The Sun.
London, England, 1805-02-23 00:00:00

SIERRA LEONE.

Nfode of Trying Persons 4n the Ncifooloiirliona of Sierra
Leone for Theft and other
A person accused of theft or of witchcraft. en.
deavours, if innocent, to tepei the charge by drink
log red water. A palaver i),4(.1t held among the
old people of the town whom the accusation is
by: One party, anti protelta ;ions. of innocence
by the other ; anti if they determine that it :41411 Oe
s'tt clad by a public trial, the accused fixes on some
neighbouring town, to which lie rtTairs, and in.
fount the head man of his wish to 01,,k re.:l water
ilicre. A p 'laver is again lit1(1 to deq:tniine whe.
titer his req.; st snail be granted ; if oot, he must
reek some other toy*, Zn cater of the loadScquiescecce, the accused remains the town con-
cealed 4trangers, 116mOimes for two or three
mon(11$, b4nre the (14 ofjtrial is iippoinied. When
that is fixed; notice is' "sent to the ';ic6iler three
days befOrt, that he nitv 'attend with 411 many of
his friendi aS hu chooses.,

•
The red water is prepared by 'infusipg the bark
'of a tree called by the Bulloms, .kWon, by the
•Tilo:natiees, okwon, and by tare Soosoos, mille, in
to which it imorts powerful coictic, and
s,:nnetinses 'a purgative In sonic instances
jr has provid iintriediately fatal, which leads to a
su,picionthat occasionally sume other addition must
be made p.) it; especially
as it dues not appear that
the ttelicate are itt,:te lidde, to be thus violently
affetted by it lean the robust. To prevent, how.
ever,' any suspicion of improper conduct, the red
water is always administered in the most public
manner, in the open air, alai In the midst of a faivr
concourse of people, who upon these solemn occi.
*ions never hit tes assemble froin all platters, par_
ticularly the warner}, to whom it affOrds as good an
opportunity of ilittplaAng their finery and taste in
dress, as a crnintry svirke iii England does to tt!
Lneighbouring females. The accused is placed upon
a kind of stool a'pout three feet high, 'one hand
being held up, and'the other paced upon ins thigh;
and beneath the seat are spread a number, of fresh
plantain leaves. A circle Of about seven or tight
feet in diallteter is formed round the prisoner, and
Ito one is admitted within it but the person Whn
prepares the red water. The heti; is publicly ex.
poet], to ;hew Ilia: it ;'s genuine. The apersvor
first ,washes his own hands, and then the bark; its-
well rls the mortar and p;stle with which it is to be
powdered, to prove that nothing improper h con.
sealed there. When powdered', a calibash lull is
mixed ,a large brass pan full
.of water, and is
stirred quickly with a kind of whisk until coVered
with si fcnth like a lather of WO. A variety of
eerernpnitst priqtrs, sre. ere performed' at the tatuk,
tirts,, :anti the accnsed is repeatedly and soletnnlY,
4114 so confess the crilti with which hp has been
little btfoie he begins to drinkihe in-
fusion, he is obliged to wash his mouth'snA spit
the water out, to slim that. he has' nothing con-
gealed in it tic.: or a piece of kola 14 then
siven Into to eat, being the:only substance he is
taiitsvocE. to take for twelve hours previous to di:
trial'; and, in order to prevent obtaining any
thing else, tic is narrowly watchA during that.
apace .of time, by a number of people, ivho are re-
iiionsible for his conduct. Afierliaving repeated a
prayer slifbted to him, which contain* an inspreca.
riou'uporr himself if be be guilty, lie ret water is
administered to him in a ealibash capable'of
irig about half a pint, which '*he crept iee'eight,
ten, or a dozen times successively,' as quid( as it
can .ba filled. It probably now begins to'cititt its
emetic powers, but he must, notivitlistentling, pet.
sist in drinking until the rice or kola he brought
up, which is easily seen upon the plantain learn
spread below. ,should vomiting not be caused,'
and ,the medicine produce purgative effeets 'the
person. is condemned immediately'; or if it be sus.
peeled that •the whole of What he has eaten is not
• brought up, he is permitted to retire; but' with
this reset ve, that if the 'medicine shall produceilo
cited upon
.thin' bowels until next dayet the seine
hour, heis then, and-not before, pronounced inno-
cent ; otherwise he is accounted guilty. When
the; red. *eta proves purgative, it is tertnfici
di . spoiling •Alie red water." • The utmost quantity
which may, be swallowed is sixteen calibashes full t
if these have not theAiesired effeel, the prisoner is
not allowed to take any More. :When neither vo-
miting nor pur4ing are produced, the red water
causes violent Barns in the bowers, which are consi.
acted as marks of guilt ; in such cases they
.endea.
your to recover the patient by exciting vomiting;
and to
.sheathe the acrimony of the reu ?eater they
•
give bins raw eggs to swallow. In .soma instances

the person has died after drinking the fourth-c4i.i
bash. If the rue or kola be king in coming up, it.
is common for some of the culprit's friends to come
near, tend :mettle him with great' Violater of some
trifling lank; ror they suppose, if any thing- prejti.
dieial to his charaaar, were coocealed, it wuuld pre_
vent the. favourable operation of the ted water.
Women at such a time, when the trial is for witch,,,
craft or some other crime, and not for adulterv, have'
an excellent pppoetunity of proving t‘heir eiiastity
before the world, by publicly, declaring. that they
have proved faithlu'l,to their husbands, and wishing
they.may be punished if they lfave spoken falsely
this is looked upon as a roost irrefragable. proof of
fidelity. When the accused permitted to leave
the tripod upon which he `is seated, he is ordered
to move his arms and legs, to shew that he has nth
lost the. use of them, and immediately NUS back
into the toWn folloWed by all the women anti boys
shouting and hallooing. People whO have under-
gone this trial, and hide -escaped, acquire from that
circumstance additional consequehce and revia.
When acquitted, they dress, potticularly the Ivo. •
tnen, in their best cldthes,, and vi.it :ill their friends.
anti acquaintances, who receive them with many
toltens of affeition and, regard. When the accused'
dies upon the spot, which frequently happeng,qr
when the red. water it ipoi/ed, and the party is too
old to sell, one of his family, unless he tan re.
deem himself by 3 slave, is taken and sOhl.—
Some! imes, for want of ' a proper opportunity,
.the
affair 'remains unsettled for many years, and 1 kneW
an, instance of a young ITEM having lweti
sold for a sl,tve becairse.hisirasidmot*rs' had sroiltd
red water many years before be" was boOt.

ANtICOOTV PttOld ,1418, LAST Fit !Nell PAPP.IO.--
One of the Engliihrien who are at ret (hill, hiving
lost all his ready 'money, exclainied, • 64, Gaditurn, I
t ill give'one'of tnyi rari Fier tWeiVelivrts ;" 44 you
joke," said 'anti of •the sunders; " no," said
he, " if you will gi've the the monoy I• will cut it
off;" and without waiting for an answer, he took
out his .seistars and in a moment cut off his ear, arid
&misruled the twelve 'ivies. lie played again-, los*t
his rtiontand went to bed. companions, with,
out. te4tilying the least surprise or concern, 84iti to
liim phlegnigricolly, "'Good night--furtwell' /VI
'cue Meet again."

'On trie grn inst. KOlitgT BAXTV.I', amity, leers
Master' of a Whitby Storip, in ireolling,a'bont.al
Whitby by the Nl' hiippi9g nut of the` nnteh,'feli
ovett)Pwd, and, beicgt aiii*tel)ea
,;po,11) be
.wits_unfor:runately drowued. By the sttrrng cttr.
rent pf, inland 'water, ,itis .body was wasilecl out :of
.the hirtinur,
~qt).A was discovered under the east cliff
on thelfiunday.followijig. .
On Monday.sennight, about ten o'cluek a taritthr,
a 610%4 was heard 044 4044 of Sir WI L.
14AM A LHTT, in laver, Durham. O the
serv,ini4oing to the door, five men ran to the op.
pnsite st(ft of the street, a'pd 'began to use the touot
ppprA)tious 11pgine, one of whOin threw a scene
at the servant, and wounded bun severely in the
Ono. The sane evening the on Mt-et
Bridge, where the new works are going on, were
polled down to the very:, treat danger of Ossen.
gen.

Thursday last, John Torrance, assistant miller at
Milfou Mill. of Grotigir, Pafish of itilmarnork, git
entiongle'd in the machinery. and Othe so dreadful!'
cru4hcii, tli,t he died in a few hours.

On Monday last, at flow, Parish of Hayton,
c!ninberlaod, tile following melancholy eireuinstance
oc. -rte. i ;-- Elizabeth Brown, aged 24 years, of
cleat Phice• was found suspended her mother's
'table. it having been observed by the young
woman's friends, that she had been in a despond-
ing state, fur cones time past, the Coroners jury
acektrdingly brought in their verdia, Luuaq.
La's! week a pour old man Was 60111:1 dead by the
side 'af the highway, near l'itkaithly. lie had been
CArryill a burden of fag;ots, which he held on his
6-b6Oblers by a rope over his breast. FrOtll the "si.
tuafian in 101142,11 he was found, it was evident 'that
he hail rested the sticks on the top of a wall, arid
that falling overin ihe inside, they had pulled the
rope tight across his neck, and strangled him..
A few evenings since Mr. Thomas Monkey, a
Proftor, who lived near Dromana, County of Water-
ford, was that at while standing at his own door,
by soma unknown ruffian, and immediately expired,

SHIP NEWS.

cßAvicssiD, rtit. 20.

PeSseti bY---the Plaint etlon, froin threelota Fre-
derick Wilhelm, Scot Adis, 'rwe yreincieri.
Good Brothers, ---, sold •
Trimmer, Overhand, from Rot-
terduo.
Sailed—the Iteniy, Smith, roe Lisbon ; Forsekett, Al.
I.e„;horn; and Thorha,, Welsh fir Africa.
1, ss. 2t. G4len, lliwckfey, 13oston VroW
alizibetb, aild'Vrow Ccrela; butscan, for Ettlbaca.