1 695-] CKUEL PUNISHMENTS. 181 



Circumstances of this Fire/ wliich I shall beg leave to inform 

 the Eeader of. The Governor understanding a Ncrp-o Slave 

 had committed a i^iece of Roguery in his Kitchin, he told 

 him he would have him chastis'd. Now the way here to 

 punish^ these sort of People when they were found in any 

 fault, was to bind them naked to a Ladder, and scourge them 

 with a Eod made of Eeeds, with knots at the end. When 

 they had made their Bodies all bloody, they were to be 

 rubb'd with Pepper and Vinegar. , This unhappy Ncciro 

 fearing this Punishment, fled soon after he had been thus 

 tlireatened, and plotted with one of his Comrades and two 

 Nefjro Women to set fire to the Fort ; they executed their 

 Purpose, but they were soon after taken and punish\l, as 

 they well deserv'd. The Men were broken alive on the 



1 Siibsequeutly, ou the 15th November L707, when Abraham Mominer 

 vau de Velcle, the ODderkoopiiian, became Opperhoofd iu the island, 

 the whole of the Dutch Eaf-t India Company's premises at Fort Frederik 

 Heudrik were totally destroyed by fire, ou which occasion the books, 

 records, and goods in the magazines were burnt, and the whole establish- 

 ment ruined. This event coming so soon after other severe losses, and 

 as the small penal colony contributed nothing beyond a little ebony 

 timber and ambergris to commerce, it was decided to abandon the 

 place, and instructions were sent to this effect in February 17C8, which 

 were carried out in the following year. (See Historij of S. Africa, by 

 Theal, vol. ii, p. 51.) 



2 The treatment of slaves in the colonies of all nationalities as late 

 as 1821 was frightful. The floggings are represented as dreadful. 

 The instrument was a rattan split so as to form a powerful cat of two or 

 three tails. This instrument would lacerate the flesh like a knife, and 

 weighed upwards of seven pounds. Females were flogged, and even 

 children as well as men, and the lacerated flesh was afterwards rubbed 

 with lime-juice, or salt and pepper. 



Fugitive slaves were thus treated : for the first offence the slave's 

 ears were cut off, and he was branded on one shoulder. For the second 

 offence his hamstrings were cut and he was branded on the other 

 shoulder. The third offence was capital. A slave who struck his master, 

 mistress, or children was punished capitally. (See Blue-Book, July 

 1828, and Asiatic Journal, 1829, p. 282.) 



