Here an ominous-looking cross-beam had been erected, towering high
above the heads of the people with its bare, gaunt poles. This was
the gallows on which all people convicted of theft are executed;
murderers being put to death in a different manner, having their
throats cut from ear to ear in the same way that sheep are killed.
This punishment is carried out by the side of a large hole in the
ground, not far from the principal street in the centre of the
town. But I must here remark that the many cruelties stated to
have been perpetrated by the present Khan previous to the capture
of his city did not take place. Indeed, they only existed in the
fertile Muscovite imagination, which was eager to find an excuse for
the appropriation of a neighbour's property. On the contrary, capital
punishment was only inflicted when the laws had been infringed; and
there is no instance of the Khan having arbitrarily put any one
to death.
The two walls above mentioned appear to have made up the defenses
of the city, which was also armed with sixteen guns.
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