The yardarm.

[**The following is in regards to draconian measures taken against participants of failed mutinies among Dutch sailors in the 17th century.**] >More serious cases were dealt with by dropping the mutiness from the yardarm or keelhauling him. The former sentence involved pinioning a man’s hands behind his back and tying a long, stout rope around his wrists. Lead weights were secured to his feet and he was then dropped 40 or 50 feet toward the sea, falling until the rope went taut. The sudden deceleration inevitably dislocated the mutineer’s shoulders, and his wrists and arms were often shattered, too. The man was then twice hauled back up to be dropped again, a punishment that in his broken state was even more painful than the initial fall. Having been dropped three times, the mutineer would then usually be lashed as well. __________________________ **Source:** Dash, Mike. “Terra Australis Incognita.” *Batavia's Graveyard*. Three Rivers Press, 2003. 120. Print.