Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-28
EGYPTIAN KEELHAULING.


The Alexandria correspondent Of the
London Advertiser, who witnessed the
late keelhauling in the harbor, says that
he tried to write a description Of the
most horrible sight, but it was so re-
voltingly cruel, so barbarous. so infa-
mouslY brutal that he at first gave it up.
still, it is right that the people of Eng
land should know what sort Of people
even the friendly Egyptians are. The
correspondent heard that two sailors. one
fireman from the Khedive's yacht, were
to be keelhauled on board the Mehemet
Ali for one Of those "unmentiOnable
crimes, which, by the way, do not take
place as crimes in most Ottoman coun.
tries; and he witnessed their punish
ment from the steamer Sumatra. The
men were brought on deck at noon, and
their sentence was read out before the
assembled crew. The tackle, consisting
Of two ropes running from leading
blocks made fast TO the mainstay and
passed under the keel Of the ship, was
prepared and attached to the culprits'
bodies. The crew were then divided,
half Of them put to each rope, and the
two wretches, being led to the side, were
showed overheard. They both screamed
as they fell into the water, and, as the
distance from the gangway to the sur.
face was quite fourteen feet, they must
have been more or less hurt. But this
was only the beginning of their miseries.
The men on one side hauled taut the rope
underneath the ship, and then the order
to walk away" was given. The band
played solemn tune. something like the
Carnival Of Venice" in movement, eX-
cept the tune was changed, and stamp,
stamp, stamp went the men.
We saw the two wretches go under,
and then the only movements were the
ropes gong through their blocks, one
side paying out, the other coming in,
but slowly. We had no measurement
of the ship, but as the rope acted direct
ly-that is there was no moving blocks
the distance around the bottom was ex-
actly that covered by the men as they
walked the deck drawing the rope be-
hind them. Thus we were allie to make
some estimate of the distance, and we
calculate it at fifty feet from surface to
surface. Presently the two victims APP
peared on the other side. They were
hauled quite out of the water, and the rope
fast and cOiled up ready to pay out
again An off1cer-probably a doctor
went down and examined them. The
one upon whom the strain Of the rope
had fallen was apparently lifeless His
face was turned toward us; it was bleed
ing and torn; his clothes were hanging in
shreds and his hands were dripping with
blood. His eyes were open, but they
seemed to be filed with blood. The
ships bottom, covered with barnacles,
rasped upon the poor devils like nails.
The other man seemed to be conscious.
His back, as he hung in the air, was to-
ward us, but he moved his head, we
thought, and apparently to beg for
mercy.
Evidently the officer reported them
still alive, for when he had come on deck
again the two men were lowered into the
water, and the crew manning the rope
that led up from the other side marched
away with it, and once more the victims
disappeared. From the time they went
under the surface of the water until they
reappeared on the other side of the ship
was just twenty-fOur seconds. 1t seemed
to us to have been an hour. The first
frightful journey had terminated by their
being scratched and torn; at the end of
the second they were mutilated; the
nOfe of one wretch was torn almost
away, one ear gone, and the sbreds Of
the clothing he had worn chung to him
only where they were held by his bonds.
He was blood, literally, from head to
foot His companions condition was
equally horrible. This time they were
hOlsted up to the rail and swung on
board. Then we could see something
of the action of this barbarous punish
ment, for they were not held off the
side, but were scraped up along the ship,
striking against the ring bolts, the chains
and every cruel obstruction until they
swung in free over the deck. Then they
were lowered down and released They
were both unconscious, probably even
then dead. 1t may be hoped they were.
Death must have been welcome release.