1*0 THE COURT OF AVA. 
289 
ally called A’-rwat-wun, which may be trans¬ 
lated, “ governor of the incurables.” This per¬ 
son is by no means himself one of the outcasts, 
but, on the contrary, a dignitary of the state. 
This abominable institution is rendered still 
more completely so by the mode in which the 
officer in question is rewarded for his services. 
Like all other public functionaries, he has no 
avowed salary, but draws his subsistence from 
the narrow resources of the degraded classes 
whom he rules. The villages of the lepers, beg¬ 
gars, and burners of the dead, are assessed by 
him in the usual manner; and being invested 
with the administration of justice over these out¬ 
casts, he draws the usual perquisites from this 
resource. A considerable source of profit to him 
also is the extortion practised upon the more 
respectable part of the community, under pre¬ 
text of their labouring under some incurable 
and contagious disease. The scar of an old sore 
or wound will often be sufficient pretext to ex¬ 
tort money from the individual marked with 
it, to enable him to escape from being driven 
from society. If a wealthy individual have a 
son or daughter suffering from leprosy, or a dis¬ 
ease which may be mistaken for it, he will have 
to pay dearly to avoid being expelled, along with 
his whole family, from the city. The Chan- 
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