b o o k crown-piece, and about three quarters of an inch broad, and
. ' . rendered extremely hard by a peculiar kind o f preparation:
it is tied to a thick plaited whip, which is conne&ed, by means
o f an iron ring, with a Imall piece o f leather that a£ts like
a fpring, and is fattened to a ihort wooden handle.
The executioner, before every ftroke, receded a few paces,
and at the fame time drew back the hand which held the
k n o o t; then, bounding forwards, he applied the flat end
o f the thong with coniiderable force to the naked back o f
the criminal in a perpendicular line, reaching fix or feven
inches from the collar towards the waift. He began by hitting
the right fhoulder, and continued his ftrokes parallel
to each other quite to the left fhoulder; nor ceafed till he
had inflicted 333 lafhes,the number prefcribed by the feh-
tence. At the conclufion o f this terrible operation, the
noftrils o f the criminal were torn With pincers, his face
marked with a hot iron, and he was re-conducted to prifon,
an order to be tranfported to the mines o f Nerihinfk in Siberia.
As feveral authors have erroneoufly defcribed or exaggerated
the puniihment o f the knoot, I have been thus particular
in relating what fell under my obfervation; and I ihall
take this opportunity o f throwing together a few remarks
upon the penal laws o f Ruflia.
By the antient ftatutes, felons, as well as traitors, were
publickly executed; but by an edi£t o f the cmprefs Elizabeth,
certain corporal penalties were, in cafes o f felony,
fubftituted in the room of capital fentences, a circumftance
peculiar to the Ruffian code.
According to the prefent penal laws, offenders are pu-
niihed in the following manner.
Perfons convicted of high treafon are either beheaded or
imprifoned for life.
Felons,
Felons, after receiving the knoot, having their noftrils C«AP'
torn and their faces marked,,as 1 have juft defcribed, are con-' v *
demned for life to work in the mines o f Nerihinfk.
Petty offenders are either whipped % tranfported into Siberia
as colonifts, or fentenced to hard labour for a ftated period.
Among the colonifts are included peafants, who may
be arbitrarily configned by their matters to baniihment +.
All thefe perfons, felons and others, are tranfported in-
fpring and autumn from different parts o f the Ruffian dominions.
They travel part o f the way by water, and part
by land ; are chained in pairs, and fattened to a long rope 1
at night they are carried to different cottages, and guarded by
the foldiers who conduit them. When the whole troop arrive
at Tobolik, the governor affigns the Golonifts who have
been bred to handicraft trades to different matters in the
town; others he difpofes as vaflals in the neighbourhing.
country.. The remainder o f the colonifts go on to Irkutik,.
where they are difpofed of by the governor o f that town in
the fame manner. T h e felons then proceed alone to the:
diftriit o f Nerihinfk ; where they are condemned to work
in the iilver mines, or at the different forges.
Travellers, who-have vifited Ruffia previous- to the reign
o f Elizabeth,, uniformly concur in relating the various-
modes of publick executions, and in reprobating the feve-
rity o f the criminal laws.. But though we may join with
every friend to humanity in rejoicing that many o f thefe
dreadful puniihments no longer exift, yet we cannot aflentr
to the high encomiums patted upon the fuperior excellence-
•* T h e r e are th ree inftruments for w h ip - f T h e i r mafters are emp ow e red to infiich
p in g in R u ffia: th e kn o ot,. the k a tz e , and th is p u n ifhmen t, o n ly a f f i x in g .t h e caufe o f.
th e p le t t, b o th o f w h ich la t te r a r e a k in d th e offence,
o f ca t-o ’hine*tails.