Here we found Ackbau haranguing the victims,
and describing to them the tortures they would shortly be called upon
to suffer. One of the captives had been prepared for the sacrifice,
and, but for the gravity of his position, his appearance might have
excited mirth. His body was encased in a kind of basket from which his
head, arms, and legs protruded, giving him the appearance of a gigantic
insect. To the top of the basket, or tamgky, to give it its native
name, was attached a rope of flax, the end of which had been thrown
over a branch of one of the trees to the height of about forty feet
from the ground. By command of Ackbau, a file of warriors now began to
pull upon this rope, when the victim was drawn up to the branch over
his head, where Melannie told me he would be allowed to remain until,
in the course of time, the rope rotted away, when the skeleton would
fall to the ground. The object of enclosing the vital parts of the
victim in a basket was that death might come as slowly as possible.
Some would live, so the queen assured me, for many days, during which
time of agony their faces and the exposed parts of their bodies would
be devoured by ants and other venomous insects.
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