It is not to be expected that in a government of this kind justice can be properly administered, we saw indeed no signs of punishment during our stay. Tupia, however, always insisted upon it that theft was punished with death, and smaller crimes in proportion. All punishments, however, were the business of the injured party, who, if superior to him who committed the crime, easily executed them by means of his more numerous attendants; equals seldom chose to molest each other, unless countenanced by their superiors, who assisted them to defend their unjust acquisitions. The chiefs, however, to whom in reality all kinds of property belong, punish their dependents for crimes committed against each other, and the dependents of others, if caught doing wrong within their districts.
