The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 393: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ae ED The suspenseful curiosity of the Burker was at length about to be assuaged—but in a manner as horrible as if when suffering from a burning thirst, the most noxious fluid was poured down his throat. A couple of the Peons seized upon the Burker’s comrade; and the wretched Guossoon be- gan to address them in a strain of “the moat piteous appeal. To these entreaties however they were not merely inaccessible, but with their clenched fists they dealt him some severe blows over the head in order to contpel him to hold his peace. They then stretched him upon the floor ; and one of the Peons proceeded to administer a terrible fustigation with a large whip which te took from the table. The Gossoon howled hideously: but the more he yelled, the heavier fell the blows, —until at length the Peon desisted from sheer exhaustion. The Gossoon was then liftéd up and forcibly expelled from the place. One of the dignified-looking natives was now seized upon ; and in silence did he submit to the torture he was about to undergo. In the first place the Peons twisted hie ears with most mopci- less brutality ; and though the victim writhed with the pain, yet did not e sound escape his lips. He was then made to kneel upon the floor; and a brick was placed in the Vend of gach leg, just withit: the knee-joint. A cord was then fastened round his waist; the extremities were fixed to his ankles ; and his form was thus drawn down until the haunehes rested upon the heels. When it is remembered that the bricks were inserted behind the knee-jointe, the excruciating agony of this posi- tion can be fully comprehended. There the man was left in the middle of the room; and another victim was now seized upon. This was also one of the dignified individuals who had maintained a profound silence; and the Peons, taking a couple of the sticks from the table, tied them together at one end. The man’s hands were now introduced between the two sticke—whick were tightened over them and made to cross each other at the unfas- tened ends; go, that the cempréesion upon the hands was productive of a most hideous torture. The unfortunate victim bore it heroically, and in silence, for some minutes—until at length a low moan escaped his lips, and he sank down senseless. A couple of the females were now seidtd upon by the Peons; and despite their piteous entreaties, the barbaric torture was applied. Their hands were likewise crushed between a couple of sticks ; and this process, we may observe, is knoWn in India by the name of the kittes. The pisroing screams of the victims thrilled through the apart- ment; and when they seemed about to faint with excess of agony, the sticks were removed from their hands. But their punishment was not over; for the Peons proceeded to tie the two females toge- ther by the long tresses of their back hair. With ruthless hands did the torturers fasten those knote so tightly as to cause the most terrible pain to the vietims ; and thus united, they were left, sitting beck to back, on the floor, There was an elderly. female, well-dressed, and of most respectable ap who was seated in the midst of the captives on the, bench. One of the Peons now approached her—threw over her neek a'chain made of bones—and spat in her face; while another Peon took a stick and dealt her several severe blows over the shoulders. They then < THE MYSTERIES OF THE OOURT. left her with the cobain of bones round ber neck— this punishment being one of the most degrading and derogatory that could be possibly inflicted on a native female of a respectable caste. Another male victim was now scised upon; and to him was applied the torture known as the anundat. Being placed against the wall, he was compelled to stand upon one leg; and a cord being fastened round his neck, thé extremity was tied by means of a thin string to the great toe of the up- raised leg; and inthis condition the wretched be- ing was left. Another male victim was thrown upon the floores a cord was likewise fastened round his neck ; and the extremities were tied to his feet, —the head being drawn down’till it rested on the knees. Then a large stone was placed upon his back ; and in this position he also was left. A cord was now passed through a pulley attached to the ceiling : one extremity was fastened to the long flowing hair of afemale; and+the other was tied 0 @ ring in the wall—the coord being drawn just so tight as tb compel the miserable victim to re- mern statiding on the points of her toes. Next a brasier was brought in: ‘some of the iron rods were placed in‘ the burning charcoal ; and when red hot, these searing irons were, applied to the bare arms or legs of other victims. But oow a still more exquasite process of torture was about to meet the hornified view of the Burker. A handsome young woman was to become its victim; anti heartrending were her shneke when oy the preparations she comprehended what she had to endure. Being compelled to kneel upon the ground, she was stripped to the waist; and when her natural modesty prompted ber to cross her arms over her bosom, the Peons brutally drew those arms away, and fastened them by the wrists bebind her back. A Peon then took up the half of a cocoa-nat shell ; and opening one of the little boxes upon the table, he dexterously shifted into that shell several insects which the box con- tained. These insects were of the species kdown as the carpenter-beetle, which are accustomed to bite with a stinging sogastion infinitely more severe than the pain inflicted by an English wasp. Amidet the rending shrieks of the unfortunate young woman, the cocoa-nut shell was applied to one of her breasts, a Peon holdingsit there, and two others of these miscreant torturers holding the victim h6rself so tightly and steadily as to prevent her from shaking off the shell by the convulsions of her excruciated form. Her screams were horrible’ to a degree; and it was not until she fainted that the torture was considered sufficient. A beautiful young women was the next victim. She was most respectably attired: her bearing in every sense indicated her to be a female of unim- peachable modesty; and in addition to a handsome countenance, she possessed a perfect symmetry of shape. When the exeoutioners approached her, she threw herself upon her knees, stretching forth her clasped hands in agonising appeal—but all in vain. She was stretched upon the bench, and a cloth was atuffed into her mouth to drown her cries. The Peons, ruthlessly tearing off her gar- ments, stripped her to the waist; and a magnifi- cent bust was then revealed. It was no doubt on account of the superb contours of her bosom, she 7. chosen for the Fim pot torture which was Ww ( to be adopted. rounded, and admira- LOAO© COLUM SS (CO)