IN THE PENAL COLONY
101
feet, these for the throat, so as to fasten him tight. Here, at the
head of the bed where, as I said, the man first lies on his face, there
is this little ball of felt, which can be easily adjusted so that it goes
right into the man's mouth. Its purpose is to prevent his screaming
and biting his tongue. Of course, the man must take hold of the
ball
or' felt since, otherwise, his neck would be broken by the
throat-straps." "Is this cotton?" asked the explorer, bending for·
ward. "Why certainly," said the officer smiling, "just feel it your–
self." He seized the explorer's hand and guided it across the bed.
"It's a specially prepared cotton, that's why it looks so unfamiliar;
I'll
have something to say about its purpose later on." The explorer
was already won over a little in favor of the apparatus; he put
his hands over his eyes as a protection against the sun and looked
up at it. It was a large structure. The bed and the draughtsman
were of equal dimensions and looked like two dark chests. The
draughtsman was placed about two meters above the bed; both
were connected at the corners by four brass poles which almost
gave forth rays in the sunlight. The harrow was hanging between
the chests, on a steel band.
The officer had hardly noticed the explorer's earlier indiffer·
ence; he became aware, however, that his interest was now awaken–
ing;
he therefore interrupted his explanations to give the explorer
time for undisturbed contemplation. The condemned man imitated
the explorer; since he could not place his hand over his eyes, he
blinked directly upward.
"So the man lies down," said the explorer, and he leaned back
in
his arm-chair, crossing his legs.
"Yes," said the officer, pushing his cap back a little and pass–
ing
his hand over his hot face, "now listen! Both the bed and the
draughtsman have their own electric batteries; the bed needs one
for itself, the draughtsman one for the harrow. As soon as the man
M&
been strapped down, the bed is put in motion. It quivers simul–
llneously from side to side, as well as up and down, in tiny, very
rapid vibrations. You will probably have seen similar machines
ia
hospitals; only, in the case of our bed, all the motions are very
precisely calculated; for they have to be painstakingly accorded to
!he
motions of the harrow. But the execution proper of the sentence
is
left to this harrow."
"What is the sentence, anyway?" asked the explorer.
"So
