'By no means, my friend! you are really too rapid. The fact is, that no
one has the power of originally circulating these shells but our
Government; and if any one, by any chance, choose to violate this
arrangement, we make up for depriving him of his solitary walks on the
shore by instant submersion in the sea.'

'Then the whole circulation of the country is at the mercy of your
Government?' remarked Popanilla, summoning to his recollection the
contents of one of those shipwrecked brochures which had exercised so
strange an influence on his destiny. 'Suppose they do not choose to
issue?'

'That is always guarded against. The mere quarterly payments of
interest upon our national debt will secure an ample supply.'

'Debt! I thought you were the richest nation in the world?'

'Tis true; nevertheless, if there were a golden pyramid with a base as
big as the whole earth and an apex touching the heavens, it would not
supply us with sufficient metal to satisfy our creditors.'

'But, my dear sir,' exclaimed the perplexed Popanilla, 'if this really
be true, how then can you be said to be the richest nation in the
world?'

'It is very simple. The annual interest upon our debt exceeds the whole
wealth of the rest of the world; therefore we must be the richest nation
in the world.'

'Tis true,' said Popanilla; 'I see I have yet much to learn. But with