102 Biography of' the late Captain Dugald Carmichael. 



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 sus- 

 pense. Desperate under the influence of this impression, he 

 works himself into a state of dehrium 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 far- 

 ther mischief. 



" It is 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 di- 

 rects that the culprit shall be sent to the common trunk or pri- 

 son, where he receives a certain number of stripes, according to 

 the nature of his oft'ence. It may readily be supposed, how- 

 ever, that this law is frequently 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 com- 

 plying with its mandates, in the same ratio that it insures im- 

 punity in the transgression of them. 



" Before the British got possession of the colony, slaves con- 

 victed of capital crimes were sometimes put to the torture, be- 

 cause an acknowledgment of guilt, either voluntary or compul- 

 sive, was necessary to authorise the magistrate to pass sentence 

 of death on the criminal. But this inhuman practice 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 Am- 

 sterdam Battery. Three pillars, erected in the form of a trian- 

 gle, support as many beams placed across them, and from these 

 beams the criminals are suspended. It was probably to a gal- 



