He
Sat Upon The Divan, In The Large Hall Of Justice By The River.
Motioning
me to take a seat by his side, and handing me his pipe, he called the
officer in waiting, and gave the necessary orders.
In a few minutes the
prisoner was led into the hall, attended by eight soldiers. One man
carried a strong pole about seven feet long, in the centre of which was
a double chain, riveted through in a loop. The prisoner was immediately
thrown down with his face to the ground, while two men stretched out his
arms and sat upon them. His feet were then placed within the loop of the
chain, and the pole being twisted round until firmly secured, it was
raised from the ground sufficiently to expose the soles of the feet. Two
men with powerful hippopotamus whips stood one on either side. The
prisoner thus secured, the order was given. The whips were most
scientifically applied, and after the first five dozen the slave-hunting
scoundrel howled most lustily for mercy. How often had he flogged
unfortunate slave women to excess, and what murders had that wretch
committed, who now howled for mercy! I begged Omer Bey to stop the
punishment at 150 lashes, and to explain to him publicly in the divan
that he was thus punished for attempting to thwart the expedition of an
English traveller, by instigating my escort to mutiny.
We stayed at Khartoum two months, waiting for the Nile to rise
sufficiently to allow the passage of the cataracts.
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