I have so far seen fit only to amuse you with the visions that have shocked my eyes, yet I have not told you anything of substance about this odd place.
It is such a strange mix of richness and poverty, yet not poverty such as you and I are familiar. The people, young and old, are beautiful. There is no sign of pox nor rarely a glimpse of deformity. Their teeth are fine and white, their skin is clear and soft (yet the ladies would bake themselves in the sun until they redden like Iroquois!). There is no evidence of rickets nor goitres. There is a complete lack of thin, starv'd children (much the opposite, even the poorest seem very well fed indeed!). There is universal education paid by public subscription! And above all this goodness, this treasure of health and largesse, fortune heaped upon fortune, is the utterly altered situation of our own sex! 'Tis so miraculous I scarce believe it myself. Ladies have the vote! Indeed, a lady was once the Prime Minister. We can own property, be physicians, be adventuresses and travel in a mere few hours, not weeks nor months, to places as far away as Timbuktoo. Indeed, we can be anything we wish.
And the poverty? Why, one cannot believe the moaning that emits from these unimaginably fortunate beings — and the miserable circumstances in which they perceive themselves to be! They live in a Paradise of Luxury and Wealth that most of our neighbours and acquaintances could never envision in their wildest fancies, and yet the natives complain endlessly of their miserable estate.
I am most puzzled by it, and do long for your cleverness to help me fathom it all.
love and xxx from your very lost sister,
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