A Strange African Execution.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 220, 17 September 1887, Page 7

A Strange African Execution.

Lv the notes of Bishop Taylors journey into Central Africa, along the line of the Con^o, to establish mission station, the following account is given of a strange and horrible execution according to the tribe in that part of " tho Dark Continent " :—: — " When tho bishop arrived the hole in the market-place had been completed. It was somewhat larger anddeeperthan an ordinary grave. The object that had attracted the attention of part of the crowd was the condemned man himself. He sat on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. Seven feet in front oi him was a young tree that had been bent towaid him. The top of the tree had been cut away so that a fork made by the two main branches remained on the slender tumk. The condemned man's neck was put in this fork and the ends ef the lines Avere made fast behind his head. The tension of the tree kept a constant strain on his throat, not enough to strangle him, but enough to be painful and to prevent him from making any motion. He had been sitting thus for hours watching the preparations for his execution and enduring the gaze of hun dreds of the villagers. Not far away the King, dressed ma gorgeously coloured robe, sat superintending the operations. Tho wotk progressed in due order, but without the ceiemonious solemnity that charaterises an execution in Christian countries. The King gave his instructions when he cho.se to interfere to a suboidinate, who tmn.->fei led them to the captain in charge of tho workers ab the hole. When the diggers climbed out and laid aside their shovels there was a slight pause and the ciowd gathered closer to the excavation. Presently the King uttered a command in a loud Aoice and several subordinates actually began the work of execution. They In -t cut oif the tree hi front of the captives' neck, leaving the prongs of the fork still tied about him. He was led^to the hole and oideied into it. Up to this time he had pre.-eived a stoical expression, but at that moment he weakened and trembled. He c.'Ht a piteous glance toward the King and looked all around him wildly. One of the executioners hastened matters by pushing him into the Hole. He fell in a heap on the bottom and three men went in after him. They placed him on his feet and w hile one held him steady the' others began to pack dirt about his ieet. Thewoikmen left on the brink of the hole carefully shovelled the carch that had been dug up back again, and the men inside continued the packing pro. ce&-.

Perfectly Horrible. The\ictim wiithed and .screamed teni bl> as the work proceeded and a gag \ as inserted in hib mouth to still his ciie«. The people, with morbid curiosity, ci cm clecl to the edge of the hole, even to the point of interfering with the workmen, and a squad of warriors in axmonr diove them back. The men in the hole .stamped the earth hard all about the victim until it. vab up to his Avaist. They then got out. and the tilling m continued more rapidly and others helped in the stamping. The hole was originally so deep that the victim's head was more than a foot below the suriace. Wlien his mouth wds reached care was taken not to fill in around him until the re-st ot the hole had been levelled over. Then a few shovulbful thrown upon the hem effectually buried the poor fellow, but the workmen were still cautious to note e-.ac.tly where the head was. After all the dirt had been thrown back and the burial was complete the reason for their caution became apparent. A v, oikman. came forward with a long haid-wood pole, sharpened and tipped with iron at one end. This was inseite.l into the ground dhectly over the victim's head A movable platform was pioduccd,and men standing on it. bLgan to pound the pole down into the giound. The hoirible object of thib was to tiansiix the victim through the length of his Lody. The pounding was continued vith mallets until the entire length of the pole had been driven into the ground. Then the implements that had been i^ed vue taken away and the crowd blov> ly poi?ed. Much depressed by this lugubiigous .-pectaole, the bishop and his companions le oumetl their journey to Stanley pool.