THE CONVICTS — PUNISHMENTS 27 



oil has to be expressed from a given weight of copra by pound- 

 ing the material in iron mortars with unwieldy wooden pestles. 

 Wool-teasing is yet another form of occupation. 



Besides the wards, there are a number of cells for solitary 

 confinement ; some of these were occupied by prisoners suspected 

 of malingering, others by those awaiting punishment. 



This last, of course, takes various forms, from — for instance — 

 the dark cell, where an offender may be incarcerated for twenty- 

 four hours, to castigation with a rattan, in which, it is said, 

 the maximum sentence of thirty strokes can be applied so severely 

 as to be fatal to the recipient. Lastly, of course, comes execution 

 by hanging, which is inflicted in the case of those prisoners, who, 

 being already under severe sentence, attempt the lives of their 

 fellows, their warders, or the officials of the Settlement. 



The transportation of European offenders is now discontinued, 

 but a large number of female convicts are engaged mainly in 

 turning the wool prepared in Viper Jail into blankets. 



Caste — a most important point in connection with people of 

 India — is carefully respected, and the Brahmin prisoners are nearly 

 all employed as cooks. 



The majority of the convicts are from the Indian Peninsula, and 

 are resident for life. Of the Burmese, however, the greater part 

 are serving sentences of ten years, for engaging too recklessly 

 in the national pastime of dacoity, and many of them are 

 employed in the jungle and as boatmen. 



To maintain discipline, and for the protection of the Settle- 

 ment, a military force of about 440 men is stationed at Aberdeen, 

 Ross, and Viper — two companies of European and four of 

 native troops — and a battalion of military police. 



After leaving Viper Island we returned to the headquarters 

 of the Settlement, where next day we left behind the last post 

 of civilisation met with, until three months later we reached 

 Olehleh, the most northerly of the Dutch colonies in Acheen. 



