Religious crimes and offences are tried by a jury of moullahs, under an appointed head, who is chosen from among themselves. For a capital religious offence the moullahs can order a person to be stoned to death, but the sentence must be ratified by the Amir. When the punishment is to be carried out, the condemned man, with hands tied behind him and chains upon his legs, is led along the streets of the city, some of the moullahs following, and at an appointed place the first stone is thrown by the chief moullah among them. The populace, who have joined the throng, and arm themselves with missiles as they go along, wait until the moullah throws the first stone, and then they commence throwing too. The condemned man is forced on by the shower of stones, which takes more and more effect on him as it is continued, for the incessant impact of stones gradually weakens him with pain, until a place called Siyah Sang is reached. This is a small hill of black rock, about two miles out of the city, surrounded by a stony tract of ground, and here larger stones are selected and thrown, so that soon the man is staggering forward feebly, knowing that where he falls his life will be ended, and trying to keep on a little longer. Eventually he can bear no more, or a stone larger than others brings him to his knees and he falls full length, and then the hail of missiles increases, some taking small boulders they can barely lift and heaving them on the man’s body, and so it continues until a mould is piled up over him, and there he is left, hidden by the heap of stones. Death does not always occur at once, although a man become unconscious when he falls, and cases have been known of a man living for some hours after, and dying at last in great agony.