SHOOKING BARBARITIES IN TUNIS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2549, 19 September 1865, Page 6

SHOOK ING BARBARITIES IN TUNIS.

The Levant Herald of June 12th [iriuts a letter {low Tunis, oonfc.uiiing the following shacking entails | — In my last I briefly mentioned the barbarous flogging, or lather "sticking," of the Arab prisoners sent iv a couple of days before from the camps. Iv the hurry of catching the steamer I had baiely time to report the punishment, and to say that it lud produced a veiy bad geneial effect. It had begun t!}e day before the arriyid of Prince Arthur and, i<\ compliment to bin), ll|o baibarom operatiqu was'suqpended during his brief stay, to be lemmed as soon as the 'Enchantress' left, with greater vigour and cruelty thau ever. One of the victims was Sheikh lLidji Moubarik, a man of great influence Mnongsb the Arabs, and who inoie than any one else contributed to the cessation of the late levolt. This unhappy man, though sixty-seven yeais of age, was ordeied by the Bey to receive, two thousaud blows, and of these evei y one was inflicted. I vifsueueq the first part of this punishment, but was unubte to see it out, the cruelty was so levolting. '1 he wretched piisouer was thrown on his face on a piece of matting, with his feet tied together, and his head and shouUleis held down by a solilier. The blows were lail on acioss the hips and small of the back with a thick qqpen bfrick, a§ heavily as, A&tiong man could deliver them, and as. one tjre'd another tqok hi£| pl.ioe, wl)}ta a third counted .the blows aud shouted " strike batder, strike harder!" When the victim hail received 300 blows he called out imploring them to kill him right off; but the only result was that the stick was wielded with more brutal vigour thau before. The wholo 2,000 blows weie inflicted, aud at their conclusion the \ictnn wns tilten up — dead. Seven other sheikha teceivcd each 1,500 blows; of the3e also t'vo died under the miliction, and the other five within half-an-hour afterwaids. Of those who leceiv'gd SQQ blows 1 am told that fn c died after being tin own into prison, pearly tl}e whqle, of these, victims wore old men, many of them above seventy years of age. I heard it reckoned that no fewer than 132^500 blows have been given to this <me batch o£ piisonera, and at the camps 1 am assured punishment Qf sim)J,ir barbarity is .d,^' ouli Aw}y- $W tl}9 honour cf humanity, I*, is to ho regpatted that none of the consuls have mteifeied to pievont this biutal cruelty. Here was a matter in which all might h.ivt) joined in a remonstrance which tho Bey would not huvo dated to disiegnrd, ami yet thus far not ous of tho wholo body has utteied a word of piotest ngainst brutality which one mi. lit suppose to bo impossible within \\\o rango of Wnglish or Frdiich iL(|utiico ii^ this 19th century. ' Amongst tUo Aia,bs thumsrlve^, it is said that tho act, has decided them to emigrato wholesale to Algeria,' wheie' tho French offer thorn, free settlements and many other tempting advantages'.