ASIATIC FEROCITY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1193, 9 January 1885, Page 3

ASIATIC FEROCITY.

Referring to the, shocking massacre in a prison in Mandalay, Burmah, which was briefly reported in cable messages some time ago. the Rangoon correspond nt of the 'Times of India says :—“ It seems that Theebaw had determined to put to death certain desperadoes in custody. The latter getting information resolved to struggle for lite. They attacked and over* powered the gnarde, seized their arms and fled. They were speedily overtaken and slain to a man. The rest of the prisoners are quiet. The. troops next siinon ded the gaol, which contained besides the civil and criminal prisoners, a large number of women and children bringing food for their husbands, parents, and other vela* tives as is the custom as in Mandalay, and opened indiscriminate (ire, shoot* ing down unresisting individuals. At tho suggestion of one of i'heebaw’s Ministers the prison building, composed o- highly intiainincble materials, was set fire 10. The most heartrending scene ensued. As the unhappy wretches sought to escape, they were thrust back into the (lames or hacked to pieces, their bodies being tossed into (he blazing building Close on

2CO persons arc said to have pe.ished. The heads of sundry charred corpses were cut oft and par.ded through the streets of the city. A Burmese reign of terror has been established. Latest intelligence announces that 400 persons were massacred ut Mandalay, the King and Queen viewing the speefca* cle. Fifteen more men were executed the night alter the gaol butcheries. An eye-witness states that he saw the victims writhing in agony. The next day the victims were most devoured by nigs and dogs. The wildest indignation prevails here.” The sequel to the massacre, -'ccei'ding to the Rangoon Gazelle, was as horrible as that ghastly incident itself. Some of the heads ot the victims were stuck up nu bamboos in the cemetery, and others were carried through the streets on polos. The scene at the cemetery was appalling. The King gave orders tint the (load were not to be buried for two or three da's, so that all the people might see what a terrible thing it was to incur his displeasure ; ami there were the mutilated bodies lying in ghastly and festering heaps, some of them not only riddled with shot but hacked to pieces; whilst a number of bends in human shape were actually chopping off arms and legs to save the menaces a'd shackles .Not only that hut the dead and dying had b’en carted off together, and in some cases the quivering of a limb told that the death agony was not yet over. The carcases were being huddled, four and live together, into shallow graves, with no more than a foot of earth to cover them Meantime the King and court had been holding high festival over the event, to divert the people from

thoughts of the trie Significance of the massacre, and make them regard it as the triumph of the nation over the nations’s f •es.”