Witsenia maura
Witsenia maura
Tulbaghia violacea
Tulbaghia violacea
Streptocarpus Dunnii
Streptocarpus Dunnii
Stapelia Gettleffii
Stapelia Gettleffii
Senecio stapeliaeformis
Senecio stapeliaeformis
Sarcocaulon rigidum
Sarcocaulon rigidum
Richardia Rehmanni
Richardia Rehmanni
Richardia angustiloba
Richardia angustiloba
Protea abyssinica
Protea abyssinica
Pachypodium succulentum
Pachypodium succulentum
Orothamnus Zeyheri
Orothamnus Zeyheri
Nymphaea stellata
Nymphaea stellata
Moraea iridioides
Moraea iridioides
Mimetes palustris
Mimetes palustris
Leucadendron Stokoei
Leucadendron Stokoei
Leucadendron Stokoei
Leucadendron Stokoei
Haemanthus natalensis
Haemanthus natalensis
Gladiolus Rehmanni
Gladiolus Rehmanni
Gladiolus psittacinus
Gladiolus psittacinus
Gerbera Jamesoni
Gerbera Jamesoni
Gardenia globosa
Gardenia globosa
Freesia refracta
Freesia refracta
Cyrtanthus sanguineus
Cyrtanthus sanguineus
Cyrtanthus rotundilobus
Cyrtanthus rotundilobus
Cyrtanthus obliquus
Cyrtanthus obliquus
Cyrtanthus McKenii
Cyrtanthus McKenii
Cyrtanthus Angustifolius
Crassula falcata
Cyrtanthus Angustifolius
Clivia miniata
Clivia miniata
Clerodendron triphyllum
Clerodendron triphyllum
Ceropegia Rendallii
Ceropegia Rendallii
Ceropegia Meyeri
Ceropegia Meyeri
Bolusanthus speciosus
Bolusanthus speciosus
Arctotis Decurrens
Arctotis Decurrens
Aloe Globuligemma
Aloe Globuligemma
Aloe pretoriensis
Aloe pretoriensis
Aloe Pienaarii
Aloe Pienaarii
Agapanthus Umbellatus
Agapanthus Umbellatus
Adenium multiflorum
Adenium multiflorum
Acokanthera spectabilis
Acokanthera spectabilis
Jerboa
Jerboa
Laying on the punishment
Then the sentence is passed by the compound manager—ten, fifteen, or twenty strokes, according to the crime. The coolie, with a Chinese policeman on either side of him, is taken away about ten paces. Then he stops, and at the word of a policeman drops his pantaloons, and falls flat on his face and at full length on the floor. One policeman holds his feet together; another, with both hands pressed firmly on the back of his head, looks after that end of his body. Then the flagellator, with a strip of thick leather on the end of a three-foot wooden handle, lays on the punishment, severely or lightly, as instructed. Should the prisoner struggle after the first few strokes, another policeman plants a foot in the middle of his back until the full dose has been administered.
Instead of flogging
A more refined form of torture was to bind a coolie's left wrist with a piece of fine rope, which was then put through a ring in a beam about nine feet from the ground. This rope was then made taut, so that the unhappy coolie, with his left arm pulled up perpendicularly, had to stand on his tip-toes. In this position he was kept, as a rule, for two hours, during which time, if he tried to get down on his heels, he must dangle in the air, hanging from the left wrist.
Cutting the flesh
In another form of flogging practised, a short bamboo was used. The coolie would strip to the waist and go down on his knees with his head on the floor. His castigator would then squat beside him, and strike him across the shoulders with lightning rapidity. The blows, though apparently light, always fell on the one spot, and raised a large red weal before cutting the flesh. During the first quarter of this year no fewer than fifty-six coolies were whipped, after 8 p.m. one evening, at the Witwatersrand Mine, the dose varying from five to fifteen strokes.
A new form of torture
Every mine has its lock-up for malingerers, deserters, and others. At the Witwatersrand the coolies are handcuffed over a horizontal beam. The floor is of concrete, and they may sit down, but the beam is so far from the floor that it is impossible for any but exceptionally tall men to sit while handcuffed. They must therefore squat, and for a change raise themselves in a semi-standing posture.
Capturing deserters
All the measures taken by the Government and the mine owners to prevent desertion have proved ineffective. The country around the Witwatersrand Mines has taken upon itself the aspect of the whole of the colony during the late war. Mounted constables with loaded revolvers organize drives. The whole district is patrolled, and every effort is made to bring back the deserters to the compounds. But as soon as one lot has returned another escapes. Every day you may see a mounted policeman riding down towards the law courts, followed by a string of Chinese deserters.