GOVERNMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 47 



that God or the Devil made them commit it. The 

 prison has generally about sixty culprits in it, almost all 

 under punishment for theft ; a surprisingly small number, 

 considering that this is the only prison for the whole of 

 the country over which he rules, consisting of a popula- 

 tion calculated at 2,000,000, and that every temptation 

 to easy theft is given by the people, who leave their 

 houses (many of them having neither doors nor windows) 

 quite open all day in their absence. 



' Supposing/ said Munsinger Pasha, * this were your 

 custom in England, what would be your list of thieves ? * 

 Capital punishment is very rarely carried out, and 

 especially as, until the last few months, this has only 

 been sanctioned by Mussulman law when the murderer 

 confessed his crime. Now, however, this is altered, and 

 a man suspected of murder is tried by a military tribunal, 

 and, whether found guilty or not guilty, the final judgment 

 rests with the Pasha. He, though from the absolute 

 clearness of the evidence, in some cases, might be com- 

 pelled to sign the death-warrant, is very much averse to. 

 doing so, preferring to punish the criminal with the 

 utmost severity, short of depriving him of life. 



When capital punishment is carried out, it is by 

 hanging, not by beheading, according to the strict custom, 

 as this is considered less likely to be attended with un-r 

 necessary torture. 



In the open space in the centre of the town are fixed 



