34 GOVERNMENT.

and burnt his body; he received twenty wounds,

and not until he writhed like a worm with pain and

anger did the governor put a stop to the cruelty.

The true criminal was shortly after this discovered,

and the son of the Sheikh, who had been so fright-

fully tortured, was now proved to be innocent ; but

no one could alleviate his sufferings, and any fur-

ther compensation was totally out of the question.

When an individual is guilty of any offence, the

examination generally takes place as soon as he is

arrested, judgment is quickly passed, and instantly

executed. Two circumstances are, however, neces-

sary for the conviction of the party accused,

namely, detection in the act, or confession. If he

plead not guilty, and deny the charge, he is sub-

mitted to torture, and thus it frequently happens

that the innocent suffer for the guilty.

Stealing a slave, an ox, a camel, an ass, &c., is

punished by the loss of a hand. The judgment is

executed by the first butcher casually met with in

the streets. The delinquent is ordered to lay his

hand upon a block, in which situation it is held down by two men : the butcher then chops it off. The stump is immediately thrust into a vessel con-

taining butter, heated nearly to the boiling point,

which stands in readiness, for the purpose of stop-

ping haemorrhage, and preventing mortification, and

the limb is then enveloped in a rag. In the course

of ten minutes all is over, and the sufferer returns

home.