THE EXECUTIONER
Two or three men tore me roughly off the saddle. The pain in my spine
caused by the spikes was intense. I asked for a moment's rest. My
captors refused to let me stop, and, roughly thrusting me forward, said
I would be beheaded in an instant. All the people round jeered and made
signs to me that my head would be cut off. Insults of all kinds were
showered upon me by the crowd of Lamas and soldiers. I was hustled to
the execution-ground, which lay to the left front of the tent. On the
ground was a long log of wood in the shape of a prism. Upon the sharp
edge of this I was made to stand. Several men held me by the body while
four or five others, using their combined strength, stretched my legs
wide apart. Fixed in this painful position, the Tibetans securely tied
my feet to the log of wood with cords of yak-hair. Several men were made
to pull these cords, and they were so tight that they cut into my skin
and flesh in several places round my ankles and on my feet. Many of the
cuts were as much as three inches long.[13]
When I was thus firmly bound, the man Nerba, whom I have mentioned
before as having fired a shot at me, came forward, and then, going
behind me, seized me by the hair of my head. My hair was long, as it had
not been cut for more than five months.
The sight before me was impressive. By the Pombo's tent stood in a row
the most villanous brutes I have ever set eyes upon. One, a powerful,
repulsive individual, held in his hand a great knobbed mallet used for
fracturing bones; another carried a bow and arrows; a third held a big
two-handed sword; others made a display of various ghastly instruments
of torture. The crowd, thirsting for my blood, formed up in a
semicircle, leaving room for me to see the parade of the torture
implements that awaited me. As my eyes roamed from one figure to the
other, the several Lamas shook their various implements to show that
they were preparing for action.
A group of three Lamas stood at the entrance of the tent. They were the
musicians. One held a gigantic horn, which, when blown, emitted hoarse,
thundering sounds. His companions had one a drum, the other cymbals.
Another fellow some distance away continually sounded a huge gong. From
the moment I was made to dismount the deafening sounds of the diabolical
music echoed all through the valley, and added horror to the scene.
An iron bar with a handle of wood bound in red cloth was being made
red-hot in a brazier. The Pombo, who had placed something in his mouth
in order to produce artificial foaming at the lips, and thus show his
fury, worked himself into a frenzy. A Lama handed him the implement of
torture (the _taram_), now red-hot. The Pombo seized it by the handle.
"_Ngaghi kiu meh taxon!_" (We will burn out your eyes!) cried a chorus
of Lamas.
The Pombo strode up to me, brandishing the ghastly implement. He seemed
reluctant, but the Lamas around him urged him on, lifting the man's arm
toward me.
"You have come to this country to see" (alluding to what I had stated
the previous day--_viz._, that I was a traveller and pilgrim, and had
only come to see the country). "This, then, is the punishment for you!"
and with these dreadful words the Pombo raised his arm and placed the
red-hot iron bar parallel to, and about an inch or two from, my
eyeballs, and all but touching my nose.
Instinctively I kept my eyes closed, but the heat was so intense that it
seemed as if my eyes, the left one especially, were being desiccated and
my nose scorched.
Though the time seemed interminable, I do not think that the heated bar
was before my eyes actually longer than thirty seconds or so. Yet it was
quite long enough, for, when I lifted my aching eyelids, I saw
everything as in a red mist. My left eye was frightfully painful, and
every few seconds it seemed as if something in front of it obscured its
vision. With the right eye I could still see fairly well, except that
everything, as I have said, looked red instead of its usual color. The
hot iron was then thrown down, and was frizzling on the wet ground a few
paces from me.
My position was not enviable, as I stood with my legs wide apart, with
my back, hands, and legs bleeding, and my sight injured. This amid the
deafening, maddening noise of the gong, drum, cymbals, and horn;
insulted, spat upon by the crowd, and with Nerba holding me so tight by
my hair that he tore handfuls of it from my scalp. All I could do was to
remain calm and composed, and to await with apparent unconcern the
preparations for the next sufferings to be inflicted upon me.
"_Miumta nani sehko!_" (Kill him with a rifle!) shouted a hoarse voice.
A matchlock was now being loaded by a soldier, and such was the quantity
of gunpowder they placed in the barrel that it made sure whoever fired it
would have his head blown off. It was with a certain amount of
satisfaction that I saw it handed over to the Pombo. That official
placed the side of the weapon against my forehead with the muzzle
pointing skyward. Then a soldier, leaning down, applied fire to the
fusee. Eventually there was a loud report, which gave my head a severe
shock. The overloaded matchlock flew clean out of the Pombo's hand, much
to everybody's surprise. I forced myself to laugh. The tantalizing
failure of every attempt they made to hurt me drove the crowd to the
highest pitch of fury.
"_Ta kossaton, ta kossaton!_" (Kill him, kill him!) exclaimed fierce
voices all around me. "_Ngala mangbo shidak majidan!_" (We cannot
frighten him!) "_Ta kossaton, ta kossaton!_" (Kill him, kill him!) The
whole valley resounded with these ferocious cries.
A huge two-handed sword was now handed to the Pombo, who drew it out of
its sheath.
"Kill him, kill him!" shouted the mob once more, urging on the
executioner, who seemed quite reluctant to come forward.
I seized this moment to say that they might kill me if they wished, but
that, if I died to-day, they would all die to-morrow--an undeniable
fact, for we are all bound to die some day. This seemed to cool them for
a moment; but the excitement in the crowd was too great, and at last
they succeeded in working the Pombo into a passion. His face became
quite unrecognizable, such was his excitement. He behaved like a madman.
At this point a Lama approached and slipped something into the mouth of
the executioner, who foamed at the lips. A Lama held his sword, while he
turned up one sleeve of his coat to have his arm free, and the Lamas
turned up the other for him. Then he strode toward me with slow,
ponderous steps, swinging the shiny, sharp blade from side to side, with
his bare arms outstretched.
The man Nerba, who was still holding me by the hair, was told to make me
bend my neck. I resisted with what little strength I had left,
determined to keep my head erect and my forehead high. They might kill
me, true enough, they might hack me to pieces if they chose, but never
until I had lost my last atom of strength would these ruffians make me
stoop before them. I might perish, but it would be looking down upon the
Pombo and his countrymen.
The executioner, now close to me, held the sword with his nervous hands,
lifting it high above his shoulder. He then brought it down to my neck,
which he touched with the blade, to measure the distance as it were, for
a clean, effective stroke. Then, drawing back a step, he quickly raised
the sword again and struck a blow at me with all his might. The sword
passed unpleasantly close to my neck under my chin, but did not touch
me. I did not flinch nor speak. My indifference impressed him almost to
the point of frightening him. He seemed disinclined to continue his
diabolical performance; but the impatience and turbulence of the crowd
were at their highest. The Lamas nearer him gesticulated like madmen and
urged him on again.
Apparently against his will, the executioner went through the same
performance on the other side of my head. This time the blade passed so
near that the point cannot have been more than half an inch or so from
my neck.
Everything pointed toward my end being near; but, strange to say, I had
a feeling all the time that something would happen and my life would be
spared. As the chances of escape, however, seemed very meagre, I felt
sorry that I should have to die without seeing my dear parents and
relatives again. They would probably never know where and how I had
died. After my trying experiences, sufferings, and excitement since
entering Tibet, I did not, perhaps, realize my peril so much as I should
have done had I, for instance, been dragged from my comfortable London
quarters direct on to the execution-ground.
Naturally the scene was one that I am not likely to forget, and I must
say for the Tibetans that the whole affair was picturesquely carried
out. Even the ghastliest ceremonies may have their artistic side, and
this particular one, performed with extra pomp and flourish, was really
impressive.
It appears that the unpleasant sword exercise is sometimes gone through
in Tibet previous to actually cutting off the head, so as to make the
victim suffer mentally as much as possible before the final blow is
given. It is also done in order to display the wonderful skill of the
executioner in handling the big sword. I was not aware of this at the
time, and only learned it some weeks after. It is usually at the third
stroke that the victim is actually beheaded.
The Lamas were still clamoring for my head, but the Pombo made a firm
stand this time, and declined to go on with the execution. They
collected round him and seemed very angry. They shouted and yelled and
gesticulated in the wildest fashion, and still the Pombo kept his eyes
fixed upon me in a half-respectful, half-frightened manner, and refused
to move.
An excited consultation followed, during which, in the midst of this
scene of barbarity, my coolie Mansing arrived. He had fallen off his
bare-back pony many times, and had been left far behind. The man who
held my hair now relinquished his grasp, while another pushed me
violently from in front, causing me to fall heavily backward, and
putting a painful strain on all the tendons of my legs. Mansing, bruised
and aching all over, was brought forward and tied by his legs to the
same log of wood to which I was fastened. They informed me that they
would kill my coolie first. One brutal Lama seized him roughly by the
throat. I was pushed up in a sitting posture. A cloth was thrown over my
head and face, so that I could not see what they were doing. I heard
poor Mansing groan pitifully, then there was a dead silence. I called
him, but received no answer, so I concluded that he had been killed. I
was left in this terrible suspense for over a quarter of an hour, when
at last they removed the cloth from over my head, and I saw my coolie
lying before me, bound to the log and almost unconscious, but, thank
God, still alive. He told me that, when I had called him, a Lama had
placed his hand upon his mouth to prevent him from answering, while,
with the other hand, the Lama had squeezed his neck so tightly as to
nearly strangle him. Mansing's coolness and bravery during these
terrible trials were really marvellous.
We were told that our execution was only postponed till the next day, in
order that we might be tortured until the time came for us to be put to
death.
A number of Lamas and soldiers stood round jeering at us. I seized this
opportunity to hail a swaggering Lama and ask him for some refreshment.
"_Orcheh, orcheh nga dappa tugu duh, chuen deh, dang, yak, guram, tcha,
tsamba pin!_" (I am very hungry; please give me some rice, yak meat,
_ghur_, tea, and oatmeal!) I asked, in my best Tibetan.
"_Hum murr, Maharaja!_" (I want butter, your Majesty!) put in Mansing,
half in Hindustani and half in the Tibetan language.
This natural application for food seemed to afford intense amusement to
our torturers. They formed a ring round us, and laughed at our appeal,
while Mansing and I, both of us famished, were left bound in a most
painful position.
The day had now waned. Our torturers did not fail to constantly remind
us that the following day our heads would be severed from our bodies. I
told them that it would cause us no pain, for if they gave us no food we
should probably be dead from starvation by then.
Whether they realized that this might be the case, or whether some other
reason moved them, I cannot say. Several Lamas, who had been most
brutal, including one who had the previous day taken part in Chanden
Sing's flogging, now became quite polite and treated us with a
surprising amount of deference. Two Lamas were dispatched to the
monastery, and returned after some time with bags of _tsamba_ and a
large _raksang_ of boiling tea. I have hardly ever enjoyed a meal more,
though the Lamas stuffed the food down my throat with their unwashed
fingers so fast that they nearly choked me.
"Eat, eat as much as you can," said they, grimly, "for it may be your
last meal."
And eat I did, and washed the _tsamba_ down with quantities of buttered
tea, which they poured into my mouth carelessly out of the _raksang_.
Mansing, whose religion did not allow him to eat food touched by people
of a different caste, was eventually permitted to lick the meal out of
the wooden bowl. I myself was none too proud to take the food in any way
it might be offered, and when my humble "_Orcheh, orcheh tchuen mangbo
terokchi!_" (Please give me some more!) met with the disapproval of the
Lamas, and brought out the everlasting negative, "_Middu, middu_" I was
still too hungry to waste any of the precious food given us. Upon
application the Tibetans revolved the wooden bowl round and round my
mouth, and I licked it as clean as if it had never been used.
After all the excitement of the day, we were beginning to feel a little
better. It was a great relief to be treated less roughly, were it only
for a few moments, when, small as it was, the improvement in our
condition was checked.
A Lama came from the monastery and gave orders right and left. The place
was again in commotion. We were pounced upon and roughly seized. My legs
were quickly untied, a number of men holding me down the while. Again
they lifted me until I stood upright on the cutting edge of the
prismatic log; two men seized one leg and two the other, and stretched
them apart as far as they could possibly go. Then rope after rope was
wound round my feet and ankles, and I was made fast as before to the
log.
As my legs were much farther apart this time, the pain in the muscles of
my legs when they proceeded to knock me down backward was even greater
than it had been on the previous occasion. But before I had time to feel
it in full, the Lamas, now as ferocious as they were at first, dragged
my manacled arms backward from under my body and tied a rope to the
chain of the handcuffs. This done, they passed the rope through a hole
in the top of a high post behind me, and by tugging at it, strained my
arms upward in a way that, had I been less supple, would certainly have
broken them. When all their strength combined could not stretch me
another inch without tearing my body to pieces, they made the rope fast,
and I remained half suspended, and feeling as if all the bones of my
limbs were getting pulled out of their sockets. The weight of the body
naturally tending to settle down would, I felt, every moment increase
the suffering of this terrible torture, which was really a primitive
form of the rack.
Mansing was likewise suspended opposite me. His feet were tied to the
log to which my own were fastened, only not quite so wide apart.
The pain was at first intense, the tendons of the legs and arms being
dreadfully strained, and the spinal column bent so as to be nearly
broken in two. The shoulder-blades, forced into close contact, pressed
the vertebrae inward, and caused excruciating pains along the lumbar
vertebrae, where the strain was greatest.
As if this were not sufficient, a cord was tied from Mansing's neck to
mine, the object of which was to keep our necks stretched in a most
uncomfortable position.
It began to rain heavily. We were left out in the open. The rags to
which our clothes had been reduced in our struggle when we were first
seized were drenched. Half naked and wounded, we were alternately numbed
with cold and burning with fever. A guard encircled us, having with them
two watch-dogs tied to pegs. The soldiers were apparently so confident
of our inability to escape that they drew their heavy blankets over
their heads and slept. One of them in his slumber moved and pushed his
sword outside the blanket in which he had rolled himself tight. This
inspired me with the idea of attempting to escape.
Two or three hours later the night was dark. Thanks to the exceptionally
supple nature of my hands, I succeeded in drawing the right hand out of
my handcuffs, and, after an hour or so of stealthy and anxious work, I
managed to unloose the cord that bound Mansing's feet. I whispered to
him to get up slowly and to push the sword toward me with his foot until
I could reach it. If successful in this, I could soon cut my bonds and
those fastening Mansing's hands, and with a weapon in our possession we
would make a bold dash for liberty.
Mansing, however, was not a champion of agility. In his joy at feeling
partly free, the poor coolie moved his stiff legs clumsily. The vigilant
watch-dogs detected this, and gave the alarm by barking. The guards were
up in a moment. Timid as they always were, they all hurriedly left us,
and went to fetch lights in order to examine our bonds.
In the meanwhile, protected by the darkness of the stormy night, I had
succeeded in replacing my hand inside the iron handcuff. Putting it back
was more difficult than drawing it out, but I just managed to do it in
time. The men who had gone to the monastery returned with lights. I
pretended to be fast asleep: a likely thing with every bone in my body
feeling as if it were disjointed, every limb half numbed and frozen,
every tendon so strained as to drive me mad with pain!
The Tibetans found the bonds round Mansing's feet undone. They examined
my hands and saw them just as they had left them. They inspected my
feet. The ropes were still there cutting into my flesh. They inspected
Mansing's hands, only to find them still fastened to the post behind.
The Tibetans were so puzzled at this mysterious occurrence that they
positively got frightened. They began to shout excitedly, calling for
help. In a moment the alarm was given, a crowd of men rushed at us, and,
with their swords drawn, surrounded us. One man, braver than the rest,
gave Mansing a few cuts with a whip, warning us that if the ropes were
found undone again they would decapitate us there and then. The coolie
was again bound more tightly than ever.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 13: Measured some weeks later by Doctor Wilson.]