334 PUNISHMENT OF AN OFFENDER. [1845. 



of enquiry, or drum-head court martial, the delinquent 

 was pointed out by the Provost, suddenly seized and 

 brought before the police magistrate, by four sturdy 

 fellows, and he was then made to kneel uncapped, with 

 his hair untied, or, as a seaman would term it, ' adrift '; 

 this condition of the hair serving with the Chinese and 

 other tailed nations, as an important hold on refractory 

 characters. His crime, as I supposed, having been recited 

 to him by the head policeman, or Provost, the magistrate 

 bowed towards him, which being construed into passing 

 sentence, he was, with very great rapidity, bared from 

 the waist to the knees and forcibly thrown on his face ; 

 being confined in this position by the four policemen, a 

 fifth now appeared, a distinct official, prepared to carry 

 out the sentence. The instrument used for this purpose 

 ' may be compared to a huge bat, or Harlequin's wand in 

 shape, but longer, wider, and heavier, with a long handle; 

 it appeared to be of ash, and bent freely like the wand 

 alluded to. The operator placing himself in a convenient 

 position, and measuring his distance from the culprit so 

 as to inflict his blow with the knees almost bent to the 

 ground, swung this instrument over his head, and 

 brought it down flat over the back part of the hams, a 

 little above the knee joint, with a force apparently suffi- 

 cient to break the limb, but for the flexibility of the 

 instrument. I interceded to prevent the repetition of such 

 torture, but at least a dozen of these terrific blows were 

 inflicted before my wishes could be explained and acted 

 upon. It appeared to me to be a most severe punishment, 

 yet the instant the culprit was released he nimbly tucked 



