upon a certain member of the tribe, generally a relative
of the deceased, and that suspicion could only be verified by putting the
accused to the test of some dreadful ordeal. A favourite ordeal, he said,
was to make the suspected person drink a large quantity--a gallon and a
half, or more--of a decoction of a bitter and slightly poisonous bark. If
vomiting occurred, then a verdict of guilty was passed upon the
unfortunate wretch, and no protestations, or even direct proof of his
innocence, could save him from the tortures in store for him. The victim
was condemned to death, and death was inflicted not swiftly and
mercifully, but nearly always with some accompaniment of diabolical
torture.

One method was to hack the body of the wretched person to pieces with
knives, the most odious mutilations being resorted to. Occasionally the
unfortunate creature was tied to a stake while pepper was rubbed into his
eyes until the fearful irritation so produced caused blindness. Or,
again, the victim was tied hand and foot upon an ant-hill, and left to
the agonies of being consumed slowly by the minute aggressors. The most
satisfactory death, perhaps, was that when the condemned man was allowed
to be his own executioner. He was made much of for an hour or so before
the final scene, and was well fed and primed with palm wine. Under the
excitement of this mild stimulant he mounted a tree, carrying in his hand
a long rope formed of a kind of stringy vine of tough texture. One end of
this rope he fastened to a bough, and the other he placed in a running
knot over his neck. Then, quite pleased at being the centre of
observation of the multitude, even on such a gruesome occasion, the
criminal harangued his tribesmen in a great speech, finally declared the
justice of his sentence, and leaped into space. Should the rope break, as
occasionally happened, then the zeal of the executioner overcame the fear
of death of the victim, for he mounted the tree nimbly once more,
readjusted the knots, and did his best in the second attempt to avoid the
risk of another fiasco.

"And have such pagan customs actually been introduced during my absence
in England?" asked Omar astonished.

"They have, alas! O Prince," answered the sage. "The people, taught from
childhood to respect every word that falleth from the lips of our Great
White Queen, adopted these revolting customs, together with certain other
dreadful rites, believing that only by obeying her in