Punished on the Soles of the Feet.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1976, 7 March 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Punished on the Soles of the Feet.

"As I walk up the room a clock Btrikes the hour of 2. The prefeot offpra mo his hand, and at hia invitation I take a scat by his side. Then a negro, olad in a long white robe and wearing on his head an enormous yellow turban, brings mo a little cup of coffee and a bundle of cigarettes. As I hand back my cup to this imposing servitor, three Arabs, escorted by two guards, are led before the prefect. These unfortunates spcm to belong to the poorest of the people; their feet are bare, their clothing ia worn and ragged, their hands tremble convulsively, their eye 3 are haggard, and their faces twitoh in apprehension as they listen in mournful silence to the words addressed to them by the prefect. After the exohange of a few words two of the prisoners are led from tho room. Then five men enter. These are the torturers, and nothing more fell or hang-dog than their looks can be imagined. Four of them seize the Arab who is still standing before the prefect, and the poor wretch, a^ ho 13 caßt on the ground, throws at him a glanco eloquent with agony and fear, but tho great man's countenance remains fixed and impassive, and ho makes no sign of (.'race. Tho victim wan then placed on one of the slabs with his chest resting on the stone, in whioh position ho waa held by two of the executioners. Two others next raised his legs until his feet were in a horizontal position, in whioh they were retained by means of ft

cord fastened to either end of a stick. Each man held the stick with one hand while with the other ho kept fast hold of the Arab's legs. In the grip of those four powprful and expert men it was impossible for him to move and almost impossible for him to writlie. On thi-i the fifth torturer, who hud taken no part in tho preliminary proceedings, c.ime forward, holding in hn hand r sort of la«h coriintln" of five s'randa of twisted got or hide. The face of this man wag singularly bidroui and repulaivo. He raised his arm and struck with the regularity of a pendulum the upturned feet of his helpless victim. At tho fourth stroke the Arab uttered a cry of pain, and at every fresh stroke the cry wa? repeated. But soon the cry became a acream, the flagellated flesh visibly shuddered, and the soles were seamed with red and livid streaks. Sitting iilently on my cushion, chewing mechanically the tobacco of my extinguished cigarotta, I could not help shivering with horror *t the sight of po much suffering. I ftlt as if I were under the influence of some terrible nightmare. CMman Bey, his secretary, tho five executioners, witn their atern and sinister feature*, looking unmoved on so cruel a night, teemed fur a moment rather the creations of a disordered imagination than beings of flesh and blood, but the heavy thud of the itrokes and the scream* of the victim recalled mo to the sad reality which I was so reluctantly witnessing. Then the punishment ceaaed, and th« Arab, with ghastly face and body shaken with a feverish trembling, had to incline himself respectfully before the man by whose order he had been cruelly tormented. Helped by a guard, for his maimed and bleedng feet refused to support him, he w&s then led, still moaning with agony, from the torture chamber. Tho two other Arabs were afterwards punished in like manner. It was now past 8 o'clock, and his Excellency, putting on Ins usual pleasant smile, gave mo his ordera oancerning the services of the police. I then saluted him and hurried away from the place where I had seen the practical application of a barbarous jurisprudence. " — Hilaire Gay's Book on Egyptian Tortures.