Such is the lot of the conquered nations; but the queen’s own subjects are not much better off.
In the year 1837, for instance, the queen received a report from her ministers to the effect that there were many magicians, thieves, violators of graves, and other evil-doers among the people. The queen immediately convened a kabar, or judicial meeting, for seven weeks, and at the same time caused it to be proclaimed to the people that all evil-doers who delivered themselves up should have their lives granted to them, but that those who failed so to do should suffer the punishment of death. A body of nearly sixteen hundred men gave themselves up accordingly. About fifteen hundred had voluntarily surrendered themselves to justice, and ninety-six had been denounced. Of these ninety-six, fourteen were burnt; and of the remaining eighty-two, some were hurled over a high rock, in the district of Tananariva, which has been the death-place of thousands; others were put into pits, and scalded to death with boiling water; others, again, were executed with the spear, or poisoned; a few were beheaded, and several had their limbs separately hacked off. The most painful death of all, perhaps, was inflicted on a portion of the victims, who were sewn up in mats in such a way that the head only protruded, and who were then left alive to rot.
Those who had been their own accusers were spared from execution, in accordance with the royal promise; but their fate was far worse than that of the men condemned to death. The queen declared that it would be dangerous to set such a number of criminals at liberty, and that they must, at any rate, be made harmless. So she had heavy irons fastened round their necks and wrists, and the unhappy victims were fastened together in gangs of four and five by very thick iron bars, about eighteen inches long. After this operation had been performed on them, they were set free--that is to say, they were at liberty to go where they would, only that guards were appointed in all directions, whose office it was to give strict heed that none of the irons were filed off. If one of a group died, it was necessary to cut off his head to extricate the corpse from the iron neck-ring, and the dead man’s fetters were left to weigh upon the survivors, so that at last they could hardly drag themselves from place to place, and perished miserably at last under the heavy weight.