbarous in the extreme, expressive of the utmost poverty and a scanty
population.


Pages:
36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60