a
reference to a
barbaric form of punishment for a serious
crime earlier used in the British Navy. Flogging through the
fleet consisted of flogging (beating) a
man with a
cat-o'-nine tails (a
whip consisting of nine knotted
cords attached to a
handle). The
man being punished was placed in a boat and rowed alongside each
ship in the
harbor, one after the other, receiving twelve lashes at every
stop while the crews watched. A
doctor was in attendance to make sure the
man was
fit to receive the next round of punishment, but the common result was
death. The practice was stopped before the end of the eighteenth century.