66 



The Ulmenes are the lawful judges of their 

 vassals, and for this reason their authority is less 

 precarious. The unconquerable pride of this 

 people prevents them from adopting the wise 

 measures of public justice; they alone possess 

 some general and vague ideas upon the principles 

 of politifsil union^ whence the executive power 

 being without force, distributive justice is ill 

 administered^ or entirely abandoned to the caprice 

 of individuals. The injured family often as- 

 sumes the right of pursuing the aggressor or his 

 relations, and of punishing them. From this 

 abuse are derived the denominations and dis- 

 tinctions, so much used in their jurisprudence, 

 of genguerin, genguman, genla, &c. denoting 

 the principal connections of the aggressor, of 

 the injured, or the deceased, who are supposed 

 to be authorized, by the laws of nature, to sup- 

 port by force the rights of their relatives. 



A system of judicial proceeding so irregular, 

 and apparently so incompatible with the existence 

 of any kind of civil society, becomes the constant 

 source of disorders entirely hostile to the pri- 

 marv object of all good government, public and 

 private security. When those who are at enmity 

 have a considerable number of adherents, they 

 mutually make incursions upon each others pos- 

 sessions, where they destroy or burn all that they 

 cannot carry oft\ These private quarrels, called 

 malocas, resemble much the feuds of the ancient 



