The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-29
Sc FOLLOWING ISSUE


proceeded with all the pleasure In the world
TO nail me down TO the block / was stand
ing on. This done he arose from his squat
ting posture and surveyed his handiwork
with quite a critical eye. He evidently did
not think that | was quite safely nailed,
slender nail, and this time nailed me
through the fleshy part of the ankle to the
tree trunk. This appeared to satisfy him,
for he left me and went Off to report
progress to the Bob.
Although l was suffering most dreadful
agony at the time, / shaiL never forget the
hopeless look of despair upon the faces of
the sick men. Their hands and feet tied,
they We're utterly helpless to assist me or
horrible death before them they yet raised
enough courage to shout to me: Cheer up,
sir; Wen soon be with YOU" They were
with me- but not in the same punishment,
for the Bob evidently had changed his mind
about the mailing business, and his men
were busy erecting triangles of bamboo.
bamboo was fastened, and l imagined /
saw preparations for crucifiXion on large
scale But / was mistaken.
The gentleman who had nailed me now
came TO unnail me by drawing the nail out
of the ankle and knocking off the block of
wood from the bottom of the foot, still
leaving the nail in the flesh They then
invited me to step across to the bamboo
arrangement they had fixed up. Never, as
that walk. l tainted them, their wives
sisters and mothers, in the hope that they
would finish their work. by a swift blow
from q dab or q prod from a spear, but
they only smiled. AS l limped, hoped and
stumbled across the rough earth, each
movement giving me such agony that was
tempted to break down and make them
carry me, they only smiled. They knew,
and did not, what was in store for US.
released INV arms q" and .i hands Now the nall
ing gentleman was standing very near me,
and | was suffering, and in a moment of
agony treated him to q good stiff punch
square between the eyes. Inc next instant
| regretted it, for l received crashing blow
on the side of the head whether 1t was
never been able to discovery, and the nail,
which was still sticking out few inches
underneath my foot, caught in the ground.
and | went down-and was kept down. My
arms and hands were again tied, this time
in front of me, and seizlng my thumbs, the
brutes began tying them together with deer
sinews. Into these sinews, between the
thumbs, they inserted piece of bamboo,
which they twisted until the thongs cut into
hide rope to the sinews, and, having lifted
me on to my feet the rope was thrown over
the bamboo. which rested on top of the
triangles. and | was drawn UP until only
my big toes touched the ground.
HUNG UP BY THE THUMBS.
The other men were treated in like man.
ner and in fifteen minutes so the whole
ten of us were hanging by our thumbs to
the bamboo. The time was now about
o'clock, and by 10:30 or IL o'clock the sun
had become almost unbearable. To make
matters worse, the man hanging next to me
had become delirious, and to have to listen
to his rawlings was almost worse than the
punishment l was undergoing. AT about
o'clock he died. Oh, the agony of 1t all!
Hanging there by the thumbs and feeling
as ii every nerve of your body was being
drawn out by red-hot pincerS, tongue and
lips swollen and almost bursting from want
OF water, almost blind from the suns ter
rible rays and hideous grinning Burmans
haunting and laughing at you. Could any
punishment be more horrible?
Before o'clock two more men had died
and their heads had fallen backward over
their shoulders. Their glazed eyes, wide
open, the swollen tongues hanging out from
their mouths and the look of agony on their
dead faces almost drove the rest of us mad.
Water, water, was the cry of all. But there
is no mercy in a Burman. Once, and once
only, did / think that We should receive
little mercy at their hands. Soon after the
man who was hanging next to me had died
a stalwart Burman STROBE up in front OF
me, and, swinging his dab round his head,
he made as if he were going to cut me in
halves. But it was only piayfulness. He
simply had slash at the poor dead fellow
and disemboWeled him.
1t was about O'Clock, as near as / could
guess when the Burmans retired to some
distance from us and began to cook their
evening meal. They were enjoying 1t after
their days pleasure. when suddenly a vol
ley rang out, followed by the peculiar rat
Ting noise of a couple of Calling guns,
their fun with were sent to their last ac-
count A couple of loud cheers rang out
and a company of GhOorkaS and a detach-
ment of the SomerSetshlres charged down
upon the astonished Burmans. The mailing
gentleman was making his way past the
triangleS at a very good pace, when he took
it into his head to stop and give me a very
nasty poke with a spear. That sealed his
fate, for little Ghoorka was OH him in an
instant, and in another had severed the
nailer's head from his body with the terri
BILE Ghoorka kookri. Not many Buremese
escaped that night, and l afraid not
few were treated by the Ghoorkas to a lit
tie entertainment the very reverse of pleas
ant OF course, we were very promptly cut
down, and everything that could be done to
ease our pain was done. The mailing gen.
tlemans head was placed upon a stick,
which was stuck in the ground outside the
door of my tent by the Ghoorka whose tro-
ply it was. 1t was there until it became
buried in an ant hill, where those indus
Irious insects cleaned it thoroughly. The
skull afterward ornamented my study in
RangOOn.
Our rescue was a matter of luck. Spies
had proceeded to BhamO two or three days
before, and had informed the commanding
officer that there was a band of marauding
soldiers in the Shweego Myo district, and
the troops who rescued us had been dis
tended to us One of the officers of the
force had seen us hanging up through his
field glasses, and had made detour with
his men and had attacked the enemy on
both TANKS and in the rear, and most GER
tainly made a great job of it.
After all, anneXing countries like Upper
Burmah is not all beer and skittles is it?