Page:Pearl of Asia (Child JT, 1892).pdf/155

140 as the blood ran out, the faces bleaching nearly white. It was a horrible sight. After impaling the heads the man in charge proceeded to cut off the heels of the dead bodies so as to secure the chains around the ankles, and then the torsos were left on the ground for the dogs and vultures to feast on, but generally the friends of the doomed men wait till night and bear the bodies off, assisted in this by some of the priests, and convey them away for the purpose of cremation. Executions are rare in Bangkok, as the prisoners can be put to better use than executing them; it is only resorted to in such cases as I have mentioned to act as a check on the outlawry that would otherwise exist in a community where money can be used to evade justice and brigandage thus go unpunished. The curse of gambling is the cause of most of the crimes in Siam, which is mainly confined to petty stealing in the cities. In the country the outlaws frequently band together and then they bid defiance to the authorities, and when they are arrested the officials fail to punish them, if the necessary inducements are offered for their release. A reign of terror sometimes exists in and around the small towns in the interior. While at Ratburee a Chinaman told me that he had been for over three years endeavoring to bring to trial some scoundrels who had entered his house and assaulted him, killed his wife and gutted his place. He had them arrested, they were in chains and working for the governor, and that was the end of it. They will thus remain slaves till they die, if they have no one wealthy enough to buy them off, and thus escape the extreme penalty for their crime. Chapters could be written on prison life in this kingdom, of its untold