This is the law which makes for peace. So long as
the king upon each island maintains peace, his people show him almost
divine honours; but, if he is anxious for war, they never rest till he
is slain by the enemy in battle, and to this end they set him in the
front rank, where he has to stand the whole brunt of the combat. His
armies, moreover, do not exert themselves vigorously until they know
that the king has fallen. Then they begin to fight for liberty and
their new king. Since this law was enacted no king has entered upon a
war without being slain in battle. Hence peace reigns, where formerly
continued hostilities prevailed.
The city of Porne, in which King Thedori reigns as paramount chief,
consists of twenty thousand houses, all of which are low-built cabins.
Some of the men who inhabit these dwellings have such long ears that
they reach down to their shoulders, and when we expressed surprise at
this, we were assured that on an island, not far off, there were men
who had such large ears, that with one ear they could, when they liked,
cover the whole of their heads. But Hartog disbelieved this story, nor
would he visit the island when this prodigy was offered to be shown to
him.
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