EXECUTION OF THE FLOWERY LAND PIRATES.

Otago Witness, Issue 650, 14 May 1864, Page 6

EXECUTION OF THE FLOWERY LAND PIRATES.

John Lyons, Francisco Blanco, Ambrosio alias Mauricio Duranno, Morens Watter, Miguel Lopez, alias Joseph Chances?, ■were executed at Newgate on the 22nd February.

The circumstances of the crime for which the culprits, all of whom were young men, paid the penalty of death, were as follows : — On the night on which the foul deed ■was committed the chief mate was on deck and the captain and other officers were below. All things seemed as usual — quiet and orderly. Suddenly, about three o'clock, a cry was raised, and an attack made on the first mate by mutineers among the crew. He called for help, but being unable to make any communication with the captain, he was speedily massacred. Some of the crew were down below and the captain appeared to have left his berth, having probably been disturbed by the noise above, and had reached the cabin, where he was attacked, and killed by stabs from a number of daggers. His brother, hearing the noise, left his berth, and was j proceeding up the companion-ladder when I he was seized and thrown into the sea, A rope was put round the neck of the captain's body, to haul him up and throw him overboard, when the second mate interfered and asked permission to sew the body up in canvas, and perform, as well as poßßible, the last office to the dead. This favour was denied, and he ■was knocked down. The ship was then iearched, and all the property, including coins and silver money to the amount •f about L7O in the captain's desk, was brought out for division. The second mate, who had locked himself in the cabin, was asked to come out At first he dealined, fearing that his life might be taken , but on receiving an assurance that he would not be hurt, he released himself and was compelled to divide the property. Watter, it appeared, wanted the spoil to be divided among eight of the crew, but Lyons said that it should be divided among 17. The second mate and those of the men who take no part in the affray, declined to have any portion of it; but the second mate was compelled to divide it amongst the 17, and he locked big portion up in the captain's drawers. The ship's carpenter declined to take any, as well as others of the crew ; but being told that { they must have it, they acceded. The second mate was compelled to navigate the ship — be being the only one on board capable of doing so — and on October 2, in the daytime, they sighted land. Immediately afterwards all the pirates decided on scuttling the vessel, taking with them only such of the crew as were necessary to man the boats in safety. The carpenter was thereupon forced to bore a number of holes in the vessel, after which the boats were got in order, and brought to the side. They left the cook and the boy, Richard Early, to die on the deep, brutally murdered the steward, and slowly made for the land, accompanied by their forced guides, watching callously the sinking ship. The pirates landed at Monte Video. The second mate aad one of the crew, a Frenchman, managed to make their escape to a settlement, where they found some one who spoke English, and to him they at once gave information of what had occurred. The murderers were apprehended and sent to London, where they were found guilty and condemned to die. PREPARATIONS FOR TUB EXECUTION. At twenty minutes or so to eight, all who had any duty to perform in this last dreadful act drew together in a little room, when one of the gaol officials appeared, and said that the condemned would soon be ready. They were " quite eomortable," he added, and were finishing their breakfast. On those present, who were little versed in the business-like routine with, which what has to be done within the gaol on execution mornings is performed, the observation of the warder seemed astounding, though evidently meant to reassure. To others, who unetood the nature of the intimation better, it. was a relief aa telling how soon the whole of the painful ceremony would be over. At & quarter to eight Mr Jones, the governor of Newgate, entered, and said quietly, "We are all ready, gentlemen ;" whereupon, in obedience to an old custom ofthejurorp proceeding fir 8t on these occasions, the under-sheriffs led the way, followed by the sheriffs and about a dozen officials and spectators, in a kind of rough procession, two and two. In this order they passed out from the sessions- house, ana descended the flight of steps into the courtyard of Newgate, where from, beyond the massive stone walls the shouts, and uproar of the mob came with a loud indistinct noise, like tbt roar of au angry sea. VBM ACU9AMA OF LOXIKMZ. One passage, though wider than them all, was gloomier, in fact, than any, and absolutely Urrible in Its associations. Its walls were of axtra height; the thick black iron grating which crossed aboro it waned almost close enough to keep out the half-thawed snow which cams floating.

, , " " ' .' ti down ; the pavement was ruinously uneven,- and on the whitewashed walls" af. either side rough capital letters, coarsely carved in stone, could just be deciphered. In thw forlorn, dim, close-barred alley, the horrors of Newgate seemed to culminate, for this is the Aceldama of our metropolis', the burying-place of London murderers, the miserable spot which is horrible and infamous even to prisoners, where almost immediately after coming from the gallows the corpses of felons are , huddled naked into shells full of quick lime, and thrust beneath the pavement as soon as cold. It was impossible to pass along this dreadful place of sepulture, where death is associated with whatever is dark and terrible in human destiny, without a feeling of more than awe as one looked at the significant irregularity of the pavement, and read at a glance the dreadful tales of blood which, without words, the " G " for Greenacre, or the "C " for Courvoisier, seemed to ac always disclosing. Singularly enough, it is nearly forty years since London has witnessed so terrible an execution as that of yesterday, and then the Cato street conspirators suffered more for their folly than their crimes. Thistlewood and his companions occupy one end of the wall of this prison cemetery, and there has been only just room left to place Watto and his fellow-murderers under corresponding slabs of stone at the other extremity of the passage. Passing through this and the place where women murderers also find a last asylum, where even their infamy is in time forgotten, the way winds on through courts and passages till the last grated door is silently opened, and the little procession, such as that of the 22nd, passes from a lofty, warm, and spacious building, lighted from the top, and with a series of stone balustrades or balconies one over the other running in front of the cells built into the walls around. A large black board, marked with the single word " silence," hung in the centre of this the Nevr Wing. But the injunction wad unnecessary this day, for not a word was spoken as the little group of officials stopped in front of the condemned cells. The silence from this time was almost unbroken, but all the rest of the dreadful incidents of the execution were hurried rapidly to a close. PINIONING THE CONVICTS. I A short, thickset, shabby man, with venerable white locks and beard which his sinister face .belied, shuffling rapidly in, cringing with a fawning deference to all he passed, and opening a cell, proceeded to pull out several black leather straps, with thongs and buckles that looked at first like harness. With one of these in his hand he proceeded to the first cell, which was at once opened, and Watto was called forth to be pinioned by the common hangman. With the first call of his name Watto stepped forth into the corridor, and stood meekly before the executioner, a slight, fair, and very good-looking young man of 21 or 22 — a lad whom to judge by physiognomy alone, one would have chosen out of a thousand for a kind and gentle disposition. His real name was Marcos Vartos, and in his indictment he was designated as of Turkish origin, but in religion he was a Greek, and was, in fact, one of that numerons class known in the Levant as low Franks, a class which comprises within its ranks the offscourings of most that is bad in Europe. In spite of his mild appearance and now meek bearing, he was, if evidence is ever to be trusted, one of the most ruthless of all these men — foremost among the plotters, most merciless of the assassins. He was attended by Mr. Morphinoz, and looked perfectly resigned and subdued as the hangman drew the straps and buckles rigidly around. When it was done he asked for the turnkey who had witched over him since his conviction, and when he at once came forward, tried to shake hands with him and kiss him on the cheek. Rut the gaoler, almost shuddering, drew back from the salute, and then, and only then, did the wretched young man seem abashed and cast down beneath the ignominy of his position, nor did the explanation of his clergyman that such farewells between men were not customary in England seem at all to relieve the confusion and despondency with which he retired slowly to his cell. The next to step forth from his room was Lopez— the adviser of all the murders, the determined perpetrator of at least one — the worst looking in countenance, and to the very moment of his death the most defiant in bearing and in gesture of them, all. There was no levity among the lookers-on of yesterday, hut it was impossible to avoid the remark made at the time, that it seemed almost aa if Lopez had been lunged before, so lightly did he step forth, so rapidly did he adjust his every more.meat to the necessities of the hangman, 1 and tfcrtut his hands, almost by anticipation, into the straps that were to confine hw dying struggles. Yefc not for a second did Ui aaere swagger, if we may use such & terra at each ct titney impose on those «ceustomed to see really brave men going to their deaft. Sb unsteady was he that

every movement, even the least effort.thehangman made to buckle the straps threatened to tilt? him over: his fingers were almost buckled in the way the hands were clasped together; his, eyes sought every face.with.au anxioas, dreadful glance; his lips- trembled, though he tried almost incessantly to wet them with his perched tongue, but in vain. Duranno, who so cruelly assassinated the mate, was the next j to come out, and he,' like the two that followed him, were what are called Manilla men — that is to say, they were born in ■the East and spoke indifferent Spanish. They were all, however, of the pure Tartar Type, flat nosed, small eyed, with low, retreating foreheads, and heads thickly covered with masses of lank black hair, like those of the North American Indians. Duranno was the first who showed signs of fear. Watto wa3 resigned; Lopez was defiant, but Duranno seemed blanched by his fear to a dull clayed hue that was worse to look upon than the pallor of death itself. Still, though his lips kept shivering, and his eyes reeled, he seemed to bear up till the hangman removed the sailor's necktie and undid the collar of his shirt. Then the death that was so near seemed to come upon him in all its bitterness, and be crept together with his limbs, and spoke a few words, in almost piteous tones, to the Roman Catholic who was with him.' Blanco was even worse than this. Large beyond all the rest in stature, an overmatch for almost all the others in mere brute strength, the man who had taken the most conspicuous and relentless part in all the murders, who had struck down the mate, and boasted of having thrown him while praying for mercy into the sea, whp had stabbed the captain in his sleep, and beaten the captain's brother till his very corpse was shapeless, came out of his cell as if the very agony of death was on him,' so strongly did he ahow his fear. He seemed helpless as he was being pinioned, and sighed heavily. He-, 'like Duranno, shuddered as his neckerchief was removed, but seemed gratified that two little copper crucifixes, which he wore round bis neck, were allowed to remain, and then speaking to the priest, asked to be permitted to carry with him two little " holy pictures," as they are called on the continent, one of the crucifixion, the other of the ascension. Both were, of course placed in his hands, but though he asked for them he seemed not to heed them when he had them, but kept trying to wet his lips with his tongue and rolling his eyes up above him on every side, looking as it seemed to those around, for the scaffold on which he was to die. Leone, or Lyons, as he was called, was the last to come. Without any show of fear, but with much of sorrow, he stepped into the corridor and was pinioned, looking, as he showed himself throughout, a resigned, and apparently, deeply repentant man. He j spoke English tolerably well, and when his hands and elbows were closely fastened to his side, he leant forward and in a few broken words said to Mr Sheriff Cave that he quite admitted the justice of his punishment, but until then he had never seen how wicked his crime had been or how deserving it \>as of death. This was the only approach to a public confession made by any of the men. The Roman Catholic clergyman who attended the others kept their confessions rigidly secret, as is the rule oi faith with them, though it was somehow understood that all had acknowledged the justice of their sentences more or less directly. GOING TO THE SCAFFOLD. When Leone retired to his cell the hangman left, and in a minute afterwards a signal was given, and one after another the five men were brought out, each between two warders, and then a somewhat hurried move was made through the passages again, but this time across another court yard towards the front of the gaol, over the walls of which could be heard reverberating the dismal tolling of St. Stephen's bell, and worse than all, the impatient, clamorous, . roaring hum of the crowd outside. Within a heavy iron grate they were thus led to a form, and there, for the first time since their trial, they sat down side by side, and almost as they did so the bell of Newgate, with a loud, discordant boom, began to toll above their heads. Beyond where the culprits were sitting was a passage, the end of tvhieh ftas thinly hung with black, and' which ]ed out into 'the open air, as ,was shown by the glare of the day coming down between the narrow dark stone walls. Outside this waa the scaffold. But it needed nothing to tell the men that within a fe^ feet of where", they sat they were to die a shameful and violent death, for within the first, boom of the bell came in the hoarse murmur that a multitude makes when talking, mingled with an indescribable ta-ampling sound, and cries of " hats off, hats off," *,Hhey are coming;" amid all which, and the noise and sway of a great crowd, the bell above the heads of the now fast dying met}, Jnrent tolling sa-, pidly on. ', It sounded more like an alarm tha^;,ft. kneJL Its *lam©ur , would

Jjave.. silenced talking,- if-vany- wished to talk. But .nothing t now was said as Duranrio and. Blanco leant back faint, and the others, seemed i to .listen with, dreadful faces, now • looking up to where the clang of the bell came down uponthem, then glancing with -quivering lips■through the passage which just let in the daylight and the noise of the crowd, but allowed nothing to be seen beyond the yard. The old hangman left to take "a glimpse at the scaffold,- and see that all was* ready, and after him went one" or two officials furtively glancing at the mass of human beings which swarmed through Newgate street > into Smitbfield, which thronged the housetops ' and windows far and rear, all looking with white iip-turned faces to where the dingy gibbet with its five short links of chain stood in front of the debtors' door. Scarcely a minute was thus passed when the hangman returned and hurried out with young Watto, at the sight of whom there was a renewed cry from the multitude outside. Perhaps at the sight of his comrade in guilt thusborne away, perhaps ,at the sound of 'the mob without, Duranno turned pale and faint, and asked for water. > Water and brandy were bath brought, and Duranno and Blanco both drank a little of the spirit raw, and were then hurried off. Lopez was called next, but as he rose there was a half shout, half scream from the crowd outside, for Blanco, the. most powerful of all the murderers, and supposed to be themost hardened, had fainted with the roperound his 'neck, and was, in fact, hanging, till the warders ran back -to fetch a chair,, in which the wretched man was propped" till the drop fell. Lopez and LeoneVnow remained alone on the bench,. Lopez careless ,as , usual, though' quiet ; Leone resigned,, and apparently absorbed in thought and prayer. Again* Lopez "was told to rise, but again 'therewas a delay, of which he ' took advantage, to ask for 'something'' to drink. Water was. put to his mouth, but he spat it oat and turned away his head, though the* feverish eagerness with which he swallowed some brandy was awful to beholdThen he rose, and, as he stood hearing thebell toll, his desperate spirit at last gaveway, and his eyes filled with tears, whichhe tried in vain to raise his pinioned hands to wipe away. Then he too, went out. with, a light, jaunty step, and was almost immediately followed by Leone. THE EXECUTION. There was deep silence now within and? without the gaol, and none of the officials; compelled to be present looked out, for theold hangman had left the men standing hv. a row, and was busy beneath the scaffold*. In another instant there was a heavy sound, and all turned away, while thegibbet croaked audibly, for the five mur- • derers hung dying side by side. Ther&was a dreadful pause inside for a minute or two, during which all spoke in whispers, a» if in a sick chamber. Then the creaking ceased, and the hangman, after a few business-like looks behind, came slouching in,, and his return was takeni. as a sign that all was quiet now, an&' that the last and moat solemn effort' which man can make for self-preservation had been exercised against five as determined murderers as have ever swung inn front of Newgate. CUTTING DOWHr'A.NI> HURTING. At nine o'clock the sheriffs were again* summoned to witness the cutting down of the bodies and to be present at the certification of the surgeon that thd condemned could never say or sin again. The cutting; down of the corpses, was almost more repulsive than the hanging. The noises fromthe croyd which accompanied the severance of each rope, the heavy thump with which the corpse fell .into it's shell, the-,, speed with which\ it was borne . in, tin- * pinioned, cast loose from its halter, and* pronounced dead, made this a painful though, fortunately, ' # very quick business. The countenance; only of Watto was slightly changed; the t rest lay tumbled ia< their shells as the hangman had left them,, precisely as though they had slept. At two in the day their "clothes were cut off* them to the last fragment, and burnt. Th 6 shells Jarere then filled up with-quick-lime, and at three o'clock they were.placed ■ beneath the stone at the- end of the gloomy " burying place we have 'mentioned, without, form or ceremony of any kind. < • SCBNBS OOTSIDB THJJ GAOL, , By many a jdevious circuit,- by aid of duckings beneath barriers, and much obsequious propitiation of King Mob, ; the nortb end was reached, and we stood opposite^ the debtors' door of Newgate/Once there/ the incautious strange* became a mere passive instrument in t^e hands of toutera,. * hoarse of voice and wiry of \ limb k foul- in» gesture and appearance, and vehement in 1 asseveration. Prices •at this' time apparently ranged from tea shillings to one* guinea for a single seat ;' and as the only, restriction upon the numbers packed ineach', room, lay in the- conscience of it*> :; .tenant, it may be conceived that the t&. " : comraodation 1 . provided l , was in masy ip~ stance* ol.iiiey^tely.nri^vl'ljh'a.: $m*l " ;

of the houses had different sets of families • residing on their several squalid doors, and as ' each family, in its determination to make a harvest, had its own tout yelling and cajoling on the outside, disputes as the destination of the seat taker, and as to the claim of the man who by first pouncing on the taker had declared him to be hi 3 especial prey, were of momentary occurrence. After inspecting and rejecting many of the rooms _ proffered, after stormy interview* •with disappointed proprietors, who accused us of depreciating their property and wasting their time, we selected a tavern almost opposite to the fatal drop, wherein we spent nine of the saddest hours we have «ver known, and from the first floor of which we witnessed more brutal, callous wickedness than we have either words to express or heart to describe. Conducted with entire propriety, its liquor counter closed, its lower windows barricaded, this house was let from top to bottom to men of the better class, a proportion of whom were philanthropists •engaged in testing the effect of capital punishment upon witnesses around. They had ample opportunity of doing so. " I wonder they didn't hang you," was the first remark of the landlord on hearing we had ventured to walk up to the Old Bailey, and in a fetv minutes we experienced the terrible significance of his remark. On the pavement beneath were assembled, not merely the scum of the population, not the drab 3 and petty thieves who bandy ribaldry and pilfer deftly, but organised gangs of powerful muscular ruffian", who hustled and robbed every wayfarer who had aught of which to be despoiled. It was not that the policemen were inefficient, but that in this place they were invisible. Round the gallows, and in a long cordon reaching to the end of the prison, we could see them in unbroken order keeping a perfect line. But it is not too much to say that the pavement from the corner of Snow Hill to the Old Bailey was for some hours as -completely in the hands of a band of desperadoes, as if neither law nor order were known in our land. Woe to the moneyed people who having engaged and paid for rooms beforehand, essayed to make their way thither in the small hours of that day. ' The instant any one of even moderately ■respectable exterior appeared upon the •-scene, the watchword, " Black, black," was shouted, and in an inconceiveably short space of time he was surrounded, hustled, -divested of all valuables, and sent hatless and coatless away. If he resisted, he was 'beaten; if he cried out, he was garotted. ' Seated within a few feet of the pavement, and with an army of policemen within a a stone's throw, we saw this happen, not ■ once or twice, but dozens of times. Tne ■ mode of procedure was uniform, and its -effect instantaneous. The lookers-on heard ■the mystic "Black, black," and immediately saw a hatless figure struggling powerlessly with thirty or forty assailants, who seized him by the throat, tore his -garments, emptied his pockets, and flung him away. The people of the house, experienced in executions from their earliest youth, assured us that in utter lawlessness - and open rapine this crowd surpassed anything they had either seen or deemed possible, and strong men openly avowed their 1 fear of stirring half a dozen yards from their own door. Just as there are •certain breakers wherein no boat can live, ■so this brutal ganging had features of its own, .against which neitner strength, science, nor courage • coukl avail. While these inconceivably .disgraceful scenes were being enacted, the obscene and blasphemous •cries of the crew engaged in mocking the preaohera in the crowd, the fierce cheers with which the constant fights were encouraged, the screams and whistlings, the hideous groans, and indecent songs, formed -an accompaniment which, as an open expression of abandoned depravity and ram-/ pant sin, has probably not been exceeded flinceTthe world began. We arouse ourselves at seven', in. accordance with previous, agreement, and mount io the roof. , Here the view is suffiCiently remarkable.' As far aa the eye cm reach below is a dense crowd composed, we ought, to,, say^ principally, of men, the eaves of the adjacent .bouses, their chimney-pots, even their very spouts, furnish - resting-places for the ea^er students of the gallows. To my right is a rosy-chewed well behaved child, .some ten years -of age, apparently brought hither by bis father, who is careful to pomt out to him the 'precise place where themenare to fall. Round about the gallows is a well kept space, wherein privileged people walk in comfort, and gentlemanly well-dressed men may be seen therein, some languidly promenading, others engaged in deep and earnest conversation, gazing up from time to time to the plain black apparatus before them, much as. members of tbe Jockey Club maybe seen glancing afthe Ladies' Stand from their own private ground. The presence of the ineyitabie stray dog which is trotting to aud fro in this, space gives additional vitality to a simile drawn frpm the race-course, while the dilletunte air of some of the strollers jars even more strongly against our sense of fitness than the

brutalities of the crowd. Caps and hats are being thrown about with renewed vigour ; fights are going on in three or our places at once ; huge men hurl themselves, or are hurled bodily, upon the heads ard shoulders of their denselypacked fellows, and are thus passed, kicking, shouting and sprawling, from head to head ; the space round the gallows becomes gradually fuller ; cat-calls, as at the theatre wken the gallery is impatient, are both more frequent and more shrill ; when the bell tolls, and " hats off " is yelled unanimously by the crowd. , THE EXECUTION VIEWED PROM THE OUTSIDE. The end is soon told. First, a swarthy, Chinese-faced sailor is led up to the steps' and placed under the hook nearest the prison, the white cap is drawn over his eyes, and the halter speedily adjusted' by Calcraf r, who is rewarded for his dexterity by cheering and clapping of hands from the mob; another man is ]m <$,>'! in and submitted to the same proce^ unda- the next hook ; when the first form suddenly drops, and finally collapses; blindfolded, pinioned, and helpless, the head falls forward and the legs give way. One of Calcraft's assistants endeavors to hold him up, but it is useless, and the poor limp figure — which looks from this height hideously like a broken .puppet— has to be held ia a rude chair, apparently put together in anticipation of some such emergency. A swoon has, in this ease, robbed death of some of its terrors, and the first sight which greets the rest of the other men is their apparently dead comrade being held forcibly in his chair, and the probable conclusion is that they behold a part of the ceremony which they, too, j are about to undergo. The rest came up to the steps in regular order, and are white-capped aud bound with terrible precision, Lopez, poor creature, winning a round of applause from the mob for his dare-devil bearing, and the rapidity of his gait. The priests hold crucifix to lips and murmer prayers in ears, then they are beckoned away, and, in a few moments, the poor fainting craven and the handsome dashing Lopez are equal, and five corpses sway to and fro in the cold and biting wind. Another hour, during which yells and fights progressed apace, and wherein unwomanly women appear as if from the earth, to indulge in fierce banter, and to take the initiative in j quarrels, and, at the strike of nine, Cal- [ craft once more appears on the drop 1 to cut down the bodies, and receive a perfect ovation from his delighted patrons, J The mate of the Flowery Land, writing j to the "Shipping Gazette," denies the] allegation of the unhappy men executed I on the 22nd that they were stinted in food or drink. The ship was provisioned, he says, for six months, and they had only been 32 days out when the murdere were committed. j