Yet For All This He Never Shed A
Tear, Neither Once Turned His Head Aside, Nor Stirred Hand Or Foot; But,
When We Asked A Question, He Would Put His Tongue Between His Teeth, And
Strike His Chin On His Knees To Bite It Off.
After using the utmost
extremity of torture in vain, I made him be again laid fast in irons,
when
The ants, which greatly abound there, got into his wounds, and
tormented him worse than we had done, as might be seen by his gestures.
The king's officers desired me to shoot him to death, which I thought
too good a death for such a villain; but as they insisted, we led him
out into the fields and made him fast to a stake. The first shot carried
away a piece of his arm, bone and all; the next went through his breast
near the shoulder, on which he bent down his head and looked at the
wound. At the third shot, one of our men used a bullet cut in three
pieces, which struck his breast in a triangle, on which he sunk as low
as the stake would allow. Finally, between, our men and the Hollanders
he was shot almost in pieces.[125]
[Footnote 125: This monster might have graced the holy office! He must
have delighted in cruelty, or he could not have devised such horrible
torments, and given a recital of them. The Dutch at Amboyna did not
inflict more savage tortures on the English. Had not these things been
related by the author himself, we could scarcely have believed such
cruelty could have existed in an Englishman. - Astl. I. 295, a.]
At this time the admiral and sabander sent us an armed guard every
night, lest the Chinese might rise against us. We were not, however, in
any fear of them; yet we kept four of them to be witnesses for us, in
case of their rising, that what we did was in our own defence. By means
of a bribe, I procured another of the incendiaries, who confessed
against his associates. These were Uniete the chief; Sawman his
partner, dwelling in the same house; Hynting, Omygpayo, Hewsamcow;
Utee, who was shortly after crissed for being caught with a woman;
the informant, named Boyhoy; Irrow and Lackow, who were fled to
Jackatra, neither of whom I had before heard of. I used every means to
get them, but could not, unless I had been at great charges. Some of
them belonged to great men among the Javans, and had taken refuge in
their houses, so that we could not get at them: Yet some of their
masters offered to sell them, on which we higgled for their price as one
would do for an ox or calf, but they held them so dear that I could not
deal with them. I offered as much for each as would have bought a slave
in their stead; but they were fit instruments for their purpose, being
practised in all manner of villainy, so that they would not part with
them, except for large sums; for all the Javans and Chinese, from the
highest to the lowest, are thorough-paced villains, without one spark of
grace.
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