Four “soldiers” formed a line on each side.  There was nothing to distinguish them from ordinary civilians, except their “lances,” or bamboo sticks to which bayonet points had been fastened.  These lances they planted in the ground and seated themselves.  Presently the two culprits, a man and a woman, came forward, with never a suggestion in their placid faces that they were the chief actors in the drama about to be enacted.  They seated themselves in front of the judges, while the witnesses took their places behind them.  The mother of the woman sat close by her guilty daughter, but there was no other exhibition of sentiment.  The judges did most of the talking, addressing questions to the defendants, who made a few short answers; the rest of the assemblage observed a decorous silence.  There were neither clerks nor lawyers.

I was, of course, not able to follow the testimony, but it was very short, and it was explained to me that the woman had run away with a married man.  They had provided themselves with plenty of corn from the man’s former home, and furthermore had stolen some beans, and lived very happy in a cave for a year.  The man could not be captured, even though on several occasions he visited his family.  But they frequently made native beer, and got drunk, and while in this condition they were caught and brought before this tribunal.

While the trial was going on, one of the “soldiers” got up and went some twenty yards off, dug a hole in the ground and planted a thick pole or post in it.  No sooner had he completed his task, when the accused man rose with a queer smile on his face, half chagrined, half sarcastic..  Dropping his blanket, he walked deliberately up to the pole, flanked by two soldiers, each of whom took hold of his hands, and by putting them crosswise on the further side of the pole, made the culprit hug the pole very tightly.  Now another man, wrapped closely in his blanket, stepped briskly up, drew as quick as a flash a leather whip from under his garment, and dealt four lashes over the shoulders of the prisoner, who was then released, and stolidly walked back to his seat, as if nothing had happened.

Now came the woman’s turn to be punished for her part in the thefts.  They took off her blanket, but left on a little white undergarment.  She was marched to the pole and held in the same manner as the man; but another man acted as executioner.  She, too, received four lashes, and wept a little when they struck her; but neither she nor her fellow-sufferer made any attempt at, or sign of, revolt against the sentence of the court.  While the chastising went on, the audience rose and stood reverently.  After returning to her seat, the woman knelt down, and both delinquents shook hands with the chief judge.

There still remained the second part of the accusation to be dealt with, the one relating to the marital complications.  The man asked permission to leave his first wife, as he wanted to marry the woman with whom he ran away.  But no divorce was granted to him.  He was ordered to return to his legitimate spouse, who was present at the proceedings with her child in her arms.  Evidently disappointed, he slowly stepped over to where she was standing and greeting him with a happy smile.