The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 370: what you’re looking at

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

TORTURES 341 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 a female, and the other was tied to a ring in the wall, the cord being drawn just so tight as to compel the miserable victim to remain standing on the points of her toes. Next a brazier was brought in; some of the iron rods were placed in the burn- ing charcoal, and when red-hot, these searing irons were applied to the bare arms or legs of other victims. But now a still more exquisite process of torture was about to meet the horrified view of the Burker. A handsome young woman was to become its victim, and heartrending were her shrieks when by 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 her to cross her arms over her bosom, the peons brutally drew those arms away, and fastened them by the wrists behind her back. A peon then took up the half of a cocoanut shell, and opening one of the little boxes upon the table, he dexterously shifted into that shell several insects which the box contained. These insects were of the species known as the carpenter-beetle, which are accustomed to bite with a stinging sensation infinitely more severe than the pain inflicted by an English wasp. Amidst the rending shrieks of the unfortunate young woman, the cocoanut shell was applied to one of her breasts, a peon holding it there, and two others of these miscreant tor- turers holding the victim herself so tightly and steadily as to prevent her from shaking off the shell by the convul- sions 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 woman was the next victim. She was most respectably attired; her bearing in every sense indicated her to be a female of unimpeachable modesty, and in addition to a handsome countenance, she possessed a perfect symmetry of shape. When the executioners ap- proached her, she threw herself upon her knees, stretching forth her clasped hands in agonizing appeal, but all in vain. She was stretched upon the bench, and a cloth was stuffed COnnicloooKks (©)