Although the eunuchs are objects of popular scorn, they have considerable power, and as their misfortune smooths the path to honours, it is often the case that self mutilation is practised by ambitious men of advanced age without fearing the pain and _sequelae_ of the operation. Their surgeons perform the operation skilfully, and they have a method by which many accidents are avoided. The patient is thrown into a deep sleep which lessens the shock of the operation, and experience has shown that the torpid state induced, is a protection against fever and inflammation which so often occurs after such operations. At the age of 18 years every man is subject to a poll-tax in proportion to his wealth. The magistrates, soldiers, and learned men however are exempt and it is the poor man that bears the brunt of the taxation as is usual in most countries. The taxes are collected after the harvest and the inhabitants of the remotest parts of the kingdom are forced to bring a certain quantity of fodder for the King's elephants and horses to the store houses in the capital. Every man is in addition obliged to work for six months on public works for which he receives food but no salary. So great is the degradation of human nature in these climates that the inhabitants, less privileged than animals, seem only to exist on the earth for the purpose of watering it with the sweat of their brows. The grandees and the learned follow the doctrines of Confucius, but its precepts are too simple to be adopted by the common people who can only behold the workings of a deity in the marvellous. The principal belief is that of Fo which is divided into various sects, the most widespread of which was founded by a China man named Lauro who is revered as one of the greatest wonder-workers of the East. His followers give out that his mother carried him in her womb for 70 years without having lost her virginity. He boasted of his intimacy with spirits who revealed the secrets of the future to him. The priests, brought up in ignorance and superstition, attract the minds of the populace by their fables and wonders. They live in extreme poverty as they have none of the grandees for their disciples, and the bounty of the common people is their only source of revenue. A certain number of priests boast they can cure the most stubborn forms of disease by means of charms. When summoned to the patient they make their appearance in a most extraordinary manner in order to render the performance more imposing. They make their exorcisms to the accompaniment of drums, and trumpets. They jump about in the sick room until the fate of the patient is decided either for death or life and whenever the result proves the useless nature of their performance, they have plenty of excuses ready for their non-success.