The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales — page 50: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Wreck of the South Pole. 43 another time he might continue the experiment even after his victim had disappeared, but just now he had an en- gagement in the city and was obliged to leave. He also explained that in such cases absence from sight was a disadvantage, as one was obliged to bring mesmerism into play also. After my friend left I paid more attention to the hunter who already had his game bag half full. On our way home he told me that hunters were examined once a year as to their fitness for the work, and were appointed to the position by the government. They had rules and regula- tions as we have in our country and which we call game laws. Thus a hunter is obliged to hunt so many hours a day and so many days a week to supply the patrons who are allotted to him, the whole city being divided into dis- tricts.. If he should fail to secure the required amount of game in that time he was known to be failing in power and was censured, and if his decline continued, was de- graded to some more menial work. But this rarely hap- pened, as the exercise of the will power, like the exercise of the muscle, causes it to grow so that hunters frequently graduate into higher trades. Fishermen were of a lower grade, as were some classes of shepherds. Those who had care of sheep were of the very lowest class, it requiring very little brain to control and keep them in bounds. On the other hand, a herder of cattle or hogs was of higher class, as requiring more brain power, and ranked next below the hunters in point of intelligence. Connicloool SS (©)