8 
ST. HELENA. 
the solemne exercises of Eight Duties, and attendance upon God’s 
holy ordinances.” Also carefully to avoid the “ odious sinnes of pro- 
phane swearing and curseing or commonly takeing the holy name of 
the Great Glorious God in vaine, and to abstaine from Drunckenness, 
stealing, thieving, and other horrid vices and wickednesses.” 
Transgression of such laws was soon followed by punishment, 
for we read that one “ Sarah Marshall had one-and-thirty lashes on 
her naked body at the flagstaffe for scandelizing Captain Bendall.” 
And “ Parnum was fined 5s. for working on the Lord’s day, and his 
wife !.<?. for cursing the Island.” But the severe determination to 
maintain order is more apparent by the following : — Sottoe, a slave, 
being chastised by his master, retaliated by attacking him with his 
knife ; he did not murder or do his master much harm, but there 
being some dread of an insurrection amongst the blacks at the time, 
poor Sottoe was destined to be made an example of. Vainly he 
pleaded that a fellow slave named Bowland had instigated the 
attack on his master, and that he was urged on while under the 
exciting influence of a pipe of tobacco which he had stolen and 
smoked. It was ordered that his hand, wherewith he attacked liis 
master, was to be cut off; he was then to be hanged, and when dead 
his head cut off and placed on the top of the Market-house as a 
caution to all other transgressors. Eowland was not allowed to 
escape either ; he was to be led, with a rope round his neck, to 
witness his companion’s execution, and after forty stripes ad- 
ministered on his naked body to have a pair of iron pothooks 
riveted round his neck until further orders. This frightful sentence 
was not, however, fully carried out. Sottoe’s hand was cut off in 
presence of all the blacks, but his life was spared. The most 
common military punishment adopted was riding the wooden horse, 
as we see in the case of a soldier named William Melling, who, for 
swearing and incivility, “ doe ride the wooden horse two houres 
with a bag of shott at each heele ;” also, “ Bichard Honeywood who 
doe rid ye wooden horse halfe an houre w th two musketts at each 
heele for slighting the Government and malitiously revenging him- 
selfe.” Slaves were punished by seventy-five lashes, with five drops 
of burning sealing-wax dropped on the naked body, for attempting 
to get away from the Island; while other terrible measures were 
dealt out to similar offenders. 
The English occupation of the Island was never again disturbed 
