still draw upon
the writer already quoted. "The most common mode of torture is what is
termed tying Guinea-fashion. In this the arms are closely drawn together
behind the back, by means of a cord tied tightly round them, about
midway between the elbows and shoulders. A piece of wood to act as a
rack, having been previously introduced, is then used so as to tighten
the cord, and so intense is the agony that one application is generally
sufficient to occasion the wretch so tortured to confess to anything
that is required of him. There are various other modes of torture in
common use among the natives of Guinea. One is tying the head, feet, and
hands, in such a way that by turning the body backwards, they may be
drawn together by the cords employed. Another is securing a wrist or
ankle to a block of wood by an iron staple. By means of a hammer any
degree of pressure may thus be applied, while the suffering so produced
is continuous, only being relieved by the wood being split, and the
staples removed, but this may not be done until a crime has been
confessed by a person who never committed it, and even then his limb has
generally been destroyed. It would not be interesting to here enumerate
the various tortures employed by a barbarous people, but when we
recollect the refinement of the art of torture in our own country in the
days of the maiden, the boot, and thumb-screws, we will cease to wonder
that substitutes for these should be used in a country where
civilization has not yet begun to elevate a people who are generally
allowed to be the lowest of the human race.

"There are some superstitious rites employed by Fetish-men for the
detection of crime; and whether it is that these people really possess
such powerful influence over their wretched dupes, as to frighten into
confession of his guilt the perpetrator of crime, or whether it is that
they manage by their numerous spies to obtain a clue sufficient in most
cases to lead to the detection of the person, is more than I can venture
to assert; but, be the means employed what they may, a Fetish-man will
assuredly very often bring a crime home to the right person, even after
the most patient investigation in the ordinary way has failed to elicit
the slightest clue.

"There is also what is called Trial by Dhoom. This consists in whoever
are suspected of having committed a crime being made to swallow a
decoction of _dhoom_ wood of the country, and it is believed that
whoe