At first sight the beautiful clearing hiding within the lush splendour of the Amazonian rain forest was a place of peace and tranquillity. The tinkling gurgle of a small stream and the shrill exotic calls of the wild added to the stimulus of the senses from the tropical plants and foliage from which steamy heat rose in visible waves. A further addition to this paradise was the four beautiful young women who knelt in perfect silence and immobility despite the rough forest floor pressing painfully against their knees. 

Perhaps, though ,an observer would have thought this minor discomfort the least of their worries.  Each girl was burdened with a wooden yoke across their slim necks and shoulders and they were all quite naked, their magnificent bodies glistening with sweat.  Additionally, a rough, knotted vine, running tautly horizontal about two feet from the ground, was stretched between the parted thighs of each girl to draw tightly up into the cleft of their buttocks thus biting cruelly into the tender flesh at the apex of their thighs. The look of agonized despair on each shining young face was in sharp contrast to the beauty surrounding them; a testament to their effort in maintaining the painful positions.  Perhaps the observer might wonder what was keeping the girls in that position? However, the sight of the two large native women answered that.  The harsh features of each were twisted into cruel grins as they swished their long canes harmlessly through the air, making the kneeling girls flinch with dread.