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diff --git a/old/54188-0.txt b/old/54188-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f9dfa98..0000000 --- a/old/54188-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6738 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of Crime--Oriental -Prisons, by Arthur Griffiths - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The History and Romance of Crime--Oriental Prisons - From the earliest times to the present day - -Author: Arthur Griffiths - -Release Date: February 18, 2017 [EBook #54188] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY, ROMANCE OF CRIME *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Wayne Hammond, Sharon Joiner and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The History and - - Romance of - - Crime - - FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES - TO THE PRESENT DAY - - [Illustration] - - THE GROLIER SOCIETY - LONDON - -[Illustration] - -_A Prison in Tangier_ - - - - - Oriental Prisons - - PRISONS AND CRIME IN INDIA - THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS - BURMAH--CHINA--JAPAN--EGYPT - TURKEY - - _by_ - - MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS - _Late Inspector of Prisons in Great Britain_ - - _Author of - “The Mysteries of Police and Crime - Fifty Years of Public Service,” etc._ - - [Illustration] - - THE GROLIER SOCIETY - - - EDITION NATIONALE - Limited to one thousand registered and numbered sets. - NUMBER 234 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -It is as true of crime in the Orient as of other habits, customs -and beliefs of the East, that what has descended from generation to -generation and become not only a tradition but an established fact, is -accepted as such by the people, who display only a passive indifference -to deeds of cruelty and violence. Each country has its own peculiar -classes of hereditary criminals, and the influence of tradition and -long established custom has made the eradication of such crimes a -difficult matter. - -Religion in the East has had a most notable influence on crime. In -India the Thugs or professional stranglers were most devout and their -criminal acts were preceded by religious rites and ceremonies. In -China the peculiar forms of animism pervading the religion of the -people has greatly influenced criminal practices. Murder veiled in -obscurity is frequently attributed to some one of the legion of evil -spirits who are supposed to be omnipresent; and to satisfy and appease -these demons innocent persons are made to suffer. So great, too, is -the power of the spirit after death to cause good or ill, that many -stories are related of victims of injustice who have hanged themselves -on their persecutors’ door-posts, thus converting their spirits into -wrathful ghosts to avenge them. The firm belief in ghosts and their -power of vengeance and reward is a great restraint in the practice of -infanticide, as the souls of murdered infants may seek vengeance and -bring about serious calamity. - -Oriental prison history is one long record of savage punishments -culminating in the death penalty, aggravated by abominable tortures. -The people are of two classes, the oppressed and the oppressors, and -the last named have invented many devices for legal persecution. -In early China and Japan, relentless and ferocious methods were in -force. One of the emperors of China invented a new kind of punishment, -described by Du Halde in 1738, at the instigation of a favourite wife. -It was a column of brass, twenty cubits high and eight in diameter, -hollow in the middle like Phalaris’s Bull, with openings in three -places for putting in fuel. To this they fastened the criminals, and -making them embrace it with their arms and legs, lighted a great fire -in the inside; and thus roasted them until they were reduced to ashes. - -The first slaves in China were felons deprived of their liberty. Later -the very poor with their families sold themselves to the rich. Although -slavery has never been largely prevalent owing to the patriarchal -nature of society, all modern writers agree that it exists in a -loathsome form to-day. Parents sell their children and girls bring a -higher price than boys. - -Who does not know of the peculiar sufferings and wrongs inflicted -for so many generations on the gentle peasant in the proud land of -the Pharaohs, of whom it is said “that the dust which fills the air -about the Pyramids and the ruined temples is that of their remote -forefathers, who swarmed over the land, working under the fiery sun and -the sharp scourge for successive races of task-masters--the Ethiopian, -the Persian, the Macedonian, the Roman, the Arab, the Circassian and -the Turk.” - -During the reign of Ismail Pasha we hear of 150,000 men, women and -children driven forth from their villages with whips to perform work -without wages on the Khedive’s lands or in his factories. It is a -heartrending picture. - -In earlier times the administration of the country districts was in -the hands of governors appointed by the Pasha and charged by him with -the collection of taxes and the regulation of the corvêé, or system of -enforced labour, at one time the universal rule in Egypt. The present -system established by Great Britain is in striking contrast to past -cruelties. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. PRISON SYSTEM IN INDIA 9 - - II. THE CRIME OF THUGGEE 42 - - III. CEREMONIES OF THUGGEE 70 - - IV. DACOITY 82 - - V. CHARACTERISTIC CRIMES 124 - - VI. THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS 148 - - VII. PRISONS OF BURMAH 170 - - VIII. CRIME IN CHINA 205 - - IX. ENLIGHTENED METHODS OF JAPAN 229 - - X. THE LAW IN EGYPT 243 - - XI. TURKISH PRISONS 269 - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - A PRISON IN TANGIER _Frontispiece_ - - EXECUTION IN INDIA _Page_ 124 - - CHINESE PUNISHMENT “ 217 - - - - -PRISONS OF INDIA - - - - -CHAPTER I - -PRISON SYSTEM IN INDIA - - Lord Macaulay’s work--Commission appointed to look into - state of prisons--Appointment of an inspector-general of - gaols--Charge of district gaols given into the hands of civil - surgeons--Treatment of juvenile offenders in India--Prison - discipline--The employment of convict overseers--Caste--Ahmedabad - gaol--Prison industries--Alipore Gaol in Calcutta--Ameer Khan, - the Wahabee--Description of the Montgomery gaol--The prison - factory--Convict officials--The gaol of Sirsah--A native gaol of - Orissa. - - -The prison system in India developed gradually under the British -rule. At first but little attention was paid to the subject of penal -discipline, and the places of detention were put in the charge of -judicial officers who had complete control of the criminals in their -districts. The judges and magistrates had but little time to attend -to the gaols; the administration was chiefly in the hands of native -subordinates, and abuses of every kind prevailed, as might have been -expected. - -The first important step toward prison reform was initiated by Lord -Macaulay when a member of the Indian Law Commission in 1835. He -suggested that a committee should be appointed to look into the -state of the prisons in India and to prepare an improved plan of -prison discipline. This suggestion was readily acceded to by the -governor-general, Sir C. Metcalfe, and a committee composed of fourteen -able and distinguished men was selected for the purpose. An extract -from their report will best show the existing state of the prisons at -that time, and runs as follows: - -“In reviewing the treatment of prisoners in Indian gaols, although on -some points which we have not failed to throw into a strong light the -humanity of it is doubtful, yet generally the care that is taken of the -physical condition of these unfortunate men in the great essentials -of cleanliness, attention to the sick and the provision of food and -clothing, appears to us to be highly honourable to the government of -British India. When fair allowance has been made for the climate of -the country and the habits of the people, we doubt whether India will -not bear a comparison even with England, where for some years past -more money and attention has been expended to secure the health and -bodily comfort of prisoners than has ever been the case in any other -country of Europe.... It appears to us that that which has elsewhere -been deemed the first step of prison reform has been already taken in -India. What after many years was the first good effect of the labours -of Howard and Neild in England has already been achieved here. There -is no systematic carelessness as to the circumstances of the prisoner, -no niggardly disregard of his natural wants; he is not left to starve -of cold or hunger or to live on the charity of individuals; he is not -left in filth and stench to sink under disease without an attempt to -cure him; he is not able to bribe his gaoler in order to obtain the -necessaries which the law allows him. With us in England, the second -stage of prison reform seems to be nearly the present state of prison -discipline in India. The physical condition of the prisoner has been -looked to, but nothing more, and the consequences here as in England -have been that a prison, without being the less demoralising, is not a -very pleasant place of residence.... The proportion of distinct civil -gaols to all other gaols is very honourable to the government. The -mixture of the two sexes in Indian prisons is unknown, and in general -the separation of tried and untried prisoners is at least as complete -in India as in other countries. We allude to these things, not to give -more credit to the Indian government in these matters than it deserves, -but to show that although we have found much fault and recommend many -reforms, we do not overlook the fact that much has been already done.” - -The second stage in Indian prison reform was the appointment of an -inspector-general of gaols for every province. This was first tried as -an experiment in the North-western Provinces after some hesitation -on the part of the government, and it was proved conclusively by -comparison with the statistics of former years “that the prisoners were -generally more healthy, better lodged, fed and clothed, that the gaol -discipline had been much improved and that the expenditure had been -reduced” in those prisons which had been placed under the supervision -of an inspector. Upon this evidence the government decided to make the -office a permanent one, and it was finally established in 1850 in the -North-western Provinces and shortly afterward in the Punjab, Bengal, -Madras and Bombay. - -The third important measure toward prison reform in India was -initiated in the North-western Provinces. Until 1860, the management -of the district gaols had been in the hands of the magistrates of the -surrounding country, but it was found that owing to the increased -pressure of work in the administration they were unable “to find -time to regulate the management, economy and discipline of the local -prison with the care and exactness which the pecuniary interests of -the government and the purposes of civil administration demand.” -Therefore the civil surgeon, who had formerly had charge of the medical -department only of the local gaol, was now given the entire management. -This change was finally sanctioned by the government in 1864, after -due trial which showed that there had been an improved discipline -and an improved economy in all the gaols in which the experiment had -been tried. In 1864 two other important reforms were introduced: -first,--that no central gaol (intended for all prisoners sentenced to a -term exceeding one year) should be built to accommodate more than one -thousand persons; and second,--that the minimum space allowed to each -prisoner should be 9 feet by 6, or 54 superficial feet, and 9 feet by 6 -by 12, or 648 cubic feet. - -Some of the many difficulties in the way of prison reform besides those -of finance are summed up in Lord Auckland’s resolution upon the prison -committee’s report. - -“Every reform of prison discipline is almost of necessity attended at -the outset with extraordinary expense. To exchange the common herding -together of prisoners of all descriptions for careful classification; -to substitute a strict and useful industry for idleness or for a light, -ill-directed labour; to provide that the life which is irksome shall -not also be unhealthy, and that the collection of the vicious shall not -be a school of vice,--are all objects for the first approach of which -large buildings must be erected, machinery formed and establishments -contrived, and in the perfect attainment and maintenance of which great -disappointment has after every effort and expense in many countries -ensued. In no country is it likely that greater difficulty will be -experienced than in this for the mere locality of the prison; that -which is healthy in one season may become a pesthouse by a blast of -fever or cholera, in another. For its form--the close yard which is -adapted for classification and is not unwholesome in England, would be -a sink of malaria in India. For food, for labour and for consort there -are habits and an inveteracy of prejudice bearing upon health, opposing -the best management of prisons such as are not to be encountered -elsewhere, and superadded to all this is the absence of fitting -instruments for control and management, while it is principally upon a -perfect tact and judgment and an unwearying zeal that the success of -every scheme of discipline has been found to depend.” - -The classification of the gaols in the North-western Provinces and Oude -is made according to the number of persons they can hold, as follows: -the central prisons of the first, second, third and fourth class; -the district prisons, and the lock-ups. In the central prisons, all -prisoners sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for any period exceeding -six months are confined; in the district prisons all prisoners -sentenced to terms not exceeding three months are sent for every kind -of crime, also civil prisoners and prisoners committed for trial at the -sessions court; in the lock-ups all prisoners under trial before any -court are lodged. - -There are no reformatories for juvenile offenders in India. The -government has so far considered that there is no need for their -establishment. This conclusion has been arrived at by a comparison -between the state of civilisation in the European countries which have -adopted this plan of dealing with juvenile criminals and that of India. -In the former there is a large class of vagrant, deserted and neglected -children, which is quite unknown in the latter country. The following -figures will serve to show the truth of this assertion. In Ireland, in -1866, out of a population of 6,000,000, there were 1,060 juveniles, -under sixteen years, committed to prison for various offences; whereas -in the whole of India, with a population of more than 150,000,000, the -commitment of juveniles was about 2,000 in the same year. - -In the presidency of Bombay there is an institution of very much the -same nature as a reformatory, called the David Sasson Industrial and -Reformatory Institution, which owes its origin to private benevolence, -but which now receives some support from public resources. It is quite -separate from the gaols and under different management and control. - -In the North-western Provinces “all boys and lads under eighteen years -of age, sentenced to periods of imprisonment for three months, are -transferred as soon after sentence as possible to the nearest central -prison, where they are placed under a regular system of education with -training in industrial labour; they are confined in separate cells -at night wherever there are a sufficient number of these for their -accommodation, which is the case at Meerut, Agra and Gorruckpore, -and at all prisons they attend school and labour for fixed periods -during the day under directors specially employed for that purpose. -Boys, whether confined in separate cells or association, are kept, day -and night, entirely separate from the adult prisoners.” In the Punjab -there is a reformatory in connection with the gaol of Goordaspore to -which boys sentenced to more than six months’ confinement are sent. -This reformatory was first established in the Sealkote gaol in 1862, -but was subsequently removed to Goordaspore. The warder in charge, -the gaol officials, the inspectors and the teacher approved by the -educational department, are the only adults allowed to enter this -yard. In the majority of district gaols there is a special yard set -aside for juvenile prisoners, and in those gaols, where no such yard -exists, when juvenile prisoners are received they are placed in cells, -or other arrangements are made for separating them from the rest of -the prisoners at night, and during the day they are made to work in a -part of the yard by themselves. In the Lahore central gaol there is a -separate yard for juveniles under a specially selected warder. - -Nearly every presidency and province of India has its gaol code, -drawn up under the sanction of the Prison Acts. That of Bengal was -compiled by Frederic J. Mouat, M. D., and was introduced in the year -1864. “It borrowed freely,” he says, “from all the existing European -and Indian rules which seemed to me to be suited for introduction in -lower Bengal, and contained some special provisions based upon my -personal experience, and study of prison systems at home and abroad.... -It defined in considerable detail the duties, responsibilities and -powers of all classes of prison officers; contained provisions for -the classification and punishment of all classes of offenders; their -management in sickness and in health; their food, clothing, work, -instruction; and, in fact, every detail of discipline during their -residence in gaol, their transfer from one prison to another, their -discharge, and in the execution of capital sentences.” Since these -rules were framed a system of remission of sentence as the reward for -good conduct in gaol has been introduced, based on the principle of -what is known as the Irish system. - -One of the chief peculiarities of Indian prison management is the -employment of convicts in the maintenance of discipline. From the -earliest days, prisoners were employed in the discharge of all the -menial duties of the gaols, cooking, washing, cleansing, scavengering, -husking rice, grinding corn and the preparation of food. The difficulty -of obtaining trustworthy warders on the salaries allowed, and the -impossibility of preventing the introduction of forbidden articles -through their agency, led to the trial in the gaol at Alipore of -well-behaved, long-term convicts as prison guards. They were found to -be more reliable than outsiders, and to discharge their duties more -efficiently. The practice was adopted in other prisons, and when -conducted with care and discretion, worked so well that the system -has been extended throughout India. Special provision for it has been -made in all the gaol codes. As a reward for good conduct and strict -obedience to prison rules, all convicts whose behaviour has been -exemplary throughout, and who have completed the prescribed term of -hard labour, are eligible for the offices of convict warder, guard and -work-overseer. The number employed in these offices can never exceed -ten per cent. of the criminals in custody. All such appointments are -made with great care and deliberation, and are subject to the sanction -of the head of the prison department, by whom they are closely watched. -They are liable to forfeiture for serious misconduct or breach of duty. - -As a measure of economy in diminishing the cost of guarding -prisons, and as a means of reformation in teaching self-respect and -self-control, the plan has been successful everywhere in India, -contrary to the usual experience of penal legislators. The privilege -is much prized, and few prisoners who have held such offices have -relapsed into crime, while many have obtained positions of trust on the -completion of their sentences. - -In the gaols of Bengal the privileges of caste are respected in -general, but no false plea of caste is permitted to interfere with -punishment. With care, tact and such knowledge of the people committed -to his charge as every officer in command of a prison ought to -possess, no great feeling of dissatisfaction is likely to arise or to -be created. But from the jealousy with which all proceedings within -the prisons are watched by the outside population, and the rapidity -with which intelligence regarding them is spread, it is evident that -extreme care must continue to be observed in the matter. While it is -well known that imprisonment with its enforced associations is always -attended with loss of caste, that, however, is readily restored by the -performance of slight penances on release. It is instructive to find, -on tracing them throughout the country, how the same castes, whatever -differences of names they bear, are most prone to the commission of the -same classes of crime. - -Again, it is strange to discover that belief in witchcraft and the -existence of witch-finders is a source of crime in the East at the -present time. Among the Kols, an aboriginal race in the south-west of -Bengal, each village is supposed to have a tutelar divinity, generally -an evil spirit to whom is assigned all the sickness, epidemics, -diseases and misfortunes which occur in the village. To this spirit -certain lands are assigned, and the produce of this land is used in -propitiatory sacrifices. The existence of this superstition is said to -be a frequent cause of murder and extortion. The Kols believe in the -powers of divination of “witch-finders,” who are usually consulted when -anything untoward occurs in a village. This witch-finder, who often -lives at a distance, performs certain absurd ceremonials, and pretends -through them to discover who in the village has caused the anger of -the tutelar deity. The person denounced is generally called upon to -pay handsomely for the evil caused, and usually does so, but if he -refuses he is frequently murdered, and whether he pays or not, if the -misfortune does not cease he is driven from the village, if no worse -fate overtakes him. All this is done in the utmost good faith, faith as -absolute as that with which witch-hunting was pursued by the puritans -of Scotland and America. - -Sir Richard Temple, one of the most famous of India’s recent -proconsuls, passes an approving verdict upon Indian prisons as they -existed to the date of his volume, “India in 1880.” He was of the -opinion that they were managed conscientiously and as far as possible, -with the means available, according to accepted principles. They erred -perhaps in construction, and showed many shortcomings as regards -sanitation and disciplinary supervision, but an earnest desire to -improve them has animated the Indian government and its officials. -Native states, a little tardily, perhaps, have followed suit, and -many possess prisons imitating some of the best points of the British -system. They long clung, however, to the old barbarous methods of -punishment, such as short periods of detention with flogging, various -kinds of fining, compensation to the relatives of murdered men, and -mutilation in cases of grave robbery. A capital sentence was very -rarely inflicted. - -Gradually public opinion in India awoke to the belief that something -more than mere penal detention was needed for the treatment of -prisoners. Outdoor labour, chiefly employed hitherto, was deemed -injurious to health and demoralising to discipline, entailing undue -expense in staff and guards; and so employment within the walls was -substituted, with organised industries and manufactures by hand and -with the help of machinery. The work done includes the weaving of -carpets, which have a certain value and reputation, and much cotton -and other fibres are manufactured; and the prisoners work at printing, -lithography and other useful trades. The rules for wearing irons and -fetters have been revised, and a consistent attempt has been made at -classification by separating the old habitual criminals from the less -hardened offenders. The system of earning remission by industry and -good conduct, as practised in the British prisons, has been introduced -with good results. Sanitation and ventilation have been much improved, -so that mortality has greatly diminished. Solitary confinement is -enforced as a means of discipline, but the cellular separation of -prisoners by night makes only slow progress, and the association of all -classes, good, bad and indifferent has a generally injurious effect -upon prisoners. - -According to Sir Richard Temple’s figures, there were in his time more -than two hundred prisons in all India, exclusive of 386 lock-ups, and -the daily average of inmates was 118,500, of whom only 5,500 were -females. The annual number of crimes committed and charged was 880,000, -and as more than one person is often concerned, the number of persons -tried amounted to 970,000, of whom 550,000 were convicted, the balance -being under trial or discharged. The labours devolving upon the police -were obviously severe, and the prisons were always full. - -Among the leading Indian prisons of to-day, one of the largest, the -Ahmedabad gaol, was originally a Mohammedan college and was converted -to its present purpose in 1820. Miss Mary Carpenter, who visited -it in 1868, describes the gaol as follows: “It is a fine-looking -building and near the citadel, but not of course well adapted to its -present purpose, though the large space enclosed by the buildings -gives it great capabilities of improvement. The first thing which -struck us painfully was that the men had irons on their legs. This -barbaric custom, which has long been exploded in our own country, -is here preserved and is indeed general in India in consequence of -the usual insecurity of the premises. The prisoners were working in -large open sheds with little appearance of confinement. A number -were occupied in weaving strong cotton carpets which appeared well -calculated for wear. Others were making towelling of various kinds, -very strong and good, from the cotton grown in the neighbourhood, -while others were manufacturing pretty little cocoa mats and baskets. -There was in general a criminal look in the culprits; they were -working with good-will and appeared interested in their occupation, -as in an ordinary factory. Except the chains, there was nothing of a -penal description in the scene around us; and although this cheerful -open place, with work at useful trades, might not give the intended -feeling of punishment, still it was to be hoped that training these -men to useful labour, under good moral influences, must have a -beneficial influence on their future lives. On remarking this to the -superintendent, he informed me that the salutary effect of the day’s -work under proper supervision was completely neutralised, or even -worse, by the corrupting influences of the night. - -“There are four hundred prisoners in this gaol, for whom the number -of sleeping cells is totally inadequate and three or four are -consequently locked up together in the dark for twelve hours. There -is no possibility during this period of preventing communication of -the most corrupting nature, both moral and physical. No man convicted -of a first offence can enter this place--which ought to be one of -punishment and attempted reformation--without the greatest probability -of contamination and gaining experience in evil from the adepts in -crime who are confined with him; no young boy can enter without his -fate being sealed for life. - -“Juvenile delinquents, casual offenders, hardened thieves sentenced -to a long term of imprisonment, are all herded together without any -possibility of proper classification or separation. The condition of -the thirty-two whom I had seen at the court on the day before was -even worse than the others; they were all penned up together without -work. There they had been for many months; and still they all were -without any attempt being made to give them instruction, which might -improve their moral and intellectual condition. This state of things -was not owing to any neglect on the part of the superintendent, a man -of enlightened benevolence, who devoted himself heart and soul to -his work. The conditions of this gaol are such that though able and -willing to remedy all these evils if authority and means were given to -him, under the existing circumstances he is powerless. There is ample -room on the premises for him to construct separate cells for all the -prisoners with only the cost of material, but this is not granted to -him; he cannot therefore carry out the printed regulations that the -prisoners are not to be made worse while in custody. The regulations -direct that the juveniles shall be separated from the adults; this is -now simply impossible. Rules are made that the prisoners shall receive -instruction, but no salary is allowed for a schoolmaster; there is -no place appropriated for instruction and no time is granted for -schooling; there are ten hours for labour, two hours are requisite for -meals and rest and during the remainder of the twenty-four hours the -prisoners are locked up. It is indeed permitted by the regulations that -some prisoners may be employed as instructors but with the proviso -that their hours of labour shall not be abridged for the purpose. Such -instructors could not be expected to exercise any good moral influence -on the other prisoners; yet to commence with these, if any educated men -were among them, might lead to some better arrangement. The old college -hall might possibly be employed as a schoolroom for a couple of hours -after sunset; but light would then be required and oil did not form a -part of the authorised expenditure. There were, then, obstacles to any -kind of instruction being imparted to the prisoners which no amount of -earnestness on the part of the officials or the superintendent could -surmount. - -“On inquiring whether there were any females in the gaol, we were -conducted to a small separate court where in a dismal ward there were -some miserable women employed in drudgery work. There were no female -attendants and indeed no attempt appeared to be made to improve their -wretched condition. I felt grieved and shocked that in any part of the -British dominions women who were rendered helpless by being deprived of -liberty, and thus fell under our special responsibility, should be so -utterly uncared for as to be left under the superintendence of male -warders and without any means of improvement. In all these observations -I found that I had the full accordance of the superintendent; who, so -far from being annoyed at the discovery of so many evils in this place, -only rejoiced that some one should add force to his own representations -by an independent testimony. He stated that he understood it to be in -contemplation to build a large central gaol for the long-sentenced -prisoners; the removal of these from his own gaol would of course -remedy the overcrowding, though it would not enable each prisoner to -have a separate cell. In the meantime the evils were very great from a -sanitary as well as from a moral point of view. On one occasion more -than a hundred had died owing to a want of good sanitary arrangements. -Immediate attention to the condition of this gaol appeared therefore -necessary. Considering this as a common gaol without long-sentenced -prisoners, the following points suggested themselves as necessary -to carry out the intentions of government. First, a number of -well-ventilated sleeping cells should be constructed without delay, -so as to enable every prisoner to have a separate cell for sleeping. -Second, a trained and efficient teacher should be engaged to carry -out instruction; arrangements should be made to provide a cheerful -and well-lighted schoolroom. Educated prisoners may be employed as -assistant teachers; these should be specially trained and instructed -by the headmaster in their labour hours so as to provide as efficient -a staff as possible. Third, the mark system and classification should -be carried out. Fourth, prisoners awaiting trial should be kept in -separation, but not under penal condition; the female department should -be completely remodelled under female warders; all the advantages -provided for the men should be given to the women.” - -Mr. Routledge, speaking of the Alipore Gaol in Calcutta which he -visited in 1878, says:-- - -“It contained 2,500 persons when I saw it, and with a few exceptions, -as in the case of those undergoing punishment, all were employed -in remunerative labour. There were masons erecting buildings, -weavers making gunny-bag cloth of jute, a factory of jute-spinners, -lithographers, painters, carpenters, blacksmiths and many other classes -of workmen, all engaged in task work. If they exceeded the task a -small sum was carried to their credit to be paid to them on leaving -gaol. An amusing story was told of a shrewd Yorkshireman who when -sent out to “manage a jute mill” was faced by the reality of some -hundreds of criminals not one of whom knew anything of the work. First -he despaired; then he hoped a little; finally he succeeded and had a -capital jute mill. Dr. Faucus, the governor of the prison, told me that -the men they sent out with trades hardly ever had returned; and there -was an instance of a man whose time had expired begging permission to -remain a little longer in gaol to more completely learn his trade. It -was to my view a humane and judicious system. - -“Eighteen months later I visited the Presidency Gaol in Calcutta, and -the governor, Dr. Mackenzie, kindly showed me the wonders of the place. -We saw in the yard, ‘a mild Bengalee,’ whom flogging, short diet and -even the dreaded solitary confinement had failed to compel to work. -‘He is one of the few prisoners who ever beat me,’ the governor said. -A hundred or so of the prisoners were breaking stones; some were on -the tread-mill, a frightful punishment under such a sun; some were -mat-making, on very heavy looms. We came to a separate cell, the inmate -of which was a loose-jointed, misshapen, weak-looking, thin-faced -native man, apparently about twenty-five years of age, though he -might, for anything one could judge, have been any age from eighteen -to forty. ‘That,’ said the governor, ‘was one of the most daring and -relentless Dacoits we have ever had.’ In a cell a few yards distant, -there was a grave and venerable looking old man who had attained the -very highest grade in a different profession--that of a forger. He had -been convicted in attempting to obtain money from an officer--I think -the head of the police--by means of a letter purporting to be written -by Mr. Reilly, the well-known detective. The forgery was perfect, and -no one would have disputed the letter but for one small mistake; the -two initial letters of Mr. Reilly’s Christian name were transposed. -This interesting old gentleman when questioned as to the amount of work -he had done, put his hands together and gravely confessed that it was -far short of the task. The governor spoke sternly and threatened short -diet. Evidently the old artist was out of his vocation when attempting -slow, patient work. When the same question was put to the Dacoit he -pleaded pitifully, ‘Only four bags, but I’ll do forty to-morrow.’ Forty -was the number required to be sewed per day. - -“There were many wealthy natives among the prisoners; and I was -sorry to find a number of English sailors and soldiers committed for -deserting regiments or ships. It was impossible to look upon them as -criminals. They were kept apart from the other prisoners. Some of -them were very fine fellows, who probably never were in prison before -nor would be again. Another class was that of the vagrants, termed -‘loafers.’ There were some very respectable looking men among them, -‘turned away from the railways,’ they said, or ‘brought from Australia -in charge of horses and then dismissed’--the most prolific source of -‘loaferism’ in India. - -“Six young native boys were separated from the rest. They had their -own yard and each a little garden and a division of work. One was -cook, another housemaid, and so on. They were drawn up in line and -questioned, the cook first. - -“‘What are you here for?’ - -“‘Murder; I struck another boy on the head and killed him.’ - -“‘And you?’ - -“‘Murder; I threw a child into a well.’ - -“The answers were given as if they had related to common matters. -We went no further in the list. An Indian prison is marvellous for -its mixture of races. The Hindu cannot eat with the Mussulman. To -step inside a cookhouse is to defile it even for prisoners. Yet even -Brahmins, old offenders, had been known to beg for the office of -_mehtars_ (sweepers, lowest menials), so great was their dread of the -hard labour. - -“What were called the ‘non-habituals’ were employed as at Alipore and -taught trades where necessary. I noticed particularly an intelligent -Chinaman busy at the lathe. I said, ‘He never gave you any trouble?’ -‘No; he was entrapped into a robbery, caught and convicted, and he -immediately made the best of his position. He is a quiet, respectful, -intelligent man.’ He spoke English like an Englishman. There were -several Chinamen in the prison and all of the same class. We came to a -long line of men, seated on the ground, engaged in hand spinning; the -fourth from one end was old Ameer Khan, the Wahabee. He was a tall man, -I should say nearly seventy years of age, stout, with flabby cheeks, a -rather fine forehead and an extraordinarily furtive eye.” - -The trial of Ameer Khan, the Wahabee, caused a great sensation in the -Indian law courts in the year 1870. The Wahabees were a sect founded by -a young Arab pilgrim of Damascus, named Abd-el Wahab, who endeavoured -to reform the Mohammedan faith by denouncing the corruptions that -had crept in and by calling upon Mussulmans to “return to their -primitive church with its simplicity of manners and purity of morals.” -The movement spread into India, where it gained great success with -the Sunnis, themselves puritans, but it was fiercely hated by the -Mohammedans, who had deteriorated greatly under the English rule, and -there was great danger of an insurrection. In 1858 Sir Sydney Cotton -had stormed the stronghold of the Wahabees at Sittana and razed the -villages of their allies to the ground. In 1869 the government received -information that the Wahabees had issued a propaganda from Sittana -and Patna which was to be spread throughout India, and again found it -necessary to take steps to suppress the Wahabees. Among others, Ameer -Khan, a Mussulman banker and money lender of Calcutta, was suddenly -arrested in July, 1869, on no stated charge. He applied for a writ -of habeas corpus, but was refused. He appealed to the Supreme Court, -and then began the famous trial which lasted six months. In December -Ameer Khan was released from Alipore gaol, but he was immediately -rearrested, as it had been discovered that he had been apprehended -by a warrant about which there was some question. He was then tried -before a civilian judge at Patna, where the offences were alleged to -have been committed, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was -found guilty of acting as agent and supplying money for the Wahabee -propaganda. - -The religious tenets of the Wahabees are still professed by many of -the Arabs and are admitted to be orthodox by the most learned of the -_‘ulamas_ of Egypt. The Wahabees are merely reformers, who believe all -the fundamental points of El-Islam and all the accessory doctrines -of the Koran and the “Traditions of the Prophets;” in short, their -tenets are those of the primitive Moslems. They disapprove of gorgeous -sepulchres and domes erected over tombs; such they invariably destroy -when in power. They also condemn as idolaters those who pay peculiar -veneration to deceased saints; and even declare all other Moslems to -be heretics for the extravagant respect which they pay to the prophet. -They forbid the wearing of silk, gold ornaments and all costly apparel, -and also the practice of smoking tobacco. For the want of this last -luxury they console themselves in some degree by an immoderate use of -coffee. There are many learned men among them, and they have collected -many valuable books, chiefly historical, from various parts of Arabia -and from Egypt. - -The Montgomery gaol in the Punjab, one of the largest in India, -was recently visited by Captain Buck of the Indian army, and his -description of the details of prison life there is exceedingly -interesting. - -Attached to the gateway are not only the prison offices, barracks for -the warders and an armory, but a queer looking room where well-behaved -prisoners may receive friends once in three months. The room is divided -by bars into three parts. In the portion at one end the prisoner -squats, his visitor stays in the part at the other end and a gaoler -or assistant sits in the middle space, where he can make sure that no -smuggling goes on or that no attempts at escape are made. - -The prisoners become very clever and use all sorts of devices to -smuggle in coins, tobacco, opium and other drugs and dice. They are -allowed to wear their own shoes, but these are examined very carefully, -for the soles are frequently found to be made of tobacco, four-anna -pieces and other things than leather. “A common dodge,” says Captain -Buck, “among the prisoners for concealing coins and other small things -is to make a receptacle in the throat by means of a leaden weight about -the diameter of a florin and half an inch thick; this is attached to a -string some six inches long, a knot in the end being slipped between -two teeth to prevent it sliding down the throat. By holding the head in -a particular position for some time every day, ‘waggling’ the weight -about, and from time to time altering the length of the string, a pouch -can be formed in the throat suitable for holding as many as fifteen -rupees. The possessor of this strange ‘safe’ is able to put in and take -out his treasure with facility, but it is exceedingly difficult to -make a man disgorge the contents against his will, or even to find out -whether he possesses the pouch at all without the use of the Röntgen -rays.” - -The Montgomery gaol is as large as a small town, and contains two great -enclosures surrounded by a high outside wall, three spaces at the back -for work shops, a separate yard for the female ward and such other -buildings as storehouses, pumping stations and granaries. All of the -buildings are constructed of burnt brick, but the walls are made of -sun-dried brick and are kept in repair and plastered by gaol labour. -The menial work is performed by the prisoners, and caste prejudices -have been consulted in apportioning this work to the different classes -of prisoners. The lower castes do scavengering and general cleaning, -while the dyer, washerman, barber, tailor, blacksmith and weaver are -all, as far as possible, employed at their respective professions. -Other prisoners who have worked at trades which the gaol does not -afford are given work in the factories. - -The factories are the most interesting part of the gaol at Montgomery. -Carpets are made in many beautiful patterns. A carpet over fifty feet -wide can be woven on the largest loom, and it is an interesting sight -to see a row of twenty-five men engaged in pulling the threads from -the many coloured balls of wool above their heads, slipping them into -place and with a small curved knife cutting off the ends, pressing -down the stitches with a wooden fork, and never making a mistake. The -pattern is read out by convicts stationed behind a loom, sometimes -from patterns, sometimes from books and often from memory. To the -uninitiated these instructions are incomprehensible, for there is such -a confusion of sounds that it is difficult to distinguish any one -voice. The marvel of it is how each man knows what colours to use and -where. Somehow or other, in spite of all the noise and confusion, dust -and glare, these lovely carpets are produced. The ordinary woollen -carpet costs from sixteen to twenty-four shillings a square yard, -according to the number of stitches to the inch, but the prices range -higher for specially selected wool, while the price of a silk carpet is -almost a small fortune. - -Another part of the factory contains the cloth looms. The weavers -rig up their looms in the same manner as they would in their native -villages, and consequently the yard appears to be in considerable -disorder; “each weaver sits at his own little loom with his legs in -a hole in the ground and flashes the spindle backwards and forwards, -seldom wasting his time for fear he may not finish his day’s job, and -thus lose marks or fail to gain any. One man, in training, has to -complete nine yards of the duster-cloth, three-quarters of a yard wide, -in a day; fifteen yards of blanketing four feet, eight inches wide, is -another task; while a man working on a carpet, ‘_munj_-mat,’ or cotton -mat, has to work on a width of two feet and complete four inches, -twelve feet and two feet respectively in one day.” If a prisoner is -able to do extra work he obtains marks and gains some remission from -his sentence. - -The dormitories contain curious looking long rooms with passages down -the middle and on each side rows of couches made of hard baked mud. The -prisoners are provided with blankets and mattresses made of rice straw, -and they can be fairly comfortable. Even beds made out of such material -have been diverted to other uses by the ingenious inmates. A convict is -said to have made a pipe out of his bed. By hollowing out a place near -the head of the bed and plastering it over, he made two holes, one to -hold the tobacco and ashes, and the other to serve as a mouthpiece. - -As an additional precautionary measure to prevent plague from entering -the gaol, every prisoner who catches a rat and produces it alive is -given a reward of ten marks. This is a distinct gain toward a shorter -sentence, for twenty-four marks means one day’s remission. It has -been surmised, as the rats are very numerous in the gaol in spite -of wire netting everywhere placed to keep them out, that either the -warders arrange to bring them in or the prisoners maintain reserves for -breeding purposes. - -The cook-house is in the yard where the men are paraded. Two meals are -served daily, one at 7.30 A. M. and the other after 5 P. M., but in -addition a little parched boiled _gram_ is given to each convict in -the middle of the day, when there is a short recess from work. Besides -the large _chupattis_, made of wheat and Indian corn, a few ounces of -_dal_ are served in the morning, and vegetables with condiments in the -evening. All the vegetables and condiments are produced by the convicts -in the large garden attached to the gaol. - -It is said that no convict has ever gotten away altogether, but that -those who manage to escape occasionally are always recaptured. As -the gaol is situated in a large desert, tracking the runaways is -comparatively easy. On one occasion, a man was apparently missing -at evening roll-call. For considerable time his identity could not -be ascertained, but after a thorough search and re-checking, it was -remembered that a murderer had been hanged that day, and the officials -had failed to strike his name from the roll. - -The hospital is exceedingly clean and well kept. The routine of the -gaol generally runs smoothly, and the character of the treatment and -discipline in this typical prison of India will bear comparison with -that in many institutions of a like kind at home and abroad. - -Some of the local gaols in India are worth a passing mention. A good -specimen was that of Sirsah on the confines of the Bikaneer desert. -Colonel Hervey visited it and speaks of it as a model gaol. He says, -“Its lofty walls are shielded by a covered way running round its top. -It has an outer and an inner ditch at the foot of the walls, and -upward-sloping towers at its four corners, resembling the castles of -a chess-board. The prisoners in it were warmly clothed and looked -sleek, and being told off to healthful although hard labour, they ate -with eagerness their diet of curried meat, curried _shorwah_, or soup, -and wheaten cakes. This was served out to them plentifully while I -was there. They sat down on the ground in lines without reference to -castes, and all promiscuously partook of the food set before them. I -was astonished at this, for there is generally so much difficulty in -the matter of food, owing to caste prejudices.” - -Another interesting native gaol is that of Orissa, visited by Sir -William Hunter in 1872. He says: “It consisted of a courtyard with -low thatched sheds running round three sides and the guard-house on -the fourth. The shed roofs came so low that a child might have jumped -on to them and thus got over the wall. When the guard turned out, -moreover, we found it to consist of two very old men; and the Maharaja -was rather displeased to find that one of them had his matchlock under -repair at the blacksmith’s, while the other had left his weapon in his -own village, ten miles off, to protect his family during his period of -service at court. Inside were sixty-nine prisoners, and I asked how it -came that they did not, under the circumstances, all jump over the -wall? The question seemed to strike the Maharaja as a particularly -foolish one. ‘Where could they go?’ he said. ‘On the rare occasion that -a prisoner breaks gaol, it is only to pay a visit to his family; and -the villagers, as in duty bound, return him within a few days.’ The -truth is that the family instinct is still so strong in the tributary -states that imprisonment, or even death itself, seems infinitely -preferable to running away from kindred and home. There were no female -prisoners, and the Maharaja stated that crime among women had not yet -penetrated his country. - -“I found the gang divided into two sections, each of which had a shed -to itself on the opposite sides of the court, the shed of the third -side being set apart for cooking. The one shed was monopolised by ten -men whose light complexion declared them to belong to the trading class -and who lolled at great ease and in good clothes in their prison house. -In the other shed the remaining fifty-nine were crowded, packed as -closely as sardines and with no other clothing except a narrow strip -round their waist. On expressing my surprise at this unequal treatment -and asking whether the ten gentlemen who took their ease were confined -for lighter crimes, the Maharaja explained: ‘On the contrary, these -ten men are the plagues of the state. They consist of fraudulent -shop-keepers who receive stolen goods, and notorious bad characters -who organise robberies. The other fifty-nine are poor Pans and other -jungle people imprisoned for petty theft, or as the tools of the ten -prisoners on the opposite side. But then the ten are respectable men -and of good caste, while the fifty-nine are mere woodmen; and it is -only proper to maintain God’s distinction of caste.’ All the prisoners -were in irons except one, a lame man, whose fetters had been struck -off on the report of the native doctor. They looked very fat and -comfortable, as indeed they well might considering that the sixty-nine -prisoners have an allowance of a hundred pounds of rice per diem, with -goat’s flesh once a fortnight, fish twice a month, besides the little -daily allowance of split peas and spices to season their food. It did -not seem to have occurred to any of them to feel in the least ashamed -on account of being in gaol. One of them had been imprisoned twice -before, and on my asking him what his trade was he explained that the -younger brothers of his family were husbandmen, but that for his part -he nourished his stomach by thieving.” - -No European country can show anything like the immunity from crime -which the worst district in Orissa enjoys. In Balasor, the proportion -of persons in gaol is one to every 3,375 of the population, or one -female to every 121,278 of the population. Puri district, however, the -seat of the so-called “abominations of Jagannath,” would blush to own -such an overwhelming criminal population. Including both the central -and the subdivisional gaols, the proportion is one criminal always in -prison to every six thousand of the population and one woman to every -hundred thousand. - -The gaol is a great institution in Indian and Burmese stations. Your -_syce_ breaks the shaft of your dogcart; send it round to the gaol to -be repaired. New matting is wanted for the veranda; you can get it in -the gaol. You want a piece of furniture; whether it be a wardrobe or -a whist table, you will find what you require in the gaol workshop, -and if there does not happen to be one ready, you can order it to be -made. They take a longer time to do it than free artisans, but you can -depend upon sound material, good workmanship and reasonable prices; so -the gaol industries flourish and the cost of supporting the criminal -classes falls with comparative lightness upon taxpayers. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE CRIME OF THUGGEE - - Difficulties experienced in administering justice--Perjury - common--Native officers delight in torture--Various devices used - to extort evidence--Characteristics of the Indian criminal--Crime - hereditary--Thugs’ method of strangling victims--Facilities - afforded by the nature of the country--The river Thugs--Suppression - of Thuggee gangs and their operations. - - -Crime in India does not differ essentially from that prevalent -elsewhere, although some forms are indigenous to the country, -engendered by special physical and social conditions. As a rule, the -people of India are law abiding, orderly and sober in character, but -there is an inherent deceitfulness in them that tends to interfere with -the course of justice. This is constantly seen in the untrustworthy -evidence so often given in court. Witnesses are either reticent or -too fluent; they will conceal facts or over-colour them according -as it serves their interests; they can be bought, or intimidated, -or easily persuaded. It has been said of India that perjury is the -rule and not the exception; it is a country in which no man desires -to tell the simple truth or the whole truth, where exaggeration is -perfectly natural and mendacity revels in the incredible minuteness -with which false statements are made, so perfect indeed as to cast -discredit on them at once when heard. Perjury has long been a flagrant -evil thwarting the administration of justice, and is still frequent, -although likely to decrease as social standards improve. The people -chafe at police investigation which worries and irritates them and -will say almost anything if it will rid them of the attentions of -the officers of the law. “They would condone even grievous wrongs,” -says Sir Richard Temple, “disavow the loss of property which they had -suffered, and withhold all assistance from their neighbours in similar -plights, rather than undergo the trouble of attending at police offices -and criminal courts.” In the old days police methods for the detection -and proof of crime were often reprehensible. Native officers were ever -eager to make a case complete and would go to any length in colouring -and creating evidence. An eminent judge in India found great fault with -the police who “would never leave a case alone, but must always prepare -it and patch it up by teaching the witnesses to learn their evidence -beforehand and to say more than they knew.” A village official would be -so eager to succeed when others had failed that he would threaten and -maltreat the witnesses till they invented merely imaginery evidence. It -was the frequent custom to drug prisoners about to be charged so that -they could make no defence, and when evidence was wanting, the witness -was subjected to actual torture until he promised to depose as required. - -This use of torture, secret and unavowed, for the purposes of the -prosecution, prevailed until a recent date. Disgusted English officers -vainly sought to check the pernicious practice, which was common -throughout India among all sects and classes, though strictly forbidden -by law. According to one authority, “The poor practise torture on -each other, robbers on their victims; masters upon their servants; -zemindars on their ryots; schoolmasters on their pupils; husbands on -their wives and even parents on their children.” “The very plays of the -populace,” says another, “excite the laughter of many a rural audience -by the exhibition of revenue squeezed out of a defaulter, coin by -coin, through the appliance of familiar provocatives.” Some of these -as employed by the old police consisted of such devices as filling -the nose and ears of a prisoner with cayenne pepper, checking the -circulation of the blood with tight ligaments, suspending a person head -downward in a well and sometimes immersing the whole body in deep water -until insensibility but not actual drowning was caused. - -Other processes are recounted by Dr. Cheevers. Torture by heat -consisted in applying to the naked flesh a lighted torch, burning -charcoal or red hot tongs, or by pouring boiling oil into the ears or -nose. Torture by cold was inflicted by exposure of the victim naked -in the night air and constantly sprinkling the body with freezing -water. Other methods were: suspension by the ears, wrists, feet, hair -or moustache, generally accompanied by severe beating with rods, wet -stinging nettles, bunches of thorns, or cudgels of split bamboo; -confinement in a cell containing quicklime; rubbing the face on the -ground so that the nose was wounded, the lips torn and the upper jaw -fractured; fastening offensive and gnawing insects under cover upon -the skin; sticking pins under the nails; beating the ankles and other -joints with a soft mallet. The bull’s hide torture showed devilish -ingenuity. The victim was sewed up in a newly flayed skin and exposed -to the torrid sun. The outer covering contracted with the heat, drawing -the live flesh with it, and the poor agonised creature died gradually -of hunger, thirst and putrifaction. - -Milder tortures, as they were deemed, existed, in which the punishment -was more gradual but not less acute. Roasting by exposure to sun or -fire, running up and down or “walking about,” a process in which relays -of policemen keep a culprit on the move for hours and hours together, -so that, after a night’s unbroken promenade, the craving for rest and -sleep becomes intolerable, especially with people accustomed to sleep -for twelve or fourteen hours at a stretch. The prolonged use of the -stocks was at one time very general in Bengal, sometimes with the -limbs enclosed in small apertures too tight for them, or when the -victim lay on his back with his feet raised high in the air for a -period of twenty-four hours. - -Indian criminal annals record many curious forms of crime more or -less peculiar to the country, and it will be interesting to specify -some of the best known. Many are as old as the hills and are directly -traceable to the innate character and distinguishing traits of the -various races that people the great peninsula of Hindustan. There -is a family likeness in the offences against morality and the rules -generally binding upon the community at large, but some are encouraged -and facilitated by the condition and organisation of the daily life of -the people. Profound observers have penetrated to the darker and deeper -recesses of the criminal mind of the native, both Hindu and Mussulman. -Under the often placid, timid, civil-spoken and seemingly harmless -native there lies a strange but potent combination of sensuality, -jealousy and vindictiveness, backed by wild, ineradicable superstition, -absolute untruthfulness and ruthless disregard for the value of human -life. This is especially true of the Bengali, whose character has -been powerfully portrayed by Lord Macaulay. A feeble, effeminate -creature of sedentary pursuits, with delicate limbs, and without -courage, independence or veracity, he is full of tact, ready with -large promises, smooth excuses, elaborate tissues of circumstantial -falsehood. With all his softness, he is by no means placable in his -enmities or prone to pity, but is pertinacious in his purposes and -dominated only by the immediate pressure of fear. - -Custom has been largely the parent of crime in India, and nowhere has -heredity exercised greater influence. A large proportion of offences in -India are committed by persons whose ancestors have done the same for -centuries. Strong belief in the strength of family tradition and the -potency of inherited traits and tendencies have long filled the Indian -gaols. To these causes we must trace the vitality of certain crimes; we -find in them the explanation of persistent gang-robberies, “Dacoity,” -the drugging and poisoning of travellers, the kidnapping of children, -the forgery, the forest frauds, the infanticide and secret murders; the -whole series of offences against which is directed the penal code of -India, originated by Lord Macaulay and praised by the highest experts, -including Sir James Stephen, as the best system of criminal law in the -world. - -When England’s work in India is reviewed in the time to come, full -credit must be given to the humane administration which sternly -suppressed the atrocious malpractices that so long afflicted the land, -such as “Suttee,” or the burning of widows on the funeral pyre; the -human sacrifices to the bloodthirsty idol of Jagannath; “Thuggee,” -that vile organisation for secret murder which devastated the entire -continent and killed so many unsuspecting victims. No more terrible and -widespread crime has obtained in any age or country. It was fostered by -the prevailing conditions in a vast extent of territory, divided among -many princes and powers, each ruling independently and irresponsibly, -with many kinds of governments, and with their hands one against -the other, having no common interests, no desire for combination, -no united police, no uniform action in the repression of determined -wrong-doing. Everything conspired to favour the growth of these daring -and unscrupulous land pirates. - -There were no roads in those early days, no public conveyances, no -means of protection for travellers. The longest journeys from one end -of the continent to the other were undertaken of necessity on foot -or on horseback; parties hitherto complete strangers banded together -for common security, and mixed unreservedly with one another. The -avenues of communication were at best mere tracks barely beaten down -by the passage of wayfarers across country and not always easily -distinguished, so that it was possible to wander into by-paths and get -lost among the forests, jungles, mountains and uncultivated tracts -where but few sparsely inhabited villages were scattered. Direct -encouragement was thus afforded to freebooters and highwaymen to make -all travellers their prey, and many classes of robbers existed and -flourished. Of these the most numerous, the most united, the most -secret in their horrible operations, the most dangerous and destructive -were the Thugs. - -The origin of Thuggee, as it was commonly called, is lost in fable -and obscurity. Mr. James Hutton, in his popular account of the Thugs, -thinks that they are of very ancient date and says they are “reputed to -have sprung from the Sagartii who contributed eight thousand horse to -the army of Xerxes and are mentioned by Herodotus in his history. These -people led a pastoral life, were originally of Persian descent and use -the Persian language; their dress is something betwixt a Persian and -a Pactyan; they have no offensive weapons, either of iron or brass, -except their daggers; their principal dependence in action is on cords -made of twisted leather which they use in this manner. When they engage -an enemy they throw out this cord having a noose at the extremity; if -they entangle in this either horse or man, they without difficulty put -them to death.” There is some reason to believe that in later times -the descendants of these Sagartii accompanied one of the Mohammedan -invaders to India and settled in the neighbourhood of Delhi. In the -latter part of the seventeenth century Thevenot speaks of a strange -denomination of robbers who infest the road between Delhi and Agra and -who use “a certain rope with a running noose which they could cast with -so much sleight about a man’s neck when they are within reach of him, -that they never fail; so that they strangle him in a trice.” These -robbers were divided into seven principal classes or families from -which the innumerable smaller bands sprang. - -Sir William Sleeman, a distinguished Indian official, whose signal -services in purging a large part of India of this terrible scourge -must ever be gratefully remembered, has conjectured that the first -Thugs were to be found among the vagrant tribes of Mohammedans who -continued to plunder the country long after its invasion by the Moguls -and Tartars. No historical mention is made of Thuggee until the reign -of Akbar, when many of its votaries were seized and put to death. From -that period until 1810, although known to some of the native princes, -who alternately protected and persecuted these criminals, it entirely -escaped the observation of the British rulers of India. But attention -was finally attracted to it by the strange disappearance of sepoys, -or native soldiers in the British service, when moving about the -country on furlough. In 1812 a British officer, Lieutenant Monsell, -was murdered by Thugs. A punitive expedition was immediately sent -against the village where the assassins were known to reside, and the -culprits, after some show of resistance, were ultimately dispersed. No -doubt the fugitives took with them their traditions and their homicidal -principles into new lands where they were probably unknown hitherto. As -early as 1816 the veil of secrecy which had concealed the organisation -was lifted, and a very complete and accurate account of the ceremonies -and practices of the Thugs in southern India was published by Dr. -Sherwood in the _Literary Journal_ of Madras. It is supposed that the -horrible story told was deemed too monstrous for belief, and it is at -least certain that no active measures were undertaken to suppress and -root out the offenders. - -At all times many hundreds of predatory castes existed in India, -chiefly among the marauding hill and forest people, and some of them -are still recorded by name in the census papers. These people lived -openly by plunder, and were organised for crime, and for determined -gang-robbery and murder. There was no established police in those days -equal to coping with these gangs, and the government of the East India -Company had recourse to the savage criminal code of the Mohammedan -law. When Warren Hastings was governor-general, he decreed that every -convicted gang-robber should be publicly executed in full view of his -village, and that all of the villagers should be fined. The miscreants -retaliated by incendiarism on a large scale. One conflagration in -Calcutta in 1780 burned fifteen thousand houses, and some two thousand -souls perished in the flames. A special civil department was created to -deal with this wholesale crime, the character of which is described in -a state paper dated 1772. “The gang-robbers of Bengal,” it says, “are -not like the robbers in England, individuals driven to such desperate -courses by want or greed. They are robbers by profession and even by -birth. They are formed into regular communities, and their families -subsist on the supplies they bring home to them. These spoils come -from great distances, and peaceful villages three hundred miles up the -Ganges are supported by housebreaking in Calcutta.” Special laws were -passed to deal with the crime of Dacoity or robbery in gangs to the -number of five or more. - -By this time the word “Thuggee” was becoming known and was applied -to the practice of “strangling dexterously performed by bands of -professional murderers disguised as pilgrims or travelling mendicants.” -These hereditary assassins prided themselves on their descent and -their evil reputations, which inspired an amount of awe in their -fellow countrymen hardly distinguishable from respect. “Yes, I am a -strangler,” one of them shamelessly told an English officer. “I and my -fathers before me have followed the business for twenty generations.” - -These Phansigars, or “stranglers,” were thus designated from the -Hindustani word _phansi_, “a noose.” In the more northern parts of -India these murderers were called Thugs, from the Hindu word _thagna_, -“to deceive.” Europeans became aware of the existence of this class -of criminals with the conquest of Seringapatam in 1799, when about -a hundred were apprehended in the vicinity of Bangalore. Little -attention, however, was attracted to these depredators for a long -time; they carried on their abominable practices under the protection -of different native rulers and local authorities, with whom they -shared their spoils. But we read that, with the extension of British -rule and the subjection of the native rulers, active measures were -set on foot to suppress these professional murderers, who found it -necessary to engage ostensibly in agriculture or some other harmless -occupation so as to conceal their real business. One characteristic of -the Phansigars was that they never committed a robbery unaccompanied -by murder, their practice being first to strangle, then to rifle their -victims. It was also a principle with them to allow no one of a party, -however numerous, to escape, so that there might be no witnesses of -their proceedings; the only exceptions to this were in the case of boys -of very tender age, whom they spared and adopted in order to bring -them up as Phansigars, and girls whom they sometimes married. A gang -of Phansigars consisted of any number from ten to fifty men, or even -more, a large majority of whom were Mussulmans, but Hindus were often -associated with them, and occasionally Brahmins. - -In common with brigands of all nationalities, the Thugs generally -frequented districts abounding in hills and fastnesses which afforded -a secure retreat in times of danger. Particular tracts were preferred -where they could murder their victims with the greatest security. -They lurked by the way in the extensive jungles which offered cover -and concealment, and where the soil was soft and easily turned up -for digging graves. The Thugs cherished pleasant memories of these -happy hunting grounds so often associated with their successes. To -reach the scene of action they often performed long journeys and were -absent from home for many months at a time. Their game was almost -invariably travellers whom they encountered on the road, or for whom -they frequently laid in wait outside towns and villages at the ordinary -resting places. Their method was to send scouts into the town to -find out whether persons of property were likely to be setting out -on journeys and with what possessions. Children were often employed -in this way. Each gang of Thugs was under a _jemadar_, or chief, who -directed their movements; they very seldom assumed any disguise, but -had the appearance of ordinary travellers or traders. They generally -put an end to their victims in the same manner, that of strangling, -and it was the custom to assign three of them to perform this deed. -While moving along quietly, one of the Thugs would suddenly throw a -cloth around the neck of the person doomed to death and retain hold -of one end of it while the other end would be seized by the second -accomplice; this was then drawn tight, the two Phansigars pressing -their victim’s head forward, and at the same time the third villain, in -readiness behind the traveller, seized his legs, and he was thrown to -the ground and despatched. Meanwhile, other members of the gang kept -watch in advance and in the rear to prevent interference; if they were -disturbed during their operation, a cloth was thrown over the victim, -and the company pretended that one of their comrades had fallen sick by -the roadside, and made great lamentations. The bodies of the victims -were carefully buried so as to escape observation and leave no clue for -detection. - -In the early part of the nineteenth century the audacity and murderous -activity of the Thugs increased to such a fearful extent that the -British government was roused to serious consideration. It could not -remain indifferent to an evil of such magnitude. Startling cases began -to crop up and disturb the equanimity of the official mind. One of -the first revelations was secured in 1814 by an officer, Lieutenant -Brown, when appointed to investigate the circumstances of a murder -in the northern part of the province of Central India, at no great -distance from Jubbulpore, a city closely connected with Thuggee -from the subsequent trial and incarceration of a large number of -the ringleaders in the Jubbulpore gaol. Mr. Brown, when engaged in -his inquiry at a village named Sujuna, on the road to Hatta, heard -a horrible story of a gang-robbery in the neighbourhood. A party of -two hundred Thugs had encamped in a grove in the early morning of -the cold season of 1814, when seven men, well-armed with swords and -matchlocks, passed, conveying treasure from a bank in Jubbulpore to -its correspondent in Banda. The treasure was ascertained to be of the -value of 4,500 rupees, and a number of Thugs, well-mounted, gave chase. -Coming up with their prey at a distance of seven miles, in a water -course half a mile from Sujuna, they attacked the treasure-bearers -with their swords, contrary to their common practice of strangling -their victims, the latter plan being possible only when the objects -of their desire were taken unawares. Moreover, the robbers left the -bodies where they lay, unburied and exposed, which was also an unusual -proceeding. A passing traveller, who had seen the murderers at work, -was also put to death to prevent his giving the alarm. As much rain -fell that day, none of the villagers approached the spot till the -following morning, when the bodies were discovered and a large crowd -came to gaze at them. Great difficulty was experienced in bringing home -the crime to its perpetrators. This often happened in such cases from -the strong reluctance of people to give evidence and appear in court -for the purpose; even the banker who had lost his cash hesitated to -come forward and prove his loss, and this was no isolated case. Once -before, the wood at Sujuna had been the rendezvous of robbers, who had -slaughtered a party of treasure-bearers travelling between Jubbulpore -and Saugor. Sixteen were strangled, but the seventeenth escaped with -his life and running into the town, gave the alarm. The native rajah, -at that time supreme, hurried to the spot, but only came upon the -bodies abandoned by the thieves, who had made off with the treasure. - -These depredations were greatly facilitated by the prevailing practice -of transmitting large amounts of cash and valuables from place to place -by hand. Remittances were made in gold and silver to save the rate of -exchange, although an admirable system of transfer by bank bills was -almost universal in India. Money carriers by profession were to be met -with in all parts of India, who were trusted by merchants to convey to -distant parts enormous sums in cash and large parcels of jewels; their -fidelity, sagacity and poverty-stricken appearance, natural or assumed, -were relied upon as a sufficient security, and it was attested by -Sleeman that although he had to investigate hundreds of cases in which -they had been murdered in the discharge of their duty, he had never -heard of one who betrayed his trust. The sums secured by the Thugs, -after murdering these faithful but unfortunate servants, were immense, -and amounted in the few years between 1826 and 1830 to hundreds of -thousands of rupees. They could not escape their fate, being constantly -watched and spied upon, and were often brought to light by customs -officers in the native states, from whom the lynx-eyed, keen-witted -Thug spies gained much information to assist in their robberies. - -The discovery of this extensive organisation for murder was greatly -aided by the fearful disclosures made by some of the captured leaders. -The most noted of these informers was a certain Feringhea, who is -supposed to have been the original of the character of Ameer Ali, the -principal person and narrator in Colonel Meadows-Taylor’s “Confessions -of a Thug.” He had fallen into the hands of the famous Captain Sleeman, -then the political agent of the provinces bordering on the Nurbudda, -by whose untiring energy the whole system of Thuggee as then practised -was laid bare. Through his efforts large gangs were apprehended -which had assembled in Rajputana to pursue their operations in that -country, and among the great numbers committed to safe custody in the -various gaols, especially that of Jubbulpore, precise information was -obtained leading to the breaking up of the diabolical conspiracy. It -was then found that Thuggee was actively practised throughout India. -The circle, which seemed at first centred about Jubbulpore, gradually -widened until it included the whole continent, from the foot of the -Himalayas to the waters that wash Cape Comorin. From the Gulf of Cutch -to the tea plantations of Assam, every province was implicated, and the -revelations of the informers were substantiated by the disinterment of -the dead. - -Sir William Sleeman has left a personal record of his own achievements. -“While I was in the civil charge of the district of Nursingpoor, in -the valley of the Nurbudda, in the years 1822, 1823 and 1824,” he -tells us, “no ordinary robbery or theft could be committed without my -becoming acquainted with it; nor was there a robber or a thief of the -ordinary kind in the district, with whose character I had not become -acquainted in the discharge of my duty as magistrate; and if any man -had then told me that a gang of assassins by profession resided in -the village of Kundelee, not four hundred yards from my court, and -that the extensive groves of the village of Mundesur, only one stage -from me, on the road to Saugor and Bhopaul, were one of the greatest -_beles_, or places of murder, in all India; and that large gangs from -Hindustan and the Dukhun used to rendezvous in these groves, remain in -them for days together every year, and carry on their dreadful trade -along all the lines of road that pass by and branch off from them, with -the knowledge and connivance of the two landholders by whose ancestors -these groves had been planted, I should have thought him a fool or a -madman; and yet nothing could have been more true. The bodies of a -hundred travellers lie buried in and around the groves of Mundesur; and -a gang of assassins lived in and about the village of Kundelee while I -was magistrate of the district, and extended their depredations to the -cities of Poona and Hyderabad.” - -Similar to the preceding account, as showing the daring character -of the Thuggee operations, was the fact that in the cantonment of -Hingolee, the leader of the Thugs of that district, Hurree Singh, -was a respectable merchant of the place, with whom Captain Sleeman, -in common with many other English officers, had constant dealings. -On one occasion this man applied to the officer in civil charge of -the district, Captain Reynolds, for a pass to bring some cloths from -Bombay, which he knew were on their way accompanied by their owner, a -merchant of a town not far from Hingolee. He murdered this person, his -attendants and cattle-drivers, brought the merchandise up to Hingolee -under the pass he had obtained and sold it openly in the cantonment; -nor would this ever have been discovered had he not confessed it after -his apprehension, and gloried in it as a good joke. Many persons were -murdered in the very bazaar of the cantonment, within one hundred yards -from the main guard, by Hurree Singh and his gang, and were buried -hardly five hundred yards from the line of sentries. Captain Sleeman -was himself present at the opening of several of these unblessed -graves (each containing several bodies), which were pointed out by -the “approvers,” one by one, in the coolest possible manner, to those -who were assembled, until the spectators were sickened and gave up -further search in disgust. The place was the dry channel of a small -water course, communicating with the river, no broader or deeper than a -ditch; it was near the road to a neighbouring village, and one of the -main outlets from the cantonment to the country. - -Some of the operations in which Thugs were concerned, and the nature -of their proceedings, are of especial interest. In the year 1827, -Girdharee Thug joined a gang of seven Thugs under Bukshee Jemadar ... -and set forth on an expedition. The party proceeded to Cawnpore where -they were joined by Runnooa Moonshee with nine Thug followers, so that -the gang amounted to eighteen Thugs, who all went on to Pokraya. At -this place they fell in with two travellers going from Saugor to the -Oude territory, who were decoyed by Runnooa Moonshee, and the next -morning, having been escorted about a couple of miles towards Cawnpore, -they were strangled by two Thugs, Oomeid and Davee Deen, who buried -the bodies in the bed of a stream. After this the gang proceeded on -the road leading to Mynpooree, as far as Bewur, where they found a -Kayet on his way from Meerut to the eastward, who was decoyed into -joining the company of the Thugs. After passing the night together, -the traveller was taken to a garden a short distance from the village, -where he was induced to sit down and was then strangled, his body -being thrown into a well. They went on to Sultanpoor and Mynpooree, -where the number of the gang was increased to twenty-one by three more -Thugs who joined them. The gang advanced on the same road as far as -Kurkoodda in the Meerut district, but meeting with no success in their -search for victims, they turned back toward Malagurh, and on arriving -there sent one of the gang as a scout into the town. He discovered two -travellers, a Brahmin and a Kuhar, who were proceeding from Kurnal to -the Oude territory, and whom he persuaded to join the Thugs. Early the -following morning the Thugs escorted these travellers about two miles -beyond the village, where they were strangled and their bodies buried. -After this affair the gang passed through Boolund Shuhur and stopped -to rest at a police station two miles from the town. A Chuprassee from -Meerut passed by on his way to Cawnpore. The Thugs addressed him and -persuaded him to join their band, and they all went to Koorja, where -they rested for the night in a caravansary. Long before daylight the -gang, accompanied by the traveller, proceeded on the road to Muttra, -and on the way one of the company found an opportunity to strangle the -Chuprassee. - -The band next went to Secundra and while halting there decoyed two -Brahmins travelling from Kurnaul toward Lucknow. Runnooa Moonshee took -them under his own protection, and the next morning they were escorted -in an easterly direction and strangled. The bodies were thrown into a -dry well and the earth heaped over them. After this murder, the gang -went to Jullalabad, where they rested in the caravansary; and finding -that two travellers, a Brahmin and a Rajpoot, had previously put up -in the same place, a Thug was deputed to decoy them by inviting them -to join the band; the travellers agreed, and were put to death in the -usual manner and their bodies buried. In this way the expedition -proceeded for some weeks, the gang was joined by other Thugs until -it amounted to sixty in number; then it separated into two parties, -each going in a different direction, but they joined forces again -at Allahabad and commenced operations in the Cawnpore district. -Twenty-seven of the Thugs quitted the gang and returned to their -homes; the remainder went to Meetapore, where they met two travellers -on their way to Agra, whom they decoyed into their company. Two more -travellers were also persuaded to join the gang, and besides these -four others were also inveigled, among them two rich persons who were -staying in the same inn; the last named had engaged a carriage in which -to continue their journey, but the Thugs, anxious to get into friendly -relations, offered horses on more favourable terms. The proprietors -of the carriage, enraged at this proposition, threatened to have the -Thugs arrested, but the matter was arranged amicably and the travelling -party, with their Thug attendants, proceeded on their way. Their fate -was sealed, for on reaching a convenient spot in the Mynpooree district -they were strangled and their bodies rifled. The alarm, however, was -given soon afterward, and all the robbers were taken up by order of the -British magistrate and lodged in gaol. It was found that in the course -of this one expedition the Thugs had murdered fifty-two victims and -gained spoil to the value of 5,000 rupees. - -The Thugs did not confine their operations to attacking travellers on -land. There were many gangs who worked on the rivers and kept their -boats on the Nurbudda and Ganges, into which they decoyed passengers -when bent upon their destruction. They resided chiefly in villages -along the banks and kept their boats at the principal ghats or points -of passage, as at Monghyr, Patna, Cawnpore and as far up the river as -Furuckabad. Their murders were always perpetrated in the day time. A -certain number of them were employed as actual boatmen, wearing the -dress and doing the work; others acted as decoys, having no connection -seemingly, but arriving at the banks as well-dressed travellers, -merchants or pilgrims bound for or returning from the sacred places -such as Benares or Allahabad. In the meantime the _sothas_ or -“inveiglers” sent out by the gang to bring in passengers, being well -dressed and respectable, would accost those they met upon the road and -invite them to join in the voyage by river. The boats in waiting at -the ghat were invariably kept clean and looked inviting, with other -respectably dressed travellers awaiting the moment of departure. -Often enough it was at first pretended to be inconvenient to take the -newcomers on board, the captain alleging that he was short of room, -but at last he would yield to the urgent request of the _sothas_, -and the trusting passengers would be taken on board and accommodated -below. After departure the disguised Thugs on deck would commence to -sing and amuse themselves noisily until a quiet spot was reached, when -the signal was given--the death-warrant in this case--by three taps -upon the deck above. The victims below were forthwith strangled by the -appointed stranglers, who were in close attendance upon their prey. -After death had been inflicted the murderers proceeded to break the -spinal bones of their victims by placing a knee in the back and pulling -over the head and shoulders; this was to prevent all possibility of -recovery. Then the bodies were stabbed through under the armpits and -thrown overboard, while the boat made its way to the next ghat, where -the “inveiglers” were landed to repeat their operations with others. No -part of the booty was retained, lest it might form a clue to detection, -except the cash found upon the dead or in their baggage. These river -Thugs often ran the risk of being captured, but they were generally -well known to the village watchmen on the river side, whom they were -ready to bribe. - -Their extraordinary audacity and the success with which they murdered -their victims is recorded in the memorandum prepared in March, 1836, -by an officer, Captain Lowis, who did much to bring them to justice. -He speaks of repeated instances in which ten or a dozen persons were -put to death by boats’ crews, hardly more numerous than their victims. -In one case seven men were murdered at one and the same time by a crew -of nine Thugs. The victims were often men from the west country, -notoriously stronger and braver than the natives of Bengal. Strange -to say, the deadly business was often completed in small boats, in -which there seemed too little room to move or plan the fell purpose -unperceived. Frequently the Thug boatmen made friends with their -victims, as in the case of a boat laden with tobacco and hemp, when -the captain and crew persuaded their passengers to land on a sand bank -to cook and eat their dinner together. After the meal, the Thug leader -invited his friends to join in a song of praise to the Hindu divinity, -and while it was being sung the Thugs adroitly got behind their victims -and strangled them. - -A shocking story was revealed in the trial of three Bengalis who were -arraigned at Berhampore on suspicion of having committed Thuggee. It -appeared that one of them, Madhub by name, had arrived at the Serai -with a large sum of money in the hollow of a joint of bamboo; two -others, Gunga Hurree Mitter and Kunhaye, quickly came upon the scene -in pursuit of the first whom they accused of having stolen the money -from their boat. Madhub retorted that they were Thugs and wanted to -murder him. This squabble excited suspicion and ended in the arrest -of all three. Within a few days two Bengali boats, full of suspicious -characters and laden with much money and property, were seized between -Monghyr and Patna and news came that four travelling merchants had -recently disappeared. It was strongly suspected that these merchants -had been murdered and great efforts were made to obtain a clue to the -guilty parties. Gunga Hurree Mitter, above mentioned, seemed willing -to turn approver, and although stoutly denying that he was concerned -in this particular crime he at length confessed to complicity in many -frightful murders as a river Thug and admitted as many as fifty murders -between Moorshedabad and Barr, where the boats had been seized. About -this time another very notorious Thug was arrested in the Burdwan -district who volunteered valuable information in exchange for his life -and confessed to being an accomplice in the murder of the merchants. - -Accounts of such affairs, as found in contemporary records, -might be multiplied indefinitely. Colonel Sleeman’s report of -the Thug depredations for a year or two when they were most -virulent--1836-37--fills one large volume. On a map which he made of -a portion of the kingdom of Oude, showing a territory one hundred -miles wide from north to south, and one hundred and seventy miles from -east to west, are marked an endless number of spots between Lucknow, -Cawnpore, Manickpur, Pertabgurh and Fyzabad, all of them indicating -_beles_ or scenes of murders perpetrated. These places were pointed -out by captured Thugs and “approvers” who had been actively present -and taken part in the murders. There were some 274 _beles_ in all, or -one for about every five miles; the fact was proved by the continual -disinterment of skulls and skeletons of the often nameless victims. -Each recorded great atrocities and many wholesale murders. The number -of deaths for which each Thug miscreant was personally responsible -seems incredible. One man, Buhran by name, killed 931 victims in forty -years of active Thuggee, and another, Futteh Khan, killed 508 persons -in twenty years, making an average of two monthly for each assassin. - -When the British government was roused to the determination to -suppress Thuggee, nearly every village was tainted with the system -and no district was without its resident gangs of Thugs, or free from -their depredations. The campaign once undertaken was prosecuted with -extraordinary vigour, and the pursuit organised was so keen that -very rapid progress was made in putting down this terrible scourge. -Whole gangs were arrested, one after the other; the ringleaders were -quickly tried and executed, or bought their lives at the price of -informing against and contributing to the capture of their fellows. -Difficulties often arose in securing conviction. Fear kept witnesses -from testifying; bankers were reluctant to acknowledge their losses; -relations were loth to identify corpses; and the revelations made -by the approvers could not always be corroborated. But the work of -extermination never slackened, and a few short years sufficed to -put down the seemingly hydra-headed evil. It is possible that some -more distant and inaccessible regions escaped, such as the Concan or -Malabar coast, to which the gangs never penetrated; and gangs were -not permanently located in such districts as Khandeish and Rohilcund; -but they were visited by robbers from other neighbourhoods, for a -gang generally avoided a district occupied by their own families and -friends. And the tide of murder swept unsparingly year after year over -the whole face of India from the Himalayan mountains in the north, to -the east, west and south as far as the most remote limits of Madras. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CEREMONIES OF THUGGEE - - Murder a religious rite--Consulting the omens--The sacred pickaxe - or “kussee”--The “goor” or consecrated sugar--Certain castes - under the protection of the goddess Bhowanee spared--Women seldom - killed--Belief of Thugs that the neglect of omens and murder of - women were the causes of arrest and downfall--The apprenticeship of - a young member to the practices of Thuggee. - - -When and how Thuggee began may not be definitely known, but it is -certain that its votaries always attributed a divine origin to the -practice. They esteemed the wholesale taking of life to which they were -vowed a pious act, performed under the immediate orders and protection -of the Hindu goddess, indifferently called Devee or Durga, Kali or -Bhowanee. Murder was in fact a religious rite, the victim being a -sacrifice to the deity. The strangler was troubled with no remorse; -on the contrary, he gloried in his deed as the pious act of a devout -worshipper. He prepared his murders without misgiving, perpetrated them -without emotions of pity, and looked back upon them with satisfaction, -not regret. - -The Thugs gave free vent to some of the worst passions of perverse -humanity; they were treacherous, underhanded, pitiless to those they -deemed their legitimate prey. But yet they were seldom guilty of wanton -cruelty; the pain they inflicted was only that caused by depriving -a human being of life. It was a rule with them never to murder -women, and they generally spared infant children whom they adopted, -bringing them up in their traditions. Even if a woman was doomed to -suffer she was most scrupulously preserved from insult beforehand, -either by act or word. In private life they were patterns of domestic -virtue, affectionate to their own families, fond of their homes; well -conducted, law abiding subjects of the state that gave them shelter. - -For two centuries at least Thuggee flourished with rank luxuriance in -India, a soil exactly suited to its growth, fostered by the bigoted -adherence to its tenets and a firm faith in the rewards vouchsafed to -close observance of its rites and ceremonies. The Thugs were noted -formalists in the performance of their dread business. When they went -out to kill, they were governed by the strictest rules of procedure, -and steadfastly believed that the breach of any, even the smallest, -would entail discomfiture and misfortune. They gave the most unlimited -credence to superstitions, followed omens blindly and implicitly, and -undertook nothing without consulting their pundits, or wise men versed -in precedent and traditionary lore. No Thug, Sleeman tells us, who -had been fully initiated in the mysteries, doubted the inspiration -of the pickaxe (the sacred emblem in the faith of Thuggee), when -consecrated in due form, or doubted that the omens sought and observed -were all-sufficient to guide them to their prey or warn them from their -danger. They were satisfied that only by the neglect of these and the -careless worship rendered to the goddess could the suppression of -Thuggee have become possible to the British government. - -The most portentous omen was that invited from the deity on the eve -of a new expedition for gang-robbery. When about to be undertaken, a -chief pundit was asked to name a day for departure and the road to -take. On the day suggested the _jemadar_, or leader of the party, would -start out holding in his right hand the _lota_, a brass pot filled -with water suspended by a string from his mouth; in his left hand he -carried the sacred pickaxe and a clean white handkerchief in which were -several coins. He proceeded a short distance along the road named by -the pundit and then paused to pray to the “great goddess and universal -mother” to vouchsafe some signal that the proposed expedition met with -her approval. The best possible omen was the braying of an ass and -if it was heard on the left, followed by a second bray on the right, -it was believed that the expedition would be an entire and lasting -success even if continued for years. The first, on the left, is called -the _pilhaoo_; the second, on the right, the _thibaoo_. The terms are -applied to the voices of any animals, but by far the most effective is -deemed the braying of the ass, whose voice is equal to any hundred -birds and superior to that of any other animal. - -The initial ceremony, after the omen, proceeded by the leader’s -seating himself on the ground with the _lota_ before him. He remained -thus seated for seven hours while his followers brought him food and -made the necessary preparations for the journey. If the _lota_ should -have fallen from his hand terrible disaster might be anticipated and -the _jemadar_ would inevitably die during the year. If any one was -heard weeping as they left the village, great evil impended; the same -threatened if they met a corpse being carried out, or if they met an -oil vendor, a carpenter, a potter, a dancing master, a blind or lame -man, a _fakir_ with a brown waist band or a _jogi_ with long ragged -hair. A corpse from any village but their own was a good omen. The call -of a jackal, of which there were three kinds, threatened great evil, -and if at work the gang instantly quit the country leaving any victims -marked down for slaughter untouched. The call of the lizard was a good -omen, that of a wolf or a hare crossing the path, bad, entailing an -immediate halt and change of route. If a dog was seen to shake his head -operations had to be suspended for three days. - -In all Thug ceremonies the sacred pickaxe or _kussee_ played a great -part. It was treated with the utmost respect and was so holy that to -be sworn upon it meant an oath more binding than on Ganges water, and -perjury on the pickaxe would entail the death of the foresworn within -six days. The superstition was that the perjurer would die horribly, -with his head turned round, his face toward his back, and writhing in -tortures till the end came. The oath on the pickaxe was in use when the -Thugs filled the gaols and it was made upon a piece of cloth fashioned -in the shape of the _kussee_. A legend existed that the _kussee_ was -the gift of the goddess herself when she had been greatly incensed -by the contravention of one of her laws. At first the Thugs did not -trouble about the corpses of their victims but blindly left them for -Kali’s disposal. One day a slave looked back and saw her throwing them -in the air, and in her rage the goddess condemned her votaries to -bury their bodies themselves, digging the graves with the consecrated -pickaxe. It was to be made by some blacksmith in the presence of the -_jemadar_. The consecration follows a long ceremony, including many -washings in water, sour milk and ardent spirits, and the pickaxe is -first used to smash a cocoanut, the kernel of which is eaten by the -assembled worshippers. The pickaxe was entrusted to the safe keeping of -the _jemadar_. - -When on the road it was carried by the most sober and careful man of -the party. In camp he buried it in a secure place with its point toward -the intended route, but they believed that when unearthed, if another -direction was better, the point would be found supernaturally changed. -It was at one time the rule to throw the pickaxe down a well at the -nightly halt, and many witnesses declared that it used to spring up -spontaneously from the water in the morning to come into the hand of -its carrier at his call. Several of the Thug prisoners in Jubbulpore -gaol assured Sir William Sleeman that this was absolute fact, and -went so far as to declare they had seen it happen. The _kussee_ was -religiously worshipped every seventh day. - -Another important agent in the Thug religion was the _goor_ or -consecrated sugar. It was an offering to Bhowanee, made as a sacrifice -of _tupounee_, to celebrate the commission of any murder. An exact -amount of coarse sugar was purchased to the worth of 1 rupee, 4 -annas. A clean place was selected and the sugar laid out on a sheet -or blanket, on which were also put the sacred pickaxe and a piece -of silver coin. The leader of the gang having taken his seat on the -blanket, surrounded by the most notable stranglers, with the rest -outside, made a small hole in the ground for the _goor_ and then -dedicated it saying, “Great goddess, who vouchsafed 1 lac and 62,000 -rupees to Toora Naig and Koduk Bunwaree in their need, so we pray -thee fulfil our desires.” (Toorah Naig was a celebrated _jemadar_ -who, single-handed, with his servant, Koduk Bunwaree, killed a man -possessed of plunder, and bringing it home, divided it honestly among -their assembled comrades as though they had all been present at the -murder.) The Thugs fervently repeated the prayer and the _goor_ was -distributed, first to those on the blanket, who ate in solemn silence, -and when they had finished, it was given to the rest who were entitled -by their rank to receive it. No one but a man who had strangled his -victim was suffered to partake of the _goor_, which had a miraculous -effect; and the Thugs were persuaded that if any human being tasted it -he would take forthwith to the trade. The Thug chief Feringhea told -Sir William Sleeman that the _goor_ completely changed a man’s nature, -adding,--“It would change the nature of a horse. Let anyone taste it -and he will be a Thug, though he know all the trades and have all the -wealth in the world. For my own part I was well to do; my relations -were rich and I held high office myself in which I was sure of -promotion. Yet I was always miserable when absent from my gang. While -I was still a mere boy, my father made me taste that fatal sugar, and -if I were to live a thousand years I should never be able to follow any -other trade.” - -There was a hierarchy in the caste of Thuggee. The first grade was -the _kuboola_, or “tyro,” who after initiation was first employed as -scout, then as grave-digger, _lughae_; next in rank was the _shumseea_, -whose duty it was to hold the hands and feet of the victim when being -strangled by the _bhurtote_, who is of the highest grade in the -organisation. The initiation was made early; a Thug parent apprenticed -his son at thirteen or fourteen years. The candidate having bathed and -dressed in new clothes, which had never been bleached, was led by his -_guru_, or spiritual director, into a room where the leaders of the -band were assembled seated on a white cloth; the sacred pickaxe was -placed in his right hand, and raising his left on high, he repeated -a fearful oath dictated to him and sworn on the Koran, after which -he ate a small piece of the consecrated _goor_. He pledged himself -to be faithful, brave and secret, to pursue to destruction every -human being whom chance or his own ingenuity threw into his power. -Only he was forbidden to kill the members of certain castes, such as -sweepers, oil-vendors, blacksmiths, carpenters, professional musicians, -any maimed or leprous persons, the carriers of Ganges water or any -man travelling accompanied by a cow. As a general rule women were -spared, and many cases are quoted of the misfortunes that overtook -those who disregarded this regulation. Feringhea stated that his gang -after killing many women had no luck, and his family fell into great -misfortune. Sometimes when they encountered a rich old woman, she was -sacrificed, and even youth and beauty did not always escape; but the -consequences were always the same. After the murder of the woman Kalee -Bebee, who was travelling with a gold _chudur_ for a sacred tomb, the -perpetrators were severely punished by fate. One got worms in his body -and died barking like a dog; others died miserably in gaol or after -crossing the black water (transportation to Penang). The families -concerned became extinct. Thugs who had slain women admitted that they -deserved the worst evils that could befall them. - -The crime of killing women was sometimes aggravated by the murder of -their children. In the case of the murder of Bunda Alee, Moonshee of -General Doveton commanding at Jhalna, his wife and daughters were -strangled. One of the Thugs would have adopted the infant child and was -carrying it off, when a comrade pressed him to kill it also lest they -should be detected on crossing the Nurbudda. Whereupon the miscreant -threw the living child on the heap of dead bodies in the open grave, -and the child was buried alive. - -The apprenticeship to murder was gradual. The young members saw and -heard nothing of the first affair after their initiation; they were -ignorant of the exact business, but grew to like the life as they were -mounted on ponies and received presents purchased out of their share of -the booty. On the second expedition they began to suspect that murder -was committed, and on the third they witnessed the actual deed. They -accepted the horrible situation, and were seldom much shocked. But -in one case told by Feringhea, a lad of fourteen, out for the first -time and mounted on a pony, was committed to the charge of a young -comrade, who was to keep him in the rear out of sight and hearing of -the affair when the signal was given. Unfortunately, the boy broke -away and galloped up in time to witness the scene; he heard the screams -and saw them all strangled. He fell off his pony and became delirious, -screaming and trembling violently if anyone touched him or spoke -to him. They sat by him when the gang went on and vainly attempted -to pacify him, but he never recovered his senses and died the same -night. A somewhat similar case is told by Sleeman of an affair near -Shikarpore, where the place selected for the murder was in an extensive -jungle by the river side, and a party of travellers were strangled, -all but two young boys who were to be saved for adoption. One of them, -when the bodies were being thrown into a ditch covered with earth and -bushes, began to scream violently, and the Thug who had intended to -adopt him, finding it impossible to pacify him, seized him by the legs -and dashed his brains out against a stone. The dead boy was left where -he lay and his body was found by a fisherman, who gave the alarm which -led to the pursuit and arrest of the Thugs. - -Colonel Meadows-Taylor in his “Confessions of a Thug” graphically -pictures the sufferings of his hero after the first affair he -witnessed. “Do what I would,” the Thug confesses, “the murdered father -and son appeared before me; the old man’s voice rung in my ears, and -the son’s large eyes seemed to be fixed on mine. I felt as though a -thousand _skitans_ (devils) sat on my breast, and sleep would not come -to my eyes. It appeared so cold-blooded, so unprovoked a deed, that I -could not reconcile myself in any way to having become even a silent -spectator of it.” Next day his father reasoned with him, making him eat -the _goor_, and explaining that having put his hand to the work he must -not turn back. As soon as the _kuboola_ has got over the first feelings -of disgust and his courage is equal to the blood-thirsty business, he -becomes the disciple of some renowned and experienced member of the -gang, and instruction is given in strangling. He is entrusted with -the handkerchief, _roomal_, and taught how to make the knot with a -piece of silver inserted. When he has fully learned the process, one -of the travellers at the next affair is entrusted to him, and with a -_shumseea_ at hand to assist, he regularly graduates as a _bhurtote_ -and is eligible to become a leader of a gang of his own. - -The stern resolve of the British government to suppress Thuggee, and -the energetic assistance of the agents employed were no doubt the true -cause of its being stamped out. The neglect of omens, the signs sent by -Bhowanee to warn her votaries of threatened dangers, and the murder of -women and persons of the protected castes, brought down upon the Thugs, -in their own opinion, their deserved retribution. One leader of a gang -was arrested with seventeen others because, as they said, he persisted -in his purpose when a screaming hare had crossed his path. They pleaded -that an omen was an order, and disobedience brought its own punishment. -We may accept such explanations for what they are worth, and may -assign to a more reasonable cause the activity in the years between -1826 and 1840, when no less than 3,689 Thugs were arrested and tried. -Of these a large number were hanged, transported or imprisoned for -life. A few were acquitted or died before sentence; a certain number -became approvers or informers, and no doubt a fatal blow was struck at -these horrid crimes which had been so long fostered and supported by -nearly all classes in the community; landowners, native officers of the -courts, police and village authorities. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -DACOITY - - Commission appointed in 1837 to consider means for the suppression - of Dacoity--Story of a daring attack upon government--Disguises - assumed by Dacoits--The Brinjaras--The “Byragee” or religious - devotee--Professional poisoners and highway robbers--The - datura--Its action and employment--Hereditary descendants - of Thugs--Predatory tribes of criminal instinct--Some noted - Dacoits--Female leaders--Theft of government treasure in a British - garrison--A Dacoit’s revenge. - - -It has been asserted that although Thuggee has been ostensibly stamped -out in India, road murders are still committed in considerable numbers -by the agency of poison administered to travellers, and that this is -the work of Bhowanee’s votaries carrying on the old business, still -impelled by their horrible religion. This impression is believed to be -erroneous. There is no evidence that the gang-robbers who undoubtedly -use poison such as opium, arsenic, datura and other drugs to stupefy -or kill their victims, belong to the fell organisation so long a -scourge in Indian society; or that the worship of Bhowanee, observed -with such murderous rites, still exists in India. Nevertheless, the -administration of poison by professional robbers, who infested the -main roads and lurked in the vicinity of large towns, was largely -and for the most part mysteriously practised until a comparatively -recent date, if it is not indeed still prevalent. It was one of the -forms of Dacoity, a crime akin to Thuggee, but without its religious -pretensions, and ever one of the most serious evils combated by the -British government. This widespread plague throve and prospered by -reason of the fierceness and audacity of certain classes and the -timidity and submissiveness characteristic of others. “In Bengal -proper,” says Sir Richard Temple, “it was a crime with an extensive -organisation, having professional ringleaders followed by gangs of -enrolled men.” It was repressed and to a great extent broken up by -the strong administrative machinery of the British government, but -the crime still crops up in a milder form and is “one of the earliest -symptoms of impending scarcity, political excitement or any social -trouble.” - -We may pause to examine some of the earlier records of Dacoity. A -commission to consider its suppression was instituted in India in the -year 1837. Hitherto but little had been ascertained of the character -or methods employed by this class of criminal. Although Dacoities were -every day committed and reported by the magistrates, it was thought -that these gangs resided for the most part between the Ganges and -Jumna rivers and in the kingdom of Oude, but information regarding -their habits and location was vague and uncertain. Everyone talked of -Budhuk Dacoits and their daring robberies, but no one knew who or what -they were, whence they came or how their system was organised. In the -course of this inquiry, the magistrate of the Gorruckpore district, -which borders on the kingdom of Oude, informed the government that the -Dacoits were not inhabitants of any part of the British territories -but organised banditti from Oude, and that to deal effectively with -this crime was altogether beyond the power of the magistrates of the -district and the local police. He instanced in proof of the strength -and daring of the Dacoits the details of an attack made upon a party -of government treasure-bearers in 1822. This story was related long -afterward to an English official by one of the Dacoits concerned in the -affair and is given in his own words as follows: - -“About eighteen years ago Lutee Jemadar sent a messenger to me to say -that he should like to join me in an expedition, and I went to him with -Jugdeum and Toke to settle preliminaries. The first day was spent in -feasting and nothing was settled about business. On the following day -he told me that remittances of government treasure went every month -from Peprole to Gorruckpore, and if we were prudent we might get some -of it. It had, however, become known that an escort of troopers and -foot-soldiers always accompanied these remittances and unless the -attack was in the nature of a surprise some casualties were likely to -occur. After exploring the ground, it was seen that the way passed -through an extensive jungle, so thick that horsemen could not safely -leave the high road.” A point in this jungle was selected for the -attack and to facilitate it strong ropes were fastened across the -road ahead, while other ropes were in readiness to block it behind -so soon as treasure and escort had passed through. A gang of forty -was collected for the robbery, ten matchlock-men, ten swordsmen and -twenty-five spearmen, who proceeded to lie in ambush awaiting news of -the approach of their prey. On the third morning it was near at hand, -the ropes ahead were fixed and a number of men posted, armed with -matchlocks loaded with shot, as the Dacoits did not desire to take -life. As soon as the trap was laid and the time of retreat intercepted, -fire was opened from all sides. The escort was thrown into confusion, -the foot soldiers sought refuge in the bush, the horsemen tried to -escape by jumping over the ropes, while the thieves broke in upon the -treasure and took possession of some 12,000 rupees. - -Daring attacks of this kind by gangs drawn from this great family -of professional and hereditary robbers were frequent in all parts -of India. No district between the Berhampootra, the Nurbudda, the -Sutlej and the Himalayas was free from them, and no merchant or -manufacturer could feel himself secure for a single night from -the depredations of Budhuk Dacoits. In 1822, in the district of -Nursingpoor in the Nurbudda valley, in the dusk of evening, a party -of about thirty persons, apparently armed with nothing but walking -sticks in their hands, passed the picket of Sepahees, who stood with -a native commissioned officer on the bank of a rivulet separating -the cantonments from the town of Nursingpoor. On being challenged -by the sentries, they said they were cowherds who had been out with -their cattle which were following close behind. They walked up the -street, and having arrived in front of the houses of the most wealthy -merchants, they set their torches in a blaze by a sudden blow upon the -pots containing combustibles; everybody who ventured to move or to make -the slightest noise was stabbed; the houses were plundered, and in ten -minutes more the assailants fled with their booty, leaving about twelve -persons dead and wounded on the ground. A magistrate close at hand -despatched large parties of foot and horse police in all directions, -but no one was seized nor was it discovered whence the gang had come, -or any particulars as to their identities. This occurred in the month -of February, when marriage processions take place every day in all -large towns; the nights are long, and much money is circulated in the -purchase of cotton in all cotton districts like that of Nursingpoor. -There was a large police guard within twenty paces of the Dacoity on -one side, and this picket of Sepahees within a hundred paces on the -other. Both saw the blaze of the torches and heard the noise, but both -mistook it for a marriage procession, and the first intimation given -of the real character of the party was by a little boy, who had crept -along a ditch unobserved by the Dacoits, and half dead with fright, -whispered to the officer commanding them that they were robbers and had -killed his father. Before the officer could get his men ready, all were -gone and nothing more was heard of them until twenty years later, when -the perpetrators of the attack were detected and brought to justice. - -The Dacoits sometimes assumed disguises to hide the real nature of -their business. In 1818 a notorious leader named Maheran with a gang -of fifty Budhuks, set out from Khyradee in the Oude Terai under the -disguise of bird catchers. They had with them falcons, hawks of all -kinds, well-trained, also mynas, parrots and other varieties of -speaking and mocking birds. At Bareilly, in Oude, they were joined -by another small gang, and all proceeded in pursuit of some treasure -on its way from Benares westward, carried by ponies under charge of -twenty-four _burkundazes_, “native watchmen,” and policemen. They -determined to attack the treasure party at their halting place between -Allahabad and Cawnpore. A boat had been purchased to keep along the -bank of the river, ready to help the party across after the attack, -and by this the women and children were all landed on the Oude side -of the river opposite the Serai. Maheran with two or three selected -men in disguise remained with the treasure until they saw it safely -lodged for the night, when he returned to his gang to make arrangements -for the attack. Ladders, torches and handles for the spear-heads and -axes had been provided in the usual way, and two hours after dark they -scaled the wall of the Serai. Meanwhile confederates within broke open -the gate from the inside and stood over it to prevent interruption, -while the rest attacked the escort and secured the treasure. They -killed six persons of the guards, wounded seventeen and secured 70,000 -rupees. - -Maheran was captured in a later expedition and hanged, but his widow -Moneea took his place as leader of the gang and shortly afterward -fitted out another expedition to Junnukpoor in the Nepal territory -several hundred miles to the east of their bivouac, to intercept -some treasure on its way to the capital, Khatmandu. This expedition -consisted of eighty chosen men and seven women. After taking the -auspices they set out in small parties toward the appointed place -of rendezvous. On the way, one of the parties, under a leader named -Johuree, fell in with fifteen bullocks laden with treasure under the -charge of eighty Gorkhas. The Dacoits, being in disguise, managed -to join the escort without exciting suspicion and ascertained that -they were carrying a treasure to the value of 64,000 rupees from the -collector’s treasury in the plain to the capital. Johuree ordered two -of his men to continue with the escort and went on himself with the -rest to join the other leaders at the appointed place and to consult -with them. He found that only a part of the gang had arrived and these -thought it wiser to postpone an attack until the rest came up, saying, -“If we succeed in taking the treasure, many of our friends must be -seized on suspicion and beaten into confessions that may lead to the -ruin of all, whereas if we forbear this time we shall be all collected -before the next monthly remittance goes up, and we may secure it with -little hazard to our friends or to ourselves.” - -Johuree urged that one bird in the hand was worth two in the bush -and at length prevailed upon the others to accept his counsel. They -mustered fifty men and prepared to follow the treasure. The two scouts -continued with the treasure escort in the disguise of pilgrims, and -when they had seen it safely lodged at a spot under the first range of -hills and had carefully reconnoitred the position, one of them hastened -to Johuree with his report. All now set out and reached the village -of Bughalee in the evening. From this place Johuree went forward to -reconnoitre and found the treasure lodged in a fortified place with a -wall and ditch all around it. A party of four or five hundred traders -who carried goods from the plains to the hills were encamped on the -edge of the ditch. After carefully surveying the position, Johuree -returned to his friends and ordered that a couple of stout ladders -twenty feet long should be made out of wood cut in the forest. -Advancing in silence, they placed these ladders and got over the ditch -and wall close to where the treasure lay. It was about midnight, with -a good moon and clear sky, but still they thought it necessary to -light their torches, and under the blaze they commenced the attack. -The escort was taken by surprise and made but a feeble resistance. The -gang took the whole amount of 64,000 rupees and effected their retreat -without losing a man. On reaching a retired spot two or three miles -from the scene of action, they divided the spoil, but every man had -too much to admit of rapid travelling, so 17,000 rupees were buried at -this place, and with the remaining 47,000 rupees the party moved on -through the forest. As soon as news of the loss of the treasure reached -the Nepal cantonments at Jalesar, whence it had been despatched, every -suspicious person that could be found was seized. Two regiments then -stationed at Jalesar were despatched through the forest to the westward -to intercept the robbers, and fell in with some of Johuree’s party, -from whom they recovered a portion of the treasure, while Johuree got -safely home with the rest. - -The precision with which veterans remembered and described Dacoities -at which they had assisted during their lives was often wonderful. One -of the leaders of the Oude Terai gangs named Lucke, when arrested, -described forty-nine Dacoities at which he had been present during -his career of twenty-five years. The local authorities to whom his -narratives were sent endorsed his account of forty-one as having been -perpetrated precisely as he described them, though many of them had -taken place near Calcutta, some four or five hundred miles from the -bivouac in Oude forest from which the gang had set out. - -Reference has been made to the disguises assumed by the Dacoits. The -most suitable to the locality in which they were about to work were -as a rule selected. Thus, north of the Jumna they became carriers of -Ganges, or holy water, because men of that class were continually to -be met with on those roads. South of the Jumna they pretended to be -pilgrims journeying to some sacred shrine, or relatives sadly conveying -the bones of the departed to the banks of the Ganges, or the friends -of a bridegroom sent to fetch and bring home his bride. The rôle of -funeral mourners was very popular because out of respect for their -sorrowful business they were treated with much deference and subjected -to no inconvenient inquiries as to whence they came or whither they -were going. The bones they carried were commonly those of inferior -animals, wild or domestic; they were kept in bags,--red for male -bones, white for female,--and at their halting places these bags were -suspended from the apex of a triangle formed by three stout poles, to -be used later as the handles for the spear-heads concealed in their -waistbands. Another favourite disguise was that of the Brinjaras, the -traditional carriers of grain and salt, who travel long distances -conveying the grain to the sea coast and returning with the salt. These -Brinjaras were a peculiar and distinct race, who were much employed by -the Duke of Wellington (when Sir Arthur Wellesley) as food-carriers -in his Indian campaigns. Their appearance was distinctive and their -costume peculiar; of intelligent countenance and strongly knit, wiry -frames, they dressed--the women especially--in fantastic parti-coloured -clothes; the women’s arms were completely encased from shoulder to -wrist in bracelets of bone or ivory; they wore coins round their -necks and curiously interwoven in their hair, which gave a strange, -flighty, wild air to their always expressive and sometimes good-looking -faces. The Brinjaras strictly adhered to certain customs; they did not -intermarry, and lived in no fixed abode, although they halted often -in the same encampment for some time; they observed the stars and -scrupulously followed omens; they spoke the languages of most of the -places they visited, but had a peculiar dialect of their own. They had -no defined religion. - -A good account of the Brinjaras is given by Reginald Heber, Bishop of -Calcutta, in his “Indian Travels.” “We passed a large encampment of -‘Brinjaras,’” he writes, “or carriers of grain, a singular wandering -race, who pass their whole time in transporting this article from -one part of the country to another, seldom on their own account, but -as agents for more wealthy dealers. They move about in large bodies -with their wives, children, dogs and loaded bullocks. The men are all -armed as a protection against petty thieves. From the sovereigns and -armies of Hindustan they have no apprehensions. Even contending armies -allow them to pass and repass safely, never taking their goods without -purchase, nor even preventing them, if they choose, from victualling -their enemy’s camp. Both sides wisely agree to respect and encourage a -branch of industry, the interruption of which might be attended with -fatal consequences to both.” - -The Brinjaras’ disguise not only served as a convenient cloak for -the Dacoits, but they sometimes followed the nefarious business on -their own account. The larger number no doubt were fairly honest and -industrious people, but some succumbed to the temptation of their -roving life and the facilities offered for criminal acts in their -extensive wanderings, taking to Dacoity and to the kidnapping of -children, a profitable business, especially of female children for -whom there was a ready sale. General Charles Hervey, the famous Indian -police officer, had but a poor opinion of the Brinjaras, whom he called -formidable robbers. His account of them is, however, interesting as -supplementing Bishop Heber’s. He came across them in large numbers -at the Sambhur Salt Lake not far from Jeypore, which they visited -from the most distant regions, with immense droves of pack bullocks, -bringing grain and taking away salt. He says: “Their animals may be -seen tethered in hundreds on the wide shores of the extensive lake, -each _tanda_ or company of their sort being camped under a distinct -Naik, or headman, in the centre of the drove appertaining to it, with -their bullock packs or panniers neatly collected in piles of hundreds -in their midst. In the daytime, when halted, their cattle are taken -out to pasture wherever pasture may be obtained, tended by the fewest -men, often mere lads, and not infrequently by girls; at evening they -are driven home, when a piece of oil-cake is given to each animal, -called by name, and it is curious to watch the process, how well each -animal knows its name and waits expectantly for its turn to be called. -At night the bullocks are tethered by means of a rope passed round -their front feet and entwined with another rope fixed to the ground -with strong stakes. They are picketed in this manner with their heads -turned inwards, in a circle round the resting place of their owners in -their midst, and fires are kept burning throughout the night to scare -away tigers or other beasts of prey. I have come upon the encampments -of these roving people, in the wildest jungles, or threading their -way with their long straggling lines of laden cattle through the most -intricate ground, whether of rock, forest, sand-hills, or marsh, and -have been quite fascinated by the strangeness of their manner and their -quaint wild ways.” - -Another successful disguise made use of by the Dacoits in Central -India was that of the garb and appearance of Alkuramies, a peculiar -class of pilgrims who travelled in small parties accompanying a high -priest, who was represented as the leader of the gang. “They had four -or five tents, some of white and some of dyed cloth, and two or three -pairs of _nakaras_, or ‘kettle drums,’ and trumpets, with a great -number of buffaloes, cows, goats, sheep and ponies. Some were clothed, -but the bodies of the greater part were covered with nothing but shoes -and a small cloth waistband. Those who had long hair went bareheaded -and those who had nothing but short hair wore a piece of cloth round -the head.” The pretended Alkuramies always took the precaution of -hiring the services of half a dozen genuine Byragees or ascetics, whom -they put forward in difficult emergencies. - -They are strange people, these Byragees, or religious devotees, whether -pretended or real. There are many classes of them with various names: -Jogis, Sunyasis, Byragis, Aghunhotas, and mostly all incorrigible -rogues. When travelling in bands they are stalwart naked fellows, -strong-limbed and sturdy, unpleasant to meet abroad despite their sham -sanctity. Their solicitation of alms is more like a threat as they -offer their begging bowls, peremptorily demanding contributions. They -do not whine or fawn like ordinary beggars, but lift their voices in -execration when their appeals are not readily met and with their naked -slate-coloured bodies raised to their full height, they cast dust into -the air to emphasise their maledictions. Whether by alms or thefts, the -mendicant leads an easy, lazy life, his needs are well cared for by the -charitable who firmly believe they “acquire merit” by ministering to -them. - -General Charles Hervey has given a graphic account of a Byragee he -came across at Thunjna on the edge of Rajputana, whose lair or _mhut_ -was on one of the hills above the town. It was “erected nearly at -the very top of it among several overhanging rocks, and reached only -by a long parapeted causeway, all substantially constructed of solid -masonry, but not yet completed. The ascetic in possession was in the -usual nude condition, four square inches of rag forming his entire -personal apparel. His body was covered with ashes, his head folded -round and round with his own braided hair like a tall tiara, and -his face and forehead plastered with white symbolic daubs. Sleek he -was, and in good condition withal--not at all a starving mendicant, -whatever his penances; and he had a fat pony too, in a well-littered -shed close by his own comfortable den, to get up to and scramble into -which must cause the good little beast some trouble. I asked the man -why thus disfigure himself? I was rebuked for the impertinence by no -reply, as, silently beholding me, he squatted on his upraised hams -on the stone-built terrace of the lofty spot.... He had, like most -of his kind throughout India, wandered to many distant regions and -sacred spots, famed from olden times as places to be visited, whatever -the difficulties of the pilgrimage.... He had, indeed, been a mighty -traveller and persistent pilgrim, this nude, besmeared gymnosophist, -of small wants and great energy, and the naked hermit became quite -attractive, rapt as he was, however unclothed and unbeauteous, as he -narrated his ‘painful marchings’ and the wondrous sights he had beheld -and bowed down to. - -“Other equally devoted and fanatic individuals, leading, like this man, -eremitical lives in caves and hovels in wild and unfrequented spots and -inaccessible places on crags or rocky eminences by side of river or -sea, or on temple-topped hill or difficult mountain peak, held sacred -as the abode of their Devi and not to be profaned, may be met with, -... but few so observant or so communicative and friendly.... Many -are their devices of evil-doing when abroad; and here I confine the -remark to those who are not what they seem to be. Thugs, poisoners and -kidnappers are to be found among Jogis. When visiting Dwarka many years -ago, I was loudly cursed by a Byragee for not readily enough yielding -to his demand for alms, and as I put off from the shore, to give -point to his execrations, the angered fellow, stark and gray, seemed -a very blue devil, as, standing to his full height and with both arms -stretched upwards, he flung dust into the air while uttering his direst -maledictions.” - -Professional poisoning in carrying out highway robbery was at one time -spread over every portion of the province of Bengal, and there is no -doubt it was equally prevalent in Bombay and Madras. Murders were -constantly committed along the road upon unwary travellers who rashly -joined company with strangers deliberately purposing to kill and rob -them; and numbers of thefts were also perpetrated by the administration -of drugs to render their victims insensible and at their mercy. - -The crime was greatly aided by the facility with which poison in some -form or other could be obtained. Many shopkeepers traded in poisons, -selling these goods openly and with the most reckless indifference. -Even when the law laid restrictions on the sale of poisons, the evilly -disposed could provide himself from the roots of trees in the jungle, -garden or wayside, or they might be bought from the numerous travelling -quacks, and the local _hakims_ or “native doctors” were often not -unwilling to supply the noxious drugs. Moreover, in almost every -village some hag of evil repute, half-witch, half-midwife, given to -criminal practices and commonly believed to be a professional poisoner, -did a systematic business in supplying drugs. Upon one old woman, who -was arrested near Sasseram in 1835, were found letters and credentials -from numerous members of the poisoning community at large who dealt -with her. - -The drug most commonly used by the road poisoners is produced from -the datura plant, _stramonium_, both the purple flowered and the white -flowered, and is prepared from the seeds or the leaves. Its noxious -effects were well known to the ancients. In “Purchas: His Pilgrimage,” -that most famous series of seventeenth century travels, we read, “They -have (in India) an Herbe called Durroa which causeth distraction -without understanding anything done in a man’s presence; sometimes -it maketh a man sleepe as if hee was dead for the space of four and -twenty hours and in much quantity it killeth.” It is referred to in -Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy.” Garcias ab Horto makes mention of -“an herbe called daturah, which if it be eaten, for twenty-four hours -following takes away all sense of grief, makes them incline to laughter -and mirth.” As an instrument in facilitating theft and other criminal -designs its properties were widely recognised. In Bengal it was usually -given as an ingredient of sweetmeats, or mixed with bread or coffee, -sherbet, milk, _tari_, “native spirits,” or introduced into tobacco. -It was relied upon to stupefy; not necessarily to kill, but to produce -intoxication or delirium, or profound lethargy resembling coma, with -dilated pupils but natural respiration. Even when life is not seriously -endangered, the effects of the poison upon the person are such that -they seldom recover their bodily vigour. One was still a cripple after -a dose taken seven years before; another continued unable to articulate -and was like a man stricken with paralysis. Memory is long impaired -and often never recovered; idiocy sometimes supervenes. The detection -of the crime is thus prevented. If death occurs, it may be attributed -to disease, suicide or wild beasts; if the patient survives, he has no -clear idea what has happened to him. - -The action of datura is generally an indication that it has been -administered. It is not only a powerful narcotic, but there are quite -unmistakably characteristic symptoms. The patient, if not incapable -of movement, will perform the most fantastic antics, will exhibit -great excitement, ramble in his talk, fly into a violent rage when -questioned. As it takes effect, the sufferer grows very thirsty, and -dry in the throat. There are three stages or sets of symptoms observed: -First, headache, dryness of the mucous membrane, difficulty in walking, -languor, impairment of vision, with the pupils greatly dilated; second, -maniacal delirium, flushed face, eyes glistening, violent perspiration -from incessant motion; third, insensibility, coma and possibly collapse -with fatal results. In the last condition the sufferer becomes giddy, -staggers, falls and dies. - -Some of the cases of poisoning by datura may be quoted here to show the -boldness with which it was practised. One crime was committed in a Jain -temple near Bhagalpur in Bengal, where the victims were the priest and -two of his attendants. The latter were found one morning in a state of -mad intoxication, reeling about the ground, and the priest was missing, -but his body was picked up three days afterward in a dry well. It was -the work of a gang of professional poisoners who had visited the temple -ostensibly to make an offering to the god but in reality to murder the -priest. One of them bought sweetmeats which were doctored with powdered -datura-seed, and handed them over to the priest for presentation. -According to custom, he ate some of the sweetmeats, giving a part also -to the two temple attendants. The poisoners waited till the drug had -taken effect and then attacked the priest who was lying unconscious -near the shrine; one of them throttled him; a second sat heavily upon -his chest; a third held his hands, and a fourth trampled him underfoot. -The helpless victim soon died in convulsions. The next act was to rifle -the secret treasury kept in an inner chamber, and the plunder was -stowed in sacks and carried away in a cart. In the end by the aid of -“approvers” seven of the robbers were arrested. Three were sentenced to -death, and the others to transportation for life to the Andaman Islands. - -Numerous victims of the crime of road poisoning were found among the -Powindahs or Afghan traders who travel down every year from above the -passes on the northwest frontier and who brought their strings of -camels laden with merchandise and products of the soil, or drove a good -business in horse-dealing. They sold cloth and shawls, condiments, -sun-dried fruits, sweetmeats, valuable furs, long-haired Persian -cats, strong, surefooted little horses called _yaboos_. They visited -all parts of India as far as Cape Comorin, and when their goods were -sold, congregated at certain points for the homeward journey, and with -their wallets well-lined, they were a likely prey for the poisoners. -Although shrewd bargainers, they are an unwary lot not difficult to -dupe and cajole. These “Cabulis,” as they were styled, were at one time -the constant victims of datura poisoning in Bombay, where they often -collected to enjoy the proceeds of their trading and purchase goods to -carry home. Numbers of them were admitted to the hospital suffering -from poison, the fatal effects of which they had escaped, thanks to -their robust constitutions. - -Once at Patna, in Bengal, a horse-dealer from Cabul, who had disposed -of his stud profitably, rashly made friends with a couple of rogues -whom he met by the way and who had so ingratiated themselves with him -as to be accepted as travelling companions. On reaching Benares one of -them, who passed as the other’s servant, went on ahead to a Serai to -prepare food, which was ready on the arrival of the party and of which -the Afghan partook with the others. All were seized with the usual -symptoms, and while insensible the horse-dealer was robbed. Again, a -party of five, travelling from Calcutta, were beguiled on the way by an -obliging stranger whom they presently engaged to go out and buy food -for them in the bazaar and prepare it for them. They left the Serai -with him to continue their journey by rail, but were found unconscious -on the way to the station, having been robbed of their money and most -of their apparel. - -General Hervey quotes a curious instance of the heredity of the -criminal instinct which showed itself in the descendants of the old -Thugs settled at Jubbulpore, in the days of the active pursuit of these -murderers by Sir William Sleeman. A generation of young Thugs had -grown up around the School of Industry, a kind of reformatory for the -offspring of the captured criminals, and the careers of some of these -have been followed. Many of the youths found employment with European -gentlemen as private servants, and in one particular instance the -inherited propensity was curiously illustrated. A railway engineer, Mr. -Upham, employed in the construction of the Indian Peninsula Railway, -was stationed at Sleemanabad near Jubbulpore. Returning home one -evening, much fatigued after a long tour of inspection, he lay down -to rest on his bed and from his tent, the curtain of which was raised -for ventilation, he saw two of his table servants--both of them lads -from the reformatory--engaged in cooking his dinner. He presently -noticed that they squeezed into the pot on the fire certain green pods -they had plucked from a neighbouring bush, and presuming they were -herbs of some sort added for flavour, he said nothing, but he was -curious and having little appetite he dined very lightly, chiefly on -rice and milk. He picked some of the pods, however, and put them in -his pocket, where they remained till next day, when he became ill and -rode over to see the doctor. He fainted when he reached the doctor’s -office. Restoratives being promptly applied, he so far recovered as to -be able to produce the pods which the doctor at once pronounced to be -of datura. Suspicion thus aroused, the two servants were arrested and -brought to trial, when the head cook was convicted and sentenced to six -years’ imprisonment. This boy was of the old Thug stock, and obviously -the desire to destroy human life was in his blood, brought out by -greed; for the object was, of course, to rob Mr. Upham while he was -unconscious. - -They were apparently irreclaimable, these Thug children. One boy was -detained in prison until grown up in the hope that he would prove -well-conducted. All his relations had been Thugs; his father (who -had been executed), his uncles, brothers and forebears for several -generations, and numbers of them had suffered the extreme penalty. He -was cognisant of their misdeeds and the retribution that overtook them, -but his own inclinations lay the same way, and no sooner was he at -large than he embraced the evil trade and was soon known as a _jemadar_ -with an increasing reputation as a daring leader of Dacoits. Eventually -he was won over to the side of justice and did good service as an -“approver.” - -A noted Thug poisoner of later days was a certain Rora, the Meerasee--a -class of hereditary singers--who was long criminally active and -in the end was sentenced to transportation for nineteen years on -several counts. His favourite victims were the drivers of bullock -hackeries, which with an accomplice he would hire, and after they -were taken several stages, he would become friendly with the driver, -offering food, drink or tobacco, which was, of course, drugged and -produced the usual narcotic effects. When the driver fell off his box -insensible, they left him to lie there and made off with the vehicle -and its beasts, disposing of them at the first chance. This process -was repeated with other carts and conveyances plying for hire, and in -all cases datura was the drug employed. This Rora was arrested on one -occasion, and having to pass his own house got permission to go in; -after which he came out with a gift of poisoned sweetmeats for his -escort, and easily escaped when his custodians yielded to the potency -of the datura. - -A form of highway robbery was the “Megphunnah Thuggee,”--the poisoning -of parents to remove them and allow of the kidnapping of their deserted -children. The motive of this crime was to become possessed of the -jewels and ornaments worn by the children, or to sell the latter -at distant places or to wanderers who would carry them to far-off -countries for questionable purposes. Brinjaras bought male children -to bring up in their trade, and nomadic gipsies with travelling shows -wanted females to be reared to their performing business. Thus a gang -of Megphunnah thieves assembled for a feast fell upon a family of Yats, -father and mother, with two girls and a boy, and having strangled the -parents in good old Thug fashion and sold the children, repeated the -process continually as they wandered on. The gains were small, but the -murders were many and numbers were sold into slavery of the worst sort. - -Dacoity was practised on a large scale in many districts by whole -gangs under well-known leaders with adherents or well-wishers and -informants in every village. At each religious festival in the autumn, -the band assembled at the summons of its acknowledged chief in some -deserted fort or temple, and settled a plan for the coming season, -when operations were discussed; the names of the selected victims, -the nature of the expected booty, the chances of resistance or the -interference of the authorities. New members were affiliated and sworn -in at these meetings and the work went on gaily by the various parties -till the approach of the monsoon, when the whole band reassembled, -divided the spoil and went into winter quarters. One member of the gang -was always a goldsmith, who melted down the ornaments acquired, while -silks and clothes were disposed of to friendly shopkeepers. - -A long list might be drawn up of the predatory peoples of India. “These -criminal tribes,” says Sleeman, “number hundreds of thousands of -persons and present a problem almost unknown in European experience. -The gipsies, who are largely of Indian origin, are perhaps the only -European example of an hereditary criminal tribe. But they are not -sheltered and abetted by the landowners as their brethren in India -are.” Most prominent among these peoples were the Meenas, or Meena -Rhatores, who were found chiefly in Rajputana, but who practised -their infamous trade in many parts of India. The name Rhatore is -synonymous with Rajput and signifies “of royal race,” but the blue -blood was drawn from a family living by plunder and Dacoity. They -were settled in considerable numbers at Shajanpore near Gurgaon, and -lived outwardly respectable lives, but their propensities were well -known. Although they went far afield to carry out their robberies, they -occupied substantial stone houses, cultivated the soil and possessed -large flocks and herds with many swift camels, mostly hidden away -till the time arrived for an expedition to pilfer and despoil. These -Meenas were rich and prosperous and wanted nothing but to be let -alone; they habitually lived well, ate flesh, drank much, wore fine -raiment, and their women disported many trinkets and gorgeous clothes; -their rejoicings and festivals were celebrated with much feasting and -revelry. They followed no ostensible occupation; they hired servants -to till the ground, and their villages had often a deserted appearance -because most of the men were absent on some raid. The remaining few, -wary and watchful, looked out for possible detection and interference; -the women, even when drawing water at the well, were ready to give the -signal of alarm or send a word of warning to their friends engaged in -some illegal pursuit. The Meenas hung closely together, and if any one -was by mischance arrested, he might count upon assistance and upon -funds raised by subscription to provide bribes to secure his release, -if in the native states, or for the payment of fees for his defence. - -Another criminal class very formidable in their time were the Moghyas, -whose home was in Meywar in and about the direction of Neemuch. They -were notorious for the wide range of their depredations, and being of -a treacherous character, they inspired great dread in the regions they -infested. They did not confine themselves to their own country, but -spread far and wide, and their robberies were so repeated that at one -time the high road between Indore and Gwalior was patrolled by parties -of irregular cavalry in support of the inefficient local police. These -Moghyas came from a common stock of tribal thieves, such as the Budhuks -and Khunjurs, and were notable for their favourite custom of taking -service as village watchmen or _chowkeydars_, a strange practice very -general throughout India and based upon the old idea of setting a -thief to catch a thief. - -The Budhuks were professional Dacoits who always murdered their -victims; the Khunjurs were wanderers who robbed in many widely -separated districts both in Madras and Bombay, and in times far back in -Jalna, Bolarum near Secunderabad, at Bellary (Madras) and Sholapore. -The Mooltani robbers were assiduous in attacks on convoys of cargoes of -piece goods, opium and sugar. There were also Bedowreahs, freebooters -and desperados of the North-western Provinces, Kaim Khanees, camel -postilions, who were also Dacoits, and Khaikarees and Lambanees, much -given to crime in the Dharwan district and so determined in their -misdeeds that no severity short of perpetual banishment had any effect -on them. After a large capture, the native magistrate sentenced every -offender to have his right hand chopped off. Yet they at once resumed -their depredations when set free and were long recognised as members of -the “lop-handed” gang. - -The Ooreahs, or men of Orissa, were poisoners by descent, adepts -at dissimulation and low cunning, much given to the despoiling of -unsuspecting females of the oldest profession in the world, the -hereditary dancing girls who were brought up to the business by their -mothers. A troupe of these girls were often maintained privately by -rajahs and wealthy natives, and for ceremonial purposes at Hindu -temples. Despite the taint of ill-repute attaching to their trade, -they were often modest in manner and of refined tastes, very much like -the old Grecian “Hetæræ”; but when living at large in their public -capacity, they were often the victims of greedy miscreants who coveted -their possessions, their plentiful ornaments and jewelry, for many -were personally rich. The Ooreahs worked in gangs and three of them -visited the house of some of these women in Dum-Dum and brought with -them a present of food, curry cooked by themselves and drugged. This -had the usual effect and ended in a great robbery. Again, four Ooreahs -took lodgings with a woman in the Sham Bazaar, near Calcutta, and -established friendly relations, exchanging sweetmeats. Those given by -the Ooreahs soon produced insensibility, and the poisoners cleared out -the place. - -In 1869 information reached a gang of Dacoits on the look-out for booty -that a large consignment of treasure had been received at Agra by -railway from Calcutta. It was to be transferred at Agra to camel-back, -to be forwarded to its destination at Jeypore. The leader of the -Dacoits and many others were lurking around drawn by the scent of rich -prey on the skirts of the great Durbar then in progress. They prudently -resolved to delay attack until the spoil was upon native territory, -and it was watched from stage to stage until the convoy had entered a -pass or hilly gorge one march from Jeypore. The party halted for the -night to bivouac in the bazaar of a place called Molumpoona, where they -were challenged by pretended revenue officers, who were Meena Dacoits -disguised, and accused of trying to evade the transit dues. The real -character of the officials was soon made manifest when the escort, who -were soldiers or policemen, ran off, and the plunder was secured. It -consisted of a large amount in rupees and silver in bricks, coral beads -and other valuables. - -The audacity of these Dacoits reached to greater heights. The royal -mails were not safe from their interference. By maintaining spies -in the various post-offices, news was always forthcoming of the -approaching despatch of a valuable prize by the government mail carts -or Dak runners from Agra to the adjacent native states. Almost at the -same time as the last named robbery took place, a detachment from the -main gang stopped the mail cart and seized its contents, carrying off a -quantity of bullion in British sovereigns. A second similar robbery was -also effected on the Ajmere frontier, in which the post-office employee -was wounded. These treasure Dacoities were no doubt facilitated by the -niggardliness of the transmitters, who sought to save the expense of -hiring a special escort notwithstanding the enormous amount at stake, -as much as thirty lacs of rupees, or £300,000, having been passed at -times from Bombay to Indore. - -On one occasion in 1864, a police confederate gave notice of a -consignment of treasure, 30,000 rupees, from Bombay, passing through -Berar, which was intercepted and attacked in a ravine near Mulkapore. -The mail cart arrived about dusk, when the robbers fell upon it and the -drivers, and the small escort of four matchlock men fled. The bullion -was loaded quickly on camels, carried away and buried in the jungle -before the news of the theft reached Mulkapore. A month later, when the -booty was about to be divided among the different gangs engaged, they -quarrelled fiercely over the shares and one of the party stole away and -brought the police upon the scene. The treasure was thus recovered and -many important arrests were made. - -This money had been forwarded up country to be employed in the purchase -of cotton at a time when the great American War of Secession had -paralysed the cotton industry, and great enterprise was being shown in -obtaining the scarce commodity. This “cotton hunger” extended to India, -and the productive cotton fields there were being despoiled to meet -the demand. Heavy remittances in cash were in consequence constantly -transmitted up country, and the temptation was great to highway -robbers. It was the same with regard to opium, largely produced in the -province of Malwa. Not only was the drug itself plundered in transit to -Bombay, but the purchase money of the goods was intercepted on its way -to pay the cultivators. - -Many noted Dacoits rose into prominence when the crime was most -prevalent. One was Jowahirra Durzee, a thief of the boldest type who -wandered through Central India planning and executing robberies. There -were thirteen such crimes to his credit in the province of Berar and -eight more around Poona. He was a fine-looking man who was caught by -the Nizam of Hyderabad and sentenced to be beheaded, but who escaped -from gaol with the connivance of the native guard. He renewed his -activity and made a great haul in Berar, robbing a couple of country -carts conveying cash to the value of 66,000 rupees sent from Bombay for -the purchase of cotton. The thieves had only time to bury their plunder -and disperse, but returned a month later to dig it up and divide it. -After making Poona the centre of operations, he was again arrested and -committed to the British lock-up at Jalna, from which he was rescued by -a daring comrade, Kishen Sing, who forced an entrance into the prison -by climbing the wall and overpowering the sentry. - -Afterward Jowahirra, when retaken, described what had occurred. Two -steel clasp knives with file blades had been conveyed from Bombay and -smuggled into the prison. With these the prisoners cut through their -leg-irons in six days, after which their friends came and carried them -off to where three swift camels were waiting for them outside the town. -The Indian criminals are ingenious in dealing with their fetters to -compass escape. They are independent of files. Thirty of the worst -prisoners confined in the central gaol of Agra contrived to cut through -their irons by means of threads manufactured from their clothing and -thickly coated with pounded glass or emery powder. The threads were -first anointed with gum to which the powder adhered, thus forming a -sawing instrument equal to a file. Jowahirra’s subsequent depredations -were on a large scale. He was often associated with the notorious -Dacoit Jeewun Sing, (of whom more directly), and they controlled large -numbers of tribal thieves, Meenas and Rhatores and Rohillas, who were -at one time computed to amount to nearly four hundred. Jowahirra was -in due course tried as a professional Dacoit and sentenced to fourteen -years’ transportation to the Andaman Islands. - -Jeewun Sing was a native of Bikaneer and a camel carrier who conveyed -specie and other consignments for the bankers of Berar, and as such he -enjoyed a reputation for honesty and fair dealing in the delivery of -goods entrusted to him. Yet he was in collusion with Meena Dacoits who -came down from the country in quest of plunder, and whom he harboured -and hid in two temples near Oomraotee until news came of treasure on -the move. Jeewun Sing, who had taken service with the Mypore police for -his personal safety, secretly directed these gangs and was concerned -in several of the heaviest robberies, receiving always his share of -the proceeds,--a fourth or fifth. He did not join personally in the -work, but sent agents to represent him. He was a general carrier, whose -camels travelled to Bombay, Indore, Jeypore, Jubbulpore, and who was -true to his employers as a cloak to his proceedings against others. -This police inspector, so long the confederate of robbers, lived under -a cloud and his arrest was often strongly urged, but he was spared -through the protection of his police superiors, and not a little on -account of his usefulness in securing the conviction of others. But -this double traitor, disloyal to his sect and the betrayer of his -confederates, was in the end dismissed from the service. - -Kishen Sing, the noted Rhatore leader of Dacoits who rescued Jowahirra -Durzee, was one of the chief agents of this same Jeewun Sing. Kishen -Sing was informed against by his confederate, Choutmull, for declining -to submit to his demands and was supposed to have died in custody at -Aboo. The story of this fictitious death so admirably illustrates -Eastern duplicity that it deserves mention. Kishen Sing was a desperate -character whose crimes were many and atrocious. He murdered one of his -associates in a mail cart robbery; he attacked two sepoys going on -furlough, and in the fight which ensued slew one while he himself was -wounded; and he was in the habit of disguising himself as an officer -in the Nizam’s cavalry in order to carry out his robberies. One of -his most daring deeds was rifling a treasure convoy on the high-road -between Sholapore and Hyderabad. The money was 30,000 rupees in -specie and some chests of bullion, and was carried in the wagons of a -transit agency under escort of some Arab mercenaries. A fierce conflict -was fought, but the Dacoits got the best of it and carried off the -treasure. Later Kishen Sing was arrested and laid by the heels at Mount -Aboo to await trial. - -He was resolved to escape his fate of certain transportation. First -he tried to commit suicide with a piece of glass, then he simulated -madness and at last took to malingering. He was seized with a terrible -hacking cough and grew visibly worse, so that his release as incurable -was all but recommended. Then he apparently died. Leave was sought from -the local authorities to bury him and not burn him as was the usual -procedure with a Hindu corpse. His body was handed over for interment -to four or five low caste men engaged by an old and faithful follower -of his who had taken the garb of a mendicant and occupied a small -hut just outside the gaol gates. The undertakers were in the secret, -and they placed the living corpse in a shallow grave face downward, -covering it with thorns and brushwood, on the top of which a thin -layer of earth was laid. The defunct made no move, and after dark -the faithful Gosaen, who had been on the watch, came and dug up the -“dead” Kishen Sing. It was thus clearly proved that burial did not mean -death and that, provided a person is placed faced downwards with no -superincumbent weight of earth, life may be safely prolonged for hours. -The escape of Kishen Sing was not realised until he was discovered -alive and well in his native village. How he imposed upon the medical -officer whose duty it was to furnish a certificate of death does not -appear upon the record. - -A curious feature in Indian Dacoity was that gangs were led in more -than one instance by female _jemadars_ or captains. One of the most -notable was a certain Tumbolin whose husband had met his deserts in -the Madras territory and had been executed. After his death, his wife -was installed in his place by the universal acclaim of his followers, -and she fully justified her appointment. She became a most capable -chief, ably managed all the affairs of the gang, sought out the needful -information as to the promise of spoil, the best methods of attack, -and settled every preliminary. She went with her men to the point of -action, but did not join personally in the fray, leaving the actual -command to a trusty lieutenant, by name Himtya, chosen by herself, and -who became her right hand man. - -One of the boldest operations ever attempted by Dacoits was the -attack made by Tumbolin’s gang upon a military treasure in the heart -of the military cantonments of Sholapore. In quest of booty, she had -brought her party down in person from Central India and had encamped -at Nuldroog, about fifteen miles from Sholapore, a wild spot within -the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Accompanied by her faithful -Himtya and others, disguised as wandering minstrels, she explored the -neighbourhood and penetrated the military quarter of Sholapore. They -sang their songs before the officers’ bungalows and at last boldly -entered the general’s garden in which a sentry was posted. Over the -hedge they saw a sentry, and more to the purpose, saw that he was in -charge of the treasure chest of the military force. Meanwhile Himtya -had gone off independently and had marked down as a hopeful prey the -house of a wealthy tobacconist and banker in the town of Sholapore. - -The two enterprises were discussed that night on return to camp, and -although the banker’s promised to be the easiest job, an attack upon a -military force was the most audacious and, if successful, would secure -the largest prestige. It was decided to attempt the latter enterprise, -pausing for a day or two in order to reconnoitre their ground, the -best means of approach, and the surest line of retreat if pursued. The -British garrison was large and consisted of a native infantry and a -troop of European horse artillery. It was an important station where -many high officials resided, judge, collector and magistrate, and a -local gaol was established within the fort. It was a hard nut to crack, -but Tumbolin did not despair. First removing their encampment to some -distance, the rendezvous was fixed on some broken ground near the -deposited treasure, which was last seen by Himtya when being locked up -in the right hand compartment of the tumbril. - -At nightfall the sepoy sentry guard retired into their guard room, -leaving a double sentry to guard the treasure. Himtya’s first step was -to secure the guard by locking them into their quarters; then he and -his men crept up under cover of a tall cactus hedge until they reached -the tumbril, when two of the Dacoits rushed simultaneously upon the two -sentries and speared them, while a third robber broke off the padlock -of the tumbril and laid open the right compartment of the treasure -chest. It was empty, for the money had been transferred that very day -to the other side. By this time, the alarm had been raised. The sentry -in the general’s garden adjoining opened fire, and some of the officers -ran up with shot-guns, by which one of the robbers was wounded. The -attack had failed and the tables were turned. The bugles rang out with -a general call to arms and the baffled Dacoits hastily decamped. - -Pursuit followed, but the robbers were fleet of foot and arrived safely -at their encampment, where all was in readiness for flight, ponies were -mounted, Tumbolin astride on her favourite piebald, and they galloped -away through the night and the next day until the party reached and -crossed the Kistna, after which they were beyond pursuit. Great -commotion had been caused in Sholapore. The troops stood to their arms -all night and patrols of cavalry scoured the whole country round. The -English general in command reported that Sholapore had been attacked -by a numerous and well-organised banditti, but, as a matter of fact, -Tumbolin’s whole gang numbered no more than sixteen persons. - -Tumbolin long continued her depredations and her success was great. Ten -years after the attack on Sholapore, her gang visited the city of Poona -at a moment when the chief of police was being married and the entire -force was in attendance upon the marriage procession. Himtya seized the -occasion to break into the house of a rich Marwaree merchant and rifle -his strong room. The attack was made with flaring torches and a great -outcry and succeeded, but two of the robbers were captured as they fled -through the town, one of them Himtya himself. Tumbolin escaped and was, -indeed, never taken, although a large price was put upon her head. She -retired at length at a good old age to die peacefully among her own -people in the fastnesses of the Oude Terai. - -Grassia was a famous leader of Khunjur Dacoits who had become an -approver after capture. When he died his widow, a woman of fine -presence and masculine gait, consecrated her children by a solemn oath -to their father’s profession. She seemed to anticipate that the boys -would be worth little at the work, but relied upon her one girl to -turn into a capable leader such as Tumbolin. Grassia’s daughter grew -up into a fine woman, with no particular good looks, but of imposing -aspect. She never married, bearing in mind her mother’s injunctions to -devote herself to the care of her brothers, and to keep Tumbolin before -her as a model for imitation, and she no doubt led her gang with much -energy and success. In older times there were female Thugs, women who -accompanied their husbands on expeditions, and one is mentioned by -Sleeman who was the _jemadar_ of a gang of her own. - -A horrible story of a Dacoit’s revenge is told by Mr. Arthur Crawford. -After an outbreak of the Bheels in October, 1858, which was commenced -by one of their number, Bhagoji Naique, shooting the superintendent -of the police near Sinnur, the majority of the Bheels took to Dacoity -under the leadership of Bhagoji. At this time an old Bheel named -Yesoo, a friend of Bhagoji’s, was living in the same neighbourhood -in a village which was a favourite camping ground for Europeans on -account of the facilities it offered for sport. Yesoo was on very -friendly terms with the sportsmen and endeavoured to dissuade Bhagoji -from his traitorous designs, but without success. After the murder of -the police official, Yesoo refused to join the rebels, and was excused -on account of his age and lameness and left to live in peace in his -village, Bhagoji little thinking that all the while he was secretly -supplying the English with valuable information concerning the plans -and whereabouts of the Dacoits. When the disturbance had been quelled -and an amnesty proclaimed, one of Bhagoji’s most faithful adherents -returned to his home and settled down quietly in his native village -not far from Yesoo, who by this time was well known to have been a -government informer and was very proud of the fact. This apparently did -not affect Hanmant, who tried to be on good terms with the old man, -and frequently visited him, inviting him to bring his family over to -his (Hanmant’s) village. But Yesoo was wary and kept the young man at -arm’s length. Hanmant, finding all attempts to lure the old man away -from the security of his own village in vain, conceived a diabolical -plot to bring about his revenge. “Taking some fifteen or twenty of -his own people and a few more Bheels who had sworn to be revenged on -Yesoo, he repaired one night to Yesoo’s village, silently surrounded -the Bheel quarter, and then sent one of his men to fire the village -stackyard at the other side of the village. Just as he anticipated, the -alarm was no sooner given than every male Bheel in the ‘Warra’ (their -quarters outside the village proper), including Yesoo and his two sons, -went off at best speed to the fire, the women and children collecting -outside their huts to view the blaze. In an instant the revengeful -gang surrounded the ‘Warra,’ and with his own hand Hanmant cut down -and horribly mutilated Yesoo’s two wives and daughters, the other -women were gagged and bound, and then Hanmant and a select few, armed -with matchlocks, lay in ambush by the path Yesoo and his sons must -return by. Yesoo he shot with the muzzle of his gun nearly touching -his body, and the sons and one Bheel who showed fight were disposed -of by his comrades; the other Bheels dispersed, while Hanmant and his -gang quietly returned home. Suspicion, of course, immediately fell upon -Hanmant. One of his confederates peached. Hanmant escaped into the -jungle, but was caught half-famished about a week afterward. Ultimately -he and two accomplices were executed at the scene of the murder, -Hanmant exulting up to the last moment in the dreadful deed, which he -had been brooding over for nearly five years.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -CHARACTERISTIC CRIMES - - Extended use of poison--Horrible stories--The Gaekwar of Baroda - charged with attempted poison of British resident, Colonel - Phayre--Diamond dust--Modern instances in Bombay--Murders - numerous--Police practices tending to concealment of - evidence--Decapitation--Strangulation--Stinging to death--Crushing - to death by an elephant--Leading traits in Indian criminals--Frauds - and forging--Story of the Black Hole of Calcutta. - - -The crime of secret poisoning as a lethal agent has ever largely -prevailed among a timid and deceitful people inclined to prefer -treachery to open violence. Under the Mussulman dynasty, assassination -by poison flourished exceedingly. It was effective in removing a -pestilent competitor or a too ambitious minister, a jealous or -untrustworthy wife or a hateful husband. The action of poison was -often mysterious and its symptoms obscure in countries where the light -of medical knowledge burned dimly, and when fatal might easily be -attributed to the noxious effect of the narcotics so largely indulged -in. The facility with which poison could be administered is constantly -indicated in the ancient writings; the Shastras or sacred books of -the Hindus, illustrating and explaining the Vedas, enlarge upon -the precautions that should be taken to protect the life of the rajah -or ruler from the subtle attacks of those around him. The danger of -death by poisoning lurks commonly in the domestic relations; a great -crowd of servants fill the purlieus of the palace, actively engaged -in the preparation of food and often at liberty to pass freely to and -fro. One Shastra lays down the necessary qualities of a cook as skill, -cleanliness, good character and even temper so that neither greed nor -revengeful feeling should incite him or her to mix something poisonous -in the pot. Another goes further and enlarges thus upon the methods -of detecting the personal characteristics of any one likely to give -poison,--“He does not answer questions, or only gives evasive answers; -he speaks nonsense; rubs the great toe along the ground and shivers; -his face is discoloured; he rubs the roots of the hair with his -fingers; and he tries by every means to leave the house.” - - -_Execution in India_ - - A common mode of execution in India, for which the elephant is - easily trained. In the early times of uprising or rebellion, - elephants were also used against the enemy, and would make short - work of piling up great pyramids of human heads. - -[Illustration] - -Some horrible stories are preserved of the ruthless administration -of poison by the Mohammedan sovereigns in India. Thus Tavernier, the -French traveller in the seventeenth century, says of the great state -prison of Gwalior that the emperor Aurungzeb was so sensitive lest he -should be stigmatised as a cruel prince he never suffered any great -subject to survive long in prison; at the end of the ninth or tenth -day the captive was removed by poison. No doubt Hyder Ali poisoned -a number of his English prisoners, and the inhuman murder of General -Mathews by Tippoo Sing is told by James Bristowe, who suffered a long -captivity under the same merciless monarch. The general was poisoned -under the most abominable circumstances. He was starving himself to -death rather than partake of the food issued to him, which he had -discovered contained poison. He studiously abstained from food for -several days until at length, tortured by overmastering hunger, he -devoured a plate of poisoned victuals and expired a few hours later in -violent convulsions. Another officer, Captain Romley, who saw himself -constrained to swallow poison, preferred to commit suicide by some -other means. Yet again, Lieutenant Fraser had poison forcibly poured -down his throat. - -The traditions of the native states as to poisoning were preserved in -at least one till a late date in the last century. In Baroda, a Rajput -ruler, the Gaekwar Mulhar Rao, was the centre of a nest of criminal -intrigue rivalling anything in the past, as great a miscreant as any -one in his depraved court and more guilty than any of his subjects -in the use of his despotic power. Crime was the very breath of his -princely house; its members hated one another with bitter animosity; -assassination, largely by secret poisoning, was the chief avenue to -the throne, but all kinds of flagitious means were employed to secure -succession; charges backed by elaborate perjury were as often used to -upset a rival aspirant, as powdered arsenic or diamond dust to remove -him permanently to another sphere. - -In the generation to which Mulhar Rao belonged, violent deaths had -constantly paved the way to the throne. One of five sons reigned in -1847. Two of his brothers died suddenly, and the prince himself a few -years later. He was succeeded by the fourth brother, Khander Rao, whom -the fifth, Mulhar Rao, at once attempted to poison, but he was detected -and taken into custody. Then Khander Rao sought to protect himself by -appealing to sorcery and black arts, and finding no certain security, -consulted a Brahmin who strongly recommended human sacrifices. -Whereupon Khander Rao selected thirty-five prisoners in his gaol of -Baroda, whom he ordered for execution at the rate of five daily. -Twenty-five had suffered before the butchery ceased. Mulhar Rao still -lived, and recourse was had to simpler methods; his cook was suborned -and provided with powdered arsenic, the most commonly tried drug, but -the poison failed in effect because, although the noxious food was -consumed, remedies were applied in time. - -False testimony was next adduced, and Mulhar Rao was accused by -perjured witnesses of plotting to have his brother Khander Rao shot -by a European soldier, and on this flimsy pretence he was closely -confined in the prison of Cadra. He had sympathisers and they soon felt -the weight of Khander Rao’s hand. Four of them were seized, accused -of holding secret communication with the prisoner, and sentenced to -various forms of capital punishment. One was hanged, another beheaded, -a third blown from the mouth of a gun and the fourth was thrown under -the feet of an elephant to be trodden to death. Suddenly Khander Rao -himself died, not without suspicion of foul play, and Mulhar Rao walked -straight from the gaol to the throne, where he was soon to emulate the -misdeeds of his predecessors. - -The new Gaekwar had no claims upon the regard of his subjects. Almost -wholly uneducated and with no mental gifts, he failed to inspire -respect or devotion. He was not without astuteness, but was obstinate -as a mule and fierce as a tiger. His person was unattractive; he was -undersized, of mean appearance, with a coarse, swarthy complexion; -he squinted, and from his large sensual lips black teeth protruded -savagely. Unlike his brother Khander Rao, he had no taste for field -sports, and he had converted the race course at Baroda into a carriage -drive for the ladies of his zenana. - -Mulhar Rao’s private life was desperately evil. In his early years -he was often thought to be mad on account of his passionate and -ungovernable temper. Even as a child he committed crimes, impelled by -fierce hatred and lust for revenge. His youth was made up of poisonings -and attempts to poison. When he came to power he destroyed his -enemies, real or fancied, wholesale. His gaolers collected victims in a -row, and one by one poison was poured forcibly down their throats. One -of those he most cordially detested was offered poisonous pills, and -when he refused to swallow them he was despatched in a more expeditious -fashion by being squeezed to death in a special machine. This man’s -chief crime was that he had been a creature of Khander Rao’s. - -The new Gaekwar’s victims were so numerous that it was a current phrase -in the city, “Has he killed many to-day?” He spared no man in his -anger, no woman in his lust. Justice was bought and sold, the claimant -who had the longest purse always won his case; public business was -neglected; the most unworthy were advanced; bribery and corruption -were the rule in every branch of administration. The crown and finish -to Mulhar Rao’s offences was his alleged plot to poison the British -resident, Colonel Phayre. - -There had long been distrust between the Gaekwar and the representative -of the British government, whose profound disapproval of the prince’s -proceedings was soon made manifest. A more serious difference arose -when the Gaekwar insisted that his infant son, born of his latest -marriage, should be recognised as the next heir to the throne. There -were grave doubts of the child’s legitimacy. His mother, Luxmeebee, had -been forcibly abducted from another husband who was still alive at the -time of its birth. Colonel Phayre refused to acknowledge the child and -Mulhar Rao vowed vengeance. One of his first dastardly attempts was to -poison all the inmates of the residency by causing a pound of arsenic -to be mixed with the ice sent in for daily consumption. This device -failed, and the next attack was aimed directly at the resident through -his own body servants. - -Colonel Phayre was in the habit of drinking a glass of sherbet every -morning when he came home from an early walk. It was awaiting him on -the hall table and was prepared with sugared water and fresh pumelo -juice. One day he swallowed only a mouthful of this drink, disliking -its taste, and threw the rest out of the window, when he detected a -small amount of sediment in the bottom of the glass. When analysed -subsequently, this was found to contain arsenic and diamond dust. -Suspicion was at once aroused, and the possession of the powder charged -with these ingredients was traced to a _havildar_ of the military guard -of the residency, who kept it concealed in his waist belt. It was -not believed that any subordinate and impecunious person could have -afforded to buy diamond dust, and attention was at once diverted from -the _havildar_ to the prince, whose bitter feeling toward the resident -was well known. - -Evidence so damnatory against Mulhar Rao was collected that the -government of India attached his person and decided to prosecute him. -A special court of inquiry was appointed, composed of three English -and three native commissioners, the first three leading lights on the -Indian bench, the second three Maharajas of the highest rank. The -Gaekwar was permitted to engage counsel, and was defended by one of the -most eminent of British barristers at that time, Sergeant Ballantine. -The arraignment of a reigning prince for the crime of murder by the -supreme power to whom he owed allegiance caused a great sensation in -India, and the issue of the protracted trial was watched with great -interest at home. In the end the three English commissioners were of -opinion that the Gaekwar was guilty through his paid agents of an -attempt to poison Colonel Phayre, and on the other hand, their three -native colleagues considered that the charge was not proved. The result -was much criticised and indeed condemned, but the adverse finding was -accepted by the then viceroy, Lord Northbrook, who forthwith deposed -Mulhar Rao and deprived him and his issue of all rights to the throne. -The decision was based upon “his notorious misconduct, his gross -misgovernment of the state and his evident incapacity to carry into -effect the necessary reforms,” the chief of all being the reform of his -own evil nature and personal character. - -Sergeant Ballantine dissented from the view taken by the English -commissioners and disapproved of Lord Northbrook’s action. Following -the old legal axiom that the best course of an advocate whose case is -bad is to abuse the other side, the learned counsel threw the blame -chiefly upon Colonel Phayre. “He (Colonel Phayre) was fussy, meddlesome -and thoroughly injudicious,” the sergeant wrote in his memoirs. “There -were two adverse parties in the state, and instead of holding himself -aloof from both, he threw himself into that opposed to the Gaekwar and -was greedy to listen to every accusation and complaint that with equal -eagerness was gossiped into his ears.” But these last were by no means -imaginary. Mulhar Rao’s vile conduct was never in doubt, and it was -clear that he had tampered with the resident’s servants. - -As regards the diamond dust which played a somewhat exaggerated part -in the affair, there is nothing to substantiate the common belief -that it is a deadly poison, any more than ground glass, which has an -equally bad name. It is an old and exploded superstition. The notorious -“succession powder” of the old Italian poisoners was supposed to be -diamond dust. Voltaire tells us that Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, -died of acute irritant poisoning, the poison being diamond powder mixed -with pounded sugar and strewn over strawberries. - -It may be noted here that the abominable practice of widow-burning -seems to have originated as a check upon the wife’s desire to get rid -of her husband. The practice dates back to the time of Strabo, who -gives the above origin for it. It was so common, says Mr. William -Methold, that a law was passed insisting that the wives should -accompany their deceased husbands to the funeral pyre. According to one -authority, poisoning by wives was so frequent that, in any one year, -four men died to every woman. Originating as a deterrent, the burning -of widows became in due course an act of pious devotion, a deed of -self-immolation acceptable to their bloodthirsty gods. But the original -reason is often quoted in the ancient writings, and the remarks of -a traveller, Robert Coverte, may be quoted in point. “The cause why -this law was first made was for that the women there were so fickle -and inconstant that upon any slight occasion of dislike or spleen they -would poison their husbands; whereas now the establishing and executing -of this law is the cause that moveth the wife to love and cherish her -husband and wisheth not to survive him.” It is very much to the credit -of the old East India Company that it sternly suppressed the practice -of _suttee_ with the other iniquitous forms of wrong-doing, such as -Thuggee, sacrificial suicide, infanticide and so forth. A crime so -largely practised through the ages by rulers and prominent personages -was likely to be generally imitated by commoner people. - -The general use of drugs to compass murder which still commonly -obtains is not a little due to the facilities with which poisons may -be procured, not only from the unchecked sale, but because they may -be picked up, so to speak, on every hedge. Quoting Dr. Cheevers, the -varieties of poison used are very limited and may be briefly described. -The most common are the preparations of arsenic, aconite, nux vomica, -opium, oleander, datura and ganja, or Indian hemp. Many more drugs are, -however, procurable in Indian bazaars, and Dr. Cheevers has compiled a -list, more or less incomplete, of upwards of ninety, including those -already mentioned. Of late years the large increase in dispensaries and -the wide importation of chemicals has led to poisoning by sulphate of -zinc, Prussic acid, strychnine, cyanide of potassium, belladonna and -chlorodyne. - -Some remarkable cases of poisoning were brought to light in Bombay -a few years ago, chiefly through the strenuous efforts of highly -intelligent native detectives. A diabolical plot to destroy a whole -family, of which four died and several were nearly killed, was the -so-called De Ga conspiracy in 1872. An unknown messenger delivered two -confectionery cakes as a gift with the compliments of a near relation. -Fatal results ensued with all who partook of the sweets. Suspicion at -last fell upon a brother of the De Ga family who hated his relations -and who accomplished the deed, assisted by an accomplice and especially -by his father who pretended to invoke the aid of sorcery. - -Twenty years later a family of five persons was destroyed by one of the -sons, Bachoo, a spendthrift and gambler, who wished to expedite his -inheritance. Strychnine was the drug used, and it was administered -by the cook in the food he prepared. Bachoo’s father was the first to -succumb, and he was quickly followed by the rest of the family. When -the strychnine was found in the exhumed bodies, the police cleverly -traced its purchase by Bachoo from the druggists, and he and his -confederate were tried, convicted and hanged. - -The quick-witted Hindu criminal soon adopted the European method of -securing ill-gotten gains by the insurance and murder of unsuspecting -victims. Palmer of Rugeley and La Pommerais of Paris had many imitators -in the East. A poor creature of weak intellect, Anacleto Duarte by -name, was done to death in this way by a friend and patron who pandered -to his vices and often lent him small sums to be spent in drink. -At last the latter, who was a bailiff in one of the Bombay courts, -contrived that Duarte should be insured in the Sun Life Office of -Canada for the sum of 10,000 rupees. Fonseca, the bailiff, paid the -premiums and was named in the policy as the beneficiary to receive the -amount insured if it became payable. After Duarte’s death the agent of -the insurance company, suspecting foul play, refused to hand over the -amount and the police were called in. It now appeared that Fonseca and -Duarte had visited a liquor shop together; that when two glasses of rum -were served to them, Duarte complained that his had a bitter taste, -caused no doubt by the addition of a pill which he had seen Fonseca -put into his glass. When Duarte’s body was exhumed, the existence of -strychnine in the viscera was verified, and it was shown that Fonseca -had bought it ostensibly as a poison for rats. Fonseca was found guilty -and duly hanged. - -The criminal operations of the Dacoits who relied upon datura have -been already detailed. There were also gangs in Bombay who made it -their business to arrange marriages for well-to-do men with suitable -spinsters of great attractions supposed to belong to respectable -families. After the marriage the happy bridegroom found to his cost -that he had been deceived, and he woke up one fine morning without -his wife, who had fled with her accomplices, carrying off all his -jewels. In these cases datura again had been the drug used. A company -of poisoners long flourished in the province Scinde. These villains -were in the habit of disguising themselves as _fakirs_ who visited -people of known wealth and offered them food in God’s name. It was -generally accepted and piously consumed with fatal results, after which -their houses were plundered. The impunity with which this crime was -everywhere perpetrated was one of the greatest evils from which India -has suffered. - -It is generally believed that many more brutal murders are committed -than are actually brought to light. The police custom of dragging -witnesses from their houses for long periods encouraged those dwelling -in the neighbourhood of the crime to combine in concealing the -circumstances and, if possible, the actual fact. It was the habit -of the police at one time to pounce down upon a suspected village, -assemble the residents, and harangue, browbeat and threaten them with -pains and penalties to extort unwilling confessions. Worse still, -these witnesses were dragged great distances, a hundred or a hundred -and fifty miles, to appear before the courts to give evidence. A great -improvement has, however, taken place in recent years. Good roads and -railways have greatly facilitated communication, the magistracy is -active and efficient and criminal sessions are held monthly even in the -most remote districts. - -Murder by violence was quite as common in India as by poisoning and -committed often by peculiar and unconventional means. Various kinds of -weapons were employed. Among them were the bludgeon and the club or -_lathi_, the stout and weighty bamboo staff which, when the thick end -is bound with iron, becomes a tremendous weapon of offence. The head -is most frequently assailed, and deadly blows result in broken scalps -or crushed-in skulls with frightful injuries affecting also the heart, -liver and spleen. The club is made of hard wood and in shape is not -unlike an exaggerated rolling pin. In one case a stone pestle was used -to pound in the victim’s head. - -The favourite cutting weapon was the _tulwar_, or curved sword, which -could slash a person almost to pieces with clean-cut saucer-shaped -wounds. The _tulwar_ has a sharp point, but was seldom used to stab. -The halberd had a crescent blade set in a heavy wooden handle. A -chopper could do terrible mischief, the axe likewise, and the bill or -hatchet with a hooked point. Death could be given with a spear head, -arrow or dagger, the kris or the _aro_, a three-pronged striking -instrument like a trident. Fatal wounds have been inflicted by a strip -of split bamboo long and sharp pointed. - -Strangulation has been practised in other ways than by throttling with -the handkerchief. It was the custom when killing children for their -ornaments to squeeze or compress the throat with the hands, assisting -the process with the pressure of the knee or foot, and more violence -was often employed than was necessary to cause death. Sometimes one -bamboo stick was placed over the throat and another under, so that the -compression between became fatal. - -Suicide by hanging is common in India, and sometimes murderers, having -accomplished their purpose by cruel blows, have been known to suspend -their victims by the neck to give the impression of self-destruction. -Murder by hanging is not unknown in India. There are several cases on -record where persons, after being cruelly misused, were hanged while -still alive. - -Homicide by exposing the victim to be bitten by poisonous snakes -was practised in the olden times and was known to the penal code -as a method of inflicting capital punishment. “Witches were crammed -into a small chamber full of cobras, where they first half died of -fright and then quite died of snake bites.” A Gentu prisoner in 1709, -after inconceivable torture in the scorching sun by day, was cast by -night into a dungeon with venomous snakes to keep him company. It is -mentioned in history that Hannibal during a naval action with the -Romans launched earthen pots filled with snakes into the enemy’s ships. - -The high intelligence of the elephant enabled the native to train it -to become the executioner of criminals in India. The great beast would -obey the orders of his _mahout_, whether to kill instantly by the -pressure of his foot or to protract the culprit’s agony by breaking his -bones one by one and leaving him to die by inches. A parricide, bound, -was fastened by his heels with a small iron chain to the hind leg of an -elephant and dragged two miles across country till all the flesh was -worn from his bones. At Baroda, in 1814, a slave who had murdered his -master was similarly made fast to the right hind leg of an elephant, -and at every step of the beast it jerked the victim forward so that -in a few moments every limb was dislocated. He was as much broken as -on the wheel after being dragged five hundred yards. The man, covered -with mud, still showed signs of life, and was suffering excruciating -tortures. In the end the elephant, as he had been trained to do, -placed his foot on the criminal’s head and at once killed him. - -The criminal records are full of the forgery of banknotes, the coining -of false money, of daring robberies committed when houses are broken -into, bank premises invaded and iron safes are forced. Sharpers and -swindlers, rivalling the most astute in Europe or America, have -flourished and defied the pursuit of the police. Some very notable -manufacturers of spurious currency notes have spread dismay in -financial circles. One of the most active and successful was a certain -Vancutta Chellummyab, whose arrest in Madras in 1872 caused a great -sensation throughout India. A vast amount of false Madras currency -notes were in circulation in the three presidencies, to the total face -value, it was said, of four lacs of rupees. The fraud was discovered at -Benares, when a pretended agent of a Madras rajah paid for extensive -purchases of jewelry with spurious notes. The chief forger, Vancutta -Chellummyab, when finally arrested in Madras, had notes in his -possession concealed in an old portmanteau to the value of upwards of -two hundred thousand rupees. A few years later Bombay was the centre of -operations, and a large quantity of the most perfectly imitated notes -were fabricated and in circulation. Information was given by one of -the principals in the fraud to divert attention from himself, and a -descent made by the police secured a quantity of tools and materials -for engraving counterfeit notes and coining bad Australian sovereigns. -There were dies, moulds and stamps and a number of coins, foreign and -native, manufactured out of the baser metals. - -One of the most expert forgers of any age or country was a man named -Govind Narayen Davira of Bombay. He came of a family of forgers, the -son and grandson of forgers, and did a large business in his nefarious -art. A single scrap of handwriting sufficed to enable him to fabricate -a whole document. He knew all about the action of chemicals on paper -and could erase all traces of original writing to give a clean sheet -for a fresh fraudulent statement. He was known to have converted a -government promissory note of 5,000 rupees into one of double the -amount. His frauds extended over a period of five or six years and were -finally exposed by the failure of an attempt to blackmail. - -Davira was a popular person because he was liberal to his poorer -confederates. But he fell at last into the hands of the police and was -lodged in Poona gaol. Here, being resolved to avoid trial, he compassed -self-destruction in a very reckless fashion. A kerosene oil lamp was -kept constantly burning in his cell, rather rashly. He contrived to -saturate his clothing with the oil and then set fire to himself with -the result that he was practically burned alive. - -One of the cleverest frauds was the forgery of postage stamps in -Bombay. A forged stamp came into the possession of a London collector, -by whom the fact was reported to the postmaster-general in Bombay. -The forgery was the work of one of Davira’s gang and was traced to a -Brahmin, Shrida, who had succeeded in producing an excellent imitation -with the clumsiest implements. He first printed the stamp on a -lithographer’s stone and then coloured it so exactly that it deceived -even experts. Many hundreds of these stamps were seized when Shrida was -arrested. - -The ingenuity of the cheats and swindlers in planning their frauds -was only equalled by the simplicity of their victims. Over and over -again the revelation of hidden treasure was made to dupes, who paid -for the knowledge of the whereabouts of the secret hoards, said to be -the property of dead rajahs, or the proceeds of great robberies which -had to be temporarily abandoned. Credulous fools were imposed upon -by fictitious _fakirs_ claiming the alchemist’s power to transmute -the commoner metals into gold and silver, or religious impostors -played upon their superstitious disciples to acquire a similar power. -There were at one time thirty-five different gangs of swindlers who -preyed upon goldsmiths, pawnbrokers and money changers. One of these -confederacies was called the “golden gang,” the members of which -uttered false money or made large purchases of jewelry for imaginary -governors and rajahs, for which they evaded payment, or raised money -upon sealed packets, the valuable contents having been spirited away by -sleight of hand. - -Until the middle of the last century very extensive frauds were -practised by the misappropriation of timber in the large forests of -India. The natives seemed to have believed in their prescriptive rights -to what was really the exclusive property of the state. Thousands of -people were engaged in cutting down trees for firewood, when it was -within paying distance of removal by road or rail to some neighbouring -city. These depredations have now been checked by the establishment -of an effective, well-organised forest department, the officers of -which control and supervise large tracts of timber, cutting down when -desirable and planting afresh to ensure future supply. The reader will -remember Rudyard Kipling’s graphic account of the Indian forest officer -and his remarkable native assistant, Mowgli, of the story, _In the -Rukh_, in the volume entitled, “Many Inventions.” - -Housebreaking is among the minor crimes of India which is especially -troublesome. Earthen walls and foundations facilitate the operations -of the thieves who are commonly known as “wall-piercers.” These -depredators are in the habit of making a hole through the walls, -driving a gallery, in fact, into the interior of a house through which -they can wriggle into the strong room, generally situated about the -centre. As it is always understood that the owner of the house may -be on the alert and in waiting to receive the thief, as a matter of -precaution he will either emerge feet foremost or push before him an -earthen vessel having something of the shape of a man’s head to receive -the first blow of the _tulwar_, or other defensive weapon. The Indian -housebreaker is a slippery customer, difficult to seize, for he is -usually naked, and has carefully oiled his person so as to easily slip -through the fingers of any one who lays hold of him. - -I cannot bring this account of crime in India to a close without -mention of an atrocity which is unequalled in the annals of human -oppression. - -What imprisonment may mean in the East, when inflicted in defiance of -the most elementary conditions of health in a tropical climate, has -been recorded in letters of blood in the awful story of the Black Hole -of Calcutta. The miscreant responsible for the crime was the Nabob of -Bengal, Surajah Dowlah, who had gained a fleeting triumph over the -early English settlers, and having captured Fort William at the mouth -of Hugli, and made all the occupants prisoners, he turned them over -to his savage followers. For security they were incarcerated in one -small room or chamber some eighteen feet square. The season was the -height of summer; the room was closed to the eastward and southward by -dead walls and to the northward by a wall and door, so that no fresh -air could enter save by two small windows, strongly barred with iron. -Into this limited space 146 human beings were crammed, already in a -state of exhaustion by a long day spent in fatiguing conflict, and -several of them seriously wounded. Piteous entreaties were made to the -guards on duty to diminish the numbers imprisoned by removal elsewhere; -large sums were offered as the price of this boon, but with no effect. -No step could be taken without the permission of the Nabob, who was -asleep, and none dared wake him. After vain attempts to break open the -doors and fruitless appeals to the mercy of the sleeping Nabob, “the -prisoners went mad with despair.” The rest of the story can best be -told in the words of one of the masters of the English language, Lord -Macaulay. “They trampled each other down, fought for the places at the -windows, fought for the pittance of water with which the cruel mercy of -the murderers mocked their agonies, raved, prayed, blasphemed, implored -the guards to fire among them. The gaolers in the meantime held lights -to the bars, and shouted with laughter at the frantic struggles of -their victims. At length the tumult died away in low gaspings and -moanings. The day broke. The Nabob had slept off his debauch, and -permitted the door to be opened. But it was some time before the -soldiers could make a lane for the survivors, by piling up on each side -the heaps of corpses on which the burning climate had already begun to -do its loathsome work. When at length a passage was made, twenty-three -ghastly figures, such as their own mothers would not have known, -staggered one by one out of the charnel house. A pit was instantly dug. -The dead bodies, a hundred and twenty-three in number, were flung into -it promiscuously and covered up. - -“But these things which, after the lapse of more than eighty years, -cannot be told or read without horror, awakened neither remorse nor -pity in the bosom of the savage Nabob. He inflicted no punishment on -the murderers. He showed no tenderness to the survivors. Some of them, -indeed, from whom nothing was to be got, were suffered to depart; but -those from whom it was thought that anything could be extorted were -treated with execrable cruelty. Holwell, unable to walk, was carried -before the tyrant, who reproached him, threatened him, and sent him -up the country in irons, together with some other gentlemen who were -suspected of knowing more than they chose to tell about the treasures -of the Company. These persons, still bowed down by the sufferings -of that great agony, were lodged in miserable sheds, and fed only -with grain and water, till at length the intercessions of the female -relations of the Nabob procured their release. One Englishwoman had -survived that night. She was placed in the harem of the prince at -Moorshedabad.” - -It is told in history how the merciless Nabob was eventually called -to strict account. The English at Madras vowed vengeance, and an -expedition was forthwith fitted out for the Hugli, small in numbers, -but full of undaunted spirit, and led by one of the most famous -of British soldiers, Lord Clive. The victory of Plassy, which -consolidated the British power in India, overthrew Surajah Dowlah, who -expiated the crime of the Black Hole when captured and put to death by -his successor Meer Jaffier. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS - - Revived as a penal settlement after the Indian Mutiny in - 1857--Now holds some twelve thousand convicts--Port Blair system - established--Graduated treatment--Well-selected marriages--Lapses - from good order--Cases and causes--Assassination of Lord Mayo--The - aboriginal Andamanese--The Tarawas--Escapes constantly effected - by Burmese prisoners--General results achieved--Development by - cultivation--Clearance of forests--Tea plantation--Numerous - exports--Deportation from the Straits Settlements to - Bombay--Ratnagiri gaol. - - -The Indian government long practised transportation beyond the seas -as a punishment for the most determined criminals. The terrors of -crossing the “black water” were very potent to the native mind, -although the effect of the penalty as a deterrent was never marked -and the practice gradually fell into desuetude. But it was revived in -1857 as a solution of the difficulty in dealing with the great body -of rebels and mutineers in custody charged with participation in the -great Indian Mutiny, a special commission was despatched to visit the -Andaman Islands and report upon their fitness for the establishment of -a great penal settlement. To the student of penal science, the results -achieved in the Indian Ocean, or more exactly, the Sea of Bengal, must -be extremely interesting. The system of transportation has succeeded -better there than anywhere else, whether in the Australian colonies, -where it resulted in the creation of a great nation at the cost of much -human misery, or in the French experiment in New Caledonia. Russia has -also tried transportation on a gigantic scale with the most deplorable -results in Siberia and on the island of Saghalien. - -The settlement on the Andamans, or more precisely upon the northern -and principal island, has by this time accomplished a very distinct -work in penal colonisation. Many causes, natural and artificial, have -contributed to this gratifying result: a fertile soil, a good, albeit -tropical climate; an intelligent administration, which has been backed -up by the willing efforts of convict labourers, alive generally to -their own benefit in making the best of the system in practice. The -force available for the cultivation and development of the main island -has always been large. - -It is an industrious, self-supporting and for the most part peaceable -population, where good order and a quiet demeanour are enforced by -stringent discipline, although the inherent evil nature of so many -criminals cannot be invariably held in check, and ghastly occurrences -have from time to time been recorded in almost every nook and corner -of Port Blair, the headquarters of the penal settlement. The Andaman -convict has committed some heinous offences; he is a murderer in some -form or other, deliberate, vindictive, or moved by sudden ungovernable -passion; he has been a highway robber or persistent Dacoit; he has -forged notes or securities on a great scale. He has betrayed a -serious trust, has been a wrecker and desperado, and has more than -once deserved the extreme penalty of the law. Beneath the surface the -community is a seething mass of depravity, of wickedness, generally -latent, but breaking out often in the most violent and bloodthirsty -excesses. - -To have held the dangerous elements continually in check, to have -largely modified and counteracted their evil tendencies, and to have -returned the worst characters to their homes cured and reformed is -a subject for congratulation by those who achieved it, and some -account of the system employed at the Andamans is worth giving here. -It is right, however, to admit that this system is not entirely -efficacious. All are not amenable to better influences and a certain -small percentage remains incorrigible. Some four per cent. of the total -population have shown themselves so desperately bad that it has been -deemed unsafe to suffer them to leave the precincts of the gaol. - -Every convict on first arrival is relegated to the close confinement -of the cellular prison by way of breaking him in, and he is detained -there under the most irksome conditions for an unbroken period of six -months. He remains in his cell all day and all night, save for a brief -space spent at exercise with others, but in strict silence. His next -step is to an associated gaol where gang labour of a severe character -is enforced, and is imposed for a year and a half. Then come three -years of unremitting toil, the exact counterpart of penal servitude as -understood in Great Britain--hard labour under supervision, unpaid, -unrewarded, but he is well fed, well housed and cared for, and always -closely guarded. Five years have thus elapsed in a painfully monotonous -and irksome existence, after which his employment is pleasanter and his -personal capacity is studied; the more intelligent are selected for -positions of trust and authority. - -Comparative freedom comes at the end of ten years, the convict gains -his ticket-of-leave and is called in local language a “self-supporter.” -He has done, more or less, with prison restraints; he lives in some -small village in a house of his own and earns his living his own -way; he farms; he keeps cattle; he moves about freely unguarded and -unwatched; he sends home to the mainland for his wife and children; -or, if single, he may marry a female convict in the same position as -himself. His condition is to a certain extent enviable. If industrious, -he may make and put by money, but still he is tied and bound by -regulation; he has no civil rights, and is in the hands of a paternal -authority which prescribes his place of residence and will suffer him -to move to and fro within his village, if well conducted, but he cannot -leave the settlement and he must not be idle under pain of the loss of -privileges and relegation to enforced labour. Existence nevertheless is -tolerable, and in this way he completes ten or fifteen years more until -at length the time for absolute release arrives. In the earlier period -of this last stage he has received assistance in the shape of free -gifts of food and tools and a roof to cover him, but his self-reliance -is stimulated by the obligation in later years to fend for himself -and accept all the public burdens of the community. He must pay rent -and taxes and all charges exacted from the free population. All the -disabilities are equally imposed upon female convicts with permission -to marry or enter domestic service after five years of conditional -liberation. - -We see in this system a consistent effort to encourage self-help and -self-restraint. Moral improvement is its great aim; good conduct is -encouraged; retrogression, or lapse into wrong-doing, is punished by -the withdrawal of privileges and a return to irksome restraint. On -the other hand, substantial reward is offered to those who have made -the best use of their ticket-of-leave, and the old convict, purged -of his original offence, emerges, and, backed by the small capital -he has saved, has become an orderly and reputable member of society, -thoroughly reformed, broken to harness and reasonably certain to -continue in the straight road. He is neither pauper nor gaol-bird; -he is no unwelcome burden on his relatives, no menace to public -security, but a source of strength rather than weakness to the body -politic. Penal exile has never before achieved such excellent results. -Steady industry, as we have seen, is the general rule, and morality is -greatly encouraged. Convict marriages, such a fruitful source of evil -elsewhere, as in New Caledonia and Saghalien, where they have fallen -largely into disuse, are preceded by so many precautions that the bond -when entered into is seldom broken. The fitness of the contracting -parties is personally inquired into by the chief authority of the place -who must give his sanction or no marriage can take place. Permission -is refused in certain cases as when a husband in India declines to -divorce his convict wife, or when the applicants are of bad character -or the male is an hereditary Dacoit, or when there is a difference in -caste. Great care is also taken of the children when any are born. -The young are well cared for; primary education is compulsory and -technical instruction is free to all. Thrift is steadily inculcated in -the rising generation and stimulated by the example of the elders. No -institution is more flourishing at Port Blair than the savings bank, -and the self-supporting convicts are often considerable depositors from -the economies made in their allowance and the profits on their labour. -Sanitation receives the very best attention in the islands, and both -death and sick rate are, for the East, exceptionally low. The public -health is seldom, if ever, affected by malignant epidemic disease; -cholera is a rare visitant, and small-pox is constantly kept in check. -There is an abundant and most efficient medical staff, and the convicts -at large, as well as those actually in durance, can count upon the -official doctor’s unremitting care. - -Although the general tone of the settlement is excellent, and good -order is preserved, there are occasionally lapses among the convicts -whose manners and dispositions are by no means mild and submissive, nor -can their evil impulses be easily repressed, or still less entirely -stamped out. The convict temper is irritable and breaks out often into -resistance to authority and bitter quarrels of one with another which -sometimes end in murderous affrays. There is a seamy side to Port -Blair which is often shown in resistance to authority exercised, as -it mostly is, by fellow convicts advanced to positions of trust; for -some six per cent. of well-conducted convicts are regularly employed -as warders, guards and overseers. This is in accordance with the -general practice in India, although entirely condemned by modern penal -science. Nevertheless, mutiny and insubordination are uncommon on any -large scale, although vindictive feelings are aroused and cherished at -real or fancied injustice and oppression, and in the annals of murders -committed one or two convict officials killed by comrades figure -annually. - -The causes of murder in the Andamans hardly differ from those inciting -to it elsewhere. Murderous passion is swiftly aroused among men with -savage, irritable tempers, quick to quarrel, quicker still to strike; -consuming thirst for revenge will be slaked only in blood; and greed -and covetousness are easily awakened in people whose self-control -is weak. A small reason often suffices for the infliction of death. -A convict asked a village woman to be allowed to husk his rice in -her mortar and killed her brutally with an axe when she refused. -An old Dacoit, who had been refused permission to marry, killed a -more fortunate rival to whom the woman of his choice was given. Two -convicts, about to be granted tickets as self-supporters, were eager -to obtain sufficient funds to give them a good start; they discovered -that a convict, who was a notorious miser, had a secret hoard, and -his fate was sealed. His body was picked up in a running stream with -his head broken in. A somewhat similar case was that of a labouring -convict who was in possession of a sum of money lent by a friend; he -first was inveigled into a lonely spot and there knocked down by a -blow on the eye, after which he was strangled. A convict employed as -a petty officer in hospital incurred the deadly enmity of a patient -for reporting him to the doctor, and the patient gave vent to his -hatred by killing his enemy with a thrust of a pointed bamboo. The -same weapon was used by another convict who beat out the brains of a -petty officer for slapping him on parade in the presence of a hundred -men. One convict had caught another hanging about the barrack room bent -upon thieving, and having expressed his intention of denouncing him was -murdered while asleep on his bed. A convict warder supervising a party -of sail-makers had reason to find fault with one of his charges for -idling, and at the first opportunity, before anyone had time to suspect -or prevent him, the labourer picked up a knife and stabbed the overseer. - -Any weapon would serve to give effect to the homicidal frenzy; -sometimes it was a rice pounder, sometimes a wooden crutch, sometimes -an axe for cutting firewood, sometimes a heavy mallet used in -wool-teasing. The convicts were known to commit the capital offence -in order to draw down the death penalty when they were tired of life -from long brooding over fancied unjust treatment. Sentence of death by -hanging was the invariable requital of murder when clearly proved, and -it was passed by a sessions’ judge, subject to subsequent confirmation -by a court of reference. Lesser punishments were sometimes imposed, -such as prolonged transportation or relegation to the chain gang, while -corporal punishment was ordered for lesser offences. - -An atrocious murder which echoed through the whole world was that of -the viceroy of India, Lord Mayo, who was killed by an Andaman convict -in 1872. The viceroy had visited Mount Harriet, a finely wooded -slope rising above Port Blair and looking out over Viper Island with -a glorious view eastward, in order to judge of its suitability as a -sanatorium. He had just finished the descent. “The ship’s bells had -just rung seven; the launch with steam up was whizzing at the jetty -stairs; a group of her seamen were chatting on the pier-end. It was -now quite dark, and the black line of the jungle seemed to touch the -water’s edge. The viceroy’s party passed some large loose stones to -the left of the head of the pier, and advanced along the jetty; two -torchbearers in front.” The viceroy, preceding the rest, stepped -quickly forward to descend the stairs to the launch. The next moment -the people in the rear heard a noise, as of “the rush of some animal” -from behind the loose stones; one or two saw a hand raised and a -knife blade suddenly glisten in the torchlight. The viceroy’s private -secretary heard a thud, and instantly turning round, found a man -“fastened like a tiger” on the back of Lord Mayo. - -“In a second twelve men were on the assassin; an English officer was -pulling them off, and with his sword-hilt keeping back the native -guards, who would have killed the assailant on the spot. The torches -had gone out; but the viceroy, who had staggered over the pier-side, -was dimly seen rising up in the knee-deep water, and clearing the hair -off his brow with his hand as if recovering himself. His private -secretary was instantly at his side in the surf, helping him up the -bank. ‘Burne,’ he said quietly, ‘they’ve hit me.’ Then, in a louder -voice, which was heard on the pier, ‘It’s all right, I don’t think I’m -much hurt,’ or words to that effect. In another minute he was sitting -under the smoky glare of the re-lit torches, on a rude native cart at -the side of the jetty, his legs hanging loosely down. Then they lifted -him bodily on to the cart, and saw a great dark patch on the back of -his light coat. The blood came streaming out, and men tried to staunch -it with their handkerchiefs. For a moment or two he sat up on the cart, -then he fell heavily backwards. ‘Lift up my head,’ he said faintly, and -said no more.” - -The assassin, Sher Ali, was a very brave man belonging to one of -the Afridi tribes, who had done excellent service to more than one -commissioner at Peshawar and distinguished himself as a soldier. He -was completely trusted by Colonel Reynolds Taylor, one of the best of -our Indian officers, when at Peshawar, and was often in attendance on -his family; in fact, he was the confidential servant of the house. -This man, however, belonged to a society in which tribal feuds were -a hereditary custom. Some such feud existed in his family and he was -called upon to take his part in exacting a bloody vengeance for a -quarrel. Had he committed the murder on his own side of the frontier, -no notice could have been taken of it; and it would have been esteemed -a legitimate deed sanctioned by the religious feelings and customs -of the tribe; but his offence was committed within British territory -and must be tried by British laws. He was convicted and sentenced to -transportation to the Andamans instead of death, which he would greatly -have preferred. Continually brooding under a sense of wrong, he took -the first opportunity that offered for murderous retaliation and found -the death he desired, on the gallows. - -Attempts to escape from the islands were at times frequent, encouraged -by the easy access to the sea and the facility with which boats -could be seized. But recaptures were also constantly made, and there -were other chances against the fugitives, especially that of being -run down by the aboriginal Andamanese. The natives of these islands -are savages of a Nigrito race allied to the Papuans, but who, from -having had no connection with the outer world for several centuries, -have kept their blood absolutely pure. They are of small stature, -the males a little under five feet in height, but finely made and -well proportioned. In colour they are a jet black, and are among -the darkest hued specimens of mankind. They are inveterate smokers, -men, women and children, and are bright and intelligent, somewhat -childish, petulant and quick tempered, but merry and light-hearted. -They constitute a good unofficial guard, and as they constantly prowl -round the convict settlements are a great deterrent to escape. -Being well used to jungle life, they are very successful trackers, -who frequently bring back fugitives dead or alive. If by chance the -evading convicts fall into the hands of the Jarawa tribe, their fate is -sealed. These Jarawas are and always have been utterly irreclaimable; -neither kindness nor force has had any appreciable effect in overcoming -their unconquerable dislike to strangers, even of their own blood -belonging to other tribes. Armed with bows and arrows, they show fight -whenever encountered, and when pressed and punishment is attempted, -they retire into the impenetrable jungle. With the exception of these -irreconcilables, the Andamanese have been trained, like other wild -animals, by patience and kindness to treat us with entire confidence -and trust. - -The strong yearning to escape torments more especially the natives of -Burmah, a large number of whom are deported to the Andamans. They are -a semi-amphibious race, largely brought up to a life on the water, -expert boatmen and tireless swimmers. Precise rules are in force at the -Andamans that only a limited number of Burmese may be included in any -one boat’s crew. More than half the escapes by water were accomplished -by Burmese, who boldly ventured out into the open sea, risking all -its perils to win across to their dearly loved native land. It is a -curious fact that the Burmese Dacoit, who would face the death penalty -with fortitude, has always dreaded imprisonment or deportation with -overmastering terror. One explanation of this consuming dread is the -not uncommon fear of the unknown. Again, the treatment of prisoners in -Burmah under the native régime was merciless; the most excruciating -tortures were the rule, and protracted life was worse than a thousand -deaths. Exile to the Andaman Islands was anticipated with nameless -apprehension. The case of a famous Dacoit may be quoted in proof of -this. He had been long in custody; he awaited his trial with patience -and resignation, and he would have heard a sentence of death unmoved, -but he was quite overcome when a short term of transportation to the -Andamans was passed upon him, although it was accompanied by a promise -of early conditional liberation. When the time came for his departure, -he refused to move off with his escort, kicking and even biting -everyone within reach, and eventually he had to be tied with ropes and -carried along. - -In this connection, Major E. C. Browne, in “The Coming of the Great -Queen,” tells the following: - -“It was the same with other Dacoits who had been taken red-handed. -Two or three were shot, others flogged and released and several were -detained for deportation. These were the gloomiest of all and begged -to be killed or released. One fellow actually succeeded in evading his -sentence. He had got hold of a soldier’s boot-lace and with this he -strangled himself during the night. I should scarcely have been able -to credit this story if the witness of the dead man in the morning, -with the boot-lace drawn so tight that it had actually penetrated the -skin, had not been an officer of my own regiment whose veracity was -unimpeachable.” - -The best general account of the results obtained in the Andamans is -found in the address to the Society of Arts by Colonel Temple, sometime -chief commissioner to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Andaman -penal system “is the result of the constant attention of the government -which created it, and is the outcome of the measures of practical men, -devised to meet the difficulties with which they have found themselves -face to face, and reduced to order and rule by some of the keenest -intellects that have worked in India for many years past.” Repeatedly -tinkered and patched and recast and remodelled though it has been, the -Andaman system is still inchoate, still on its trial, as it were. It -could not well be otherwise, for in dealing with the criminal we are -attempting to solve a mighty problem as old as criminality itself. - -From the best estimates at hand we may take it that the permanent -convict strength of the settlement may be placed at about twelve -thousand, of whom about eight hundred are women, and the rule is that -only life convicts are sent from India and life and long-term convicts -from Burmah. The people received, therefore, are the murderers who -have for some reason escaped the death penalty, and the perpetrators -of the more heinous offences against person and property, the men of -brutal violence, the highwaymen, the robbers, the habitual thieves and -the receivers of stolen goods, the worst of the swindlers, forgers, -cheats, coiners and, in fact, the most unrestrained temperaments of -a continent. These considerations show the scale of the work and the -nature of the task. Any one observing the work of the English in -the East may possibly be struck with the idea that the reason for -the acknowledged capacity of the race for colonial enterprise and -the maintenance of empire is the ability and the willingness of the -average Englishman to put his hand to any kind of work that may come -his way, without any special training, from framing suitable laws and -regulations and creating suitable organisations to making roads and -ditches, building houses and clearing land and ploughing it. Here in -Port Blair, the officers entrusted with the creation and organisation -had no training for the work and were without any special guidance -and teaching, yet they managed, with the worst possible material to -work upon, to create in little more than forty years, upon primeval -forest and swamp, situated in an enervating and, until mastered, a -deadly climate, a community supporting itself in regard to many of its -complicated wants. - -They began with the dense forests, the fetid swamps and the -pestilential coral banks of tropical islands, and have made out of -them many square miles of grass and arable lands, supporting over -fifty villages besides convict stations. Miles upon miles of swamp -have been reclaimed, the coral banks have been controlled and a place -with regard to which the words climate and pestilence were almost -synonymous has been turned into one favourably spoken of as to its -healthiness. The settlement now grows its own vegetables, tea, coffee, -cocoa, tapioca and arrowroot, some of its ordinary food grains and most -of its fodder. It supplies itself with the greater part of its animal -food and all its fuel and salt. In other lines of work, it makes its -own boats and provides from its own resources the bulk of the materials -for its buildings which are constructed and erected locally. Among -the materials produced are all the timber, stone, bricks, lime and -mortar, and most of the iron and metal work are made up there from raw -material. In the matter of convict clothing, all that is necessary to -be purchased elsewhere is the roughest of cotton hanks and wool in the -first raw condition, every other operation being performed on the spot. -It provides much of its own leather. - -In achieving the results, the officers have had first to learn for -themselves as best they could how to turn out the work to hand and then -to teach what they had learned to the most unpromising pupils that can -be imagined for the work required of them in Port Blair. And they have -been hampered all along by the necessities of convict discipline, by -the constant release of their men and their punishment for misconduct. -It is under such conditions that the corps of artificers and other -convicts have had to be utilised. Nevertheless, the roads and drains, -the buildings and boats, the embankments and reservoirs, are as -good and durable as are the same class of structures elsewhere. The -manufacturers are sufficient for their purpose, and there are among the -taught those who are now skilled in the use of many kinds of machinery. -Cultivation is generally fair and some of it very good; the general -sanitation is literally second to none. - -First of all the industries of the Andamans is that of timber, and -to accelerate and increase it a steam tramway has been instituted -and there are now some fourteen miles of line connecting the forests -with the shores of Port Blair. As a further adjunct steam saw-mills -were erected in 1896 and a forest department that employs from five -to six hundred men daily under its own officers, not only supplies -the settlement with all of its requirements in timber from the local -forests, but also exports timber and forest produce to various places -in India and Europe. Of these latter exports, rattans and gurjun oil -are the chief; other natural products of the islands are trepang, -tortoise-shell and edible birds’ nests, but they are collected only -in small quantities. The principal cultivations in which convicts -and ex-convicts are engaged are paddy, sugar cane, Indian corn and -turmeric; cocoanuts have during the past thirty-five years been -extensively planted, and besides the agricultural products previously -mentioned, vegetables and fruits of various kinds are grown. The larger -industries in which the penal community is engaged have already been -alluded to, but there are many minor employments, the products from -which also go toward making the settlement self-supporting. Among these -are to be found the manufacture of all kinds of furniture, cane chairs, -baskets, many varieties of bamboo work and ornamental woodcarving, -woven articles from serviettes to saddle-girths, and blankets, pottery, -rope and mats, silver, tin, brass and iron work, shoes, rickshaws and -carts, besides the production of such materials as lime, bricks and -tiles. Port Blair is in communication three and often four times a -month with Calcutta, Madras and Rangoon by the vessels of the Asiatic -Steam Navigation Company. The distances between the settlement and the -ports named are 796, 780 and 387 miles respectively. - -The earliest penal settlement on the Andamans was in the southern -island, where it was founded on the present site of Port Blair in 1792. -It was known as the “old harbour.” After three years the establishment -was moved to the present Port Cornwallis on the northern island, but -this proved to be most unhealthy and it was closed, the convicts, -numbering some two hundred and seventy, being removed to Penang, at the -extremity of the Malay Peninsula. In the early “fifties” the Straits -Settlements sometimes sent their long-term convicts to Bombay, from -where they were usually drafted to such moist and congenial climates as -Tannah and Ratnagiri. By good behaviour they earned tickets-of-leave to -the hill stations, Mahabuleshwar and Matheran, where they became the -market-gardeners of the place, many preferring to remain after their -time had expired, respected and respectable citizens, often possessed -of considerable wealth. At one time the Ratnagiri gaol contained about -three hundred and sixty convicts; “at least two-thirds were Chinamen -and Malays from the Straits, great ruffians, each with a record of -piracy or murder, or both combined. Many of them were heavily fettered -and carefully guarded by armed police when at their ordinary work in -the ‘laterite’ quarries, for they were mostly powerful men;” the tools -they used were formidable weapons and as there were known to be deadly -feuds always present among them, serious disturbances and outbreaks -were constantly dreaded. Nevertheless, misconduct was exceedingly rare; -breaches of gaol discipline were much fewer among these desperadoes -than among the milder Hindus in the work-sheds within the gaol. The -fact having in due course created much surprise, inquiries were -instituted as to why pirates and murderers, usually so insubordinate in -other places, were so well-conducted and quiet at Ratnagiri. - -The riddle was presently solved. “For some years one Sheik Kassam had -been gaoler. Belonging to the fisherman class and possessed of very -little education, he had, nevertheless, worked his way upward through -the police by dint of honesty, hard work and a certain shrewdness -which had more than once brought him to the front. At last, toward -the end of his service, the gaolership falling vacant, he was, with -everyone’s cordial approval, nominated to the post.” With comparative -rest and improved pay, the old gentleman waxed fatter and jollier -and was esteemed one of the most genial companions the country could -produce. The cares of state, and the responsibility of three hundred -murderous convicts, weighed lightly on Sheik Kassam. He developed a -remarkable talent or predilection for gardening, almost from the first. -“He laid out the quarry beds, brought water down to irrigate them, -produced all the gaol required in the way of green stuff, and made -tapioca and arrowroot by the ton. The better plot of land belonging -to the gaol lay between Sheik Kassam’s own official residence, a -tiny bungalow-fashioned dwelling, and a walled courtyard near to the -highroad. The sheik had no difficulty in obtaining permission to erect -a high wall of rubble from the quarries along the whole road frontage, -so that, as he urged, the convicts at work in the garden would not be -gazed at by passers-by, and that forbidden articles, such as tobacco, -sweetmeats, liquor, and the like, should not be passed or even thrown -over to them.” - -Presently this favourite slice of garden was safely boxed in from the -public view by an enclosure some eight feet high, extending from the -gaol itself round to the gaoler’s house, the only entrance to it being -a little wicket-gate by the side of the sheik’s back-yard. - -At last the head-superintendent of the Bombay prison heard that -Sheik Kassam’s disciplinary system consisted in his bringing the -most dangerous of the Chinamen and Malays quietly into his back-yard -from the adjoining garden, and there regaling them with plenty of -sweetmeats, sugar, drink in moderate quantity, and adding even the -joys of female society of a peculiar sort. If any one became unruly -or saucy, he was liable to get a dozen lashes, but if they behaved -decently they all had their little festivals with regularity. After -this discovery, poor old Sheik Kassam’s character as a model gaoler was -gone; he was dismissed, but with a full pension which he did not live -long to enjoy. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -PRISONS OF BURMAH - - British acquisition of Burmah--Quarrels with the king in 1824--His - reprisals--British subjects seized and sent to prison--Mr. Henry - Gouger’s narrative--The “Death Prison”--Gigantic stocks--Filthiness - of prison--Tortures inflicted--Barbarous trials--Horrible - life--Rats and vermin--Smallpox--Tobacco a valuable - disinfectant--Another “Black Hole”--Chained to a leper--Released - by the advance of British troops--Penal code of Burmah--Ordeals - and punishments--Treading to death by elephants--Dacoity the last - form of resistance to British rule--Prison life--The Burmese - gaol-bird--An outbreak. - - -The acquisition and annexation of Burmah by Great Britain, first the -lower province with three-fourths of the seaboard, and then the entire -kingdom, were accomplished between 1824 and 1886, in a little more -than half a century, that is to say. Until this took place the country -was generally in a state of anarchy, the king was a bloodthirsty -despot, and the state council was at his bidding no better than a -band of Dacoits who plundered the people and murdered them wholesale. -The ruling powers were always anxious to pick a quarrel with their -powerful British neighbours, and were so unceasingly aggressive that -they brought on a war in 1824, which ended in the capture of Rangoon -and the occupation of Pegu and Martaban with the cession of the coast -province of Aracan. - -The outbreak of hostilities led to cruel retaliation by the king of -Burmah upon all Europeans who resided in the country, whether as -missionaries or merchants engaged in trade. One of them, an Englishman, -Mr. Henry Gouger, was arrested as a spy and arraigned before a court -of justice with very little hope of escaping with his life. He was -fortunately spared after suffering untold indignities and many positive -tortures. Eventually he published his experiences, which remain to this -day as a graphic record of the Burmese prisons as they then existed. -He was first committed to the safe keeping of the king’s body guard, -and confined with his feet in the stocks; then he was transferred to -the “death prison,” having been barbarously robbed and deprived of his -clothing. He was not entirely stripped, but was led away with his arms -tied behind his back, bare-headed and bare-footed to the _Let-ma-yoon_, -the “antechamber of the tomb.” - -Let me proceed now in the narrator’s own words:-- - -“There are four common prisons in Ava, but one of these only was -appropriated to criminals likely to suffer death. It derived its -remarkably well-selected name, _Let-ma-yoon_, literally interpreted, -‘Hand, shrink not,’ from the revolting scenes of cruelty practised -within its walls. This was the prison to which I was driven. My heart -sank within me as I entered the gate of the prison yard which, as it -closed behind me, seemed to shut me out forever from all the interests -and sympathies of the world beyond it. I was now delivered over to -the wretches, seven or eight in number, who guarded this gaol. They -were all condemned malefactors, whose lives had been spared on the -condition of their becoming executioners; the more hideous the crime -for which he had to suffer, the more hardened the criminal, the fitter -instrument he was presumed to be for the profession he was henceforth -doomed to follow. To render escape without detection impossible, the -shape of a ring was indelibly tattooed on each cheek, which gave rise -to the name they were commonly known by, _pahquet_, or ‘ring-cheeked,’ -a term detested by themselves as one of reproach and one we never -dared to apply in addressing them. The nature of his qualification -for the employment was written in a similar manner across the breast. -The chief of the gang was a lean, wiry, hard-featured old man whom we -taught ourselves to address under the appellation _aphe_, ‘father,’ -as did all his subordinates. Another bearing an appropriate motto had -murdered his brother and had hidden his body piecemeal under his house. -A third was branded _thoo-kho_, ‘thief.’ This troop of wretches were -held in such detestation that the law prohibited their entering any -person’s house except in execution of their office. It happened, soon -after I entered, that the exigencies of this brotherhood were great -from an increase of business, and no brave malefactor (inhumanity -was always styled bravery here) being ready to strengthen the force, -a young man convicted of a petty offence was selected to fill the -vacancy. I beheld this poor youth doomed to the most debasing ignominy -for the rest of his life by these fatal rings, his piteous cries at the -degradation he was undergoing being drowned by the jeers and ridicule -of the confederates. They soon made him as much a child of the devil as -themselves. - -“The ‘father’ of this interesting family received me at the gate with a -smile of welcome like the grin of a tiger, and with the most disgusting -imprecations hurried me to a huge block of granite embedded in the -centre of the yard. I was made to sit down and place my ankles on the -block of stone while three pairs of fetters were struck on with a maul, -a false blow of which would have maimed me forever. But they were too -expert for this, and it was not a time to care for minor dangers. Thus -shackled, I was told, as if in derision, to walk to the entrance of the -prison-house not many yards distant; but as the shortness of the chains -barely permitted me to advance the heel of one foot to the toe of the -other, it was only by shuffling a few inches at a time that the task -was accomplished. Practice, however, soon made me more expert. - -“It is not easy to give a correct idea of the prison which was -destined to be my dwelling place for the first year of my captivity. -Although it was between four and five o’clock on a bright sunny -afternoon, the rays of light only penetrated through the chinks and -cracks of the walls sufficiently to disclose the utter wretchedness -of all within. Some time elapsed before I could clearly distinguish -the objects by which I was surrounded. As my eyes gradually adapted -themselves to the dim light, I ascertained it to be a room about forty -feet long by thirty feet wide, the floor and sides made of strong -teak-wood planks, the former being raised two feet from the earth on -posts, which, according to the usual style of Burmese architecture, -ran through the body of the building, and supported the tiled roof as -well as the rafters for the floor and the planking of the walls. The -height of the walls from the floor was five or six feet, but the roof -being a sloping one, the centre might be double that height. It had no -window or aperture to admit light or air except a closely woven bamboo -wicket used as a door, and this was always kept closed. Fortunately, -the builders had not expended much labour on the walls, the planks of -which here and there were not very closely united, affording through -the chinks the only ventilation the apartment possessed, if we except -a hole near the roof where, either by accident or design, nearly a -foot in length of decayed plank had been torn off. This formed a -safety-valve for the escape of foul air to a certain extent; and, but -for this fortuitous circumstance, it is difficult to see how life could -have been long sustained. - -“The only articles of furniture the place contained were these:--First -and most prominent, was a gigantic row of stocks similar in its -construction to that formerly used in England, dilapidated specimens -of which may still be seen in some of the market places of our country -towns. It was capable of accommodating more than a dozen occupants. -Several smaller varieties of the same species lay around, each holding -by the leg a pair of hapless victims consigned to its custody. These -stocks were heavy logs of timber bored with holes to admit the feet -and fitted with wooden pins to hold them fast. In the centre of the -apartment was placed a tripod holding a large earthen cup filled with -earth oil to be used as a lamp during the night watches; and lastly, a -simple but suspicious looking piece of machinery, whose painful uses -it was my fate to test before many hours had elapsed. It was merely a -long bamboo suspended from the roof by a rope at each end and worked by -blocks or pulleys to raise or depress it at pleasure. - -“The prison had never been washed, nor even swept, since it was built. -So I was told, and I have no doubt it was true, for, besides the ocular -proof from its present condition, it is certain no attempt was made to -cleanse it during my subsequent tenancy of eleven months. This gave a -kind of fixedness or permanency to the fetid odours, until the very -floors and walls were saturated with them. Putrid remains of castaway -animal and vegetable stuff which needed no broom to make it ‘move -on’--the stale fumes from thousands of tobacco pipes--the scattered -ejections of the pulp and liquid from their everlasting betel, and -other nameless abominations still more disgusting, which strewed the -floor--and if to this be added the exudation from the bodies of a crowd -of never-washed convicts, encouraged by the thermometer at 100 degrees, -in a den almost without ventilation--is it possible to say what it -smelled like? As might have been expected from such a state of things, -the place was teeming with creeping vermin to an extent that very soon -reconciled me to the plunder of the greater portion of my dress. - -“When night came on, the ‘father’ of the establishment, entering, -stalked towards our corner. The meaning of the bamboo now became -apparent. It was passed between the legs of each individual and when it -had threaded our number, seven in all, a man at each end hoisted it up -by the blocks to a height which allowed our shoulders to rest on the -ground while our feet depended from the iron rings of the fetters. The -adjustment of the height was left to the judgment of our kind-hearted -parent, who stood by to see that it was not high enough to endanger -life nor low enough to exempt from pain. Having settled this point to -his satisfaction, the venerable chief proceeded with a staff to count -the number of the captives, bestowing a smart rap on the head to those -he disliked, whom he made over to the savage with a significant hint of -what he might expect if the agreed tally were not forthcoming when the -wicket opened the next morning. He then took his leave, kindly wishing -us a good night’s rest, for the old wretch could be facetious; the -young savage trimmed his lamp, lighted his pipe, did the same act of -courtesy to all who wished to smoke, and the anxious community, one by -one, sought a short oblivion to their griefs in sleep. - -“In vain, however, did our little party court that blessing; passing by -the torment of thought, the sufferings of the body alone were enough to -prevent it. I had youth on my side, and my slender frame enabled me to -bear the suspension better than my fellow sufferers. The tobacco smoke -was a mercy, for it robbed the infliction of half its torment. A year -afterward, when we had to undergo a punishment somewhat similar, though -in a purer atmosphere, we found the sting of the mosquitos, on the -soles of our undefended feet, ‘without the power to scare away’ these -venomous little insects, was intolerable; whereas in this well-smoked -apartment a mosquito could not live. We were not aware at the time -what a happy exemption this was. What a night was that on which we -now entered! Death, in its most appalling form, perhaps attended with -the agony of unknown tortures, was thought by all to be our certain -lot. Kewet-nee, who occupied the next place on the bamboo, excited a -horrible interest by the relation of a variety of exquisite tortures -which he had known to be perpetrated under that roof. - -“The rays of the morning sun now began to struggle through the chinks -of the prison walls and told us that day dawned, bringing life and -happiness to the world outside, but only the consciousness of misery to -all within. The prisoners being counted and found to tally correctly -with the reckoning of overnight, symptoms of the routine of the day -began to attract attention. Our considerate parent made his appearance -and with his customary grin lowered down the bamboo to within a foot of -the floor, to the great relief of our benumbed limbs in which the blood -slowly began again to circulate. At eight o’clock the inmates were -driven out in gangs of ten or twelve at a time, to take the air for -five minutes, when they were huddled in again, to make way for others; -but no entreaty could secure a repetition of the same favour that day, -though a bribe, which few could promise, might effect it. Fresh air, -the cheapest of all the gifts of Providence, was a close monopoly in -the hands of the ‘sons of the prison,’ who sold it at the highest -price, and with a niggard hand. - -“After breakfast the business of trying the prisoners began, and -each was brought in turn before the _myo-serai_, or assistant to the -governor. The first was a young man accused of being concerned in the -robbery of the house of a person of rank. Whether the accusation was -well founded or not I had no means of judging except by the result; but -certainly the man had not the appearance of a robber. As a matter of -course, he denied the crime; but denial was assumed to be obstinacy, -and the usual mode of overcoming obstinacy was by some manner of -torture. By order of the _myo-serai_, therefore, he was made to sit -upon a low stool, his legs were bound together by a cord above the -knees and two poles inserted between them by the executioners, one of -whom took the command of each pole, the ground forming the fulcrum. -With these the legs were forced upwards and downwards and asunder, and -underwent a peculiar kind of grinding, inflicting more or less pain as -the judge gave direction. Every moment I expected to hear the thighbone -snap. The poor fellow sustained this torture with loud cries but still -with firmness until the agony became so intense that he fainted. ‘The -tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.’ To restore animation they -resorted to cold water and shampooing. Thus revived, he was again -thrust back into his den with menaces of fresh torture on the morrow, -as no confession had yet been wrung from him. I may as well finish the -revolting story at once. - -“True to his word, the _myo-serai_ returned the next day to renew his -diabolical practices. This time the culprit was tied by the wrists -behind his back, the rope which bound them being drawn by a pulley just -high enough to allow his toes to touch the ground, and in this manner -he was left until he should become more reasonable. At length, under -the pressure of agonising pain, just in time to save the dislocation -of the shoulder, the criminal made his confession and criminated two -respectable persons as accomplices. From what followed I presume this -was all that was wanted. The man of justice had now two men in his -toils who were able to pay. The unfortunate man, who, when relieved -from the pain of the torture, acknowledged he had accused innocent -people, was returned to gaol fearfully mangled and maimed; but instead -of meeting a felon’s fate, when time had been given to fleece the two -victims, he was released. - -“Within the walls nothing worthy of notice occurred until the hour of -three in the afternoon. As this hour approached, we noticed that the -talking and jesting of the community gradually died away. All seemed -to be under the influence of some powerful restraint, until that fatal -hour was announced by the deep tones of a powerful gong suspended in -the palace yard, and a deathlike silence prevailed. If a word was -spoken it was in a whisper. It seemed as though even breathing were -suspended under the control of a panic terror, too deep for expression, -which pervaded every bosom. We did not long remain in ignorance of the -cause. If any of the prisoners were to suffer death that day, the -hour of three was that at which they were taken out for execution. -The manner of it was the acme of cold-blooded cruelty. The hour was -scarcely told by the gong when the wicket opened, and the hideous -figure of a spotted man appeared, who, without uttering a word, walked -straight to his victim now for the first time probably made acquainted -with his doom. As many of these unfortunate people knew no more than -ourselves the fate that awaited them, this mystery was terrible and -agonising; each one fearing, up to the last moment, that the stride -of the Spot might be directed his way. When the culprit disappeared -with his conductor and the prison door closed behind them, those who -remained began again to breathe more freely; for another day, at least, -their lives were safe. - -“It is not my intention to make this narrative a chronicle of all -the diabolical cruelties in this den of abominations, but the first -specimen which greeted our eyes on the morrow may serve as a fair -sample of the practices which it was our fate to behold almost daily. -The routine was generally this:--The magistrate takes his seat in the -front of the shed in which we occupy the background, as though the -spot had been selected for our convenience, as spectators to behold an -amusing exhibition. A criminal is now summoned from the interior. He -hobbles out and squats down in terror before the judge; the crime of -which he is accused is stated to him. He denies it; he is urged by -various motives to confess his guilt; perhaps he knows that confession -is only another word for execution; therefore he still denies. The -magistrate assumes an air of indignation at his obstinacy and now -begins the work of his tormentor, the man with the ringed cheek who has -hitherto stood by waiting the word of command. He has many means at his -disposal, but the one selected for the present instance was a short -iron maul. It would simply excite disgust were I to enter into detail. -Suffice it to say that after writhing and rolling on the ground and -screaming with agony for nearly half an hour, the unfortunate wretch -was assisted to his den, a mass of wounds and bruises pitiable to -behold, leaving his judge not a whit the wiser. - -“By degrees we settled down into the habits of the prison and were -becoming familiar with such scenes as I have recounted. We began also -to speculate on the length of time nature could hold out, if we were -left to test it. How long could we live in such a plight without the -use of water or other means of cleanliness? Would habit reconcile us to -it as it apparently had done many of our fellow prisoners? Some of them -had lived there for years. We gradually became acquainted with them -and with their crimes, real or imputed. There were many cases in the -calendar that were almost incredible and showed that accident, caprice, -superstition and even carelessness occasioned their confinement. One -grimy, half-starved old man had been kept there three years and neither -knew why he was there nor who sent him. The crime of another must have -been that of a madman, or more probably it was a false accusation, -preferred to gratify private revenge. He was said to have made an -image of the king and to have walked over it. The mere imputation of -practising necromancy against the sacred person of the king was a fatal -charge. The poor fellow was taken from among us at the hour of midnight -and despatched by breaking his spine. Why this singular method of -slaughter was resorted to, as well as the manner of carrying it into -execution, was as mysterious as the crime itself; they were not at -all particular as to the mode of depriving their victims of life, but -seemed to be guided altogether by caprice. - -“The plan of the prison yard shows that there were a number of small -cells used by the ringed brotherhood, and the pleading of our amiable -protectress secured for us the liberty to occupy them. It is true they -were very small, the one I inhabited being about five feet wide with -just enough length to lie down in; it was so low that I could not stand -upright except in the middle where the roof was highest; but it was -Elysium when compared with the suffocating choke of the inner prison. -Nor could it be called altogether solitary confinement, for one of -our gaolers had a pretty daughter about sixteen years old, who took -a wonderful fancy to me and was a frequent visitor in my cell. She -supplied me, too, with an unspeakable luxury, water for ablution. Oh, -who can appreciate the gift but those who have been long deprived of -it? A scrap of rag, moistened with some of the water given us to drink, -only served to smear the grime like a plaster over our bodies. Now, -once again I could call myself comparatively clean. My cell had other -advantages. My eyes escaped many scenes of revolting cruelty; my ears, -many foul anathemas and gross abuse; my lungs and olfactories, all -sorts of abominations. The chief loss was the society of my friends. -The rats, too, were numerous and troublesome at first; but these, -though a disgusting nuisance, I managed to turn to account by the fancy -of the _pahquets_ for their flesh. The Burmese hold rats in about -the same estimation as we do hares, and sell them commonly in their -markets for about their own weight in lead. My cell, therefore, might -be regarded as a well-stocked preserve for game. The burrows ran in all -directions, and hardly a day passed without my bagging a few heads of -this novel kind of game and handing them over to my pretty visitor’s -father, who willingly lent me his spear for the purpose of destroying -them. The bait of a few grains of boiled rice at the entrance of the -burrows brought them out in shoals and gave me the opportunity of -spearing them. ‘What do you expect will be your fate?’ said this pious -Buddhist as he once took the struggling vermin from the spear, ‘when -the time comes for me to serve you as you are serving that creature?’ -They all looked forward to the pleasure of decapitating us, and when in -a mild humour would promise me as a favour, to use their greatest skill -so that I should scarcely feel it. What a consoling thought! - -“Shut up close in my little cell, I thought that at all events my -feelings would no longer be harrowed with the sight of deeds of blood. -To a certain extent it was so; but even here there was no abiding peace -and quietness. One night as I was vainly endeavouring to coax myself -asleep, the screams of an unfortunate wretch in the inner prison fell -upon my ear, and the door of my cell being at the time unfastened and -the prison wall not more than three feet off, curiosity prompted me -to peep through a crack to see what fresh mischief was on foot. Never -shall I forget the foul assassination I witnessed. The inmates were -breathlessly silent, evidently expecting some evil. The cries proceeded -from a young man who lay stretched on the floor with his feet in the -stocks. The lamp was burning dimly, giving just enough light to show -the form of a grim _pahquet_ striding toward his victim. Without a -word, he stamped several times on the mouth of the youth with his heavy -wooden shoes with a force which must have broken his teeth and jaws -into fragments. From my hiding place, where I stood trembling with -terror, I heard the bones crack and crash. Still the cries were not -altogether silenced, when the monster seized the club of the savage, -and with repeated blows on the body and head pounded the poor sufferer -to death. The corpse was then taken from the stocks and buried in the -prison yard. - -“Now news came of the defeat of the Burmese troops in the field, and -the governor wreaked his vengeance on us. We were all hustled again -from our cells into the inner prison, to await any fresh orders that -might be issued from the palace. A merciful Providence again averted -the danger. For a few days, probably a week, we were kept in the old -den of corruption, when time, as before, softened down asperities, -the rage of the governor and of our keepers began to evaporate, and -a little renewed coaxing, backed by such insignificant bribes as our -people could yet afford to pay, regained for us the favour of the cells -in which we were once more installed, and my war of extermination -against the rats recommenced. - -“While we were passing this week in the inner prison, a frightful -event took place, which threatened the immediate destruction of -the whole community; indeed, it is wonderful that the instinct of -self-preservation did not deter our parent of the prison from executing -his order. A woman was brought in covered with the pustules of the -small-pox. Our doctor looked aghast and so did we all, as well we -might. It was a case quite beyond his treatment, though it is strange -the versatile doctor did not undertake the cure. Even the Burmese -prisoners themselves expressed their astonishment, but remonstrance -was useless. The gaolers, however, showed a little common sense by -placing the unfortunate creature in a clear spot by herself to avoid -contact with the other inmates of the prison, with delicate threats -of punishment if she moved from it. We never heard what induced this -barbarity, but she was most likely suffering for the misconduct of some -relative in the war, and the authority who sent her there could not -have been aware of the disease, for she had not been among us more than -twenty-four hours when she was again taken away. - -“But by what means was infection averted? Inoculation or vaccination -was unknown. Here were about fifty persons living in the same confined -room without ventilation, and yet not one of them took the disease. The -fact seems almost miraculous, and I should have doubted the nature of -the malady had it not been acknowledged and dreaded by everyone, the -natives as well as ourselves. I can only account for our immunity by -the free use of tobacco. - -“After an engagement with the British troops, many were taken prisoners -and were brought to the prison. Unfortunately, it so happened that one -of the freaks, already noticed as common to the gaolers, had at this -time consigned all our party to the inner prison, and we beheld with -horror about a hundred of these men step one after another through -the wicket into our already well-filled prison, one of the ringed -fraternity remaining inside to see that they were packed as close as -possible. The floor was literally paved with human beings, one touching -and almost overlapping the other on every side. It soon became evident -what must follow. Difficulty in breathing, profuse perspiration and -other disagreeables, overcame the natural terror of their tormentors, -and the suffering multitude began to cry aloud for air and water. -The horrors of the notorious ‘black hole of Calcutta’ must have been -reënacted had the building been of brick, but the manner of its -construction, before explained, fortunately prevented it. At length the -clamour of the captives, working probably on the fears of the gaolers -themselves, induced them to open the wicket door for the night, some of -their number keeping ward outside as sentinels. By this means a general -disaster was avoided. - -“This temporary influx of prisoners was the cause of greater anxiety -to me than to my companions from a peculiar circumstance. The stock -of fetters in the establishment ran short, and to provide for this -unexpected demand our three pairs of fetters were taken off for the -night, one ring only being left on the ankle, and by this we were -chained one to another, two by two, like hounds in couples, only by the -leg instead of the neck. Perhaps the reader may think this was, at all -events, a slight respite, for which we ought to have been thankful. So -it was, to all except myself, for the luxury of being able once more -to stretch the legs apart was, no doubt, a most grateful refreshment. -But--my flesh creeps when I think of it--I was chained to a leper. -My companion was an unfortunate Greek, whose ankles had by this time -broken out into unmistakable open leprous sores, with which a few -inches of chain alone prevented contact, while at the same time it kept -me in terrible proximity. The chain was kept at its full length all -night, as may be supposed, and sundry nervous jerkings from time to -time on my part to assure myself that it was so, indicated the nature -of my alarm to the poor man, who was not unconscious of his malady, -though he would not openly admit it. He grew irritated at my studied -avoidance of him, and raised the question himself only to deny it. This -voluntary allusion to it by himself, notwithstanding his denial, only -tended to confirm the fact. With what joy did I submit myself the next -day to the hands of my worthy parent, while he again invested me with -my wonted complement of irons. With what anxiety, too, did I watch for -weeks, searching diligently my ankles for the first symptoms of the -contagion, fearing I might unwittingly have rubbed against the infected -man and become inoculated with his loathsome disease. Happily I escaped -without accident.” - -This horrible imprisonment was protracted into the sultry months of -March and April, and the wretched sufferers were left throughout -heavily laden with five pairs of fetters in a gloomy filthy dungeon, -without air or light, or even water to wash their fevered bodies, -constantly associated with the worst felons and sharing their dreadful -expectation to be taken out and executed. Finally, as the relieving -army approached, they were removed from Ava further into the country, -and the scene changed for the better as regards personal treatment. -The prisoners had at least fresh air, freedom from vermin, lighter -chains, water to wash in, exercise in the yard when their wounded feet -were sufficiently healed to allow them to walk, and as much comfort -as possible in a Burmese prison. But fresh terrors were caused by -the importation of a huge lioness into the prison enclosure. It was -confined in a strong cage, but was kept in a state of constant fury -and grew more and more ferocious, being kept continually without food. -The luckless prisoners began to believe that they were to be thrown as -a prey to the wild beast, but it grew visibly weaker and weaker and -presently died of starvation. The reason for shutting up the lioness -with the human victims of the terrified king was never explained. -Meanwhile the British troops pressed on and threatened shortly to -capture the capital by storm. The last and most terrible ordeal of all -was now impending. It was openly announced that the white prisoners -were to be sacrificed to save the king by being buried alive before -the broken and dispirited Burmese army. But another decisive battle -intervened, the prisoners were hastily released from gaol and carried -to Ava, whence they were borne by water to meet the British flotilla on -its way up stream, and the painful captivity was at an end. - -The penal code of old Burmah in the pre-English days was primitive and -of ancient origin, being based largely upon the laws first promulgated -by Menu. Trial by ordeal was a very general rule, and many forms were -similar to those obtaining in other parts of the world. One was to -plunge a finger wrapped in a thin palm leaf into molten tin; again, -accused and accuser were immersed under water and the case was won by -the party who could remain the longest time below. Or two candles made -of equal portions of wax, carefully weighed, were lighted by the two -litigants, and the one which burned longest was adjudged to have won. - -“In the Indies,” says one old authority, “when one man accuses another -of a crime punishable by death, it is customary to ask the accused if -he is willing to go through trial by fire, and if he answers in the -affirmative, they heat a piece of iron till it is red hot; then he is -told to put his hand on the hot iron, and his hand is afterward wrapped -up in a bay leaf, and if at the end of three days he has suffered no -hurt he is declared innocent and delivered from the punishment which -threatened him. Sometimes they boil water in a cauldron till it is -so hot no one may approach it; then an iron ring is thrown into it -and the person accused is ordered to thrust in his hand and bring up -the ring, and if he does so without injury he is declared innocent. -Sometimes an iron chain or ball is used instead of the ring. Sometimes -a vessel of oil is heated, and a cocoanut is thrown in to test the -temperature, and if it cracks, then the suspected person may prove -his innocence by taking copper coins out of the boiling oil.” Another -ordeal was to take the accused to the tomb of a Mohammedan saint and -walk past, having first loaded him with heavy fetters. If the fetters -fall off, he is declared to be clear. “I have heard it said,” is the -comment of one authority who had little confidence in the good faith -of the tribunal, “that by some artful contrivance the fetters are so -applied as to fall off at a particular juncture.” - -The rich expiated any offence by the payment of a fine, while the -impecunious suffered imprisonment, stripes with a rattan, mutilation, -endless slavery, and in the extreme case, death. The sentence to -slavery extended to all a man’s belongings and to his descendants -forever. Capital punishment was performed by decapitation, and a -fiendish executioner often prolonged the agony of the condemned -convict. To throw a victim to be devoured by wild beasts or trodden to -death by elephants was a practice only surrendered in recent times. In -the northern provinces crucifixion was common, but the instrument was -not in the shape of an ordinary cross. It was more like a double ladder -consisting of three upright bamboos crossed by three horizontal bars, -and upon these two more were laid in the shape of a St. Andrew’s cross. -Three scaffolds were commonly erected on river banks or on sand banks -in the stream, and were constantly seen on the Irrawady. Sometimes the -culprit was killed before he was affixed to the cross; sometimes he was -tied up and rendered helpless by a few spear thrusts, or disembowelled -by a sword cut across the stomach. In any case, the body was left -suspended until the flesh was pecked off by vultures and the bones fell -off by decay. When the mouths of the Irrawady were Burmese territory, -the criminal was lashed to a tree stump at low water and left to be -drowned by the incoming tide. The fishes, more voracious than the -vultures, were often more expeditious than the sea and ate their prey -alive. The tree, one of the undeveloped growth in the mangrove swamps, -was familiarly known as the “stump of hell.” - -Imprisonment, as we have seen from the previous pages, was often -worse than death. But there might be some relaxation of durance. -With money a prisoner might appease his gaolers. He could by payment -secure release daily to go home, eat his meals and pass his time in -comfortable idleness, provided he came punctually back at night and -allowed himself to be again incarcerated. Nevertheless, the friendless -and impecunious preferred to suffer a public flogging, inflicted on the -culprit at all the street corners. Bribery and corruption, buying ease -from dishonest gaolers, speedily disappeared under the British rule. -An equable uniform system has been adopted for all prisoners, and the -demeanour of even the worst is outwardly quiet. They are for the most -part irreclaimable gaol-birds, with all the traits and characteristics -of the congenital criminal. - -The predatory instinct predominates in the character of the Burman. He -is consumed with a desire to lay violent hands upon his neighbours’ -goods and possessions. He is a Dacoit, a thief and highwayman by -inheritance. One who knew Burmah intimately was convinced that the evil -propensity was inborn in every Burmese child, and was stimulated as he -grew up by Dacoit stories. The example of others who had taken to the -business and become famous for enterprising raids, was always before -the youth of every generation. It was no disgrace to a young fellow -to be concerned in a Dacoity attack upon a neighbouring village, but -very much the reverse, and the most successful robbers were generally -treated with much consideration and respect. - -A Dacoit band for the most part numbered five or six; they were not all -armed with firearms, but they fired a few shots on making a descent -to give warning of their approach, and no resistance was offered as -they swooped down with loud shouts and much waving of swords. Ransom -was demanded or the village, if deserted, was looted, and the Dacoits -fled before the outrage became known to the police. Then pursuit was -organised, but was generally fruitless. The Dacoits were close at hand, -in the very village, and might be easily seized, but no one would give -information, as that would be deemed an unpardonable offence. To betray -an offender into the hands of justice is a sin against religion much -more than against morality. There is the utmost difficulty, therefore, -in tracing crime in Burmah. British police officers were driven to -death in ceaseless efforts to catch Dacoits, hunting them perpetually -for months and months and seldom, if ever, laying hands on a single -offender. - -Summary vengeance was meted out to “informers.” On one occasion, a -well-to-do villager in Lower Burmah had assisted in the capture of a -notorious Dacoit. Some of the prisoner’s friends, without waiting for -the issue of the trial, visited the traitor’s house and upbraided him -with being the cause of the Dacoit’s apprehension. “We mean to punish -you for this,” they said. “You shall be burned alive; which do you -prefer, that the fire should be lighted here in your own house, or -outside the village?” His wife offered a thousand rupees to buy him -off, but it was sternly refused, and he was forthwith put to death. In -another instance, a man who received a reward for securing the arrest -of a band was obliged to surrender the money to other Dacoits, who -called him to account, and to prevent his repeating the offence, his -head was cut off and exhibited on a pole. - -Dacoity, when the complete pacification of Burmah was so long delayed, -became the last form of resistance of the people. The one time thieves -were promoted into rebels and insurgents. The Burmese did not all -accept British rule very willingly, and the government resolved to -finally crush opposition by exterminating the dissidents under the name -of Dacoity. Many serious encounters, costly in human life, were fought; -many leaders of small bands long evaded pursuit and gave much trouble. -But vigorous measures persistently carried out gradually put down all -opposition, and the most active Dacoits ended on the gallows or found -their way to prison or to the penal settlements. A good picture has -been preserved of one prominent Dacoit who had long ravaged the country -and been guilty of many crimes; and upon whom a sentence of penal -servitude for life was at length passed. “A small, spare, thin-visaged -man, whose features have nothing in them that would bear out his -character of a cruel ruffian and leader of men ... yet such was the -power of his name that a sum large enough to be a fortune to any three -natives was offered to whoever should kill or capture him, before his -career was checked.” Every gaol in Burmah has its complement of such -life convicts, reckless desperadoes, a source of constant anxiety to -those in charge of them. - -To follow this man on his reception and through his treatment will give -a good idea of prison life in Burmah. His clothing was first issued to -him; a loin cloth of coarse brown stuff and a strip of sacking to serve -as his bed. His hair was close cut and his head was as smooth as the -palm of his hand, save for one small tuft left on the crown; his name -was registered in the great book, and he was led to the blacksmith’s -shop, where his leg irons were riveted on him, anklets in the form of -a heavy ring to which a connecting ring with two straight iron bars -was attached. At the same time a neck ring of iron as thick as a lead -pencil was welded on, with a plate attached, nine inches by five, on -which a paper recording the personal description of the individual -was pasted. This was called the _thimbone_, and its adoption became -necessary through the frauds practised by the convicts. - -At one time every new arrival was given a tin medal stamped with his -number, which was hung round his neck with a string. But it was found -that these records were frequently exchanged among the prisoners. A -prisoner sentenced to a long term often assumed the identity of a -short term convict, who accepted the more irksome penalty for a money -consideration. At the present time, with the irremovable _thimbone_, -these exchanges are rendered impossible. It is strange that such a -simple process of preserving identities is not enforced in Siberia, -where Russian convicts have long made a practice of fraudulent -exchanges. - -“If there is a type of revolting human ugliness, it is the Burmese -gaol-bird,” says the same authority, “with his shaven head and the -unmistakable stamp of criminal on his vicious face. All convicts -seem to acquire that look of low, half-defiant cunning from their -associates, and a physiognomist would not hesitate to describe -nine-tenths of the men before us as bad characters if he saw them in -any society. Many of this gang are Dacoits, and their breasts, arms -and necks are picture galleries of tattooed devices, fondly cherished -by the owners as charms against death or capture. Some have rows of -unsightly warts, like large peas, upon the breast and arms which mark -the spots where the charms have been inserted,--scraps of metal and -other substances inscribed with spells known only to the wise men who -deal in such things. One or two natives of India are amongst the gang, -and these are conspicuous by the absence of the tattooing universally -found on the Burman’s thighs. A powerfully built convict at the end of -the rank, in addition to the usual irons, has his ankle rings connected -by a single straight bar, so that he can only stand with his feet -twelve inches apart. ‘Look at that fellow,’ says the superintendent; -‘he is in for five years, and his time would have been up in three -months. A week ago he was down at the creek with his gang working -timber, and must needs try to escape. He was up to his waist in water -and dived under a raft, coming to the surface a good fifty yards down -the stream. The guard never missed him until a shout from another man -drew their attention, when they saw him swimming as hard as he could -go, irons and all, towards a patch of jungle on the opposite side.’ -Amongst a repulsive horde this man would take first place without -competition. ‘Reckless scoundrel,’ is written on every line of his -scowling face, and such he undoubtedly is. After the severe flogging -his attempted escape earned for him, he assaulted and bit his guards -and fellow prisoners, and the bar between his anklets was the immediate -result. - -“Conspiracies to break out are not uncommon, although they are -seldom matured, owing to the system of never allowing one batch of -men to remain together for more than a night or two in succession. A -determined attempt to ‘break gaol’ took place in the great central -prison at Rangoon a few years ago, resulting in a stand-up fight -between warders and convicts. Some twenty ‘lifers’ confined in a large -stone cell, whose gate opened upon their workyard, were the culprits. -The hammers and road metal which provided their daily labour were kept -in this yard, and the first aim of the convicts was to obtain access -to the shed where these weapons lay. About midnight the attention of -the sentry was called to the illness of one of the occupants of the -cell by another man, who was apparently the only wakeful member of -the gang besides the sham invalid. A Madrassee apothecary was called -to the grated window of the den, and obtained sufficient information -to enable him to prepare some remedy. On his return with the potion, -seeing that all the convicts were sound asleep, he did not attempt to -give the medicine to the sick man through the window, but against the -rules caused the guard to open the gate intending to take it into the -cell himself. The instant the gate was opened, the slumbering convicts -sprang to their feet, rushed at the apothecary and knocked him down in -such a position that his recumbent form effectually prevented the guard -behind from closing it. They quickly made their way into the workshed, -and arming themselves with hammers and stones, prepared to resist the -warders who had been attracted by the noise and the shouts of a sentry -on the wall. A furious conflict now ensued between the warders, big, -muscular Punjabees armed with heavy cudgels, and the convicts with -their extemporised weapons. The warders were reinforced until both -parties were fairly matched, and the rough and tumble fight in the dark -progressed amid extraordinary confusion. The workyard was overlooked by -two huge wings of the gaol in which a large number of prisoners were -confined; these men, roused to a frantic pitch of excitement by the -uproar below, dashed about their wards like caged animals with screams -and yells of encouragement to their fellows; while the sentries in -the watch towers on the main wall kept up a desultory fire in the air -to prove to the convicts the impossibility of escaping, even if they -should succeed in scaling the high spiked iron railing of their yard. - -“The combatants fought hand-to-hand for some time, neither side gaining -any advantage, whilst above the roar of human voices and the sickening -crash of heavy clubs on the convicts’ shaven skulls the alarm bell -clashed out warning that military assistance from the distant barracks -was required. Warders had been summoned from all parts of the gaol, -and a general outbreak seemed imminent when the appearance of the -superintendent with a revolver suddenly decided matters. Panic seized -the convicts; they dropped their weapons with one accord and crowded -back into the cell, leaving two of their number dead in the yard. It -would be impossible to conceive a more ghastly sight than that row -of naked, trembling convicts as the warders now ranged them in the -vault-like den to be counted. The dim light of oil-lanterns fell upon -upturned faces, before repulsive enough, but now positively startling -in their hideous disfigurement of dust and clotting blood. Every man -was streaming with blood from wounds about the head, more or less -severe, for the convicts had fought with the desperation of men to whom -success meant liberty. They were doomed to drag out their lives in -that earthly hell; a flogging was the worst that could happen to them -if their attempt failed, possible freedom the reward if it succeeded. -Who would not risk the first for the slenderest chance of the second? -They took the risk and fate had gone against them. The excitement was -over, and they huddled together against the wall of the cell in an -agony of fear for the consequences their night’s work would bring upon -them to-morrow, staring enviously at those whose wounds necessitated -their removal to hospital. For them, at least, a few days’ reprieve was -certain before they suffered lash and punishment drill.” - - - - -PRISONS OF CHINA - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -CRIME IN CHINA - - Great cruelty in the administration of the law in China--Experience - of Lord Loch--Iron collar, chains and creeping vermin--Earth - maggot--The “Ling che,” a slow ignominious death--Internal - arrangement of prisons--Whole families detained as hostages - for fugitive offenders--Mortality large; dead-house always - full--Military guard--Public flogging of thieves--The “Cangue” - or heavy wooden collar--Six classes of punishment--Method of - infliction--Chinese punishment in the seventeenth century--Some - cruel practices of to-day. - - -According to Chinese law, theoretically, no prisoner is punished until -he confesses his crime. He is therefore proved guilty and then by -torture made to acknowledge the accuracy of the verdict. The cruelty -shown to witnesses as well as culprits is a distinct blot on the -administration of justice in China. The penal code is ferocious, the -punishments inflicted are fiendishly cruel, and the prisons’ pig-stys -in which torture is hardly more deadly than the diseases engendered -by the most abominable neglect. The commonest notions of justice and -fair play are continually ignored. The story is told of a wretched -old man who had been detained years in the filthy prison of Peking, -dragging out a weary existence in the company of criminals of the -worst description. According to his own account, he had been living on -his land with his wife and family. One night he took out his gun to -scare crows and trespassers off his ripening crops, in the execution -of which innocent design he let off his weapon two or three times. On -the following day a man was found murdered on the far confines of his -land. Immediately he was apprehended, not as one might suppose, to -give evidence or relate what he knew, but to be made to confess that -he himself was the author of the crime. To extort this confession he -was cruelly and repeatedly tortured. “Of course,” he said, “I shall -never leave this prison alive, for they will keep me here until, -reduced to the last extremity by torture, I confess myself guilty of -a crime of which I am entirely innocent, and when I do confess they -will cut off my head on the strength of that confession.” This is -founded on unimpeachable fact, and the case is constantly recurring -under different forms. “In China it is not the prosecution who prove -a prisoner guilty, but the prisoner who has to prove that he is not -guilty.” In this same prison of Peking a visitor once was permitted to -enter a chamber in which was a barred cage eight feet by eight, and in -it twenty-six human beings were incarcerated, of whom six were dying -of gaol fever. He asked that they might be taken out of the cage “in -order that he might medically examine and if possible relieve them. -The gaoler opened the door of the cage and seizing the six by their -pig-tails, or by any other portion of their bodies that happened to -present itself, dragged them out one by one over the pavement into -the courtyard outside. No doubt several of these men were innocent -of the crimes imputed to them and were waiting to be tortured into a -confession of guilt.” - -Few Europeans have experienced imprisonment in China. One Englishman, -Lord Loch, has given an account of the sufferings he endured when -treacherously captured during the war of 1860. “The discipline of -the prison was not in itself very strict and had it not been for the -starvation, the pain arising from the cramped position in which the -chains and ropes retained the arms and legs, with the heavy drag of -the iron collar on the bones of the spine, and the creeping vermin -that infested every place, together with the occasional beatings and -tortures which the prisoners were from time to time taken away for a -few hours to endure, returning with bleeding legs and bodies and so -weak as to be scarcely able to crawl, there was no very great hardship -to be endured.... There was a small maggot which appears to infest all -Chinese prisons: the earth at a depth of a few inches swarms with them; -they are the scourge most dreaded by every poor prisoner. Few enter -a Chinese prison who have not on their bodies or limbs some wounds, -either inflicted by blows to which they have been subjected, or caused -by the manner in which they have been bound; the instinct of the insect -to which I allude appears to lead them direct to these wounds. Bound -and helpless, the poor wretch cannot save himself from their approach, -although he knows full well that if they once succeed in reaching his -lacerated skin, there is the certainty of a fearful lingering and -agonising death before him.” - -Punishment varies in cruelty and intensity with the crime; for the -murder of a father, mother, or several people of one family the -sentence is “ignominious and slow death.” This method is known as _ling -che_, and the victim is attached to a post and cut to pieces by slow -degrees, the pieces being thrown about among the crowd. This cruel -death was more than once publicly inflicted in Peking during the year -1903. Some of the most horrible passages in the _Peking Gazette_ are -those which announce the infliction of this awful punishment on madmen -and idiots who in sudden outbreaks of mania have committed parricide. -For this offence no infirmity is accepted, even as a palliation. A -culprit condemned to _ling che_ is tied to a cross, and while he is -yet alive gashes are made by the executioner on the fleshy parts of -his body, varying in number according to the disposition of the judge. -When this part of the sentence has been carried out, a merciful blow -severs the head from the body. It is said that the executioner can be -bribed to put sufficient opium into the victim’s last meal to make -him practically unconscious, or even to inflict the fatal stab in the -heart at first, which should ordinarily be the last. Common cases of -capital punishment are comparatively merciful, for the executioners -are so skilful that they generally sever the head from the trunk with -one swift blow. The Chinese prefer death by strangulation to any other -form, because it enables the body to appear unmutilated in the next -world. This feeling has such a hold on them that when four victims were -decapitated in Peking, their relatives instantly claimed the bodies and -sewed on the heads. The permission to do this was regarded by them as a -great privilege and a mitigation of the sentence. - -The prisons of China are made up of a certain number of wards according -to their class. Thus, for example, the prisons of the respective -counties of Nam-hoi and Pun-yu in the province of Kwang-tung, which -are first-class county prisons, consist (besides chambers in which -prisoners on remand are confined) of six large wards in each of which -are four large cells, making in all twenty-four cells. The same -arrangements may be said to prevail in all county prisons. The walls -of the various wards abut one upon another and form a parallelogram. -Round the outer wall a paved pathway runs upon which the gates of -the various wards open. This pathway is flanked by a large wall -which constitutes the boundary wall of the prison. The cells are of -considerable size. The four cells in each ward are arranged two on a -side so as to form the two sides of a square, and they much resemble -cattle sheds, the front of each being enclosed in a strong palisading -of wood which extends from the ground to the roof. They are paved -with granite, and each is furnished with a raised wooden platform on -which the prisoners sit by day and sleep by night. They are polluted -with vermin and filth of almost every kind, and the prisoners seldom -or never have an opportunity afforded them of washing their bodies -or even dressing their hair, as water in Chinese prisons is a scarce -commodity and hair-combs are almost unknown. The approach to the prison -is a narrow passage at the entrance of which there is an ordinary -sized door. Above this entrance door is painted a tiger’s head with -large staring eyes and widely extended jaws. Upon entering, the -visitor finds an altar on which stands the figure of a tiger hewn in -granite. This image is regarded as the tutelary deity of the prison -gates. The turnkeys worship it morning and evening, with the view of -propitiating it and securing its watchfulness, gaolers in China being -held responsible for the safe custody of the miserable beings who are -entrusted to their care. At the base of the large wall which forms the -prison boundary there are several hovels--for by no other name can they -be designated--in some of which all the female felons are lodged and in -others whole families who are held as witnesses by the mandarins. - -There is a law which admits of the seizure and detention as hostages -of entire families, any members of which have broken the laws of the -empire and fled from justice. Such hostages are not liberated until -the offending relatives have been secured, and consequently they are -not unfrequently imprisoned during a period of five, ten or twenty -years. Indeed, many of them pass the period of their natural lives in -captivity. Thus the mother or aunt of Hung Sow-tsuen, the leader of -the Taiping rebellion, died after an imprisonment of several years -in the prison of the Nam-hoi magistrate at Canton. The unoffending -old woman grievously felt this long detention for no crime or offence -of her own. Should the crime of the fugitive be a very aggravated -and serious one, such, for example, as an attempt upon the life of -the sovereign of the empire, it is not unusual to put the immediate, -although perfectly innocent, relations of the offender to death, while -those who are not so nearly related to him are sent into exile. In 1803 -an attempt was made to assassinate the emperor Ka-hing. The assassin -was no sooner apprehended than he was sentenced to be put to death by -torture; and his sons who were young children were put to death by -strangling. The mortality in Chinese prisons is very great. The bodies -of all who die in prison are thrown into the dead-house and remain -there until the necessary preliminaries, which are of a very simple -kind, have been arranged for their interment. In the prisons of Canton -these receptacles may be seen full of corpses and presenting the most -revolting and disgusting appearance. Some of the unhappy victims have -died from the effects of severe and often repeated floggings. Others -have fallen victims to one or other of the various diseases which such -dens are only too well fitted to create and foster. In the prison -of Pun-yu there were on one occasion in the dead-house five bodies, -all with the appearance of death from starvation--a form of capital -punishment which in China is frequently inflicted upon kidnappers and -other grave offenders. Directly in front of the door of the dead-house -and at the base of the outer boundary wall of the prison there is -a small door of sufficient size to admit of a corpse being passed -through. The corpses of all who die in prison are carried through this -aperture into the adjoining street for burial. It would be paying -too much reverence to the deceased prisoner to allow the remains to -be carried through the gates of the _yamun_ to which the prison is -attached. - -In point of appearance the unfortunate inmates of Chinese prisons are -perhaps of all men the most abject and miserable. Their death-like -countenances, emaciated forms and long coarse black hair, which, -according to prison rules, they are not allowed to shave, give them -the appearance rather of demons than of men, and strike the mind of -the beholder with impressions of gloom and sorrow that are not easily -forgotten. Prisoners in every ward with one exception only wear -fetters. The exception is the prisoner who is supposed to be more -respectable and who conducts himself better than any of his fellows -in crime. He is allowed the full freedom of his limbs and as a mark -of confidence and trust the privilege is conferred upon him of acting -as overseer and guardian of his comrades. The dress worn by Chinese -prisoners consists of a coat and trousers of a coarse red fabric. On -the back of the coat is printed in large indelible characters the name -of the prison in which its wearer is confined so that should he escape -from durance he would at once be recognised as a runaway or prison -breaker, and his recapture facilitated. Each prison is presided over -by a governor who has under him a considerable number of turnkeys. -Thus each large prison in Canton has a governor, twenty-four turnkeys, -thirty-seven watchmen and fifteen spearmen. In a barrack beyond -the doors or gates of each prison is a resident guard of soldiers. -The turnkeys, watchmen, spearmen, and so forth, become the most -casehardened and incorrigible of the criminals from the great amount -of misery which they daily witness. The policemen who are attached to -the _yamun_ are also men of vile character, and it is unfortunately -too common for them to share the booty with the thief and hoodwink or -deceive the magistrate. - -The governor of a Chinese prison purchases his appointment from -the local government. He receives no salary from the state and is -compelled, therefore, to recoup himself by exacting money from such -relatives or friends of prisoners as are in good circumstances and -naturally anxious that their unhappy friends should escape as far as -possible the sad deprivations and cruelties for which Chinese prisons -are so notorious. To each prison a granary is attached in which rice -of the cheapest and coarsest kind is stored by the governor. This rice -is one of his perquisites, and he retails it to the prisoners at a -remunerative price. Vegetables and firewood for culinary purposes, both -of which are daily offered for sale to the prisoners, are also supplied -by him. As the government daily allowance to each prisoner does not -exceed twenty-five _cash_, the prisoners who are without friends are -not often able to buy even vegetables and firewood. - -Besides the prison in which convicts are confined there is also within -the precincts of the _yamun_ a house of detention. This is neither so -large nor so strongly enclosed as the common gaol. Generally, in such a -house of detention there is a large chamber which is set apart for the -reception of prisoners on remand, who have friends able and willing to -satisfy the demands of the governor. By this arrangement such prisoners -avoid the misery of being shut up in the same ward with men of the -vilest character and often most loathsome condition, covered with filth -or suffering from various kinds of cutaneous diseases. The arrangement -is a great advantage to the governor of the gaol and to all prisoners -who can afford to pay for it, but a great disadvantage to other -inmates. The space required for the convenience of prisoners who have -friends to look after their wants leaves very little room indeed for -the reception of the great majority of the poorer criminals, who are -huddled together in a common ward sometimes too crowded to allow its -occupants to lie down. In the city of Canton, on the streets adjoining -the _yamuns_, there are other houses of detention, all densely crowded. - -Imprisonment is not the only penalty inflicted; cases of petty larceny -are generally dealt with by flogging. The culprit is handcuffed and -with the identical article which he stole, or one similar, suspended -from his neck, is marched through the streets of the neighbourhood in -which the theft was committed. He is preceded by a man beating a gong, -and at each beat of the gong an officer who walks behind gives him a -severe blow with a double rattan across the shoulders, exclaiming, -“This is the punishment due to a thief.” As the culprit has to pass -through three or four streets his punishment, although regarded by the -Chinese as a minor one, is certainly not lacking in severity, and is -often accompanied by a considerable flow of blood. - -A thief who had stolen a watch from one of his countrymen was flogged -through the Honam suburb of Canton, but the officer appointed to -flog him was very corpulent, and from his great earnestness in the -discharge of his duty became quite breathless before the various -streets along which the culprit was sentenced to pass had been fully -traversed. The person from whom the watch had been stolen, seeing that -the thief might escape the full severity of his penalty, snatched the -double rattan from the hand of the exhausted officer and applied it -himself most unmercifully to the thief’s back. Women who are convicted -of thieving are in some instances punished in this way. Occasionally -a long bamboo is used in cases of petty larceny. When this is the -case, however, the culprit receives his flogging in court in front of -the tribunal. He is at once denuded of his trousers and the number of -blows varies according to the nature of the larceny, from ten to three -hundred. - -Mr. Henry Norman, who witnessed a most cruel flogging in court, which -left the prisoner in a pitiable state, asserts that when a policeman -was called to suffer the same punishment, it was seen that he had -bound strips of wood on himself to catch the full force of the bamboo. -The prescribed number of strokes were administered, but the fraud was -plainly apparent to the magistrate and all the spectators, and the -policeman, who was none the worse for the flogging, went about his -duties as usual when the ordeal was over. Spectacles of this kind, says -the same authority, seem to be highly enjoyed by a Chinese audience. - - -_Chinese Punishment_ - - The _cangue_, or square and heavy wooden collar, is one of the - modes by which petty offenders are punished in China. The weight - varies with the offence, and they are worn from a fortnight to - three months, during which time the _cangue_ is not removed by - day or night. This device inflicts severe punishment, preventing - the culprit from assuming any position of rest. The name of the - prisoner and the nature of his offence are written on the _cangue_ - in large letters, so that “he who runs may read,” and he is often - made to stand at one of the principal gates or in some other - conspicuous place as an object of universal contempt. - -[Illustration] - -The _cangue_, or square, heavy wooden collar, is another mode by which -petty offenders in China are punished. _Cangues_ vary in weight, some -being considerably larger and heavier than others. The period for which -an offender is sentenced to wear this collar varies from a fortnight -to three months. During the whole of this time the _cangue_ is not -removed from the neck of the prisoner either by day or by night. Its -form prevents the wearer from stretching himself on the ground at -full length, and to judge from the attenuated appearance of prisoners -who have undergone it, the punishment must be terribly severe. The -name of the lawbreaker and the nature of his offence are written on -the _cangue_ in large letters, “so that all the world may read.” The -authorities often make the victim stand from sunrise to sunset at -one of the principal gates or in front of one of the chief temples -or public halls of the city, where he is regarded as an object of -universal scorn and contempt. - -Another mode of punishing a criminal is that of confining him in a -cage. The cages are of different forms, the worst being too short to -allow the occupants to place themselves in a recumbent position and too -low to admit of their standing. To the top of one kind is attached a -wooden collar or _cangue_ by which the neck of the criminal, which it -is made to fit, is firmly held. Another cage resembles the former in -all respects but one. The difference consists in its being higher than -its occupant, so that while his neck is held fast by the wooden collar -attached to the top of the cage, the tips of his toes barely touch the -floor. Indeed, the floor, which is only a few inches from the ground, -is sometimes removed so that the prisoner may be suspended by the neck. -This punishment almost invariably proves fatal. The victims are as a -rule thieves and robbers. They are often punished by being bound to -stones by means of long chains passed round their necks. The stones are -not large, but sufficiently heavy to inconvenience them as they walk -to and from the prison to the entrance gates of the _yamun_, in front -of which they are daily exposed. These stones are their inseparable -companions by night and by day throughout the whole period of their -incarceration. In some instances they are bound to long bars of iron -and are daily exposed to the scorn of all passers by. - -For capital and other offences of a serious nature there are six -classes of punishment. The first, called _ling che_, has already been -mentioned. It is inflicted upon traitors, parricides, matricides, -fratricides and murderers of husbands, uncles and tutors. The criminal -is cut into either one hundred and twenty, seventy-two, thirty-six or -twenty-four pieces. Should there be extenuating circumstances, his -body, as a mark of imperial clemency, is divided into eight portions -only. The punishment of twenty-four cuts is inflicted as follows: the -first and second cuts remove the eyebrows; the third and fourth the -shoulders; the fifth and sixth the breasts; the seventh and eighth -the parts between each hand and elbow; the ninth and tenth the parts -between each elbow and shoulder; the eleventh and twelfth the flesh of -each thigh; the thirteenth and fourteenth the calf of each leg; the -fifteenth pierces the heart; the sixteenth severs the head from the -body; the seventeenth and eighteenth cut off the hands; the nineteenth -and twentieth the arms; the twenty-first and twenty-second the feet; -the twenty-third and twenty-fourth the legs. That of eight cuts is -inflicted as follows; the first and second cuts remove the eyebrows; -the third and fourth the shoulders; the fifth and sixth the breasts; -the seventh pierces the heart; the eighth severs the head from the -body. A great many political offenders underwent executions of the -first class at Canton during the vice-royalty of His Excellency, Yeh. -On the fourteenth day of December, 1864, the famous Hakka rebel leader, -Tai Chee-kwei by name, was put to death at Canton in the same manner. - -The second class of capital punishment, which is called _chan_ or -decapitation, is the penalty due to murderers, rebels, pirates, -burglars, etc. Prisoners who are sentenced to decapitation are kept in -ignorance of the hour fixed for their execution until the preceding -day. Occasionally they have only a few hours’ and in some instances -only a few minutes’ warning. When the time has arrived for making -the condemned man ready for execution, an officer in full costume, -carrying in his hand a board on which is pasted a list of the names of -the prisoners who are that day to atone for their crimes, enters the -prison, and in the hearing of all the prisoners assembled in the ward, -reads aloud the list of the condemned. Each prisoner whose name is -called at once answers to it, and he is then made to sit in a basket -to be carried once more into the presence of a judge. As he is taken -through the outer gate, he is interrogated through an interpreter by an -official who acts on the occasion as the viceroy’s representative. - -Mr. Henry Norman described in 1895 an execution of fifteen offenders -of this class which he had witnessed. The condemned were carried into -the place of execution in flat baskets suspended from bamboo poles, and -literally dumped out, bound hand and foot. A slip of paper was stuck -in the queue of each condemned man, which described the nature of the -crime. These were taken out and stacked up by one of the executioners, -and then the work of severing the heads began, one of the executioners -holding the victim’s shoulders while the other used the knife. All -of those about to be beheaded witnessed the decapitation of their -comrades, and the spectators yelled with delight and frenzy. When the -last head had been severed, the place was ankle-deep in blood and the -executioner, who used the knife, was covered with it. The bodies were -thrown into a pond and the heads were put in earthenware jars and -stacked up with others surrounding this potter’s field. - -A third punishment is called _nam-kow_, or death by strangulation. This -is inflicted on kidnappers and all thieves who with violence steal -articles the value of which amounts to five hundred dollars and upward. -The manner in which this form of capital punishment is inflicted is as -follows:--A cross is erected in the centre of the execution ground, at -the foot of which a stone is placed, and upon this the prisoner stands. -His body is made fast to the perpendicular beam of the cross by a band -passing round the waist, while his arms are bound to the transverse -beam. The executioner then places round the neck of the prisoner a thin -but strong piece of twine, which he tightens to the utmost and then -ties in a firm knot round the upper part of the perpendicular beam. -Death by this cruel process is very slow and is apparently attended -with extreme agony. The body remains on the cross during a period of -twenty-four hours, the sheriff before leaving the execution ground -taking care to attach his seal to the knot of the twine which passes -round the neck of the malefactor. - -The fourth class of punishment is called _man-kwan_, or transportation -for life. The criminals who are thus punished are embezzlers, -forgers, etc. The places of banishment in the north of China and -Tartary are named respectively Hack-loong-kong, Elee Ning-koo-tap and -Oloo-muk-tsze. All convicts from the midland and southern provinces -are sent to one or the other of these places, where the unhappy men are -employed in a great measure according to their former circumstances of -life. Those who are of a robust nature and who have been accustomed to -agricultural pursuits are daily occupied in reclaiming and cultivating -waste lands. Others, more especially those who have been sent from the -southern provinces, where the heat in summer is almost tropical, are, -in consequence of the severity of the cold which prevails in northern -latitudes, made to work in government iron foundries. The aged and -those who have not been accustomed to manual labour are daily employed -in sweeping the state temples and other public buildings. - -The fifth class of punishment is termed _man-low_, or transportation -for ten or fifteen years. The criminals of this class are petty -burglars and persons who harbour those who have broken the laws. Such -offenders are generally sent to the midland provinces of the empire, -where the arrangements for convict labour are similar to those of the -penal settlements of the north. Convicts of this class who are natives -of the midland provinces are sent either to the eastern, western or -southern provinces of the empire. The barbarous practice of tattooing -the cheeks is also resorted to with these prisoners. The sixth class is -called _man-tow_, or transportation for three years. A punishment of -this nature is the portion of gamblers, salt smugglers, etc. A convict -of this class is transported to one of the provinces immediately -bordering upon that of which he is a native or in which his crime was -committed. - -Oppression by the ruling class was always rife in China, and instances -might be multiplied recording the cruel misusage of inferiors by -the mandarins. One case in which ample vengeance was exacted by the -aggrieved victim may be quoted here. The story is told by Lady Susan -Townley in her “Chinese Note Book.” - -“A well-to-do farmer called Chiang-lo lived happily on his estate with -a pretty wife whom he loved, until one day, as ill luck would have it, -a rich Mandarin passed that way, who, seeing the fair dame, straightway -desired her. Anxious to get rid of the husband by fair means or foul, -he trumped up a charge against him, and the farmer was condemned ‘to -be a slave to a soldier,’ which meant that he would be marched in -heavy chains from Peking to the northern frontier of China, cruelly -beaten at every station (they occur about every eighteen miles), and -ill-treated at will by the soldier in charge of him. This sentence is -usually equivalent to death, for few can survive the hardships of such -a journey, the fatigue, heat, cold, hunger and torture. But our friend -with hatred in his heart resolved to live in order to be revenged upon -his enemy. So he bore all his sufferings with superhuman courage, and -finally arrived at his destination on the frontier, where he was put -to work in a mine.” After he had been there about three years His -Majesty Kwang Hsu assumed the reins of government, and accorded a -general pardon to all criminals. Thus in a night Chiang-lo recovered -his freedom, and without a moment’s hesitation set off to trudge back -to Peking. “This time there was hope in his heart for he meant to kill -his enemy and the wife who had betrayed him. When he saw her again, -however, all his old love for her returned and though she refused to go -with him, and though he knew that if he killed them both, Chinese law -would account him guiltless, whereas if he killed her lover and spared -her, he would be considered guilty of murder, and would have to bear -the penalty, he did not hesitate one moment, but left her and went to -find her seducer. - -“For days he tracked him about the town, waiting for a favourable -opportunity. At last it came, as his rival passed him in the deep -embrasure of the Chien-men gate. Springing from his place of -concealment he challenged him to fight, but the coward refused. Then -Chiang-lo ... drew his knife and repeatedly stabbed him in the heart. -When he saw his enemy lying dead at his feet, the apathy of despair -fell upon him. Wiping his knife on his sleeve he bowed his head, and -turning his steps to the nearest police station calmly gave himself up. -A few weeks later he was beheaded.” - -It is interesting to read that the prevailing method of punishment in -China in the seventeenth century differed little from that in force -at a very recent date. In the memoirs of the Jesuit Louis le Comte, -published in 1698, he says: “They have several ways of inflicting -death. Mean and ignoble persons have their heads cut off, for in -China the separation of the head from the body is disgraceful. On the -contrary, persons of quality are strangled, which among them is a death -of more credit.... Rebels and traitors are punished with the utmost -severity; that is, to speak as they do, they cut them into ten thousand -pieces. For after that the executioner hath tied them to a post, he -cuts off the skin all round their forehead which he tears by force till -it hangs over their eyes, that they may not see the torments they are -to endure. Afterwards he cuts their bodies in what places he thinks -fit, and when he is tired of this barbarous employment, he leaves them -to the tyranny of their enemies and the insults of the mob.” - -Cruelty, which is one of the strongest characteristics of the Chinese -nature, manifests itself not only in the application of criminal law, -but with a peculiar callousness they delight to torture dumb animals -and enjoy witnessing the sufferings of children and adults of their -own race. A common practice of the professional kidnapper is to blind -a child after stealing it, and then carry it away to another town and -sell it for a professional beggar. Infant life is still being destroyed -by parents in some districts of China, and the abominable custom is -difficult to eradicate, as the children are simply abandoned and left -to starve, and if the crime is discovered it is difficult to prove -deliberate murder. - -Cases have been known of Chinese boatmen refusing to rescue persons -who had thrown themselves overboard from a sinking craft and were -drowning, unless they agreed to pay an exorbitant sum asked as the -price of rescue. They have even been known to look on passively while -their fellow-countrymen were struggling for life in the water, without -raising a hand to help them. - -It is but natural to expect that in a country where such occurrences -are common, the punishments inflicted on the really guilty should -exceed anything known in the practices of the enlightened nations of -to-day. - - - - -PRISONS OF JAPAN - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -ENLIGHTENED METHODS OF JAPAN - - Enlightened Japan has striven to establish a perfect - prison system--New prisons--Deportation to the island of - Yezo--Agricultural labour and work in coal mines--Two fine prisons - in Tokio--Description by Mr. Norman--The gallows--Training school - for prison officials--Disciplinary punishments and rewards. - - -Japan as an enlightened and progressive country has made strenuous -efforts to establish “as perfect a prison system as possible; one -which is in harmony with the advancement of science and the results of -experience.” These reforms were commenced in 1871 and were continued -in various new prisons at Tokio, Kobold, Kiogo and upon the island of -Yezo, all admirably organised and maintained. This movement was hurried -on by the great overcrowding of the small provincial prisons on account -of the accumulation of long-term prisoners. No proper discipline could -be applied and there was absolutely no room for short-term offenders. -Most of those sentenced to hard labour and deportation are now sent to -the penal settlement on the island of Yezo, where they are employed -both within the prisons and at agriculture in the open air. Every -advantage is taken of the natural aptitudes of the Japanese, and the -inmates of gaols prove the most expert and artistic workmen. The very -worst criminals are sent to the prison of Sorachi in the remote island -of Yezo, beyond Poronaibuto--a bleak, desolate spot surrounded by -the usual bamboo fence--which holds about sixteen hundred convicts. -They are to be seen squatted on mats at work, each in front of his -own sleeping place, and on a shelf above are his wadded bed-quilt, -with a mosquito curtain on top of each. The place is so isolated -and surrounded by such an impenetrable jungle that escapes are out -of the question. A little further on is the prison of Poronai, in a -delightful spot, where the most extensive coal fields of Japan are -located. A small building houses some six hundred convicts who work -in the coal seams on the side of the hill. “Hard labour indeed,” -says Mr. Wingfield. “Heavily chained, by light of a safety lamp the -wretched convicts were crouching in holes where there was no room to -raise the head or stretch the limbs, and here they had to remain for -eighteen hours at a time.” Their sentences were for twelve years, -although remission might by good conduct be secured after seven. Yet -these luckless Japanese bore their irksome lot with a light heart. “As -we were leaving Poronai at 5 A. M.,” says the same observer, “we met -a batch of miners marching to face their ordeal and many after the -eighteen hours are completed have to be removed to hospital. They -were clanking their chains right merrily, talking and laughing loudly, -bandying quips and jokes.” - -Japan is a land of rapid transition and nothing has changed more -completely in recent years than Japanese prisons. Still there was some -system, even in ancient days. The sexes were kept apart, the penalty -of the log worn round the neck and fastened to the ankle was not -imposed upon the aged or juvenile offender, nor upon dwarfs, invalids -or pregnant women. In the sixteenth century a prison reformer arose -who organised five new prisons in Yeddo for five different classes of -prisoners, comprising females and persons of different conditions of -life. Proper prison officers were appointed, and security was obtained -without despising sanitary needs. Still there must have been much -mutual contamination, owing to the indiscriminate herding together, -and the maintenance of internal order was left to the prisoners who -chose among themselves a _nanoushi_, or head, with eleven assistants -to control the whole body. Flogging was inflicted and handcuffs were -universally worn. In 1790 a house of correction was established on the -island of Yshikavoy in the Bay of Yeddo, to which were committed all -vagabonds or incorrigible prisoners whom it was thought unsafe to set -free lest they should relapse into crime. The work on this island was -chiefly the manufacture of oil. In cases of escape and recapture the -fugitives were branded with a certain tattoo mark on the left arm. - -Even in the middle of the nineteenth century the same brutal methods -of torture prevailed as in China (from where their bloody codes were -mostly borrowed), and there are preserved collections of instruments -of torture as diabolical as any known to history. Crime, too, was not -lacking in those “isles of the blest,” and every species of moral -filth and corruption abounded, which was shown in its true colours -when the liberty of the press was granted, in 1872-1874. The number of -executions and deaths in the native prisons at that time was said to -average three thousand per annum. - -The chief prison of the empire, in Tokio, as described by Mr. William -M. Griffis, who visited it in 1875, was very different in its sanitary -appointments and general condition from the prisons of Tokio to-day. -A curious feature was a small roofed in structure in the prison yard, -with open sides, where condemned men of rank were allowed to expiate -their crimes by plunging the dirk into their own bodies, after which -the executioner cut off their heads. The head, laid on a tray, was -then inspected by an officer of justice. There were very few of such -executions after 1871. The ordinary criminal was beheaded in the -blood-pit, so-called, which was a pit surrounded with a much stained -and slashed wooden curb, and kept covered by a sort of trap-door. In -the pit were mats, one above the other, which had been soaked with the -blood of many criminals. “The faint odour that ascended,” says Mr. -Griffis, “was more horrible in the awful cloud of associations which -it called up than the mere stench.” It was then April and twenty-five -heads had fallen there since the year began. The criminal was led to -the pit blindfolded and was beheaded with an ordinary sword, sharp as a -razor. Death followed frequently on the day of sentence and never later -than the day after. - -Tokio has now two prisons; the first and chief is situated upon the -island of Oshikawa at the south of the city, and the second, the -convict and female prison of Ichigawa, is in the centre of the city. -The former is completely isolated, all communication with the mainland -being by police ferry, and can accommodate two thousand men and boys, -who are serving terms of ten years or less. The prison of Ichigawa -usually contains fifteen hundred men and about one hundred women, -among whom are many serving life sentences. Attached to the prison is -a convict farm, and it is here that capital punishment is carried out. -Otherwise the two prisons resemble each other closely and a description -of one will answer for both, says Mr. Norman, who described them in -1892, and gives the following account: - -“The entrance is through a massive wooden gateway, into a guard-room -adjoining which are the offices of the director and officials. The -prison itself consists of a score or more of detached one-story -buildings, all of wood and some of them merely substantial sheds, -under which the rougher labour, like stone-breaking, is performed. The -dormitories are enormous wooden cages, the front and part of the back -formed of bars as thick as one’s arm, before which again is a narrow -covered passage, where the warder on guard walks at night. There is not -a particle of furniture or a single article of any kind upon the floor, -which is polished till it reflects your body like a mirror. No boot, of -course, ever touches it. The thick quilts, or _futon_, which constitute -everywhere the Japanese bed, are all rolled up and stacked on a broad -shelf running round the room overhead. Each dormitory holds ninety-six -prisoners, and there is a long row of them. The sanitary arrangements -are situated in a little addition at the back, and I was assured that -these had not been made pleasant for my inspection. If not, I can -only say that in this most important respect a Japanese prison could -not well be improved. In fact, the whole dormitory, with its perfect -ventilation, its construction of solid, highly-polished wood, in which -there is no chance for vermin to harbour, and its combined simplicity -and security, is an almost ideal prison structure. Of course the fact -that every Japanese, from the emperor to the coolie, sleeps upon quilts -spread out on the floor, greatly simplifies the task of the prison -architect in Japan. - -“On leaving the dormitories we passed a small, isolated square -erection, peaked and gabled like a little temple. The door was -solemnly unlocked and flung back, and I was motioned to enter. It was -the punishment cell, another spotless wooden box, well ventilated, but -perfectly dark, and with walls so thick as to render it practically -silent. ‘How many prisoners have been in it during the last month?’ I -asked. The director summoned the chief warder, and repeated my question -to him. ‘None whatever,’ was the reply. ‘What other punishments have -you?’ ‘None whatever.’ ‘No flogging?’ When this question was translated -the director and the little group of officials all laughed together at -the bare idea. I could not help wondering whether there was another -prison in the world with no method of punishment for two thousand -criminals except one dark cell, and that not used for a month. And the -recollection of the filthy and suffocating sty used as a punishment -cell in the city prison of San Francisco came upon me like a nausea.” - -In Japan a prison consists of two parts--dormitories and workshops. -There is nothing whatever of cells or regulation prison buildings -properly speaking. It is a place of detention, of reformation, and of -profitable work. The visitors found in the first workshop, to their -great surprise, a couple of hundred prisoners making machinery and -steam boilers. One warder, carrying only a sword, was in charge of -every fifteen men. The prisoners were working on contract orders for -private firms, under the supervision of one skilled master and one -representative of the firm giving the contract. They work nine hours a -day, and are dressed in cotton suits of a peculiar terra-cotta colour. -When the foreigners entered, the warder on guard came to attention -and cried, “Pay attention!” Every one ceased work and bowed with his -forehead to the floor, remaining in that attitude until a second order -bade them rise. They were making large brass and iron steam pumps, and -the workshop, with its buzz of machinery and its intelligent labour, -was much like a part of an arsenal here or in Europe. - -Another shop contained the wood-carvers, where more than a hundred -men, with blocks of wood between their knees, were carving with keen -interest upon all sorts of things, from simple trays and bowls to -fragile and delicate long-legged storks. “I bought,” says our author, -“an admirably-carved tobacco box, representing the God of Laughter -being dragged along by his cloak by six naked boys, and afterward -I asked some Japanese friends who supposed I had picked it up at a -curio-dealer’s, how much it was worth. They guessed ten _yen_--thirty -shillings. I paid sixty-eight _sen_ for it--less than two shillings. -It is a piece of work that would be admired anywhere, and yet it was -the work of a common burglar who had made the acquaintance of a carving -tool and a prison at the same time.” - -There were also paper-makers, weavers (who were making the fabric -for the prison clothing), fan-makers, lantern-makers and workers in -baskets, mats, and nets. A printing shop, too, there was, where the -proof-reader was a criminal of more than ordinary interest. He had -been secretary of legation in France and had absconded with a large -sum, leaving his shoes on the river bank to lead the authorities to -believe he had committed suicide, but he had been arrested eventually -in Germany with his mistress. - -In one of the shops jinrikishas were being made, in another umbrellas -were being carved elaborately and in another every kind of pottery -was being turned out. To the amazement of the visitors, they found -sixty men, common thieves and burglars, making the exquisite cloisonné -ware--“cutting by eye-measurement only the tiny strips of copper to -make the outline of a bird’s beak or the shading of his wing or the -articulations of his toe, sticking these upon the rounded surface of -the copper vase, filling up the interstices with pigment, coat upon -coat, and firing and filing and polishing it.” The finished work was -true and beautiful and it was difficult to believe that these men knew -nothing at all about it before they were sentenced. It would be hard to -imagine teaching such a thing to the convicts at Dartmoor or at Sing -Sing. In the prison at Tokio the convict is taught to do whatever is -the limit of his natural ability. If he cannot make cloisonné, he is -assigned to the wood-carving department, or perhaps to make pottery. -If he cannot do these, he can possibly make fans or basket-work, or set -type or cast brass. And for those who cannot reach so high a limit as -these occupations there is left the rice mill or stone-breaking, but of -two thousand men only thirty were unable to do any other work but that -of breaking stones. - -Prisoners receive one-tenth of the sum their handiwork earns. A curious -custom is that every adult prisoner is kept for an additional six -months after his sentence expires unless he is claimed by friends in -the meantime, and if he has not reached adult age he is detained until -that is attained. During the added six months these prisoners wear blue -instead of the universal reddish garb. - -“The women’s quarter at Ichigawa,” continues Norman, “is separated from -the men’s by a high wooden fence and gateway guarded by a sentinel, -and consists of two or three dormitories and one large comfortable -workshop, where all are employed together at labour let out by -contract. When I was there they were all hemming silk handkerchiefs, -each seated upon the matted floor before a little table, and very neat -they all looked, and very pretty some of them, with their loose red -gowns and simply twisted hair. ‘Those are forgers,’ said the officer, -pointing to three of them; ‘I do not like them to be so pretty.’ One -of the women had a young baby playing beside her, and another of -them as she glanced up at us showed a face entirely different from -the rest, pale, sad and refined, and I saw that her hands were small -and very white. It was Hanai Ume, the once famous geisha of Tokio, -famous for her beauty, her _samisen_-playing, her dancing, her pride, -and most famous of all for her _affaire d’amour_. Two years ago a -man-servant managed to make trouble between herself and her lover, whom -she expected to buy her out of the life of a professional musician at -anybody’s call, and then offered to make peace again between them on -his own terms. So one night she called him out of the house and stabbed -him to death with a kitchen knife. Now music is mute for her and song -is silent and love is left behind. - -“To the gallows is an easy transition, as it is a natural conclusion. -In a secluded part of the grounds at Ichigawa, there is a forbidding -object like a great black box, raised six feet from the earth at the -foot of a long incline cut in the grass. A sloping walk of black boards -leads into the box on the left-hand side. The condemned criminal is led -up this and finds himself inside upon the drop. The rope is adjusted -and the cap fitted, and then at a signal the bottom of the box falls -back. Thus the Japanese method is exactly the opposite of our own, -the official spectators, including a couple of privileged reporters, -being spared the ghastly details of the toilette on the scaffold, and -seeing nothing until an unrecognisable corpse is suddenly flung out and -dangles before them.” - -The state of Japanese advancement in matters of penology is shown by -the fact that in Tokio a school is maintained for the training of -prison officials in theory and practice, with an annual attendance of -from eighty to one hundred students. They are instructed in the laws -relating to prisons and prisoners, in the general outline of the penal -code, the sanitary care of prisons, the treatment of criminal patients, -and kindred subjects. - -The number of felons and misdemeanants is decreasing annually, while -there has been a slight increase, on the other hand, in the number of -contraveners. There are three disciplinary punishments in the prisons: -first, solitary confinement in a windowed cell; second, reduction of -food supply; third, solitary confinement in a dark room. - -Medals are granted by the prison governors as rewards to any prisoners -who have worked diligently and conducted themselves properly in -prison, but no medal can be awarded more than three times to any -one individual. Medallists enjoy certain privileges and leniency of -treatment, and pardons are based on the medal system. - - - - -PRISONS OF EGYPT - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE LAW IN EGYPT - - Penal code in Egypt of Mohammedan origin and derived from the - Koran--The law of talion--Price of blood--Blood feuds and blood - revenge--The courbash freely used to raise taxes--Old police in - Cairo--Extensive reforms--Oppressive governors--Tyrannical rule of - Ismail Pasha--Protection and security guaranteed to the fellaheen - by British occupation--Prison reform--Tourah near Cairo--Labour - at the quarries--Profitable workshops--Assiut prison--Life at - Tourah--Attempts to escape--Convicts employed on the communication - line in the Sudan campaign--Excellent sanitation and good hospital - arrangements. - - -The land of the Pharaohs has ever been governed by the practices and -influenced by the traditions of the East. From the time of the Arab -conquest, Mohammedan law has generally prevailed, and the old penal -code was derived directly from the Koran. Its provisions were most -severe, but followed the dictates of common sense and were never -outrageously cruel. The law of talion was generally enforced, a life -for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Murder entailed -the punishment of death, but a fine might be paid to the family of the -deceased if they would accept it; this was only permitted when the -homicide was attended by palliating circumstances. The price of blood -varied. It might be the value of a hundred camels; or if the culprit -was the possessor of gold, a sum equal to £500 was demanded, but if he -possessed silver only, the price asked was a sum equal to £300. The -accomplices and accessories were also liable to death. Compensation in -the form of a fine is not now permitted. A man who killed another in -self-defence or to defend his property from a depredator was exempt -from punishment. Unintentional homicide might be expiated by a fine. -The price of blood was incumbent upon the whole tribe or family to -which the murderer belonged. A woman convicted of a capital crime was -generally drowned in the Nile. - -Blood-revenge was a common practice among the Egyptian people. The -victim’s relations claimed the right to kill the perpetrator, and -relationship was widely extended, for the blood guiltiness included -the homicide, his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and -great-great-grandfather, and all these were liable to retaliation -from any of the relatives of the deceased, who in times past, killed -with their own hands rather than appeal to the government, and often -did so with disgusting cruelty, even mangling and insulting the -corpse. Animosity frequently survived even after retaliation had -been accomplished, and blood-revenge sometimes subsisted between -neighbouring villages for several years and through many generations. -Revengeful mutilation was allowed by the law in varying degrees. -Cutting off the nose was equivalent to the whole price of blood, or of -any two members,--two arms, two hands, or two legs; the removal of one -was valued at half the price of blood. The fine of a man for maiming or -wounding a woman was just half of that inflicted for injuring a man, if -free; if a slave the fine was fixed according to the commercial value -of the slave. The whole price of blood was demanded if the victim had -been deprived of any of his five senses or when he had been grievously -wounded or disfigured for life. - -The Koran prescribed that for a first offence of theft the thief’s -right hand should be cut off, and for a second, his left foot; for -a third, the left hand; and for a fourth, the right foot. Further -offences of this kind were punished by flogging, or beating with the -courbash--a whip of hippopotamus hide hammered into a cylindrical -form--or a stick upon the soles of the feet. The bastinado, in fact, -was the familiar punishment of the East. Religious offences, such as -apostacy and blasphemy, were very rigorously punished. In Cairo a -person accused of thefts, assaults and so forth used to be carried by -a soldier before the kadi, or chief magistrate of the metropolitan -police, and sent on trial before a court of judicature, or if he denied -his offence, or the evidence seemed insufficient for conviction, -although good grounds for suspicion existed, he was bastinadoed to -extort confession. He generally admitted his guilt with the common -formula in the case of theft, “the devil seduced me and I took it.” The -penalties inflicted less than death included hard labour on the public -works, digging canals and the removal of rubbish or compulsory military -service. - -The modern traveller in Egypt will bear witness to the admirable -police system introduced under British rule, and to the security -afforded to life and property in town and country by a well organised, -well conducted force. In former days, under the Pashas, the whole -administration of justice was corrupt from the judge in his court -to the police armed with arbitrary powers of oppression. The chief -of police in Cairo was charged with the apprehension of thieves -and criminals and with his myrmidons made constant rounds nightly -through the city. He was accompanied by the public executioner and a -torch-bearer who carried a curious light that burned without flame -unless waved through the air, when it burst suddenly forth; the burning -end was sometimes hidden in a small pot or jar and when exposed served -the purpose of a dark lantern. The smell of the burning torch often -gave timely warning to thieves to make off. The chief of the police -arrogated to himself arbitrary powers, and often put a criminal to -death when caught, even for offences not deserving capital punishment. -A curious custom obtained in old Cairo; it was the rule for the -community of thieves to be controlled by and to obey one of their -number, who was constituted their sheik and who was required by the -authorities to hunt up offenders and surrender them to justice. - -In old times the administration of the country districts was in the -hands of governors appointed by the Pasha and charged by him with the -collection of taxes and the regulation of the corvee, or system of -enforced or unremunerated labour, at one time the universal rule in -Egypt. The prompt and excessive use of the stick or courbash was the -stimulus by which the contributions demanded were extorted, and the -sheik, or headman of a village, might be severely bastinadoed when the -sum demanded ran short. Everything was taxed, particularly the land and -its products, wholly or in part, or they were sometimes seized outright -and sold at a fixed price, but impounded to make good the debts of the -cultivators to the government. Taxes were also levied in kind,--butter, -honey, wax, wood, baskets of palm leaves and grain. The government -granaries were kept full by the last named exaction and in this regard -an amazing story is told. - -The governor of the district and town of Tanta, when visiting the -granary, saw two fellaheen resting who had just deposited their tale -of corn. One had brought in 130 ardebbs (equivalent to five English -bushels) from a village at a distance, the other only 60 ardebbs from -some land adjoining the town. The governor at once fell foul of the -defaulter, and utterly ignoring the townsman’s protest that his was a -daily and the countryman’s a weekly contribution, ordered the man of -Tanta to be forthwith hanged. The next day the governor paid a second -visit to the granary and saw a peasant delivering a large quantity of -corn. Being much pleased, he inquired who the man was and heard that -it was he who had been summarily executed the day before and who now -produced 160 ardebbs of grain. “What, has he risen from the dead?” -cried the governor, astounded. “No, Sir; I hanged him so that his toes -touched the ground; and when you were gone, I untied the rope; you did -not order me to kill him,” replied his subordinate. “Aha,” answered the -governor, “hanging and killing are different things. Next time I will -say kill.” - -“To relate all the oppressions which the peasantry of Egypt endure,” -says Mr. E. W. Lane, the authority for the foregoing, “from the -dishonesty of the officials would require too much space in the present -work. It would be scarcely possible for them to suffer more and live.” -Yet a worse time was approaching, when the notorious Ismail Pasha -became practically supreme ruler and used his unchecked power for -the complete enslavement of Egypt. His methods of misgovernment, his -robbery, spoliation and cruel oppression are now matters of history. -This modern Sardanapalus, as he has been aptly styled, lavishly wasted -the wealth he wrung out of his helpless subjects by the intolerable -rapacity of his ferocious tax gatherers. The fellaheen were stripped to -the skin to fill his coffers and feed the boundless extravagance of -a vain and licentious prince. His private property was enormous; his -estates and factories were valued at sixty millions sterling; he owned -forty-three palaces and was building more when, in a few short years, -he had brought Egypt to the brink of ruin, and the people starved at -his door. - -The people of Egypt not only paid taxes, but their possessions were -seized ruthlessly, their lands misappropriated, their cattle and goods -confiscated; they were mere slaves whose right to work on their own -account was forfeited; and the whole population was driven forth from -their villages with whips, hundreds of thousands of men, women and -children, under the iniquitous system of enforced labour, to make -roads through the Khedive’s estates, till the cotton fields and build -embankments to control the distribution of the life-giving Nile. No -escape from these hardships was possible, no relief from this most -grievous Egyptian bondage. The arbitrary despot backed his demands by -a savage system of punishments, and when the courbash was ineffectual, -he banished malcontents to the remote provinces of central Africa, -where, after a terrible journey, they expiated their offences at -Fazoglo or Fashoda. Sometimes the highest officials were arrested and -despatched in chains, without any form of trial, and were detained for -years in this tropical Siberia. To speak of the Nemesis that eventually -overtook Ismail and deprived him with ignominy of a power he so -shamefully misused is beyond the scope of this work. But reference must -be made in some detail to the many merciful changes introduced into -the administration of justice under the British protectorate that has -succeeded to Egyptian rule. - -In Egypt, at the present time, every son of the soil is safe from -arbitrary and illegal arrest; the imposition of taxes is regulated -strictly according to law; there is no enforced labour,--the corvee -has been absolutely swept out of existence. Every peaceably disposed -citizen may live sheltered and protected from outrage and in the -undisturbed enjoyment of his possessions, waxing rich by his own -exertion, safe from the attack or interference of evil-doers. It was -not always so, and the great boons of personal security and humane, -equitable treatment now guaranteed to every soul in the land have been -only slowly acquired. Until 1844 the Egyptian police was ineffective, -the law was often a dead letter, and the prisons were a disgrace to -humanity and civilisation. Before that date the country was covered -with zaptiehs, or small district prisons, in which illegal punishment -and every form of cruelty were constantly practised. It was quite -easy for anyone in authority to consign a fellah to custody. One of -the first of the many salutary reforms introduced by the new prison -department established under British predominance was an exact -registration of every individual received at the prison gate, and -the enforcement of the strict rule that no one should be admitted -without an order of committal duly signed by some recognised judicial -authority. To-day, of course, any such outrage as illegal imprisonment -is out of the question. Another form of oppression in the old days -was the unconscionable delay in bringing the accused to trial. -Hundreds were thus detained awaiting gaol delivery for six or nine -months, sometimes for one or two years. At that time, too, there was -no separation of classes; the innocent were herded with the guilty, -children with grown men; only the females, as might be expected in a -Mohammedan country, were kept apart, but their number then and since -has always been exceedingly few. - -The first step taken by the new régime was to concentrate prisoners -in a certain number of selected prisons, such as they were, but the -best that could be found. In these, twenty-one in number, strenuous -efforts were made to introduce order; cleanliness was insisted upon and -disinfectants were largely used, while medical men were appointed at -each place, who attended daily to give medicine and move the sick into -hospital. The health of the prisoners was so much improved that they -constituted one per cent. of the daily average of prisoners, and this -ratio has been maintained, so that in the cholera epidemic in 1896 only -a few convicts died. - -A good prison system could only be introduced in improved prisons, -and the first created was the great convict establishment at Tourah, -a village about eight miles above Cairo on the banks of the Nile and -at the foot of the great limestone quarries that have supplied the -city with its building material from the earliest days. In 1885 the -old military hospital at Tourah was handed over to be converted into a -public works prison; a few of the wards were converted into cells, and -a draft of 250 convicts was brought from the arsenal at Alexandria to -occupy them. These proved skilful workmen, as the fellaheen, whether -captive or free, invariably are, and with the help of a few paid -stone-masons they restored the half-ruined upper story of the ancient -building and converted it into a satisfactory prison to hold one -hundred and fifty more inmates. The four hundred steadfastly continued -their labours and to such good purpose, demolishing, removing, -cleaning, and constructing new roads and approaches, that in May, -1886, an entirely new prison for five hundred convicts was completed -and occupied. Many forms of industry were carried on with excellent -financial results, as will be seen from the following details. - -All the lime for buildings was burned in two lime kilns constructed -for the purpose; all the furniture and woodwork, the tables, beds and -doors were made by convict carpenters; all the ironwork, the bolts -and bars for safe custody, the very leg-irons, their own inalienable -livery under the old Egyptian prison code, were turned out by convict -blacksmiths; and hundreds of baskets for carrying earth and stone -have been manufactured. The industrial labour at Tourah is now of many -useful kinds. New prison clothing, new boots (although these usually -indispensable articles are only issued to a favoured few prisoners -in Egypt), the baking of bread and biscuit for home consumption, or -to be sent to out-stations, plate laying and engine fitting, stone -dressing for prison buildings, both at Tourah and elsewhere,--all -these are constantly in progress at the Tourah prison. The money made -in the prison provides funds for many things necessary for further -development, such as tram lines, locomotives, improved tools and -machinery of all kinds. - -A visit to Tourah is both interesting and instructive. The chief -employment of the convicts is in the quarries, a couple of miles from -the prison, to which the gangs proceed every morning at daylight and -where they remain every day of the week but Friday, which is their -Sabbath, until four o’clock in the afternoon. There is no time wasted -in marching to and fro. The dinner, or midday meal, is carried out -to the quarries by the cooks, and after it is eaten the convicts are -allowed an hour’s rest in such shade as can be found in the nearly -blinding heat of the dazzling white quarries. As this midday siesta is -the common hour for trains to pass on to the neighbouring health resort -of Helouan, casual observers might think that rest and refreshment -formed a great part of the Egyptian convict’s daily life. But that -would be a grievous mistake. During the hours of labour, ceaseless -activity is the rule; all around the picks resound upon the unyielding -stone; some are busy with the levers raising huge blocks, stimulated -by the sing-song, monotonous chant, without which Arabs, like sailors, -cannot work with any effect. The burden of the song varies, but it is -generally an appeal for divine or heavenly assistance, “Allahiteek!” -“May God give it,” the phrase used by the initiated to silence the -otherwise too importunate beggar, or “Halimenu,” “Hali Elisa,” ending -in an abrupt “Hah!” or “Hop!” at the moment of supreme effort. - -A visitor of kindly disposition is not debarred from encouraging -effort by the gift of a few cigarettes to the convicts. Tobacco is -not forbidden in the prisons of Egypt. It is issued to convicts in -the works prisons in small rations as a reward, according to the -governor’s judgment. The unconvicted and civil prisoners undergoing -merely detention are at liberty to purchase it. I was the witness, the -cause indeed, of a curious and unwonted scene in the small prison at -Assiut when I inspected it in 1898. The sale of tobacco was in progress -in the prison yard, where all of the prisoners, a hundred and more, -were at exercise. An official stood behind a small table on which lay -the little screws of tobacco for disposal, each for a few _milliems_, -the smallest of Egyptian coins, the fractional part of a farthing. -The eagerness with which the poor prisoners eyed the precious weed -excited my generosity, and I bought up the whole table load, then and -there, for a couple of shillings. The prisoners crowding around saw the -deal and understood it. Hardly had I put down the ten piastres when -the whole body “rushed” the table, overset it, threw the screws of -tobacco upon the ground, and all hands pounced down on the scattered -weed in one great struggling, scrambling, combatant medley. The tobacco -was quite wasted, of course, and I have no idea who got the money. -The mêlée was so unmanageable that it was necessary to call out the -guard to drive the prisoners back to their wards. I was aghast at my -indiscretion and ready to admit that I should have known better. - -The daily unremitting toil of Tourah must be preferable to all but the -incurably idle. Yet the terror of “Tourah” is now universal up and -down Egypt. It is the great “bogey” of the daily life among the lower -classes, the threat held over the fractious child or the misconducted -donkey boy who claims an exorbitant “bakshish.” To accuse any decent -fellah of having been in Tourah is the worst sort of insult and at once -indignantly denied. When my own connection with the English prisons -became known, I was generally called the pasha of the English Tourah, -and my official position gained me very marked respect among classes -spoiled by many thousands of annual tourists,--the greedy guides and -donkey boys, the shameless vendors of sham curiosities, the importunate -beggars that infest hotel entrances, swarm in the villages and make -hideous the landing stages up the Nile. An old hand will best silence -a persistent cry for alms or the wail of _miski_ (poverty stricken), -of “Halas! finish father, finish mother” (the ornate expression for an -orphan), by talking of the _caracol_, “police station,” and a promise -of “Tourah” to follow. - -Life in Tourah must be hard. The monotonous routine from daylight to -sundown, the long nights of thirteen or fourteen hours, from early -evening to morning, caged up with forty or fifty others tainted -with every vice and crime, must be a heavy burden upon all but the -absolutely debased. The evils of association, of herding criminals -together, left to their own wicked devices, without supervision, were -present in the highest degree in Egyptian prisons. At last, however, a -move was made to provide separate cells for a certain number, and a new -prison of 1,200 cells was built by convict labour at Tourah immediately -opposite the new hospitals and at some distance from the old prison. -Much mischievous conspiracy of the worst kind is prevented by keeping -individuals apart during the idle hours of the night, for it was then -that those concerted escapes of large numbers were planned, which have -occurred more than once at Tourah, but have been generally abortive, -ending only in bloodshed; for the black Sudanese, who form the convict -guards, are expert marksmen and surely account for a large part of the -fugitives. - -There must be something very tempting to the untutored mind--and many -of these Tourah convicts are half-wild creatures, Bedouins of the -desert or the lowest scum of the cities--in the seeming freedom of -their condition during so many hours of the day. Liberty seems within -easy reach. Not a mile from the quarries are great overhanging cliffs, -honey-combed with caves, deep, cavernous recesses affording secure -hiding places, and it is for these that the rush is made. In August of -1896 there was a serious attempt of this kind, and success was achieved -by some of the runaways. The hour chosen was that of the break-off -from labour, when the gangs, surrounded by their guards, converge on a -central point, very much as may be seen on any working-day at Portland -or Dartmoor, and thence march home in one compact body to the distant -prison. It is a curiously picturesque scene. The convicts, mostly fine, -stalwart men, their ragged, dirty white robes flying in the wind and -their chains rattling, swing past, two by two, in an almost endless -procession. Below, the mighty river, flowing between its belt of palm -and narrow fringe of green, shines like burnished silver under the -declining sun; beyond stretches the wide desert to the foot of the -Pyramids, those of Sakhara at one end of the landscape, those of Cheops -at the other,--colossal monuments of enforced labour very similar to -that now surviving at Tourah. - -Such was the moment chosen for a general stampede. About sixty or -seventy convicts agreed to cut and run simultaneously, all toward the -shelter of the hills. A few were told off to try conclusions with the -armed guards, to wrest away the rifles and thus secure both immunity -from fire and the power to use the weapon in self-defence. The attempt -appears to have been fairly successful at first. A few rifles were -seized, and the fugitives, turning on their pursuers, made some -pretty practice, during which a few of the more fortunate got away. -But authority finally asserted itself. Many were shot down; the rest -were overtaken and immediately surrendered. The absence of “grit,” -so characteristic of the race, showed itself at once, and these poor -wretches, who had been bold enough to make the first rush under a hail -of bullets, now squatted down and with uplifted hands implored for -mercy or declared it was all a mistake. “Malesh, it does not matter,” -was their cry then. But they no doubt found that it mattered a great -deal when a few days later Nemesis overtook them in the shape of -corporal punishment; for the lash, a cat of six tails, is used in the -Egyptian prisons as a last resort in the maintenance of discipline and -good order. It is only inflicted, however, under proper safeguards and -by direct sentence of a high official. There is no courbash now in the -prisons, and no warder or guard is permitted to raise his hand against -a prisoner. Tyranny and ill-usage are strictly forbidden. - -Escapes have happened at other places. When military operations were -in progress on the frontier leading to the revindication of the -Sudan, an immense amount of good work was done by large detachments -of convicts at stations high up the river. There were rough and ready -“Tourahs” at Assuan, Wady Halfa, Korosko, Suakin, El Teb, points of -considerable importance in the service of the campaign, where supplies -were constantly being landed, stored or sent forward to the front. The -Egyptian prison authorities very wisely and intelligently utilised -the labour at their disposal to assist in unloading boats and in -reshipping stores and railway plant. Numbers of convicts were employed -to construct the railway ahead in the direction of Abu Hamed by which -the advance was presently made. The Nile above Merawi flows through the -most difficult country in its whole course, the very “worst water,” -and no navigation in that length was possible by steamers, little or -none by small boats except at high Nile and then only by haulage. It -was necessary, therefore, to complete the railway to Abu Hamed, so that -gunboats might be sent up in sections over the line, to be put together -above the cataracts and then utilised in the final advance, for the -river is more or less open to Berber and on to Khartum, and the success -of the campaign was greatly facilitated thereby. - -Egyptian convicts did much good work of a superior kind. Now and again -a trained handicraftsman was found who was willing to put forward his -best skill and there was always a smart man ready to act as leader and -foreman of the rest, as is very much the case, indeed, with convicts -all over the world. One man in particular at Wady Halfa was well -known as a most industrious and intelligent worker. He so gained the -good-will of the British officers that, not knowing his antecedents, -many of them strongly recommended him for release as a reward for his -usefulness. But the prison authorities were unable to accede to this -seemingly very justifiable request. This best of prisoners (again -following experience elsewhere) was the worst of criminals. He had -committed no fewer than eight murders, possibly not with malicious -motives, or he would hardly have escaped the gallows. The death penalty -is not, however, inflicted very frequently in Egypt. In one case worth -mentioning as illustrating the almost comical side of Egyptian justice, -a man sentenced to death was held to serve a short term of imprisonment -for some minor offence before he was considered ripe for execution. -When the short sentence was completed, he was incontinently hanged. - -At Assuan during war time hundreds of convicts were engaged all day -long under the windows of the hotel. Their rattling chains were heard -soon after dawn mixed with their unmelodious sing-song as described -above. They could be seen constantly and freely approached, as they -clustered around the great crane that raised the heaviest weights, -locomotives, tender, and boilers, from the boats moored below, or as -they passed along in single file backward and forward between the beach -and the railway station or storehouses near-by. All were in picturesque -rags, except the military prisoners, dressed in a startling uniform -of bright orange; all wore the inevitable leg-irons riveted on their -spare, shrunken brown ankles. It was the custom once, as in the old -French _bagnes_, to chain the Egyptian convicts in couples, a long-term -man newly arrived being chained with one whose sentence had nearly -expired. - -This practice has now been discontinued, and each unfortunate bears -his burden alone. Much ingenuity is exercised to prevent the basils -or anklets from chafing the skin. The most effective method, employed -no doubt by the most affluent, was a leather pad inserted within the -iron ring; others without resources, owning not a single _milliem_ in -the world, used any filthy rags or scraps of sacking they could beg -or steal. Pads of this kind have been worn from time immemorial by -all prisoners and captives; no doubt the galley slaves chained to the -oar in classical days invented them, and they were known until quite -lately in the French _bagnes_ of Rochefort and Toulon by the name -of _patarasses_, which the old hands manufactured and sold to the -newcomers. Another old-fashioned device among the Egyptian convicts is -the short hook hanging from a waistband, which catches up one link of -the irons, a simple necessity where the chain is of such length that it -drags inconveniently along the ground. - -The general use of fetters is not now approved by civilised nations. -But in Egypt they appear to be nearly indispensable for safe custody. -The removal of the leg-irons from convicts has often encouraged them -to effect escape. Once sixteen of them at Assuan were astute enough to -sham illness. It was during the cholera epidemic, and they knew enough -of the symptoms to counterfeit some of them cleverly. The medical -officer in charge was compassionate and thought it cruel that his -patients should die in their chains, so he had them struck off. Within -a few hours the unshackled convicts gave their guardians leg-bail, and -escaped from the hospital into the desert, and so down the river. These -very men afterward formed the nucleus of the band of _harami_, the -robbers and brigands who terrorised the lower province for some months -and were only disposed of at last by summary action. The story of the -subsequent burning of the brigands at Belianah became public property -and was made the occasion of one of those virulent attacks upon British -rule that often found voice under the unrestrained license of the -Egyptian press. These out-laws were pursued and overtaken at last by -the police in a house where they had barricaded themselves. It was -impossible to break in, and the assailants therefore set fire to the -thatched roof. The robbers used this as their private arsenal, and the -fire soon ignited their cartridges with a terrific explosion in which -most of the defenders lost their lives. This practice of concealing -explosives in the roof was not uncommon during the days of conflict -with the Mahdi. When the sheik of Derowi was arrested on a charge of -conveying contraband ammunition into the Sudan, he contrived to send -back a message to his wife to make away with all damaging evidence. She -thought the safest way to dispose of the gunpowder stored in the house -was by fire and at the same time she also disposed, very effectually, -of herself. - -A striking feature at Tourah was the admirable prison hospital, -which would compare favourably with the best in the world. It is a -two-storied building with lofty, well-ventilated wards, beds and -bedding, all in the most approved style; a well-stocked dispensary and -a fully qualified medical man in daily attendance. The patients, unless -too ill to rise, sit up on their beds rather like poultry roosting, and -suffer from most of the ills to which humanity is heir. The complaints -most prevalent are eczema, tuberculosis (the great scourge of the black -prisoners from the south), ophthalmia, and dysentery. “Stone” is a -malady very prevalent and showing itself in the most aggravated form, -due no doubt to the constant drinking of lime-affected water. I saw -calculi of almost colossal size, the result of some recent operations, -extracted by the prison surgeons, whose skill is evidently remarkable. - -Too much praise can hardly be accorded the Egyptian prison -administration for its prompt and effective treatment of the cholera -epidemic when it appeared in Egypt in 1896. Although the mortality -was serious in the general population, the percentage of deaths was -relatively small in the prisons. Out of a total of 7,954 prison inmates -(this number did not include the convicts at the seat of war or on the -Red Sea) there were only one hundred and sixteen cases and seventy -deaths. In six of the prisons the disease did not appear; in others, -although situated in the heart of infected towns, and prisoners were -being constantly received from infected districts, the cases were few. -In Tourah, with a total population of thirteen hundred and fifty, there -were but twenty-two; at Assiut, a new building with good sanitation, -only two; the average was largest at Keneh, Mansourah and Assuan. Not -a single female prisoner was attacked; an immunity attributed to the -fact that the females in custody receive regular prison diet, while -the males, except at Tourah and Ghizeh, are fed, often indifferently, -by their friends outside. These excellent results were undoubtedly -due to the strict isolation of the inmates of any prison in which the -cholera had appeared. Whenever a case showed, the introduction of food -or clothing from outside was strictly forbidden, and friends were not -admitted when cholera existed in the neighbourhood. Much credit was due -also to the unselfish devotion of the Egyptian medical staff, who were -unremitting in their care and of whom two died of the disease at their -posts. - -It was officially stated in 1903 that such crimes as robbery with -violence, petty thefts and brigandage had increased materially since -1899. The reason given for this was the failure of the police machinery -to bring out the truth and the practice of bribes which was everywhere -prevalent. The corruption of magistrates and the terrorism held over -witnesses make it exceedingly difficult to bring a man to justice or -obtain satisfactory convictions. But we may well conclude that the -prison system as established in Egypt to-day is of the most modern and -satisfactory character. - - - - -PRISONS OF TURKEY - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -TURKISH PRISONS - - Old castles used as prisons--The Castle of Europe--The - Seven Towers and the “Well of Blood”--The Seraglio and the - Bagnio--The Zaptie--Lack of prison discipline--Midhat Pasha - and the Constitution--His disgrace and death--The Young Turk - movement--Horrible massacres at Adana--The provincial prisons all - bad--Fetters and other modes of torture--Little improvement under - new sultan. - - -There are few notable buildings in Turkey constructed primarily as -prisons. In fact there are few buildings of any sort constructed for -that purpose. But every palace had, and one may almost say, still has -its prison chambers; and every fortress has its dungeons, the tragedies -of which are chiefly a matter of conjecture. Few were present at the -tortures, and in a country where babbling is not always safe, witnesses -were likely to be discreet. - -In and around Constantinople, if walls had only tongues, strange and -gruesome stories might be told. On the Asiatic side of the Bosporus -still stand the ruins of a castle built by Bayezid I, known as “the -Thunderbolt” when the Ottoman princes were the dread of Europe. -Sigismund, King of Hungary, had been defeated, and Constantinople was -the next object of attack, though not to fall for a half century. This -castle was named “the Beautiful,” but so many prisoners died there of -torture and ill-treatment that the name “Black Tower” took its place in -common speech. - -Directly opposite, on the European side of the Bosporus, is _Rumili -Hissar_, or the Castle of Europe, which Muhammad II, “the Conqueror,” -built in 1452 when he finally reached out to transform the headquarters -of Eastern Christendom into the centre of Islam. The castle was built -upon the site of the state prison of the Byzantine emperors, which was -destroyed to make room for it. The three towers of the castle, and the -walls thirty feet thick, still stand. In the Tower of Oblivion which -now has as an incongruous neighbour, the Protestant institution, Robert -College, is a fiendish reminder of days hardly yet gone. A smooth -walled stone chute reaches from the interior of the tower down into the -Bosporus. Into the mouth of this the hapless victim, bound and gagged -perhaps, with weights attached to his feet, was placed. Down he shot -and bubbles marked for a few seconds the grave beneath the waters. - -The Conqueror built also the _Yedi Kuleh_, or the “Seven Towers,” at -the edge of the old city. This imperial castle, like the Bastile or -the Tower of London, was also a state prison, though its glory and -its shame have both departed. The Janissaries who guarded this castle -used to bring thither the sultans whom they had dethroned either to -allow them to linger impotently or to cause them to lose their heads. -A cavern where torture was inflicted and the rusty machines which tore -muscles and cracked joints, may still be seen. The dungeons in which -the prisoners lay are also shown. A small open court was the place of -execution and to this day it is called the “place of heads” while a -deep chasm into which the heads were thrown is the “well of blood.” - -Several sultans, (the exact number is uncertain) and innumerable -officers of high degree have suffered the extreme penalty here. It was -here too that foreign ambassadors were always imprisoned in former -days, when Turkey declared war against the states they represented. The -last confined here was the French representative in 1798. - -Another interesting survival of early days is the Seraglio, the old -palace of the sultans, and its subsidiary buildings, scattered over a -considerable area. In the court of the treasury is the _Kafess_, or -cage, in which the imperial children were confined from the time of -Muhammad III, lest they should aspire to the throne. Sometimes however -the brothers and sons of the reigning sultan were confined, each in a -separate pavilion on the grounds. A retinue of women, pages and eunuchs -was assigned to each but the soldiers who guarded them were warned to -be strict. The present sultan was confined by his brother Abdul Hamid -within the grounds of the Yildiz Kiosk, where he had many liberties -but was a prisoner nevertheless. Absolutism breeds distrust of all, no -matter how closely connected by ties of blood. - -An interesting prison was the old Bagnio, once the principal prison -of Constantinople. The English economist, N. W. Senior, describes it -as it was sixty years ago, in his “Journal.” It was simply an open -court at one end of which was a two-story building. Each story was -composed of one long room divided into stalls by wooden partitions, the -whole, dark, unventilated and dirty beyond description. Some turbulent -prisoners were chained in their stalls which they were not permitted to -leave. - -The chief interest lay in the court-yard, however, which was the common -meeting place. No rules as to cleanliness or regularity of hours -existed. No one was compelled to work and the great majority preferred -to lounge in the sun. In the court were coffee and tobacco shops, while -sellers of sweetmeats made their way through the crowds. Though capital -punishment was nominally inflicted, it was never imposed unless there -were eye witnesses of the crime, and seldom then. So of the eight -hundred inmates of the Bagnio, six hundred were murderers, some of them -professionals. Nearly all wore chains, some of which were heavy, and -as several prisoners were attached to one chain occasionally conflicts -arose as different members of the group exhibited divergent desires. - -Another visitor about the same time saw the picturesque side. -He mentions the robbers, chiefs from Smyrna, stalking about the -enclosure, the voluble Greeks and Armenians, the secretive Jews, and an -Irishman or two, mingling with the stolid Turks. Inmates were sipping -coffee, smoking, playing cards, disputing, fighting, while a furtive -pickpocket made his rounds. In a corner a fever patient was stretched -out oblivious to his surroundings, though the clamour sometimes was -deafening. He goes on to say: - -“Yet physically the wretches were not ill-treated; they need not ever -work unless they like. The court is small and so is the two-storied -stable where they sleep upon the earth; but then these are men who -perhaps never got between sheets nor lay on a bed in their lives. -They may talk what they like, and when they like. They have a Mosque, -a Greek chapel and a Roman Catholic chapel. They can have coffee and -tobacco, and if they work they are supposed to be paid for it. There is -no treadmill, no crank, there are no solitary cells.” - -The same observer describes the Zaptie or House of Detention as it -then existed, and though the building as it exists to-day is improved, -conditions are not essentially different. Then there were two -communicating courts, where pickpockets, ordinary thieves, participants -in affrays, and even murderers were confined. At night they were locked -in rooms. One of these sleeping rooms, eleven by seventeen feet, was -occupied at night by twelve men. In such places prisoners were kept an -indefinite time awaiting trial, and perhaps then discharged without -trial and without explanation. - -A large number of Turkish prisoners have been confined either for -conspiracy against the government, or for daring to exhibit a certain -amount of independence. An officer apparently high in favour to-day -might be degraded on the next without warning. An interesting case of -this kind is the case of Midhat Pasha, one of the best known men in -Turkey thirty or forty years ago. - -He was one of the little group of Turks who adopted European ideas -after the Crimean war. He was a friend of England as opposed to Russia -and the influence of the latter state was thrown against him. He was -one of the ministers by whom the sultan, Abdul Aziz, was dethroned. -This prince soon afterward died, possibly by suicide, though ugly -rumours were heard. When Murad, the incompetent, was also deposed -Midhat had a hand in the affair. On the accession of Abdul Hamid he was -again made Grand Vizier, and secured the promulgation of the famous -Turkish constitution of 1876, against the will of the sultan. - -When Abdul Hamid felt himself firm in his seat in 1877, he banished -Midhat, but recalled him the next year, and made him governor-general, -first of Syria and then of Smyrna. The constitution was practically -abrogated by this time. Then without warning he was arrested in May, -1881, charged with being concerned in the murder of Abdul Aziz. He -with others was quickly tried by a special court, was found guilty and -condemned to death. - -The sentence was changed to imprisonment for life, and the place of -confinement was fixed at Taïf, in Arabia, a small place south of -Mecca. There he and his companions who had received similar sentence, -including a former Sheikh-ul-Islam, Hassan Haïroullah, were at first -allowed the freedom of the castle. Their servants bought and cooked -their food, and though the rude accommodations were somewhat trying to -the old men, conditions were endurable. - -A change in treatment was foreshadowed by a change in gaolers. The -privilege of buying food was taken away, and they were expected to -eat the coarse fare of the common soldier. They were forbidden to -communicate with one another. For a time the faithful servant was -refused access to Midhat’s person, though this order was afterward -revoked. Poison was discovered in the milk, and in a pot of food. -The servant was offered large sums to poison him, but the faithful -attendant only redoubled his vigilance. Finally when hardship, -separation from family and friends, and dread of the future, seemed -unable to destroy his life more primitive measures were taken. After -enduring two years of such treatment he was strangled one morning while -still in bed, together with two of his friends. Such was the dread -inspired by the sultan, that no one dared to inquire or to make public -his fate. A letter from his friend, the Sheikh-ul-Islam, to the family -of Midhat was, however, published a few years ago and then the whole -truth became known. - -The case of Midhat was not exceptional, except for his prominence in -European circles. The same fate has overtaken many others. Fishermen in -the Bosporus, every now and then, pulled up a sack in which a body was -sewn, and those who reasoned might remember that it had been announced -that a one time favourite at the Court had set out on a journey to -London or Paris, though somehow he had mysteriously failed to arrive. - -But though Midhat Pasha and others who struggled to introduce Western -institutions into the borders of the East died their work lived. One -by one, those suspected of having advanced ideas were degraded. A man -might be Grand Vizier for a month or a week, or even for a day, and -then without warning, be dismissed in disgrace. The suspicious sultan -trusted no one. He set brother to watch brother, father to spy upon -son, and then believed none of them, though he always guarded himself -lest they might be telling the truth. - -Paris received the larger number of those who fled from the clutches -of Abdul the Damned. In the life of the French capital, some gave -themselves up to the manifold dissipations which that city offers -for her visitors. Others loosely organised, worked and watched for -that better day, when the Turk should no longer be a byword among -civilised peoples. A newspaper edited by Ahmed Riza was published and -thousands of copies were smuggled into the dominions. Hundreds of -thousands of pamphlets somehow passed the Turkish frontiers and found -readers, though their possession if discovered meant imprisonment and -degradation, but the “Young Turks” were undismayed. - -Into the harems the new ideas crept. One read to the others during the -long days, and the forbidden books passed from hand to hand, and from -house to house. Women high in rank, the daughters of court officials, -carried messages. Where a man seemed approachable on that side, some -member of his harem was converted, or else some woman was placed in his -way, even sold to him, perhaps. Dozens of women sold into the harems -of prominent men went as apostles of the new faith. Women deliberately -sacrificed their reputations, since free association with men, unless -supposedly lovers, would have aroused suspicion. - -The army became infected, the officers first. During 1907, the third -army corps in Macedonia became thoroughly permeated. Of course -the cruel autocrat knew something of all this, for his spies were -everywhere, but he misjudged the extent. He had seen dissatisfaction -and unrest before, and he had crushed them by sudden blows. Perhaps he -was tired, and less acute than he had been twenty years before. At any -rate he waited too long before taking vigorous action. - -Early in 1908 he ordered the higher officers of the army to quiet the -unrest. A beloved officer raised the standard of revolt in Macedonia, -and the soldiers refused to fire upon the rebels. The Committee of -Union and Progress, as the “Young Turk” movement was called, assumed -charge of the revolt and demanded the restoration of the constitution, -which the sultan refused. Agents were sent to enforce his commands, but -they were forced to flee for their lives, and officers not in sympathy -with the movement were threatened. Thoroughly alarmed by the defection -of the army, the cowardly sultan pretended to yield and on July 24, -1908, the constitution was restored. - -Too much perhaps was expected of the Parliament. The fanatical Moslem -leaders spread rumours of every sort, and the sultan’s agents were -everywhere active, distilling doubt and suspicion into the soldiers -and populace. In April, 1909, the garrison at Constantinople rose, -dispersed the Parliament, and the wily sultan seemed again in control. -The army in Macedonia was still loyal to the new ideas, and was -promptly mobilised. Within ten days Constantinople was again in control -of the Young Turks. - -Abdul Hamid was evidently not to be trusted. The die was cast. His -deposition was voted by the reassembled Parliament, and his brother -who had long been a prisoner was placed on the throne, though the Young -Turks, warned by their mishap, kept an effective veto on reaction in -the form of the army. - -But the wily Abdul not only plotted to gain back his authority in -Europe, but his agents fanned the flames of religious and racial hatred -in Asia Minor. The Armenians were once a great nation, and though they -have long been ground beneath the heel of the oppressor, they still -cherish the idea that another great Christian nation will arise in -Asia. They saw hope in the new régime and began to speak more freely, -to exhibit pictures of their old kings, and to buy arms. - -The fierce Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Circassians looked upon the -presumption of the “Christian dogs” with rage. Meanwhile agents of the -Mohammedan League were everywhere stirring passion to fever heat, and -on Tuesday, April 13, 1909, the conflict began in Adana, though not -until the next day was the fighting general. For three days the contest -raged, when soldiers appeared and a semblance of order was restored. -Similar scenes had taken place in Osmanieh, Hamedieh, while at Tarsus -the Armenians stood like sheep to be slain. - -On Sunday, April 25th, the slaughter again broke out at Adana. This -time it was a massacre pure and simple, for the few Armenians who owned -weapons had either fled, or else were almost without ammunition. Men, -women, children were indiscriminately killed, houses were robbed and -burned, until hardly a Christian home was left standing. Over the whole -country fire and sword made a waste of what had been the home of a -prosperous population. How many were killed can only be estimated. Some -say thirty thousand. No estimate is less than half that number. - -An investigation was set on foot by Parliament after the instigator of -the massacre had been sent with eight of his wives to live a prisoner -at Salonica. The commission reported that it had hanged fifteen -persons--fifteen persons for slaying fifteen thousand. - -Though much reduced during later years, the Turkish empire still -stretches over three continents and the islands of the sea. Though -penal conditions around Constantinople are bad, where diverse races and -religions, far away from central control, must live together, trouble -constantly exists. The Turk has always been weak in administration, and -it is in these provincial prisons that the chief horrors are seen. - -For administrative purposes Turkey is divided into _vilayets_, which -are subdivided into _sanjaks_ or _livas_, and these into _kazas_. Each -division has its prison. That of the last named corresponds roughly to -the county gaol of the United States. In it accused persons awaiting -trial and prisoners sentenced to short terms are confined. Graver -crimes are punished by confinement in the prison of the _sanjak_ or -the _vilayet_. For special crimes and for certain kinds of political -offences prisoners may be sent to Rhodes, Sinope, Tripoli and other -similar points where old castles are usually the prisons. - -There is no common form of prison. Generally they are old ugly -buildings, though in a few larger towns new and elegant structures have -taken their place. In only one particular are they alike--they are all -dirty, and are generally damp and unhealthful, because of slovenly -attention and overcrowding. The prisons are usually in charge of the -_zaptiehs_, though special officers, chosen for the purpose control -others. Where these _gardiens_ have charge, matters are usually less -bad than in the general run. - -Prisoners are expected to feed themselves. With the exception of -alcoholic beverages, friends or relatives may send any articles of -food, or the prisoner may buy them from his own means. Even alcohol is -smuggled in by the connivance of the guards who are always willing to -accept a bribe. Tobacco of course is considered a necessity. To the -very poor coarse bread is usually furnished, but the allowance for this -purpose is often embezzled by the officials, and then the poor must -live upon the charity of their fellow prisoners. - -The indiscriminate congregate system is still in vogue as in the -days of the Bagnio. A dozen, a score, or more, are assigned to one -room where they live and sleep. Sanitary arrangements are usually -primitive, if not outrageously bad, and the atmosphere is trying to a -sensitive nose. There is no prison costume. A prisoner wears what he -likes, eats what he likes, and spends his time as he likes, within the -limits of the prison. There is no pretence of reform. The prisoners -live idle, useless lives. Though, according to law, a prisoner may work -if he desires, in fact, work is not encouraged because of the disputes -likely to arise over the sale of his product, and hardly one per cent. -is occupied. - -Yet strange as it may appear at first glance, a great number are -perfectly content. Leisure, food, tobacco are theirs and they wish -little more. When two-thirds of the sentence has been served, it is the -custom to release the tractable prisoners. Many Turks however prefer -life in prison to life outside, and refuse to leave. It is a home where -they are free from care, exempt from taxes, and from military service. -They avoid thus all duties of citizenship and live like parasites upon -their relatives or upon any property to which they have a claim. - -Theoretically all forms of physical punishment are forbidden, though in -every ancient prison the old fetters are preserved, rusted and stiff -to be sure, but still painful. Where differences of race and religion -between prisoner and keeper appear they are undoubtedly often used to -make harder the lot of the “infidel” or of the suspected conspirator. -While all charges of ill usage and torture made by Armenian, Jew, or -Greek can not be sustained, there is a foundation of truth. - -Some of the handcuffs are of iron, while others are simply heavy blocks -of wood with two grooves for the wrists. When the heavy blocks are -nailed together, the arms are held in a most uncomfortable position, -and the obstructed circulation may cause intense pain. The Reverend G. -Thoumaian, an Armenian clergyman, tells of wearing these handcuffs for -fifteen hours on the journey from Marsovan to Chorum, and for five days -thereafter. - -He and his companion also wore iron collars, connected by chains, for -twenty-five days while in prison at Chorum. Fetters are also worn, -connected by chains, and where the guards are especially brutal or the -prisoners are hated for any reason the latter may be chained to the -wall by neck and feet, sometimes so closely that the irons cut into the -flesh. - -As is the case in Spain the convict warder flourishes in Turkey. To him -is sometimes confided the other forms of torture. A prisoner from whom -a confession is desired may be taken to a lonely cell where the lash is -plied until blood collects in a huge blister under the skin. This is -punctured and intense pain results as the raw surface comes in contact -with the air. Worse tales than this are told--of prisoners hanged by -the feet from a beam during the beating, of naked prisoners thrust into -cold cells and drenched with icy water, and even of the application of -hot irons. - -Finally Mr. Thoumaian declares that to his own personal knowledge a -severe torture was applied to an acquaintance of his, a young graduate -of Anatolia College. The young man’s head was shaved, and on the bare -skin in a sensitive spot was placed a nutshell filled with vermin. As -they began to struggle and tore deeper and deeper into the sensitive -nerves, the torture was exquisite. Sometimes prisoners to whom -this test is applied lose all control of themselves and confess to -participation in any plot no matter how incredible, caring only for the -removal of the horrible pain. - -These accounts all deal with the last years of Abdul Hamid’s reign, -when the demand for “free Armenia” was strong, when Macedonia was -restless, and when the loyalty of large part of the army was suspected. -Prisoners charged with ordinary crimes lived much the same lives as the -inmates of the Bagnio sixty years before, except perhaps that they were -better fed in the later years. Since the accession of the new sultan, -vigilance has been relaxed so far as politics are concerned. Whether -the leopard has really changed his spots, and the Turk has become -humane is a question that only the future can settle. - - -[Transcriber’s Note: - -Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of -Crime--Oriental Prisons, by Arthur Griffiths - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY, ROMANCE OF CRIME *** - -***** This file should be named 54188-0.txt or 54188-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/1/8/54188/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Wayne Hammond, Sharon Joiner and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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