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The enforcement
of the pirates'
code of honor and
discipline upon
their own was cruel,
and near as unthinkable
as the fate that
faced those whose
capture meant execution
and disgrace.
The execution of
a miscreant pirate
at the order of
his own captain
was swift, carried
out with a gunshot,
if he was lucky.
Far more agonizing
was the meting out
of justice according
to Moses' Law' which
called for a skin-splitting
lashing of up to
39 strokes with
the whip. The pouring
of salt water onto
the wounds not only
caused added pain,
but often a fatal
infection from gangrene.
Contrary to common
belief, rapists
and murderers were
often punished as
well, by marooning
on a tiny outcrop
of land with only
a pistol with which
to take their own
life. Others were
simply thrown overboard,
with 'walking the
plank' being largely
a myth.
The practice of
keelhauling was
seldom used by pirates,
but rather as a
commonly fatal and
sadistic punishment
in the English and
Dutch navies where
sailors were dragged
under a ship along
the razor sharp
edges of barnacles.
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