Manchurian Books

) to give him
an opportunity for flight. The prisoners are allowed every morning
and afternoon to receive the visits of their friends and relations,
and likewise to accept provisions from them. The wife of the
convict in question profited by this regulation to bring her husband
the necessary money; and on receiving this, the gaoler arranged
matters so that on the next morning the convict was not fastened to
the same chain with a fellow-criminal, as is usually the case, but
could walk alone, and thus easily get clear off, more especially as
the spot in which they worked was a very lonely one.
The whole affair was very cunningly arranged, but either the gaoler
changed his mind, or, perhaps, from the beginning had intended to
act as he did--he fired at the fugitive, and shot him dead.
It is very seldom that any pure descendants of the original
inhabitants are to be seen; we met with only two. They struck me as
very similar to the Puris of Brazil, except that they have not such
small ugly-shaped eyes. In this country there are no slaves.


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