33 
implacably revengeful. If a Malay commits a fault and is 
punished for it, there the matter terminates. But if he is only 
threatened, and fancies the punishment still hanging over 
him, he will commit the most atrocious actions to put an end 
to the misery of suspense. Desperate under the influence of 
this impression, he works himself into a state of delirium by 
swallowing opium: then draws his kriss or dagger, and 
stabs the whole family, slaves and all. Having glutted his 
vengeance within doors, he sallies forth into the street, and 
plunging his weapon into every living creature he meets, . 
whether it be man or beast, he never ceases until he is shot, 
or is otherwise disabled from doing farther mischief. 
* [tis owing, in some measure, perhaps, to the dread of 
this savage retribution that the slaves are treated beyond 
comparison better at the Cape than in any other European 
Colony: though it must be allowed that the very high price 
at which they are usually valued, will prove, with most 
masters, a strong check on harsh and inhuman treatment. 
The law does not entrust the master with the infliction of 
corporeal punishment; but directs that the culprit shall be 
sent to the common trunk or prison, where he receives a cer- 
tain number of stripes, according to the nature of his offence. 
It may readily be supposed, however, that this law is fre- 
quently evaded, even in the town, and under the very eyes of 
the magistrates; and in the remote parts of the country it 
necessarily goes for nothing; the distance from the seat of 
justice adding to the difficulty and expense of complying 
with its mandates, in the same ratio that it insures impunity 
to the transgression of them. 
* Before the British got possession of the colony, slaves 
convicted of capital crimes were sometimes put to the torture, 
. because an acknowledgment of guilt, either voluntary or 
compulsive, was necessary to authorise the magistrate to pass 
sentence of death on the criminal. But this inbuman prac- 
tice has been abolished by the British Government, and the 
sentence of death is executed now without any preliminary 
cruelties. The place of execution is at the base of the Lion’s 
Rump, facing the Amsterdam Battery. Three pillars, 
VOL. II. D 
