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STIRRING SCENES IN SAVAGE LANDS.
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BURYING A LIVE KING.
STIRRING SCENES
IN
SAVAGE LANDS.
AN ACCOUNT OF
THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, HABITS AND RECREATIONS, PEACEFUL AND
WARLIKE, OF THE UNCIVILISED WORLD.
BY
JAMES GREENWOOD,
AUTHOR OF “WILD SPORTS OF THE WORLD,”
“A NIGHT IN A WORKHOUSE,” ETC.
With Woodcuts and Designs by Harden S. Melville,
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UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE WILD MAN AT HOME;
OR,
Pictures of Life in Savage Lands.
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS.
| PART VII. |
|---|
| SAVAGE KINGS AND COURTS. |
| Chap. XVII.—The savage considered as a child of nature—what he lives for—kings by birth—a king to be wished dead—Commander Forbes’ introduction to the King of Dahomey—formalities to be observed on approaching Dahoman royalty—the palace hedged in with human skulls—a saltatory welcome—Gezo king of kings—his majesty “stands a drain”—grand display of rum and gunpowder—the ceremony of Eh-bah-tong-ah-bah, or exhibition of the king’s wealth—the red pool at the threshold—Dahoman “half-heads”—King Gezo the “leopard” and the “hawk”—items of his majesty’s wealth—“One washing pan, seven pans of skulls, and a grandmother”—an umbrella ornamented with eighty jaw bones—the probable value of the whole lot—great cry and little wool—the ceremony of Ek-que-noo-ah-toh-meh or the throwing of presents—the king’s platform and the hungry mob below—how his majesty was dressed—rum and tobacco and cowries showered to the people—kings and ambassadors joining in the scramble—the human sacrifices and the expectant savages—feed us! “we are hungry”—the victims launched into the pit—a recent grand custom—“Little Popo, August 6th, 1862”—glad to see a Dutchman—the Dutchman’s reception by the king—exhibition of a crucified missionary—an earthquake in the midst of a “custom”—twenty-four live men thrown to the hungry ones—sixteen women, four horses, and one alligator sacrificed—Bullfinch Lamb—his evidence as to what Dahomey of old was like—£10,000 demanded by the king as Bullfinch’s ransom—he writes home describing his misery—he shows himself a fox rather than a Lamb—Bullfinch wins the king’s heart by making him a kite—the kingdom of Abó and its ruler—Mr. Baikie’s approach to the royal residence—a palace of mud and thatch—King Ishúkuma—royal robes—the king’s sister acts as “crier” to the “court”—King Ajé—his shoeless feet and his red nightcap—Ajé gives Mr. Baikie his “dash”—Baikie’s visit to the terrible Neam Nam—some of his followers flee at the mere sight of the town—the ogres surround the adventurers—prospects of a jolly feast—prospects blighted—a friend in need—“Look at the things they hold in their hands; touch them not”—wonderful effects of a gun shot—a ticklish moment—the good will of the cannibals secured—the Fernandian town of Issapoo and Browowdi the king—Mr. Hutchinson’s description of the Browowdi palace—the king’s rig: “a filthy old stool for a throne, an old bamboo-leaf hat for a crown”—a coronation at Issapo—what his newly-made majesty may eat, and what he must leave alone—royalty in Old Kalabar—King Eyamba—the State carriage alias “the white man’s cowhouse”—comical use of a carriage—the Egbo drum—Aqua-el-dere or chop-day at Duketown—a royal feast—ju-ju wood and palaver sauce—interesting mode of feeding at the royal table—“King Eyo Honesty”—how he keeps the Sabbath—his band—the order of Egbo—how it is constituted—its similitude to free-masonry—Idem and his terrible cow-hide whip—his outrageous privileges—Egbo bells—Brass Egbo day—Egbo trials and criminals—the “Bloodmen” of Duketown—the Mambo of Lunda—his magnificent attire and how he held court—his Muata Cazembe or prime minister—the Muata’s seven umbrellas—the Mambo’s wives—the election of a Jaga—singular ceremony attending it—how the Jaga selects a site for a palace—the novel rite of Sambamento—the unfortunate Nicango—his fate. Pages [1–137.] |
| Chap. XVIII.—Royalty in Southern Africa—Doctor Livingstone and Shinte—King of Makololo—the king’s crown of beads and goose feathers—the doctor’s reception—his majesty’s hundred wives and his wife in chief—the royal piano and the four pianists—the doctor and his followers fall into the hands of Manembo, a South African chieftess—she gives her guests a bit of her mind—her advice to Dr. Livingstone—“now, my little man, do as the rest have done”—from South Africa to Abyssinia—Mr. Stern among the Falashas—he commits a grave breach of court etiquette—an Abyssinian cure for melancholy—Mr. Bruce’s experience of the cure—Bruce’s introduction to the Lady of Sittina—her splendid attire—Bruce’s gallantry by no means surprises the lady—he volunteers a piece of wholesome advice as a physician—a delicate conversation—the King of Seenaar—how he was greased—a cure for red hair—the throne in Madagascar—Madame Ida Pfieffer’s introduction to the queen—paying your “footing”—her majesty neither cordial nor over polite—a Malagasey palace—its chief pillar—five thousand labourers to bring it home—death of fifteen thousand builders—the silver palace—ceremony observed on the death of a Malagasey king—the feast of the queen’s bath—great rejoicing on the occasion—the Malagasey army and the military band—wretched condition of the soldiery—a handful of rice food for a day—a Malagasey court ball—ball dresses—the “Segu” dance—niggardly behaviour of her majesty. Pages [38–53.] |
| Chap. XIX.—Borneo and the Borneans—installation of a Dayak-rajah—Hot council and Cold council—ceremony of election as described by Baiah Brooke—“may the government be cold”—a visit to the chief of the Grungs—capture by the old women—revolting customs—a Dayak dance—more physicking—Corea and the Great Loo Choo Islands—the chief of Corea—his visit to the British ship “Lyra”—dignified behaviour of the chief—his uproarious attendants—he orders an arrest—a cheap entertainment—punishment of the arrested one—the chief loses his temper and makes free use of his rod of office—the court of king Finow—marriage of his eldest daughter to the great chief Tooitonga—the bride’s anointing and her bridal robes of superfine mats—the bridesmaids—the marriage feast—twenty baked hogs—the music and dancing—King John of Adelaide, Australia—his death and trussing and roasting—horrible ceremony—The roast king’s dutiful lubras—a mummy “up a gum tree”—King John the thickest headed king ever known—his skull to prove it—dying fate of the common Bushman—enticing away the “spirit that kills”—the Bushman’s grave—Bushman mourning customs. Pages [54–66.] |
| PART VIII. |
| SAVAGE M.D’s. |
| Chap. XX.—The science of surgery and medicine in savage lands—the M.D. in Polynesia—how to cure a broken neck—straightening a dislocated vertebra—trepanning with a bit of cocoa-nut shell—pigs’ brains a substitute for human—the sick man in Figi—summary method of disposing of troublesome invalids—“be reasonable and let some one help you out of your misery”—queer physic for a sick princess—the patient finally strangled—tender treatment of a shipwrecked mariner—singular malice of the Figian sick—the doctor in Samoa—no medicines used—strange predictions by dying Samoans—the Tokelau man who went up into the moon—a physician for every ailment—“confess, and throw out”—an infallible method of extracting a spear—Polynesian disease makers—the mystery of nohak burning—novel way of burning an enemy to death—how sickness is dealt with among the Namaquas of Southern Africa—The old women whom Moffat the missionary found—“I am old and feeble and no longer of any use”—the sick little Makalolo—nobody’s child—Galton and the calculating savage—unable to count over ten—how the difficulty is overcome—dentistry in Damara land—the traveller Galton nearly a victim—hauling till “something” gives way—the doctor in old Kalabar—how the Kalabeese takes his physic—Doctor Abiadiong—how he operates with his magic beads—burying a dog alive to save a sick man—how to cheat the demon of small-pox—the M.D. among the Indians of North America—qualifications of a Pawnee doctor—a case witnessed by the traveller Murray—how to cure hooping-cough—setting a broken arm and a few ribs—broken bones cured by smoke—a medicine dance—Indian sweating baths and sudatory—how to manufacture a cheap vapour bath—doctoring in Abyssinia—Mr. Bruce undertakes to cure three queens—our countryman’s description of his interesting patients—grave responsibilities of an Abyssinian physician—“what signifies your curing me if you turn me out like a beggar?”—some wholesome advice for eastern travellers—stimulants to be avoided—no water too cold to bathe in. Pages [67–87.] |
| PART IX. |
| SAVAGE WARFARE. |
| Chap. XXI.—The most warlike savage—hereditary pirates in Borneo—a fleet of ninety-eight pirate ships—Rajah Brooke and the pirates—a visit to the fleet—hunting for pirates—the “Didos” excursion—the adventures of the “Jolly Bachelor”—“many a slip twixt the hand and the ship”—a startler for a pirate chief—no quarter with Dayaks—the victorious Jolly Bachelor—a pirate hero—the Dayak considered as a soldier—a council of war—preparations for a tremendous battle—swords and spears and muskets and ranjows—two gunners to one musket—how the engine is loaded—Bornean fighting tactics—advance of Sir J. Brooke’s troops—the rival armies chaff each other—the warrior Nacota recounts an instance of his able generalship—“you hit me, that’s all!”—the Dayak sumpitan—how it is carried, loaded, and discharged—poisoned arrows—the ilang-weapons of the Amazonian Indians—the pecuna and its use—its similitude to the Bornean sumpitan—the Indian blow-gun—a war dance among the Illanuns and Gillolos—head hunting in Borneo—fray between the Sigos and the Singé—a disgusting trophy—hanging up the heads—Sir J. Brooke’s defence of Bornean customs—the brain hunters of the Philippine Islands—La Gironiere’s experience of a brain feast—a horrible cup—the Bornean savage compared with others. Pages [88–106.] |
| Chap. XXII.—Warfare among the North American Indians—wooing a war dream—companions in arms—the “squaw of sacrifice”—her horse, her medicine bag, and her pipe—on the march—no head scratching allowed—Indian war dances and speeches—bragging warriors—an exploit worth bragging of—what it is to be a “brave”—swallowing an Indian’s horse—shifting camp—praiseworthy care of the very old and very young—the belle of the party—“How, How”—an instance of Indian heroism—showing his enemies how a Chippewa can die—how the Sioux exhibited their admiration of said heroism—Mahtotopa the Mandan once more—How he fought a duel with the renowned Scheyenne—a precious scalp—another precious scalp and how it was obtained—the Indian warrior’s confidence in dreams—“where is my munedoo?”—wonderful power of a saw-bill munedoo—concerning the Indian canoe—its antiquity—the Algongian canoe—no nails or screws used in canoe building—boat building a job for a tailor—women boat builders—sea worthiness of the fragile vessels—warfare in Samoa—how to prevent hostilities—“we are come, and here are the knives to cut us up”—devotedness of the wives and sweethearts of Samoan braves—the Samoan’s war tools and symbols—his war tactics—four hundred prisoners burnt—the glorious distinction of cutting off a head—a remarkably close shave—dead warriors food for dogs—the brave Samoan mother—the king of Samoa’s great privilege—“Perhaps upwards the face”—imploring the royal clemency—a massacre of Christians—fate of the sandal wood getters—treachery of the Pine Islanders—the story of the capture of the “Sisters”—the avenging “powder”—settling accounts with a batch of convicts—two of the batch saved—their ingratitude—once more forgiven—the natives not as black as they are painted—a little story told by Mr. Coulter—the useful carronades—the remarks of the humane and outraged captain—considerable loss—very sorry, but couldn’t be helped!—a fancy picture, but a probable one. Pages [107–133.] |
| Chap. XXIII.—Warfare in Figi—bole-bole or the challenging—“Sir, do you know me? Your enemies soon will”—Figian “fustian”—the missionary Williams’ opinion of the Figian as a man of war—war orators—battle field tactics—the fall of the first warrior—“the first rending of the root”—wearing a dead enemy as a necklace—fighting implements of the Figians—Tonga weapons—five-bladed swords—indignities practised on the bodies of the slain—how king Finow disposed of his warrior prisoners—the defiant Cacahoo—adopting the child of a dying enemy—heroism of Monfaho’s widow—Figian ship building—surprising skill of savage boat-builders—ordinary sea-women—superstition of Figian seamen—inviting the breeze—the warrior in New Zealand—confirmation of fighting men—pronouncing the Haha—“Go away, go away”—distribution of the locks of the slain—cooking the hearts of the warriors—cannibal feasts after the battle—the art of war in Australia—Australian war tools—the boomerang and its various uses—the “hicleman” and the “wammera”—celebrated victims to the Australian spear—Australian duels—thick heads and thin heads—the “satisfaction” of an Australian gentleman. Pages [134–155.] |
| Chap. XXIV.—War among the savages of Africa—the tail-bearing heralds—great cry and little carnage—Caffre war dance—A Basuto’s war chant—the battle song of the renowned Cucutle—a Griqua Pitsho—a council of war—the chief’s address to the Barolongs and Batlapis—“Let every one speak his mind, and then I shall speak again”—some one speaks his mind rather freely—“you are rolled up in apathy; show yourself a man and a king”—a reproof to the kidney eaters—the African savage a better man than the American—Death before dishonour—archery in Eastern Africa—the cannibal Fans considered as bowmen—their war weapons generally—their poison darts, war knives and brain-hatchets—their shields of elephant hide—women warriors of Dahomey—a review of an army of the “fair” sex—King Gezo’s “fingers”—ambition of an elderly lady—“I long to kill an elephant to show the king my regard”—Gezo likened to a hen—the amazon standard-bearers—the lady soldiers indulge in parables—likewise in strong waters—the warrior in Abyssinia—pretty picture of a Galla chief—Omen birds—a non-believer in English gunnery—the sceptics convinced—a potent candle end—savage metallurgy—the value of a pair of bellows—the blacksmith in Papua—the king and the blacksmith—Le Vaillant turns bellows mender. Pages [156–182.] |
| PART X. |
| INCIDENTS OF PERSONAL PERIL AND DISCOMFORT OF TRAVELLERS AND EXPLORERS. |
| Chap. XXV.—Pains and penalties of explorers and adventurers—the reader’s selfishness—Mr. Hutchinson’s experience of a night’s lodging at Brass, a western African town—his bed—his bedfellows—how stupid to have blown out the light!—the biting and scratching, and crawling within, and the everlasting cackle without—daylight, and the mystery solved—a night’s lodging on the banks of the Gambia—voices of the night—assailed by mosquitoes—“I smell the blood of an Englishman”—sleeping on ants and cockroaches—“Sitting up” for the night—an arboreal lodging—going up to bed—making oneself comfortable—half a cigar for supper—unpleasant neighbours—leopards and other gentle beasts below—mosquitoes above and around about—eleven hours’ roosting—the leafy couch abandoned—lost and starved—found and rejoiced—Doctor Livingstone’s savage experiences—one of many thousand nights—the grass cutter and the tent pitcher—the “kotla” or tent-fire—the sleepers, and the dogs who came and ate the blankets—the dish-washers and the cooks—every man his own washerwoman—the doctor’s strict cleanliness—“it is questionable if a descent to barbarous ways ever elevates a man in the eyes of the savage”—watchmen and watch-dogs—an alarming camping out incident—the African traveller’s greatest enemy, the little tsetse fly—its perfect harmlessness towards mankind and wild animals—its fatal affection for draught oxen and horses—symptoms of tsetse poison—the cattle of an entire tribe almost destroyed by the tsetse—the traveller in the desert of Eastern Africa—Mr. Burton’s experience—his account of a day’s march—rousing the camp—the porters loth to stir from the fire—“collect,” “pack,” “set out”—off at last—the African porter a stickler for prepayment—the privileges and perquisites of a Pagazi—his gorgeous attire and his insignia of office—how the Pagazi keeps tally of offenders on the road—mischievous firing of the huts—queer directions left by the Pagazi as to where water may be found—the ivory porters and how they carry their loads—average of the weights carried—no finery worn on the road—a use found for “bustles”—every man a bearer of weapons of defence—recreations on the road—signs of a halt—bravery of the porters—a hundred and fifty of them scared by a cow—rows on the road—broken heads no provocatives of ill blood—rammish modes of fighting—the African’s great objection to hurry—not used to it—daily life at home—quite happy on plenty of sleep, “pombe,” tobacco, and gossip—the domestic African given to gambling—“heads or tails”—high play—my grandmother against yours—eating, the sole aim of his life—forty winks after dinner—no admirer of the maxim of “early to bed”—the first approach of Europeans to a cannibal shore—three fish-hooks for a lobster—queer pockets to put fish-hooks in—smelling the place the white man touched—the chief’s distrust of a chair—gigantic savages—barefaced attempt to steal a cabin-boy—bent on thieving—an attempt to make off with a mastiff and his kennel—more successful with a kitten—the dog recovers his spirits and makes free with the calf of a thief’s leg—summary dismissal of the unscrupulous guests. Pages [183–203.] |
| PART XI. |
| RELIGIOUS RITES AND SUPERSTITIONS. |
| Chap. XXVI.—Religion in savage lands—the mysterious “still small voice”—its existence indissociable from human nature—“incomprehensible” synonymous with “evil” in the savage mind—nothing so incomprehensive as death—nothing so much feared—death the savage’s poisoned honey-pot—the greegree-man must be patronized at any price—Samoan mythology—Tangaloa and his daughter—she descends and plants a creeping plant on the barren rock—what the plant grew to—the man who pushed the heavens up—the young men who resolved to visit the moon—the one was smoked up and the other climbed up—how the moon came down and took up a scoffing woman—the child of the sun —that great luminary in danger of being strangled with a rope—“Oh! have mercy on me and spare my life”—a Figian version of the flood—toilsome journey of the soul from earth to heaven—the savage charm—desperate endeavours to cheat the grim ferrymen—quarrelsome Figian gods—a singular case of abduction—the lonely Naiogabui and the daring Ravovonikaugawa—success of the expedition—Rokoua gets scent of the elopement and goes in pursuit—he disguises himself—all fair in love and war—failure of Rokoua’s stratagem—he tries once more—this time disguised as a fishwoman—the wicked Naiogabui betrays her father, who is knocked on the head—the Hades of the Samoans—miscellaneous gods of the Samoans—a deity for every village—Samoan form of oath—the cup of truth—mourning the destruction of a god’s image—the most fashionable god in Polynesia—human sacrifices—whole families set apart for this purpose, to be fetched when wanted—sudden death to the victim—Tapu—its ancient institution—universal influence of the tapu—Mr. Ellis’s opinion of the working of “tapu”—muzzled pigs and blindfolded chickens—tapued pigs—the ceremony of taking “tapu” off the porkers—the princes and noblemen exhibit their prowess in carrying pigs about—presenting his majesty with pig’s fry—a tremendous feast—The institution of Tapu in New Zealand—inconvenience of being tapued—a good jacket lost through the superstition—The terrible tinder box—how to secure a canoe—the chief’s sacred head—the sacred kumara grounds—the sacred pole and the missionaries—the chief’s backbone—the difference between noa and tapu—tapuing a river—the Pakeka and the iron pot—one of the best uses of tapu—its advantages and disadvantages—Tapu among the Samoans—snake and shark and thunder tapus—Born tapus—witchcraft in New Zealand—Introduction of an Englishman to a “retired” witch—how he found her—she declines to act, having given up the business and become a “praying” woman—she is persuaded, and sets about humbugging the visitors—the little beetle in the thatch—the god begging a blanket—the Englishman not perfectly convinced—Religion among the Dayaks of the land and sea—the supreme Tewata—extent of their religious system—“physic” for sacred anointing—the four chief spirits of the Dayak belief—how man became less than the spirits—what becomes of the Dayak when he dies—the artful “Umot Perusong”—“Mino Buau,” or warrior ghosts—alarming apparition of a headless dog—Dayak methods of propitiating the gods—lucky days, omens, and warnings—the ceremony of making brothers—how Singauding became the brother of Mr. St. John—a sanguinary cigarette—how the Kiniahs enter into the bands of brotherhood—making brothers in Western Africa—pledged in blood—Dayak good and evil spirits—what it is to dream of Singallong Burong the god of war—delicate way of alluding to small-pox—has “he” left you?—the Karam of Baram and his god Totadungan—the Dayak who went to heaven—what he saw—the sacred Bornean bull—Dayak superstitions concerning dogs and snakes—the legend of the painted dog—the savage of North America and his “happy hunting ground”—“Kitchi-manitou” and “Matchi-munedoo”—the North American Indians’ version of the flood—a savage Noah—how the earth was reformed—the loon, the beaver, and the musk-rat—a legend of Kitchi-Manitou—he meets the first man—pitying his disconsolate condition he finds him a mate, Mami by name—the happy meeting—their garden of Eden with its “tables and chairs and glass windows”—Kitchi-Manitou warns them against the fruit of the evil tree—Mami is tempted and falls—she invites her husband and his weakness is too strong for him—anger of Kitchi-Manitou—banishment of the erring pair—they begin their worldly cares—Mami’s husband finds a book—finding it too big to carry about he declines to appropriate it—he is furnished with one of convenient size in which he learns the art of medicine—the Indian who made a return trip to heaven—how he got there, what he saw, and how he got back to earth again—the man of the fire-stone—his great enemy Manabozho—they have a terrible fight and the fire-stone man is beaten—how Manabozho exerted himself for the good of mankind—his friend Chibiabos—the Manitous play Chibiabos a cunning trick—grief of Manabozho—the friends are united—discovering a “thunder’s nest”—Hans Hansom and the beaver trapper—“second sight” among the Winnebagos—the prophecy—its verification—the dream of Little Wasp—Indian picture-writing—signs of the different tribes—what stands for “kill”—a narration in pantomime—Crashey Jane’s compliments to the editor—Mr. Catlin’s Indian experiences—he paints the “old bear”—the artist is made much of and likes it—the benighted savages kiss the hem of Mr. Catlin’s swallow-tail—he does not get on quite so well with the ladies—all difficulties conquered—Mandan festival of the deluge—“seeking whom he may devour”—discomfiture and flight of the prince of darkness—covetousness of the North American Indians—Mr. Murray’s experience on this head—the old gentleman who coveted the elastic jacket—how he found it a tight fit—“a good creature in the ice-month”—the Ojibbeway nations of old—the Pawnees—the Delawares—the confederate six nations—the Shawnees—From North America to Abyssinia—religious ceremonies observed in that country—mothers of small account—purification of houses and platters—the Kalijas and the Lubas—concerning Boudas—Bouda exorcists—Mr. Stern makes the acquaintance of a Bouda—the woman’s tremendous struggles and arrival of the exorcist—his operations—he interrogates the Bouda and obtains from it some interesting information—its strange vagaries before it consents to take its departure—the Zar—Religion of the Dahoman—the food of the sacred buzzards—fetish snakes and the punishment for harming them—the Bonny people and the jewjews—popular superstitions—the king’s charms against witchcraft—the sacrifice to the bar—the unconscious victim—his doom—sacred pig’s jaws—“talk and pray”—devil worship—the “Sukia” of the Mosquito shore—her unprepossessing appearance—Mr. Bard gives her a piece of calico on condition she stands in the midst of a blazing fire—she earns the calico and lives to wear it—the belly gods of the Tinguians—Madagascar “the country without a god”—“Sikidy”—the ceremony of touching the bull—King Peppel’s religious convictions—a palaver unpalatable to his sable majesty—“Suppose God were here I must kill him”—a modest wish to live for ever—Mr. Moffat and the African king—startling news of a universal resurrection—“will all the slain in battle arise?”—a Namaqua chief’s religious ideas—frying the sun in a pot—“when we are dead we are dead”—Boles-ki-bo—a Basutos witch-finder—guessing made easy—end of the farce, commencement of the tragedy—unclean meats of the Damaras—on the manufacture of rain—drought at Kuruman—the rain-maker sent for—the commands of the great benefactor—he churns rain from a milk sack—goat rain and ox rain—the ceremony of the blighted tree—the sprinkling of the people with a zebra’s tail dipped in water—still no rain—he demands a baboon “perfect to a hair” and is not sorry that it cannot be procured—he must have the heart of a lion—he must have something else too horrible to name, and has it—still the heavens are inexorable—the last appeal, “It is the face of the white man that scares the rain clouds”—unpleasant predicament for a man with a white face—the impostor’s end—A fine day for a butcher’s knife—Figian coming of age—how Mr. Petherick “Barnumized” the natives as a rain-maker—perpetrates something not many degrees short of blasphemy—the artful device of the floured flies—a Sabbath in Equatorial Africa—The worship of Njambai—paying for peeping—“who bewitched the king?”—the appeal to Ilogo—an unlucky wizard—appalling end of a witch man—Mfumbo the all-powerful—what came of felling a “devil-tree”—the business of a Mganga—how he points out the road the traveller should travel—King Passol’s dancing fetish—his extraordinary performance on stilts—“he be de debil”—a bal-masqué—“dance, oh snake! for this is indeed a happy day”—old King Kalabar—“Nabikems”—Kalabar fash—A Yoruba man’s opinion of the chameleon. Pages [204–336.] |
| PART XII. |
| SAVAGE DEATH AND BURIAL. |
| Chap. XXVII.—Disrespect for human life not synonymous with personal indifference to death—burial ceremonials in cannibal Figi—the Figians no respecters of persons as regards this custom—preparations for burying a living king—the “grave grass”—paving the king’s grave—an affectionate son—“see, his body moves, but it does so unconsciously”—Figian symbols of mourning—mourning suits of leaves—the “causing to laugh”—murder of the Figian sick—“pray don’t bury me”—sexton’s work—the poorest savage sure of a comfortable “narrow bed”—the howling of a dog considered ominous—ditto, a cat’s clawing on the grave of a woman—how death came into the world—the sacrifice of fingers—the token of the bloody apron—the art of embalming—the corpse-praying priest—the “sin hole”—ceremonies at the burial of King Finow—heroic appeals to the departed king by his warriors—the scene at the sepulchre—the journey of the sand bearers—shaving the head and burning the cheek bones—twenty days’ mourning—the Mee too Buggi—singular expression of fidelity—Finow’s faithful fishermen—the Sandwich Islander’s badge of mourning—knocking out the teeth—cutting the ears—putting the tongue in black—a melancholy procession—the house of Keave—a pitiful spectacle—no admittance to the sacred building—the Pahio tabu—Heathen cities of refuge. Pages [337–360.] |
| Chap. XXVIII.—Burial rites in Samoa—burying alive—taking his pigs to a better market—a Samoan inquest—Samoan wakes—carrying a dead body about—Samoan coffins—dexterous embalming—the mysterious grave fires—a trap to catch a lost soul— burial customs of the New Zealanders—ornamenting the dead body—the sexton in Borneo—the weeping-stone of the Permujans—burning the dead in Western Sarawak—the burning less efficacious than burying—the hereditary office of sexton—difficulties of finding a sexton—sepulchral rites of the Sea Dayaks—useful things for consumption in the next world placed in the grave—Sea Dayaks who fall in battle not disturbed—Mourning among the Indians of North America—dirtiness the most favourite symbol—tombs in the air—exorcising an evil spirit—custom of the Sacs and Foxes—of the Tahkalis—of the New Caledonians—a New Caledonian suttee—barbarous treatment of the widow—her scorching, and her three years’ mourning and drudgery—the village of the dead—burial unknown among the Mandans—a Mandan place of skulls—praying to the dead—singular ceremonies attending the interment of an Ojibbeway—Ojibbeway mourners—disposing of the property of the dead—a Chippewa ghost story—an invisible presence—a spirited ghost—veneration for the dead—a royal funeral. Pages [361–385.] |
| Chap. XXIX.—Funeral rites in Damara land—dutiful behaviour of the eldest son of the deceased—a Damara tomb—offering a pail of milk at the grave—the Koossan method of disposing of their dead—deserting the sick—duties of the dead Koossan’s wife—returning in the night to burn down the house—the ox-tail hair necklace worn by the Koossan widower—Koossan chiefs buried in the cattle-fold—the magic woman among the Koossans—no recovering spilt water—no cure, no pay—fate of the unlucky mortal whom the magic woman denounces—death in Central Africa—waking a defunct man—no half-mourning among savages—the guests who are invited to the wake—Bota woga—a tremendous boose—a slave barracoon at Santanga—the sight that M. Chaillu saw—a thousand bleaching skeletons—funeral ceremonies in Angola—a jollification in consequence of the death of his mother—the mortal remains of a Bechuana—planting the top of the head with grass—the burying-ground at Fetish point—disinclination of the natives to approach the place of graves—the tomb of old King Passol—a wealthy grave-holder—burying at Anbago, Western Africa—the bereaved wife carried a pick-a-back—security for “Gungo”—a Barrodo Beondo funeral—occupying the bed of the deceased—“making a cry” among the Bulloms and Timannecs—King Archibongo and his devil house—the painted widows—the “chop-nut” test—Malagasey burial rites—ceremonials observed on the death of Prince Razahooatrino—lying in state—the attendant slaves and the fly fanners—subscription among the mourners to pay the funeral expenses—1500 oxen slain and eaten at a funeral feast—stepping over dead oxen—no special places for burial in Madagascar—death in Australia—the name of the dead never mentioned by the surviving relatives—perching dead old women on tree boughs—“take that for dying!”—the Abyssinian a believer in the doctrine of purgatory—dancing and singing and face-scratching—funeral of an Ailat man—how the Sambo Indian is buried—the body in the pitpan—running away with the corpse to cheat the devil—artful device of the corpse-bearers—cutting down the palm trees—the way to find out if “Wulasha” has been cheated—what the traveller Stephens saw at La Rayas, in Mexico—a Christian burial—death in Dahomey—the very last grand custom—the king’s ingenious device for the more ready performance of human sacrifice—a victim saved—how a Dahoman king is buried—providing his majesty with means for paying his way in the next world. Pages [386–418.] |
List of Wood-Cuts,
FROM DESIGNS BY HARDEN S. MELVILLE.
ENGRAVED BY H. NEWSOM WOODS.
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| FORBE’S RECEPTION BY THE KING OF DAHOMEY | [1] |
| A MALAGASEY BALL | [52] |
| BORNEO | [54] |
| AUSTRALIAN WEAPONS | [66] |
| POLYNESIAN WAR CANOE | [67] |
| WAR DANCE OF NEW ZEALANDERS | [88] |
| DAYAK AND MALAY WEAPONS | [93] |
| POLYNESIAN GOODS BOAT | [106] |
| NORTH AMERICAN WAR WEAPONS | [111] |
| A CHIPPEWA WARRIOR | [115] |
| POLYNESIAN WAR TOOLS | [122] |
| THE EUROPEAN’S HUT IN THE WILDERNESS | [133] |
| TORRES’ STRAITS CANOE | [147] |
| AN AUSTRALIAN DUEL | [154] |
| AFRICAN ARMS | [162] |
| THE UNIVERSAL WEAPON | [168] |
| A SAVAGE BOWMAN | [169] |
| PAPUAN BLACKSMITHS | [180] |
| THE EXPLORER’S HIGHWAY | [183] |
| THE TWO DOGS OR NONE | [192] |
| BOATMEN OF ROCKINGHAM BAY | [203] |
| THE TRUE WORD EXPOUNDED IN WESTERN AFRICA | [204] |
| SAMOAN IDOL WORSHIP | [218] |
| A POLYNESIAN IDOL | [221] |
| SPECTRE OF A HEADLESS DOG | [240] |
| MAKING BROTHERS | [243] |
| THE COVETOUS PAWNEE | [275] |
| AN IROQUOIS WARRIOR | [280] |
| A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF BOUDA | [289] |
| PUNISHMENT FOR KILLING FETISH SNAKES | [293] |
| CEREMONY OF TOUCHING THE BULL | [301] |
| DIVINATION SCENE | [307] |
| MAKING RAIN | [312] |
| DU CHAILLU’S PEEP INTO A HEATHEN TEMPLE | [321] |
| THE WIZARD IN THE STOCKS | [324] |
| INHABITANTS OF THE FAN COUNTRY | [336] |
| BURYING ALIVE IN FIGI | [337] |
| MOURNING SUIT OF LEAVES | [341] |
| FUNERAL OBSEQUIES OF KING FINOW | [354] |
| A SAMOAN SEPULCHRE | [364] |
| A MANDAN CHIEF | [374] |
| MANDAN PLACE OF SKULLS | [375] |
| “HE HEARD THEM RECOUNT THEIR VALIANT DEEDS” | [380] |
| DAMARA TOMB | [387] |
| AFRICAN WAKE | [392] |
| THE “MASTER OF LIFE” IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA | [395] |
| THE VERY LAST DAHOMAN “CUSTOM” | [414] |
Forbes’s Reception by the King of Dahomey.
PART VII.
SAVAGE KINGS AND COURTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Savage considered as a child of nature—A saltatory welcome—Gezo, King of Kings—Items of Dahoman royal treasure—Distribution of the presents—Kings and Ambassadors joining in the scramble—The human sacrifices—A “Grand Custom” of the year 1862—The King of Abó—The terrible Neam Nam—Browowdi, King of Issapoo—A King of Old Kalabar—King Eyo Honesty—The order of Egbo—The Mambo of Lunda—The Jaga.
At first sight it would seem hard to show a greater anomaly than an unthinking instinct-obeying nation of savages consenting to be controlled and governed by a fellow barbarian, equally unthinking, and morally powerless; and the said anomaly is the more striking when the savage is viewed as the vulgar view him,—as a free-born “child of nature,” intolerant of rule, and guided in all his behaviour by certain instinctive high-souled sentiments, and vast powers of mind, that require only cultivation to fit their possessor for the achievement of all that ever was yet successfully attempted by man. This, however, is very far from the fact. Without doubt, and as we have only to refer back to our own ancient barbarism to be convinced, the germ of perfect manhood lies in every savage, but like the ore of gold and iron, the true metal lies deep, and to free it from dross and make its lustre apparent is a process neither easy nor rapid. Again, like golden ore, in which the precious deposit shows here and there with a sheen that undoubtedly reveals its presence, does the savage’s mind manifest its existence in fitful flashes and glimmerings, that, alas! only reveal to him what a helpless wretch he is, and what a terribly responsible thing is life, with children and wife, and all its other precious belongings, and which, in an instant, may be spilt and vanish like a capsized gourd of water.
This—the end of life—is the end of everything with our brother the savage; life to him is only good according to the ease it enables him to get in the land he lives in. The first business of his life is to make himself comfortable; the second is how to hold such appurtenances to his comfort as he has gained. If he is a little man, any man a trifle bigger coming his way may strip him, seize his wife and children as slaves, knock him on the head, and appropriate his hut; if he is a big man any two big men who choose to conspire may serve him in the same cruel way: what then remains to be done, but to combine for the good of the common weal? which may be aptly likened to a common wheel—the chief being the stock, the various headmen, or councillors, the spokes, or spokesmen, and the fellowes, just as many savage fellows as the tribe, or band, or tire embraces.
Still, who is to be “king,” or “chief,” or “Jaga,” or “Mambo,” or whatever else you please, as representing the stock or common centre of the said wheel? About this question, however, we need not trouble ourselves, and simply because, just as the queen bee is born in a hive, so are men born commanders of men; that is, originally; the fact of their descendants degenerating, and being totally unfit to wield a sceptre is nothing to the purpose. Custom and Fashion then step in, and these two of themselves are monarchs potent enough to settle the gravest question that could possibly arise, even in the most civilized countries in the world. Wherever a leader is wanted, a leader will be found; he may be a wrong-headed leader, or conceited, or cruel, or arbitrary; but so sure as he remains at the helm, for the short space only of a year, you may depend that he is no make-believe; and the very worst you can say of such an one is, that it is a pity that a king should possess so many bad qualities; that he deserves to die for them, if you please; nay, go as far as killing him, and how different are your feelings than though you had killed a merely contemptible upstart.
Of course I talk of “killing” as a figure of speech, in its extremest sense. There, however, is one king now existing whom, if with his life would end the hideous work of blood and carnage prevailing in his nation, might well be wished dead. I allude to the King of Dahomey, who, as a trafficker in human beings, dead and alive, is an ulcer on the face of the world; a man whose guilt is so black that it may never be washed away, though they laved him in rivers of water as deep as those of tears and blood that he has caused to flow.
We hear very little of this potentate. Now and then an adventurous European will penetrate his awful domains, and give to the world some account of the horrors he sees and hears; once in a while we read in the African News that “the King of Dahomey threatens a massacre on such or such a place,” or that the barbarous “annual custom” is about to commence, with an enumeration of the victims already secured, and whose blood is required to “water the late king’s grave.” Of all Englishmen who have witnessed the abominations of Dahomey, none have recorded them more graphically than Commander Forbes, and it is from his account chiefly that what is here related of Dahomey is derived.
Commander Forbes’s first introduction to the King of Dahomey was, to say the least, calculated to make a lasting impression on his memory. Within a short distance of the royal residence Mr. Forbes and his party halted at the house of a friend, and attired themselves in full uniforms, and then moved forward to some shady trees to await the arrival of the carbooceers who were to conduct them to the royal presence. After the adventurous Europeans came a crowd of hammock-men and other Dahoman followers. About a quarter of a mile from the halting place stood a vast assembly of carbooceers and soldiers with umbrellas of state, flat-topped and ornamented like those of the Chinese, and banners of every hue and most varied devices. Beside the Dahoman standards, each of which was ornamented by a human skull, floated the national flags of France, England, Portugal, and Brazil, whilst every carbooceer had his own particular pennon.
The first chief who advanced towards Commander Forbes’s party from this gay crowd of carbooceers was Boh-peh, the governor of the capital, dressed in a country cloth wrapped round his body, a slouched hat, necklaces of coral and other beads, and armed with a handsome sword. Behind him came a retinue of soldiers, his standard, his umbrella of state, and his stool of rank; and, lastly, a band of most discordant music. Arriving in front of Forbes’s party, he bowed, and then marched from right to left round their seats three times, completing each circuit with a low obeisance. On his third round he discharged three muskets, and danced a short measure, then advanced and shook hands, and seated himself on his stool of office, which its bearer had placed on the Englishman’s right hand.
Ah-hoh-peh, the king’s brother, and Gaseh-doh, the chief of the carbooceers of Dahomey, followed, with similar attendants and ceremonies. When the whole party were seated, a body of the royal household, having half their heads shaved, took position in front, and sang a hymn of welcome to the Englishmen. The Dahoman guard were showily dressed in scarlet, trimmed with beads and other ornaments, with their heads covered by silver caps, some of which were distinguished by a pair of small silver horns. In his right hand, each carried a horse-tail whip, with which he beat time to the air of the chant. Next advanced Poh-neh-soo (at once a military officer, court-fool, and headsman) and his party of blunderbuss men, who likewise fired a salute, and then drank healths with the Europeans; after which, the latter entered their hammocks, and the entire party proceeded towards the palace, amid the firing of muskets and short brass guns.
The travellers found the palace of Dange-lah-cordeh surrounded at a distance of twenty feet with human skulls, many of which had crumbled with time, or had blown down. The square of the palace was filled with armed people sitting on their hams, the polished barrels of their muskets standing up like a forest. Under a thatched gateway sat the king surrounded by his immediate wives; while on each side sat the amazons all in uniform, armed and accoutred; and in the centre of the square squatted the males. Hundreds of banners and umbrellas enlivened the scene, and a constant firing from great guns and small arms increased the excitement.
When near the king’s seat, the European party came to a halt, while the carbooceers bowed down and kissed the dust. Passing before the throne, they bowed and made the circuit of the square three times, the carbooceers prostrating themselves each time. Then the Englishmen stept from their hammocks and approached the king, who had been reclining, but now rose, and several discordant bands struck up a quick step, whilst guns were fired, and all shouted, except the ministers and carbooceers, who prostrated and threw dust over their heads, as Mr. Forbes advanced and shook hands with the king.
King Gézo, of Dahomey, was about forty-eight years of age, good looking, with nothing of the negro feature, and his face wanting several shades of being black; his appearance was commanding, and his countenance intellectual, though stern in the extreme. Indeed, he is described as being short of positively handsome only by a slight squint. He was plainly dressed in a loose robe of yellow silk, slashed with satin stars, and half moons, Mandingo sandals, and a Spanish hat trimmed with gold lace.
Taking their seats facing the royal mat, the party entered into a complimentary conversation, after which the ministers were introduced by name to our countrymen. His Majesty then enquired if his guests would like to see a review of his amazons, and of course his guests were delighted at the offer. Three regiments were paraded, one being distinguished by a white cap ornamented with the blue alligator, another by a blue cross, and the third by a blue crown. The officers were recognized by their coral necklaces and superior dresses; while each carried a small whip which they freely plied when required. Firing, rushing hither and thither, and advancing to the throne to address the king, were the chief features of the review; at the conclusion of which two amazon heralds, bearing long trumpets, blew a blast and then blazoned forth the numerous names of Gézo, King of Kings.
The king having asked Commander Forbes to drink, rose, and with his glass in hand tapped that of each of his guests; then there thundered forth a salute of guns almost drowned by the shouts of the multitude. The ministers and carbooceers danced, and the ladies held clothes before the king. Men must not see the king eat or drink. On the whole it was Mr. Forbes’ distinct conviction that no king could have been more civil or more condescending.
The same gentleman had the good (?) fortune to be present at the ceremony of Ek-bah-tong-ek-bah, or “display of the king’s wealth,” an exhibition of a perfectly unique character and finding no parallel throughout the world. The fundamental principle of the King of Dahomey’s government is profuse generosity to his subjects. His constant aim is to inculcate the notion that his riches are boundless and his good nature none the less so. How hollow and fictitious are both these assumptions was evident enough to Commander Forbes, although for his head’s sake he dare not express such a conviction while in the land of “Grand Customs.”
“It was little more than seven o’clock a.m. when we were informed that a royal messenger had arrived to summon us to witness the custom to be performed on this day—the Ek-bah-tong-ek-bah, or “display of the king’s wealth.” At a little distance from our gate the road was fenced off and a guard set on the temporary gate, so as to prevent any one entering who was not invited to bear a part in the proceedings of the day. They who wished to inspect the royal treasures which were to be shown to the people assembled in the Ahjahee market-place.
“When we arrived at the palace square at the foot of the ladder leading to the palace house, on each side were three human heads recently decapitated, the blood still oozing; on the threshold of the entrance gate was a pool of blood from six human sacrifices over which we had to step. In the square was a huge model of an elephant caparisoned on wheels, on which the king is drawn when going short journeys. The king never walks, nor rides on horseback, but is either carried in a hammock, or drawn on this elephant, or in a carriage or wheeled chair. In the centre of the court-yard stood a crimson tent or pavilion forty feet high, ornamented with emblems of human and bullock’s heads, skulls, and other devices equally barbarous and disgusting. On the top was the figure of a Dahoman standard-bearer (or half-heads, as they are called, having half their heads shaved) bearing a standard, having for a device a skull in a calabash standing on three other skulls. About the yard were many flags of all colours, some having as their devices men cutting off other’s heads, and others tying prisoners, and many national flags, amongst which were several Union Jacks. In and about the pavilion were the female host of ministers, carbooceers, amazons, wives, and virgins. The king had not arrived; all were gaily dressed, and armed, and accoutred.
“On the neutral ground where we stood facing the pavilion (while the mayo and ce-a-boo-gan grovelled in the dust like mandarins kow-towing to the royal chair) roamed an ostrich, an emu, several dwarfs, hunchbacks, and albinoes, besides troops of dogs of almost every country and variety. All the ministers and carbooceers were arrayed in red-striped flowing robes laden with necklaces of coral and other beads. Each wore a scimitar, a short sword, and a club.
“Presently, under a salute fired from musketoons and small brass pieces within the court and cannon outside, the king arrived, dressed in a white silk flowing robe flowered in blue and a gold-laced hat, and took his seat in a sofa under the pavilion. Forthwith the bands struck up and the heralds proclaimed that Gézo, the Leopard and the Hawk, had taken his place; fifty-eight ministers and carbooceers at the same time marched three times in single file, and at the third time all prostrated and kissed the dust. So soon as this ceremony was concluded the business of the day commenced. This is a public display of the monarch’s wealth, carried on the heads of slaves through the town to the market and back again. The procession consisted of between six and seven thousand people.”
To enumerate, however, every item of “wealth” carried by these six or seven thousand individuals would certainly be to weary the reader, even though she were a lady, loving, next to possessing gold and gems, to hear and read about them; besides, there is much among the Dahomey “crown jewels” which the said lady reader could match in point of value in her wash-house or lumber-room. Let us take a few notes of the members of the procession:—
- 52 women carrying white flowered vases.
- 6 carrying jars.
- 10 carrying French ornaments under glass shades.
- 1 carrying a washing pan.
- 1 carrying a crimson cushioned rocking chair.
- 1 carrying a box.
- 1 carrying a washing-stand.
- 1 carrying a toilette table, drawers, and glass.
- 2 carrying stools.
- 3 carrying banners.
- 1 carrying a skull in a copper pan.
- 2 carrying calabashes full of skulls.
- 2 carrying shields.
Head bunseh’s mother in scarlet, wearing a Life Guardsman’s helmet and plumes, and attended by a lady in Charles II. hat and plumes, both magnificently dressed.
8 Malam’s wives.
Band of 20.
Guard of 100.
Band of 12.
4 women carrying pans of skulls.
2 carrying jars surmounted with skulls.
1 carrying a large pan of skulls.
1 carrying a banner.
2 carrying umbrellas over the king’s women and attendants, in crimson cloth dresses and slouched hats trimmed with gold.
Band of 20.
Guard of 30.
2 women carrying pans of skulls.
2 carrying jars of skulls.
2 carrying a banner and two umbrellas each.
King’s grandmother, in head-dress of silver, crimson and silver robe and train, held by a maiden bearing a gold-headed stick.
One of the King’s grandfather’s widows in scarlet and gold.
1 man carrying a banner.
1 carrying a tray containing three human skulls.
The King’s washing-tub borne by 30 guards.
2 men carrying a scarlet and gold sedan chair.
300 carrying dishes with a basket in each.
55 carrying blue glass goblets.
50 carrying white glass goblets.
6 carrying a drum trimmed with skulls.
1 carrying umbrella ornamented with eighty human jaw-bones.
Men carrying a native sofa. Etc. etc. etc.
All the possessions of the king, in fact, from his grandmother to his washing-tub, were to be found, and made no doubt as a whole a tremendous display, though it is by no means unreasonable to say that the sum of the “king’s wealth” brought under the hammer of a London auctioneer would realize little more than would the contents of any first-rate villa-residence at Clapham or Richmond.
It should be stated, however, that as well as this household gear, the royal exchequer was brought out and carried in measures. In this again the king was fortunate as regards opportunity for display; cowries form the currency of Dahomey—and goodness knows the many thousands of these it takes to make a single English sovereign—therefore it was easy enough to arrange that, although in form of money the king possessed no more than a little over a thousand pounds, porter after porter should go trooping past, each with such a load of money as made the mouths of the spectators water with envy.
Well, their longing was not to remain entirely ungratified. The king, although a vastly rich, is not a greedy man; and annually he makes presents to one and all of his loyal subjects; not in a hole and corner sort of way, but publicly—with the mob before him, and the riches, the cowries, the bales of cloth, the tobacco, and the kegs of rum in heaps and piles and pyramids at his elbow; and scrambles the astonishing gifts fairly and without favour—or so it seems. Let us, however, see what Mr. Forbes has to say on the subject.
“On the last day of May, commenced the custom of the Ek-que-noo-ah-toh-meh, or throwing the presents from the Ah-toh. It is on this day human sacrifices are offered by the king among his gifts to his people. In the centre of the market-place a platform was erected twelve feet in height, enclosed by a parapet breast high. The whole was covered with cloths of all colours, and surmounted by tents, gaudy umbrellas, and banners of varied hues and devices, among which, as usual, were several Union Jacks. On the west front of the Ah-toh, which must have been at least one hundred feet square, was a barrier of the prickly acacia, and within this were the victims for the day’s sacrifice, lashed in baskets and canoes as on yesterday. A dense naked mob occupied the area, whilst a guard of soldiers prevented them from bearing down the barrier. Beyond, in all directions, were groups of people collected round the banners and umbrellas of the different ministers and cabooceers. The naked mob consisted of the soldiers of the king, his brothers and sons, the ministers and higher cabooceers: each carried a grass-cloth bag round his waist; and the actual business of the day was a public display of the generosity of the king, who scrambles goods of all kinds among these warriors.
“The king had preceded us, and as we took our seats under a canopy to the right of the Ah-toh, His Majesty appeared on the platform under the shade of a handsome umbrella of crimson velvet and gold, dressed in an old black waistcoat, a white nightcap, and a cloth round his loins, and was greeted with loud shouts from the military expectants, who now formed into bands, and carrying their officers on their shoulders, marched past the royal position, the king’s own taking the lead. This they did three times, and then halted immediately under the king’s position, who harangued them on the impropriety of fighting during the scramble, and having thrown a few cowries by way of trial, commanded us to join him.
“Ascending the ladder the appearance was truly novel: in three separate heaps in different parts of the platform were three thousand heads of cowries, several heaps of cloths, rum in kegs, and rolls of tobacco; one side was occupied by tents for the royal wives; while others were grouped about in different parts of the platform in gaudy dresses. At the upper end stood the king surrounded by his ministers, and at the lower were, under canopies of showy umbrellas, two tables bearing liquors and glasses, one for the cha-cha, the other for ourselves. After taking our seats we were directed to stand under an umbrella facing the mob, and now commenced in real earnest the scramble, the king labouring hard throwing down cowries, cloth, tobacco, etc. The cowries appeared to be the property of the lucky ones who caught them, but the cloths were instantly handed to the officers, and if not, a fight ensued that was terrible to behold.
“The naked multitude emitted an effluvium only to be compared to the fetid atmosphere of a slave ship, and as the mass oscillated, there arose a vapour like the miasma of a swamp, as they were perfectly bathed with perspiration.
“Besides throwing gifts to the soldiers, His Majesty was all smiles and liberality in his donations to the ministers and a number of others; but to no one was any large sum given. At one time he sent us a basket containing ten heads of cowries and two pieces of cloth as a present, and at another a constant supply of cowries and cloths to scramble among the mob.
“Among the recipients of the royal bounty were two kings and several ambassadors, including one from Ashantee called Cocoa Sautee.
“Towards noon the brigantine on wheels put off to discharge her cargo of rum, tobacco, and cowries, which were added to the heaps on the platform. The king’s party of soldiers keeping together, were evidently the principal recipients, and we soon found that something like an equal distribution among them was aimed at. A captain of musquetoon-men, named Poh-veh-soh, at once a military officer, court fool, and headsman, caught my attention, and I threw him three pieces of cloth full of cowries; on receiving the third he was ordered off the ground. Rum was distributed to the élite on the platform, and a breakfast provided for us, besides food for the ministers and wives.
“By two o’clock one of the heaps of one thousand heads of cowries had been thrown away and part of another given to the higher classes. Some three or four hundred pieces of cloth, a few kegs of rum, and rolls of tobacco, having all disappeared, His Majesty retired to rest awhile.
“Would to God that I could here close the account of this day’s proceedings, simply detailing the barbarous policy of raising the worst passions of man in order to make people believe in the profuse distribution of a pay which if doled out individually would be a mere pittance. The crowd can have no idea of the sum scrambled for; all they know is that a continuous shower is kept up for seven hours, and they consider it must be immense. Even if a man gets none he is content to know that he has been unfortunate, and should he proclaim his ill-luck he would not be believed, each supposing the other to be disguising the real quantity he has gained.
“During the royal absence a dead silence reigned as if by general consent; when by accident it was broken it was reinforced by the eunuchs sounding their metal bells, tolling the knell of eleven human beings. Out of fourteen now brought on the platform, we, the unworthy instruments of the Divine will, succeeded in saving the lives of three. Lashed in their baskets these sturdy men met the gaze of their persecutors with a firmness perfectly astonishing. Not a sigh was breathed. In all my life I never saw such coolness so near death. It did not seem real, yet it soon proved frightfully so. One monster placed his finger to the eyes of a victim who hung down his head, but finding no moisture drew upon himself the ridicule of his fiendish coadjutors. Ten of the human offerings to the bloodthirsty mob, and an alligator, and a cat, were guarded by soldiers, the other four by amazons.
“In the meantime the king returned, and calling us from our seats at the further end of the platform, asked if we should wish to witness the sacrifice. With horror we declined, and begged to be allowed to save a portion of them. After some conversation with his courtiers, seeing him wavering, I offered him a hundred dollars each for the first and last of the ten, while at the same time Mr. Beecroft made a similar offer for the first of the four, which was accepted, and the three were immediately unlashed from their precarious position, but forced to remain spectators of the horrid deed to be done on their less fortunate countrymen. What must have been their thoughts?
“The king insisted on our viewing the place of sacrifice. Immediately under the royal stand within the break of acacia bushes stood seven or eight fell ruffians, some armed with clubs, others with scimetars, grinning horribly. As we approached the mob yelled fearfully and called upon the king ”to feed them—they were hungry.” It was at a similar exhibition that Achardee (President of Jena) while looking into the pit with the king was seized, thrown down, and murdered on the spot. Disgusted beyond the power of description we retired to our seats, where also the cha-cha had retreated; not so his brothers, for I regret to say they remained delighted spectators of the agonies of the death of these innocent victims. As we reached our seats a fearful yell rent the air. The victims were held high above the heads of their bearers, and the naked ruffians thus acknowledged the munificence of their prince. Silence again ruled, and the king made a speech, stating that of his prisoners he gave a portion to his soldiers, as his father and grandfather had done before. Having called their names, the one nearest was divested of his clothes, the foot of the basket placed on the parapet, when the king gave the upper part an impetus and the victim fell at once into the pit beneath. A fall of upwards of twelve feet might have stunned him, and before sense could return the head was cut off and the body thrown to the mob, who, now armed with clubs and branches, brutally mutilated and dragged it to a distant pit, where it was left as food for the beasts and birds of prey. After the third victim had thus been sacrificed the king retired and the chiefs and slave dealers completed the deed which the monarch blushed to finish.”
Again I would remind the reader that this horrible business is not a thing of the past but of the present. True it was in the years 1849–50 that Mr. Forbes witnessed the horrors he describes, but had he been in Dahomey in 1859–60 he would have witnessed as bad, or worse. Here indeed, and taken from the Times newspaper, is an account of the very last Dahoman “Grand Custom.”
“The following information from Dahomey has been received at the Church Missionary House, from the commander of Her Majesty’s ship Griffin, at Little Popo, August 6th, 1862:—
“Sir,—I think it my duty to lay before you, with as little delay as possible, the following information concerning Dahomey:
“On the 5th of August, when at anchor off Little Popo, I received a letter from the shore, stating that Mr. Euschart, a Dutch merchant, residing at Popo, had just returned from Dahomey, and that he had news of great interest for my ear. This Mr. Euschart I have had frequent conversations with, and I have every reason to believe that his information is most accurate, trustworthy, and reliable. I therefore borrowed a surf boat from a Dutch brig in the roads, and, having manned her with ten of my own Kroomen, I with great difficulty effected a landing, two boats out of three that tried the beach that day being capsized, owing to the very heavy surf. I give the substance of Mr. Euschart’s information as closely as possible, having jotted it down in my note-book during our conversation.
“It appears that Mr. Euschart went to Whydah on business in the middle of June, and on the 24th of June, while still at Whydah, received the stick of the King of Dahomey, with an instruction that his presence was required at Abomey. Mr. Euschart tried every method of evading the journey, but without avail, the carbooceers of Whydah plainly telling him that he would be carried to Abomey as a prisoner if he did not at once willingly obey the King’s message.
“Accordingly at one p.m. on June 26th, having provided himself with six hammock men, he left Whydah for Abomey, escorted by an armed party of Dahomians, and reached Alada, the old residence of the King of Dahomey, the same evening; June 27th, one p.m., left Alada, and arrived at Tabour at ten p.m.; June 28th, 5.30 a.m., started for Kamos, through swamp, and easily passed; 9.30 a.m., started, and arrived outside Abomey at 7.30 p.m., the road on the way having been very good. He was at once shown into a very fair house, and told to remain there during the night. June 29th, received a message from the King that he was to be presented the next day. June 30th, entered walled part of town through Royal gate; received there by two head carbooceers, who saluted him, saying: ‘King had never seen a Dutchman; King’s father had never seen a Dutchman; and now they had plenty of people to kill they were very glad to see a Dutchman.’ He was then ordered to drink the King’s health four times, after which the carbooceers danced round him, singing and firing guns. He was then conducted to the King’s palace, and received there by the Prime Minister, who told him the King would receive him next day.
“July 1.—Received by the king, who was seated outside the palace on a raised dais, surrounded by amazons. He saluted the king in European style. The king at once got up and shook hands with him, said he was very glad to see a Dutchman, and continued talking in Portuguese for about ten minutes. He was then ordered to return to his house and keep inside three days.
“July 5.—He was brought to the market-place, where he was told many people had been killed the night before. He first saw the body of Mr. William Doherty (a Sierra Leone man), late a missionary and church catechist at Ishagga. The body was crucified against a large tree—one nail through the forehead, one through the heart, and one through each hand and foot; the left arm was bent, and a large cotton umbrella in the grasp. He was then taken to the market, where the king was seated on a raised platform, from which he was talking to the people much ‘war palaver,’ and promising them an attack upon Abbeokuta in November. Cowries, cloth, and rum were then distributed. In front of the market-place, rows of human heads, fresh and gory, were ranged, and the whole place was saturated with blood, the heads evidently belonging to some of the Ishagga prisoners who had been killed during the night, after having been tortured in the most frightful manner.
“Until July 10th Mr. Euschart was ordered to remain quiet in his house, and not to move or look out after sundown.
“July 10.—The ground shook violently—evidently, from the date, the effect of the earthquake felt at Accra. Mr. Euschart was at once brought to the market-place, where he found the king again seated on the raised platform, surrounded by Amazons; the king told him that the ground shaking was his father’s spirit, complaining that ‘Customs were not made proper.’ Three Ishagga chiefs were then brought before the king, and told they were to go and tell his father that ‘Customs should be better than ever.’ Each chief was then given a bottle of rum and a head of cowries, and then decapitated. Twenty-four men were then brought out, bound in baskets, with their heads just showing out, and placed on the platform in front of the king; they were then thrown down to the people, who were dancing, singing, and yelling below; as each man was thrown down he was seized and beheaded, the heads being piled in one heap and the bodies in another; every man who caught a victim and cut off the head received one head of cowries (about 2s.). After all were killed Mr. Euschart was conducted home.
“July 11.—Taken to another part of the town, where exactly similar horrors were being perpetrated.
“July 12.—All the platforms were taken down, and the programme appeared to be firing guns, singing, and dancing all day; there were no more public sacrifices for ten days, but it is supposed many took place during the nights.
“July 22.—Taken to see the ‘Grand Customs’ at the palace of the late king, at the gate of which two platforms had been erected; on each platform sixteen men and four horses were placed; inside the house was placed another platform, on which were placed sixteen women, four horses, and one alligator. The men and women were all Sierra Leone people captured at Ishagga, and were dressed in European clothes; each group of sixteen men seated, or rather bound, in chairs placed round a table, on which glasses of rum were placed for each. The king then ascended the platform, where he adored the Dahomian fetish, and seemed to make obeisance to the prisoners, whose right arms were then loosed to enable them to take up the glass to drink the king’s health. After the king’s health had been drunk, the effects of the late king were paraded and worshipped by the people as they passed; a grand review of the troops then commenced, and as each marched past the king harangued them, and promised the sack of Abbeokuta in November. Nearly the whole of the troops wore fire-arms; a few select corps had rifles, but the greater part were armed with flint-lock muskets. The artillery consisted of about twenty-four guns (twelve-pounders). The number of troops altogether could scarcely be less than 50,000, including 10,000 amazons, all apparently well disciplined troops. After the review was over the prisoners were beheaded, their heads being hacked off with blunt knives; at the same time the horses and alligator were dispatched, particular care being taken that their blood should mingle with that of the human prisoners.
“When all was finished Mr. Euschart was permitted to leave Abomey, which, it is needless to say, he immediately did, having received the magnificent viatica of eight heads of cowries (16s.), one piece of country cloth, and two flasks of rum.
“Mr. Euschart firmly believes that Abbeokuta will, without doubt, be attacked by the whole Dahoman army towards the end of November.
“T. L. Perry, Commander.
“To the Governor of Lagos.”
It is instructive to turn from this, one of the last reports from this land of human butchery, to another letter written as long ago as November 27, 1724, by one Bullfinch Lamb, a “guest by compulsion” of Trudo Andati, at the time in question King of Dahomey. The epistle appears in “Dahomey and the Dahomans,” and would seem to be the effusion of a gentleman connected with the service of the British Crown, and who had got into a mess, rather through his urgent commercial spirit than through any unavoidable exigence of duty or voluntary adventure.
“November 17, 1724.
“Sir,—About five days ago the king of this country gave me yours of the 1st instant, and immediately required me to answer it in his presence, which I did, though in a very different manner, so that if I do not recall it, I hope that you will excuse that as well as this. As to the late conference I had with his majesty, on receiving your letter, I think he does not want to make a price to let me go, for when I pressed him much to tell me on what terms he would send me away, his answer was, he did not want to sell me, I was not a black man; but upon my again pressing him he made a sort of jesting demand to the sum of I think 700 slaves, about £10,000, or £14 a-head. Which strange ironical way of talking, as I told him, made my blood run cold in my veins; and, upon recovering myself, I asked him if he thought the king of my country would listen to such an outrageous proposal, and that you and the company would think that both he and I had lost our senses, should I have writ anything like what he said. Upon which he laughed, and told me not to put anything of that in the letter; for that he would order his head captain of trade to treat with you upon that subject, and that if you had not something very fine for him at Whydah you must write to the company. Upon which I told him I feared I must die in his country, and that I would only send for a few clothes and necessaries, which I desired he would let his people bring for me, and he agreed to it, so that I don’t find there is any other way of redeeming me than by the company sending him a present of a crown and sceptre, which must be paid for out of what remains due to the late King of Ardah. I know nothing else but what he will think mean, being stocked with great quantities of plate, wrought gold, and other rich things, and also all sorts of rich gowns, cloths, hats, caps, etc. He has likewise all sorts of common goods beyond measure, and gives away booges like dirt and brandy like water, for he is prodigiously vain and proud; but he is withal, I believe, the richest king and greatest warrior in this part of the world, and you may depend upon it in time will subdue most of the countries round him. He has already set his two chief palaces round with men’s skulls, as thick as they can lie on the walls, one by another, and are such as he has killed in war; each of which palaces are in circumference larger than St. James’s Park, about a mile and a half round. I hope my royal masters will take my case into consideration, and think of the long and many sufferings I have had in their service, and what a miserable condition I am still in, as it were, banished all the pleasures of this life, not only from my wife, and other friends, but all conversation in general; so that I am like one buried alive from the world, and think nothing can come near my unhappy fate, to lose my time and spend my youth, as it were, for nothing in such a cursed place as this, and not see a likelihood of getting out of it, but that I must end my days here. To prevent all which, I hope that they and you, in their behalf, will use your utmost endeavours, by such means as are requisite, for my deliverance, which I shall very impatiently pray to God to bring to pass. Governor Baldwin promised me in his last, upon his arrival in London, he would lay my case before our royal masters. Therefore, when you, write, I beg you will remind him and them thereof, and note the contents of what I now write. If any letters come from England for me, I believe either them or anything else will come safe to my hands by the king’s people. He is very willing I should have letters come to me, or anything else. Nor will he be guilty of any mean action in keeping anything from me, if it were twenty slaves. Neither do I believe he would detain any white man that should come here, but me whom he deems a captive taken in his wars. He sets a great value upon me, he never having had a white man here before, only an old mulatto Portuguese, which he had bought of the Popoe people, at the rate of about £500, as near as I could compute. And though this white man is his slave, he keeps him like a great carboceer, and has given him two houses, and a heap of wives and servants. It may be that once in two or three months he mends (he being a tailor by trade) some trifle or other for his majesty, but after the devil of a manner. So that if any tailor, carpenter, smith, or any sort of white man that is free, be willing to come here, he will find very good encouragement, and be much caressed, and get money if he can be contented with his life for a time; his majesty paying everybody extravagantly that works for him. And then it might be one means of letting me go with a promise of returning to trade with him; but he now says, if I go, he does not know whether he shall see any more white men, thinking they add to his grandeur; so that if any fellow whatsoever comes up and goes down again, it will possess him with a notion that more white men will come, and so let me go in order to encourage their coming. Or, if my little servant, Henry Tench, he at Whydah, and is willing to come to me, it may in time be much for his interest, as now being a boy, the king will be entirely fond of him, for, though I do nothing for him, he has put me into a house and given me half-a-dozen men and women servants, also a constant supply to maintain myself and them. If I loved brandy, I might soon kill myself, having enough of that, also of sugar, flour, and the like. And when he kills oxen, which is often, I am sure of a quarter, and sometimes a live hog, sheep, or goat; so that I shall not starve (but this is nothing, I still want content). And when he comes out in public, the Portuguese and I are called out to sit all day in the sun, only our boys are permitted to hold our kideysols or umbrellas over our heads; but then he pays us pretty well for it, sometimes giving us two, sometimes three or four grand cabess apiece, and a huge flask of brandy to drink there, besides one or two more for each to carry home. Most of the ink you sent me being unfortunately spilt, I beg you will send me a packet of ink powder. His Majesty has likewise got from me the greatest part of the paper, having a notion in his head of a kite, which, though I told him was only fit for boys to play with, yet he says I must make one for him and I to play with, so I beg you will send me two quires of ordinary paper and some twine for that use, and a score of matches, his majesty requiring me sometimes to fire his great guns; and I am much in fear of having my eyes put out with the splinters. He has twenty-five cannon, some of which are upwards of a thousand weight, so that a man would think the devil helped to bring them here, this place being about two hundred miles distant from Whydah, and at least one hundred and sixty from Ardah. His Majesty takes great delight in firing them twice round every market day, only now that his people are making carriages for them. And though he seems to be a man of as great natural parts and sense as any of his colour, yet he takes great delight in trifling toys and whims, so that if you have anything of that kind, I pray you will send them me, or any prints or pictures, he much loving to look in a book, and commonly carries a Latin mass book in his pocket, which he had from the mulatto; and when he has a mind to banter anyone out of their requests, he looks in his book as studiously as if he understood it, and could employ his thoughts on no other subject; and much affects scrawling on paper, often sending me his letters, but then he sends an interpreter with a good flask of brandy and a grand cabess or two.—Your humble servant,
“Bullfinch Lamb.”
So that on the whole one cannot help wondering why it is that Master Bullfinch—who in the course of his letter shows himself such a selfish individual—cannot settle down and make himself comfortable. Whether or no he ever escaped, the chronicle sayeth not; probably not; and no great matter either, perhaps, considering Mr. Lamb’s unscrupulous suggestion that half-a-dozen of his wretched countrymen might be induced to thrust their heads into the mouth of this Dahoman lion, that he, Master Lamb, might be enabled to escape.
Besides the King of Dahomey, there are many other monarchs big and little in this quarter of Africa; but though they be ten times more savage—if to be savage is to be remote from civilization and its influences—we find not one as treacherous and thirsty for blood. In the course of his explorations in Western Africa, Mr. Bakie had the honour to meet several kings, among others the monarchs of Abó and Igbo. Let us approach the former royal presence.
“We promised to come on shore the next morning and pay our respects. I accordingly made an early start, and accompanied by Mr. May, Mr. Crowther, and Dr. Hutchinson, proceeded in the gig and pinnace, the crews of which were dressed in flaming red caps and shirts. Abó is situated nearly a mile up a creek, the mouth of which is almost invisible from even a very short distance. On entering it we found it at first so extremely narrow that we had to lay in our oars and use paddles, but, after a time, it opened into a wide expanse, the surface of which was covered with canoes of various sizes. Numbers of inhabitants were to be seen gazing at us, and altogether there was more bustle and activity, and more signs of a trading people than anything we had previously witnessed. Having reached the landing-place, we marched in a kind of procession, headed by a Krú-man carrying the English ensign, and accompanied by a royal messenger bearing a gaudy flag. We had some little difficulty in keeping good order through the narrow lanes, densely crowded as they were by the populace; as natives, both men and women, were constantly coming towards us, and insisting on shaking hands with us, which ceremony is here performed by the two parties taking loose hold of the fingers of each other’s right hands, and then slipping them, making at the some instant a snapping noise with the aid of the thumb. We were not sorry to reach Ishúkuma’s palace, a low dwelling of mud and thatch, with a small court some twenty feet square in the centre. This was surrounded by a kind of verandah, in which we were placed, a chair being brought for me, and mats for the remainder of the company. Near us was a fetish, composed of some old bones and a few trinkets, and close to this, under a canopy of white calico, was a huge mat for his royal highness. Presently he entered, accompanied by several of his wives, and other female relatives, who all sat on his left. He seemed a little oldish-looking man, of easy disposition, and not much intellect. He was attired in a woollen nightcap, a white shirt, and in home-built pantaloons of native cloth, shaped after an extreme Dutch design. The court was by this time completely filled with crowds of natives, whose incessant noise and chattering prevented us from commencing, and at last I had to request him to enforce silence. This he attempted to do, in vain, until at last, assisted by the more energetic of his spouses, and in particular by a strong-minded sister, whose shrill tones, heard high above the din, finally beat down all opposition, and produced a temporary calm. I seized the moment, and, by our interpreter, told Ishúkuma, that we had come to make his acquaintance and his friendship, and to ascertain if the people were willing to trade with us. I expressed our sorrow at hearing of the death of Obi, who had been the white man’s friend; also our regret at the absence of his brother. I said that we were desirous of fulfilling the promise made by the officers in the former expeditions, and that we should try to do good to his country. He replied by declaring his satisfaction at seeing white men here once more, thanking us for our compliments, and offering, if we could wait a few days, to send a special canoe for his brother. I told him that we had a long distance to go, and that we must proceed while there was plenty of water in the river, but that on our return we should again call.”
Impressive, however, as must have been an interview with such awful majesty, Mr. Bakie managed to survive it; indeed, so accustomed was he to the company of kings as to make nothing of meeting two, and even three, within a week. A day or so after his visit to the court of the King of Abó, he brought his ships to anchor off the dominions of King Ajé, and the result of a message to that august person was that he would visit our traveller aboard.
“Presently Ajé was seen to approach in a large canoe, with seventeen paddles of a side, and accompanied by several of his wives and some of his brothers and their wives. Another salute was fired, after which we received our visitors on board, and with some difficulty got them all seated on the poop. Ajé is a tall, rather stout, young-looking man, very superior in appearance to his brother, and is said in manner and countenance greatly to resemble his father. He appeared dressed in home-made scarlet cloth trousers, a scarlet uniform coat, a pink beaver hat, under which, apparently to make it fit, was a red worsted nightcap; no shoes, beads round his neck, and in his hand a Niger-expedition-sword. After talking of general matters, I spoke of his father, of Captain Trotter (a former explorer), of trade, and of our wishes and intentions; on which he replied that he considered that whatever his father wished or promised was binding on him, adding, however, that we seemed very long in carrying out our part of the agreement. I gave him a double-barrelled gun, a large sabre, a scarlet robe, some cloth and beads, and some scissors, mirrors, and needles for his wives, and also three krus (27,000) of cowries. This last, he said, must be shared by his brother, on which I offered Tishukuma an equal amount and gave him also other presents. With all Ajé seemed dissatisfied, and asked why we did not give as much as Captain Trotter did, on which I mentioned our long voyage, the many presents we had given away, and our stock being exhausted. Still he asked for things I had not, until I was obliged to speak more plainly, telling him how unreasonable his behaviour was, and how unlike what I expected in a son of Obi. He then laughed, showing that he was merely trying to get as much as he could, a daily Abó practice. Ajé next asked for the traders, who were sent for, and showed them a quantity of firewood, yams, palm-oil, and a bullock he had for sale. He proved a very keen hand, and only parted with his articles at a high price; he looked to everything himself, saw things handed on board, and the cowries counted. He gave me his dash, a bullock, and two hundred yams, which latter were here, though very good, very small and rounded. I took him round the ship, fired a swivel off before him, and showed him the engine. I explained to him that as our provisions were nearly expended, I could offer him but little, on which he said he would merely ask for some biscuit, which I gave him. He was much amused with the shower-bath, which he called all his wives to look at, and was much pleased with a German accordion which I gave him.”
Mr. Bakie’s greatest adventure, however, was with the formidable King or Chief of Neam Nam, whose subjects were regarded by surrounding tribes as monsters of the blackest dye, and the chief himself as the Fe-fo-fum of ogres. The natives begged him not to think of visiting this nest of scorpions where he and his party would undoubtedly be slain and eaten, and have to think themselves highly fortunate if they escaped the most cruel tortures into the bargain. Bakie wanted guides, but it was only on the most unheard-of terms that he was able to procure them, as well as porters to carry presents wherewith to propitiate the terrible Neam Nam. At last, however, these difficulties were overcome, and the adventurers, after a considerable march, came in sight of Mundo, a Neam Nam village. “I could not, however, induce them to enter it, and, throwing off their loads, they decamped, leaving only the interpreter in the firm grip of two of my followers. Nothing daunted, my men took up the rejected loads and we proceeded towards the village. On nearing it, the sound of several tom-toms and the shrill whistle of their calls plainly indicated that the Neam Nam were on the alert. A large party bearing their arms and shields issued forth to meet us, and, drawing up in line across our path, seemed determined to impede our progress. Heedless of the impediment, we proceeded on our way, and my khartoumers, in the best spirits, joined lustily in a song. The sight of the savages before us was imposing, each man guarded the greater part of his body with a large shield, holding a lance vertically in his right hand. The party were evidently surprised at the confidence and unoffending manner of our approach, and evinced a greater disposition to run away than to attack. On we went joyfully, and when within two yards of them, their ranks opened, allowing us a passage through them, of which as a matter of course we availed ourselves, and entered the village (apparently deserted by women and children), with the Neam Nam following in the rear, and passing through a street of huts rather distantly situated from one another, we reached a slight eminence commanding a fine view of a highly fertile country. During our march the tom-toms continued their noise, but, regardless of consequences, we took up our position under the shade of a magnificent sycamore tree in the vicinity of a couple of huts; and, disembarrassing ourselves of our baggage, we quietly seated ourselves in a circle round it, exposing our fronts to the natives, who in great numbers soon surrounded us, apparently astonished at the coolness we displayed; they gradually closed, and, the front rank seating themselves, their proximity became disagreeable, as they hemmed us in so closely that several of them actually seated themselves upon our feet, indulging at the same time in laughter and loud conversation which we could not understand. Enjoining patience on my men, and convinced that, in case of necessity, the harmless discharge of a gun or two would scatter our visitors, I learnt with some difficulty, through the medium of the Baer and Dor interpreters, that these savages looked upon us in the light of bullocks fit for slaughter, and that they contemplated feasting upon us; but they disputed the propriety of slaying us until the arrival of their chief, who I learnt was not in the village. With this knowledge, a hearty laugh and many jokes as to their condition were indulged in by my brave companions, who, confident in their own arms, behaved admirably. The excessive joy of our would-be butchers ceased at the appearance of an aged grey-headed man, who, after a short intercourse with the Baer interpreter, in a loud voice addressed the mob in words to the following effect: ‘Neam Nam, do not insult these strange men; do you know whence they come?’ ‘No, but we will feast on them,’ was the rejoinder. Then the grey-headed old man, holding up his spear and commanding silence, proceeded thus: ‘Do you know of any tribe that would dare approach our village in so small a number as these men have done?’ ‘No,’ was again vociferated. ‘Very well, you know not whence they came, neither do I who am greatly your senior, and whose voice you ought to respect. Their country must indeed be distant, and to traverse the many tribes between their country and ours ought to be a proof to you of their valour. Look at the things they hold in their hands; they are neither spears, clubs, nor bows and arrows, but inexplicable bits of iron mounted on wood. Neither have they shields to defend their bodies from our weapons; therefore, to have travelled thus far, depend upon it their means of resistance must be so puzzling to us, and far superior to any arms that any tribe—ay, even our own—can oppose to them: therefore, Neam Nam, I, who have led you to many a fight, and whose counsels you have often followed, say, shed not your blood in vain, nor bring disgrace upon your fathers, who never have been vanquished. Touch them not, but prove yourselves worthy the friendship of such a handful of brave men, and do yourselves honour by entertaining them, rather than degrade yourselves by the continuance of your insults.’
“This address seemed to have a beneficial effect with the majority. The old man motioning two or three of them out of the way, seated himself near me and endeavoured to converse with me, but failing, he called the interpreter. His first wish was to examine my rifle: removing the cap, I handed it to him. Long and silent was his examination, the most inexplicable part seeming the muzzle, which, instead of being pointed, had a hole in it. Placing his finger therein, he looked at me with the greatest astonishment, and to give him a practical explanation, I seized a fowlingpiece from the hands of my favourite hunter, and pointing to a vulture hovering over us, I fired: and before it touched the ground, the crowd were prostrate and grovelling in the dust, as if every man of them had been shot. The old man’s head, with his hands on his ears, was at my feet; and when I raised him his appearance was ghastly and his eyes were fixed on me with a meaningless expression. I thought he had lost his senses. After shaking him several times I at length succeeded in attracting his attention to the fallen bird quivering in its last agonies between two of his men. The first signs of returning animation he gave was, putting his hand to his head, and examining himself as if in search of a wound. He gradually recovered; and as soon as he could regain his voice, called to the crowd, who one after the other first raised their heads, and then again dropped them, at the sight of their apparently lifeless comrades. After the repeated call of the old man, they ventured to rise, and a general inspection of imaginary wounds commenced. I attempted to carry on a conversation with the old man, whose name was Murmangae, and learnt that the chief’s name was Dimoo, and that he had but lately succeeded his deceased father in the chieftainship. Gaining confidence, he again reverted to our arms, which, however, he expressed a fear of touching, and requested to know how the noise was produced; and whilst I was endeavouring to explain the gun to him, the chief, accompanied by numerous followers, arrived. To my disappointment, however, he treated us with great mistrust, and drawing up his men seemed inclined to attack us, on which a lengthened conversation between the old man and himself took place. At this stage of the proceedings, a single elephant was seen approaching the village. The chief, who had been standing, advanced towards me, and, pointing to the elephant, abruptly asked if our thunder could kill that. On my replying in the affirmative, ‘Do it,’ he said, ‘and I will respect you.’ The aspect of affairs had now assumed anything but a peaceful appearance; but relying upon my own resources and diplomacy, I resolved on gaining the good will of the chief, and despatched one half of my best shots to endeavour to bring down the elephant, whilst with the other half, in case of emergency, I knew I could defend our property. The brave fellows confidently sallied forth, although a few of them only possessed rifles, much too light for the work expected of them, whilst others had only double-barrelled fowling pieces loaded with ball. They were followed by the whole of the savages to within about three hundred yards of the elephant, when the hunters dispersed, and simultaneously fired at the elephant, within a range of twenty yards, from various directions. On the first discharge, the Neam Nam and their chief exhibited every sign of fear, some by falling on the ground, and others by taking to their heels. The elephant, a young male with tusks about a foot long, received shot after shot in quick succession. He merely elevated his trunk and ears, and moved round as if on a pivot, until about two rounds had been discharged at his head and shoulders with double charges of powder; he fell, and our prestige was established. The chief and his followers recovering themselves, approached more in the guise of petitioners than aggressors, and stated that if we would only withhold our thunder, they would be our best friends. Presents of beads to Dimoo and our old friend closed the compact; and on being informed that similar valuables would be given away for provisions, the chief proclaimed aloud the fact to the bystanders, who declared they would furnish us with anything the village contained.”
Still lingering in Western Africa we arrive at the Fernandian town of Issapoo, whose king is named Browowdi. Mr. Hutchinson introduces us to his majesty as well as to his palace.
The monarchy here, as in all Fernandian towns, is hereditary, not from father to son, but from uncle to nephew. His palace was certainly a most extraordinary place for human residence. Yet, on my getting inside, his first exhibition to me was, as the interpreter explained it, his throne and crown, the former consisting of a filthy stool, that looked old enough and dirty enough to have been handed down in his family for several scores of generations; and the latter, an equally filthy old hat of bamboo leaf, with a monkey’s tail pendent from it. Inside the house, the light came in through dozens of crevices in the walls as well as the roof. The wall consists only of boards placed side by side, reaching from the ground to the roof, all of which are moveable, so that the inmate has only to shift one or two at any side, and he lets himself in or out as he pleases. Across the house inside are placed a number of poles, on which are suspended hats, skins, rusty guns, cloth, and calabashes; but no windows, stools, beds, or tables, save the old throne, and a tax-gatherer would find a great scarcity of available chattels in the place. The coronation of a king is a ceremonial that I have not yet had the pleasure of witnessing, but it has been reported to me as one possessing interesting features. It is so bound up with their notions of a spirit or devil, that I deem it necessary to explain the peculiarity of their belief on this latter point. Maaon is the title given to the devil, and the botakimaaon (his high priest) is supposed to have influence with him through communication with the cobracapella, the koukarouko. Their faith in God, to whom the name of “Rupe” is given, is a loftier aspiration than that of the devil, but they believe that the Deity’s favour can be only obtained by intercession through the koukaroukos at the bottom, the candidate for regal honours standing alongside, and all his subjects in futuro being about. This conference is, I believe, carried on by means of ventriloquism, a faculty with which many of the Fernandians are reported to be endowed. The botakimaaon then delivers to the king the message from the koukarouko for his guidance in his high station, shakes over him a quantity of yellow powder, entitled “isheobo,” which is obtained by collecting a creamy coat that is found on the water at the mouths of some small rivers, evaporating the water, and forming a chalky mass of the residue. From the lightness as well as friability of this article, I believe it to be of a vegetable nature. He has then placed upon his head the hat worn by his uncle, and the crowning is accomplished. After becoming a king, his majesty is forbidden to eat cocoa, deer, or porcupine, which are the ordinary condiments of the people; and the ceremonial is concluded by the latter having some of the yellow powder rubbed over their foreheads by the botakimaaon, with instructions to use the same material in like manner every morning for seven days.
From Issapoo we accompany Mr. Hutchinson to Duketown, and on the road that gentleman tells us of the iron palace that was sent out some years since from Liverpool for the late king Eyamba; and which, though now utterly ruined, may be recollected in its prime, as well as King Eyamba, in the same enviable condition, and still another king, one Archibong, though whether Archibong was Eyamba’s successor, or vice versâ, is not quite clear. However, the reader may judge for himself.
“No man was more impressed with an idea of the dignity attachable to the trappings of royalty than Eyamba, and so he must have a carriage. But the horses soon died, after dragging out life for some time. The skeletons of two only were visible about Duketown, perfect anatomies vivantes, at the time of my first visit there. Horses not being native to this part of the country, it puzzled the lexicographers very much to find a name for them in their Etick tongue, the language spoken at Old Kalabar. At length they hit upon the term Euang makara, which signifies “white man’s cow;” and to carry the absurdity further, entitled Eyamba’s carriage Efot euang makara, which literally means “white man’s cowhouse.” When I beheld the nature of the streets and roads in and around the town, it was a marvel to me how Eyamba could find a place broad or level enough for four wheels to roll upon. But he did make out a few yards meet for that purpose; and there it was his custom to have the carriage drawn before him by a number of slaves, whilst he walked after it, with his shining brass crown upon his head, and an immense party-coloured parasol held aloft by a strong-armed man. The Irishman who got into a sedan chair, and, finding the bottom out of it, said he might as well be walking, were it not for the grandeur of the thing, had a nearer semblance to state than this gander-brained monarch, who often used to boast of his desire to see Wellington and Napoleon, that he might shew his pre-eminence over them; and who was accustomed to sign all his letters and documents as Eyamba V., king of all black men. Everything in this once magnificent house was, on my visit to it, in a state of perfect ruin and decay, for his majesty died a few years after it had been constructed. This condition of affairs may be explained by the fact that there exists among the people of Old Kalabar, as amongst the majority of the heathen nations in western Africa, a silly superstition, that when a man dies he requires the spirit of all that belonged to him in this world, his wives, slaves, cloths, chattels, and furniture, for use in the unknown world to which he has gone. In proportion to what his competency was, and to the means of his friends to make a corresponding sacrifice for him, so is his anticipated comfort in the next state to be measured. I have been since informed that in a few hours after its fall there was not a single piece of its structure to be found on the site of its former location; for the inhabitants all acted as so many human turkey-buzzards; and the earliest bird of course picked up his choice of the best worms. Coming out of the palace, and not fifty yards from it, although I had a hill to go down, a rut to scramble through, and an eminence to ascend, I find myself in front of the Duketown palaver-house, a species of senatorial forum, where all the legislative matters of the country, the municipal affairs of the town, palavers on matters public or private, are discussed and settled by the king and the Egbos. The palaver-house consists of two walls running parallel for about forty yards, terminated by a transverse wall, about as many feet in length, and thatched with a stout bamboo roof. The end by which it is entered is opened from side to side; a space of nearly eighteen inches intervene between the tops of the walls running lengthways and the roof; and there is an ascent from the road by half-a-dozen steps to the floor, which is hard and smooth. In the centre of the entrance is a huge hollow brass pillar reaching up to the roof, further in are two more of equally imposing diameter, whilst between them are a large bell and a piece of wood; the latter is drum-like in shape, with a slit longitudinally in it, and fixed to the pillar. This is the Egbo drum, which is beaten to alarm the inhabitants in case of fire, to give notice of the attack of an enemy, or to signify the fact of a leopard having been captured, each occurrence being indicated by a peculiarity of beating the drum, which is known as soon as the sound is heard. In the farthest corner of the house is a private sanctuary, into which none but the privileged are admitted on occasions of Egbo meetings, and outside the front are two flourishing ju-ju trees, with five pillars of stone before them, said to be solidified basaltic lava, brought from Prince’s Island, and erected there to the memory of five sovereigns of Old Kalabar. Not far from this palaver-house was the residence of the late king, Archibong I. There was nothing noticeable in it beyond that of any other gentleman trader’s abode; but the king was one of the most extraordinary specimens of sable humanity I ever met. He could neither read nor write the English language, but spoke it in a very imperfect gabble, and go to his house whenever you would, he was nearly always in the condition in which he might be expected to agree with the sentiment of Sancho Panza: blessings on the man who first invented sleep. On the first day of the week, which consists of eight days, he was accustomed to entertain all the supercargoes and surgeons in the river at dinner, and this was called Chop-day. Duketown Chop-day is entitled Aqua-el-dere, and is equivalent to our Sunday, but it is only as a day of rest—drinking rum and palm wine being their chief devotions. They wash their court-yards with cow-dung and water on that morning, and the largest market in the week is held on Aqua-el-dere. Eyamba, when king, adopted it as his chop-day because it was the most honoured in the week, and he wished to be considered the most consequential man in the country. King Archibong followed in his footsteps with reference to the same practice. A similar custom is adopted on the second day of the week, called Aqua-ibibio. The dishes served up at King Archibong’s were very creditable to his culinary establishment. They consisted of various kinds of soup, containing goat’s flesh, fish, pork, cocoa leaf and root, plantains, bananas, with a variety of other dishes, such as Apicius, Meg Dod, or Alexis Soyer never smiled upon, and which are said to have contained “pepper enough in them to have scalded a silver spoon.” These were followed by roast maize, ground-nuts, and shrimps as a dessert. Mimbo or Mim-efick, the native name for palm wine, was the beverage at these dinners. It is a milky fluid, having sometimes an acid and sometimes a saccharine taste, and is procured from a particular species of the palm tree, by tapping it at the top and allowing the juice to exude into calabashes placed there to receive it. One dish relished very much by the king was a plate of pounded yam, made into the putty-like consistence of ju-ju wood, with a soup entitled palaver sauce. The mode of eating it was by grasping a lump from the dish, rolling it on the palm of the hand into the shape of a racket ball, putting the index finger into the centre, dipping it into the soup, and bolting it. The table was always neatly laid out with silver service, and the viands were brought up in large calabashes; covered with white cloths, on the head of a number of female slaves.
So much for departed Duketown kings and their eccentricities; now let us turn, for it is worth while, to the present ruler of that locality as well as of the neighbouring settlement of Creektown. It is worth while as furnishing one of a hundred instances that might be quoted of the good effected by the teachings of Christianity, as well as an answer to those wondrously wise folk who sneer at missionaries and their doings. “King Eyo Honesty” is the honourable title of the present monarch of Duketown.
“King Eyo is anxious for the civilization of his people and the cultivation of his country, but he has had no one to teach them anything of the latter, and so the fruitful soil of his dominion lies unproductive, save in the one material of palm oil. Those who agree with me in thinking Christianity and civilization to be cause and effect in Africa, as they are all over the world, will rejoice to hear that he has given every countenance and assistance to the body of Presbyterian missionaries settled at Old Kalabar. He speaks, reads, and writes the English language very well, keeps his own accounts, and translates the Rev. Mr. Waddell’s sermons into the Efick tongue for his congregation. The king’s sons are the only members of his family that have made an open confession of their belief in the doctrines of Christianity, but Eyo enjoins the sacred keeping of the Lord’s day, has no dinner for the traders when it comes round in its eighth day rotation, has abolished the market formerly held on Sundays at Creektown, commands the weekly attendance of his people at the missionary service in the galvanised iron church, is most respectful and attentive during worship, and follows the preacher, translating sentence after sentence for the audience. He is a man past forty years of age, about five feet eight inches in height, of a stout muscular frame, with eyes and lips of the usual prominence observable in the Æthiopian face, and grey whiskers. His dress consists of a cloth, generally silk, tied round his loins, a silk handkerchief thrown over his shoulders, a black hat with a gold band and a binding of the same material about the edge. His ornaments are circlets of blue glass or coral beads round his neck, wrist, and ankles, with a massive gold ring on the index finger. He partakes freely of snuff, and this is carried by his slave in a silver box. It is the only luxury in which he indulges, for he never smokes, and from spirituous liquors no man can be more abstemious. When he goes in state to Duketown, as he always does on business occasions, to the trading ships in the river, he is invariably accompanied by a train of large canoes, from one of which a gun is fired to announce his approach as the royal party turns the angle opposite Oldtown. The king is always seated in a six-oared gig belonging to the ship to which he is proceeding, whilst the canoes contain his eldest son, young Eyo, and his three brothers, with an innumerable host of slave attendants. He has a gigantic parti-coloured parasol held over his head on these occasions, as he has whenever walking about his town, or seated in one of his court-yards, overlooking his trade books. The musical band accompanying the king consists of an Egbo drum, placed transversely in the canoe, which is not beaten on the ends as our drums are, but on the top of its longitudinal surface with a pair of sticks; an instrument formed of iron, as of the saucers of two shovels welded face to face, and struck with a piece of the same metal; a cow’s-horn, blown rather discordantly; and clattering-boxes made of bamboo matting, with a string to them held in the hands like Spanish castanets, and shaken vigorously to produce a noise by the agitation of the pebbles or pieces of broken crockery-ware they contain. Yet, with this primitive attempt at music, the banners flying from the canoes, the simultaneous hoisting of flags on all the ships in the river, and the return of a salute from the vessel to which he is proceeding, when the king’s party becomes visible, gives the whole scene a very animated appearance.”
By-the-by, mention has several times been made of the curious institution existing in this part of the world known as the order of “Egbo.” It is a sort of negro brotherhood of kings, chiefs, and free men, and the title is derived from “Ekpe,” the Efik name for tiger. There are eleven grades, the three superior of which are not purchaseable by slaves. In former times the Egbo title was confined entirely to freemen, the second or third generation of a slave born within the pale of an Egboman’s dwelling being liberated by this fact, and allowed to purchase it after their parents were dead. It cannot be compared to any institution familiar to European minds but to that of Freemasonry. Previous to initiation, the Egbo candidate is obliged to go through a number of ceremonial observances; as, for instance, on a “Brass Egbo”—one of the superior grades—applicant’s admission into that order, his body is daubed over with yellow dye to simulate brass, and there is a sacrifice of animals on the occasion. The secrets and meetings of Egbo men are strictly private. If a man, woman, or child have a complaint of grievance against a master or neighbour, he or she has only to give notification of it by slapping an Egbo gentleman on the front of his body, or by going into the market square and tolling the large Egbo bell. The gentleman apprised by the first-mentioned form of notice, is bound to have at once an Egbo meeting to redress the grievance complained of, and if this be found to be trivial the punishment is inflicted on the complainant. When an Egbo man wants to make a proclamation relative to a theft committed, or the recovery of a debt, he sends out into the town what is supposed to be Idem, or spiritual representation of Egbo, a man with a black vizard on his black face, and the whole of his body covered cap-a-pie with a fantastical dress of bamboo matting. This personage is sometimes preceded by a few drummers, and he always has a bell fastened to his side, which rings as he goes along. In his left hand he carries a bunch of green leaves (for he is believed to have been exorcised from the woods, and of course must keep up his sylvan character); in his right is an enormous cow-hide whip with which he flogs every slave, man or woman, whom he meets, as taste or inclination may suggest. A brutal peculiarity of the Egboship is this, that the want of a single variety of the title will expose him who is so unfortunate as to lack it, to the lashings of the Idem of that particular grade which he has not purchased. If an individual who is in possession of all the inferior grades, and of three of the superior ones, happens to be out on the day when the Idem of that particular Egbo that he was in want of is walking, he is marked out from the common multitude and treated with extra severity. Should the Idem not meet any slave in the streets to whip on his rounds, he is at liberty to go into their houses and whip them to his heart’s content. The sound of Egbo bells, and the name of Egbo day, are enough to terrify all the slave population of Duketown, and when they hear it they hide in every available place. Latterly females have been permitted to buy Egbo privileges, but are not allowed to be present at the councils of the Egbo gentlemen, nor to enter at any time within the wall of the Egbo Palaver-house. When a yellow flag floats from the king’s house it is understood to be Brass Egbo day, and none but a few of the privileged are allowed to walk abroad. A strip of cloth of the same colour nailed to any man’s door implies that his house is under the powerful protection of Brass Egbo, the indication being significant of the master’s absence from home. If an Idem meets a European in his progress, where there are two roads or pathways available, the Idem walks off on the one different from that which the white man is approaching; if there be but one road, the latter is expected to turn his back and let the supposed spirit pass unnoticed and undisturbed. “Aqua Osong,” the last day of the Kalabar week, is grand Egbo day, on which there is a carnival and Egbo procession, with the usual amount of brutality. All legal and judicial proceedings in the country are ushered in and carried out under Egbo demonstrations, for the purpose evidently of keeping the law in terrorem over the slave population. And no stronger evidence of this can be adduced than that a man tried and condemned by Egbo law has to forfeit all his slaves and other property in his possession, no matter to whom this latter may belong. These are all divided as prey amongst the highest Egbo authorities. Persons sentenced to death by Egbo trial are allowed what is considered a privilege of leaving this world in a state of intoxication. There is a class of people called Bloodmen, who live in the interior at the plantations, and whose presence in Duketown does not give much comfort to the Egbo authorities. Sometime after the death of King Eyamba in 1846, a number of slaves belonging to the duke’s family ran away from their owners, and entered into a blood covenant for mutual protection. In a short time others joined them, and they now amount to several thousands. The present King of Duketown, Duke Ephraim, is the lineal descendant of the master of the original refugees, and consequently has considerable influence over them. Some time back they tried to be allowed the establishment of a separate Egboship for themselves, but were refused. They come into town whenever any ceremonial is to be performed having reference to a deed of blood; but what their relation is to the Egbo order still remains a profound secret. The gentlemen at Old Kalabar have all private fetishes at their houses—the skulls of human beings, the bones of leopards, hippopotami, crocodiles, and manattis, arranged according to the owner’s taste and fancy. Peculiar species of food are not eaten by many families, from the fact that some members of them die after eating of such condiments, and their ju-ju consequently places an interdict on their use.
At Lunda, another settlement in Western Africa, the individual at the head of the State is called the “Mambo.” This gorgeous personage, together with his chief ministers, is thus described by the traveller Valdez, to whom audience was given:
“The Mambo sat on a number of tiger-skins, so arranged that all the tails radiated, thus forming the figure of a large star, and in the centre was spread an enormous lion-skin, which covered a portion of all the others. A stool, covered with green cloth and placed on the lion-skin, formed the throne of the Mambo. This dignitary was dressed in a most magnificent style, far surpassing in grandeur of display all the other potentates of the interior of Africa. His head was adorned with a mitre, about two spans high, in shape resembling a pyramid, and formed of feathers of a bright scarlet colour. His forehead was encircled by a diadem ornamented with a great variety of valuable jewels of great brilliancy; a sort of frill or fan of green cloth, supported by two small ivory arrows, was standing up from the back of his head; the neck and shoulders being covered with a kind of spencer or capuchin without sleeves. The upper part of this cape was ornamented with the bottom of cowrie shells, under which was a row of imitation jewels. The lower part had a most brilliant and dazzling effect, in consequence of a great number of small mirrors, or square and round pieces of looking-glass, being tastefully arranged alternately with the precious stones all round it. His shoulders, breast, and back, were thus covered with a garment at which no one in that resplendent sunshine could for one moment look fixedly.
“The arms above the elbows were ornamented with a band of cloth of about four inches broad, the borders and edges of which had attached to them strips of skin, with hair of about four or five inches long hanging down like a fringe. None but the Muata Cazembe, or prime minister, and his nearest relatives are allowed to wear this badge of royalty. From his elbows to the wrist the arms were ornamented with sky-blue stones, while the yellow cloth, something similar to the Highlandman’s kilt, extended from the waist to the knees. This garment had two borders of about four inches wide, the upper one blue, and the lower red.
“He also had a kind of girdle or swathe of several yards long, which was worn in a rather peculiar manner; one end of it being fastened to the other cloth by a small ivory arrow a little below the waist, and the whole then wound round the body in small regular folds. A leather belt which is girt round the body preserves this garment in its place. Both are considered as the insignia of imperial authority.
“The insipo or girdle of hide is cut from the entire length of an ox’s skin, and is about five or six inches in breadth. When the insipo is girded on, the tassel of the tail is left trailing under a sort of fan, formed by the folds or plaits as before mentioned. The Muata Cazembe had hung from his insipo under his right hand a string of pearls, to the end of which a small bell was attached, which, knocking against his legs as he moved, rang at intervals. He had also pearls strung round his legs from his knees downwards, similar to those he wore on his arms. While the whole of his body was thus richly ornamented, his face, hands, and feet were left entirely uncovered.
“The Muata Cazembe had seven umbrellas, forming a canopy to shelter him from the sun. These varied in colour, and were fastened to the ground with long bamboos, covered with stuff of different hues manufactured by the natives. Twelve negroes simply clad, and each of them holding in his hand a nhumbo’s tail, were stationed round the umbrellas.
“The nhumbo is an antelope about the size of a three-year old ox, and of a chestnut colour, having a black cross along the back, and a great deal of hair about the shoulder-blades—about the same quantity as a horse has upon his mane and tail. It has cloven feet, head and horns like a buffalo, and the flesh is excellent food. The nhumbo tails held by the negroes were in the form of a broom, and the part which served as a handle was adorned with beads of various colours. All the tails were put in motion at the same time whenever the Muata Cazembe thought proper to make a sign with a small one of the same kind, which he used himself.
“At a short distance from him were negroes gravely employed in looking for and sweeping away whatever was unpleasant or offensive to the sight. After them came two other negroes, with baskets on their shoulders, to pick up anything which might be overlooked; but the place was so clear that not one of them could find anything to do, although, according to custom, the appearance of being busy was kept up. Two curved lines issued from the extremities of the Muata’s chair, and met at the distance of twenty paces in front, opposite the Mambo. The line on the left was marked by the point of a stick which was trailed along the ground; that on his right by chalk. In front of these curved lines, forming an avenue of about three spans in width, were two files of figures resembling idols, beginning from the sides of the curved lines. The size of these figures, which were only half-lengths, was about twenty inches; they were nailed to sticks thrust in the ground, were very rudely made, had Kaffir features, and were ornamented with the horns of beasts. In the centre of the avenue was a cage in the form of a barrel, containing another smaller figure.
“Two negroes sat on the ground near the two outermost figures fronting the king, each having an earthen vessel full of live ashes before him, and were employed in throwing on the fire a quantity of leaves, which produced a dense aromatic smoke. The backs of the images being placed towards the Muata Cazembe, from under the last—the one nearest the earthen vessels—a rope was extended to the Mambo’s feet; for what purpose I could not by any means ascertain.
“The two wives of the Mambo were the only ones present in the Chipango, the gate of which was open. One of these ladies was sitting on a stool, covered with a green cloth; her arms, neck, and bosom ornamented with stones of different colours, and her head adorned with scarlet feathers, like the head-dress of the Mambo, but shorter and smaller.
“The second wife sat on a lion’s skin at the left-hand side of the gate, with no other dress than a cloth, which was entirely without ornaments. Behind the two wives stood more than four hundred women of different ages, all dressed in nhandas, a kind of interwoven cloth made of the bark of trees.”
In another part of this strange country the ruler is known by the euphonious title of “Jaga;” and whenever a vacancy occurs in the government by the death of the Jaga, the Tendalla or prime-minister convokes the heads of the electoral college, which comprises the Macotas or counsellors, the Cazas or noblemen, and the Catondo or commander-in-chief, who together with himself (the Tendella), compose the cabinet council. When this body is assembled they proceed to investigate the claims of the various individuals connected with the families who are considered as legitimate aspirants to the regal dignity.
Having first decided as to the family, their next inquiry has reference to the individual best qualified to bear the royal dignity; but it is seldom that matters proceed so far, for it is generally understood beforehand by the members of the electoral college who is the legitimate and popular claimant.
These important questions once settled, they next proceed to build a suitable house for a new Jaga, and to lay out the garden, etc., and also to erect houses for themselves around it. After these preliminary proceedings, they next direct their steps to the residence of the man of their choice, and unceremoniously entering, bring him out as if he were a malefactor and present him to the multitude, who, amidst the clang of marimbas and beating of drums, raise a simultaneous shout on his appearance. He is then conveyed on the shoulders of his sons, or of the people, to the Quilombo or fortified residence provided for him, where he remains for several days, none being allowed to visit him, with the exception of two relations and the Tendella. At the end of two months he removes to a house previously prepared on the borders of the River Undua, where he remains for twenty or thirty days. Here he may be said to form his new ministry—deposing some officers and appointing others. On this occasion he also selects his principal wife. When all these arrangements are finished, the Jaga returns to the locality where he intends to reside, and fixes the exact spot as follows:—Having formed his Quilombo, he takes his bow and discharges an arrow, and wherever it falls there he must erect his permanent residence, called Semba. Around it are built the houses of his wives, who in general amount to fifty in number. Next to these are located the senzales of the Macotas and their wives of the followers of the former Jaga, and lastly of those who were with the elected Jaga at the Senzald, where formerly he acted as Maquita.
The last of these ceremonies is that called the Sambamento, after which the Jaga is considered qualified to exercise all the functions of his office.
The particular period at which this most cruel and barbarous custom originated is not known. Some of the Jagas have been known to dispense with it altogether.
When it is decided to celebrate the Sambamento, some of the Sovas or Maquitas are dispatched to find the Nicango or victim. The person selected is uniformly a black, who must have no relationship or connection with the Jaga or any of the Maquitas or Macotas. When the Nicango arrives, he is received at the Quilombo and treated in the same manner as the Jaga; he is provided with everything he requires, and all his orders are obeyed with the same promptitude.
The day on which the Sambamento is to be celebrated being appointed, the Maquitas are informed of the fact, and as large a number of the people as can be accommodated at the Quilombo being invited, they all assemble in front of the residence of the Jaga. The Maquitas and the Macotas form themselves into a circle, the rest of the people assembling around. The Jaga then takes his seat in the centre of the circle, on an iron stool, in a circular concave form with a hole through the centre of the top. The Bansacuco is seated beside the Jaga, together with all the concubines. The Cassange-Cagongue then strikes the gong, which is of iron in the form of an arch, with two small bells attached, and with a bar across it. The Cassange-Cagongue continues to ring the bells during the ceremony.
The Nicango is then introduced and placed in front of the Jaga, but with his back towards him. The Jaga being provided with a cutlass of a semi-circular form, commences operations by cutting open the back of the Nicango until he reaches the heart, which he extracts, and having taken a bit of it he spits it out and gives it to be burned.
The Macotas in the meantime hold the corpse of the Nicango in such a manner that the blood from the wound in the back is discharged against the breast and belly of the Jaga, and falling through the hole in the iron stool is collected by the Maquitas in their hands; they then rub their breast and beard with it, at the same time making a great clamour vociferating “Great is the Jaga and the rites of the State.”
The corpse of the Nicango is next carried to some distance, where it is first skinned and then divided into small pieces and cooked with the flesh of an ox, a dog, a hen, and some other animals. The meal being prepared it is first served to the Jaga, next to the Maquitas and Macotas, and then to all the people assembled, and woe to the unhappy wight who has the temerity to refuse partaking of the repast from any repugnance to the ingredient, as in such case the law made and provided is that he and his family forfeit their liberty and are therefore at once sold into captivity.
Singing and dancing conclude the Sambamento.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Dr. Livingstone’s reception by Shinte—A South-African Chieftess—She gives her guests “a bit of her mind”—Breaches of Court etiquette—Abyssinian cure for melancholy—Mr. Bruce and the Lady Sittina—Greasing the King of Seenaar—Majesty in Madagascar—A Malagasey palace—The Feast of the Queen’s Bath—A Court ball in Madagascar.
Turning from Western to Southern Africa, let us see how royalty comports itself. As in the former case there is a wide choice of potentates, but we will take but two—Shinte, King of Makalolo, and Manenko, Chieftess of Balonda.
“We (Dr. Livingstone and party) were honoured with a grand reception by Shinte about eleven o’clock. The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully armed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute, their drummer and trumpeter making all the noise their very old instruments would produce. The kotla, or place of audience, was about a hundred yards square, and two graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near the end. Under one of these sat Shinte on a sort of throne covered with a leopard’s skin. He had on a checked jacket and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green; many strings of large heads hung from his neck, and his limbs were covered with iron and copper armlets and bracelets; on his head he wore a helmet made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned with a great bunch of goose-feathers. Close to him sat three lads with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders.
“When we entered the kotla, the whole of Manenko’s party saluted Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sambanza did obeisance by rubbing his chest and arms with ashes. One of the trees being unoccupied I retreated to it for the sake of the shade, and my whole party did the same. We were now about forty yards from the chief and could see the whole ceremony. The different sections of the tribe came forward in the same way that we did, the head man of each making obeisance with ashes which he carried with him for the purpose; then came the soldiers, all armed to the teeth, running and shouting towards us, with their swords drawn and their faces screwed up so as to appear as savage as possible for the purpose, I thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to our heels. As we did not, they turned round towards Shinte and saluted him, then retired. When all had come and were seated, then began the curious capering usually seen in pictures. A man starts up, and imitates the most approved attitudes observed in actual fight, as of throwing one javelin, receiving another on the shield, springing on one side to avoid a third, running backwards or forwards, leaping, etc. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of Nyamoana stalked backwards and forwards in front of Shinte, and gave forth in a loud voice all they had been able to learn either from myself or people of my past history and connection with the Makololo; the return of the captives, the wish to open the country to trade, etc. Perhaps he is fibbing, perhaps not—they rather thought he was; but as the Balonda had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to any one, he had better receive the white man well and send him on his way. Sambanza was gaily attired, and, besides a profusion of beads, had a cloth so long that a boy carried it after him as a train.
“Behind Shinte sat about a hundred women clothed in their best, which happened to be a profusion of red baize. The chief wife of Shinte, one of the Matebele or Zulus, sat in front with a curious red cap on her head. During the intervals between the speeches these ladies burst forth into a sort of plaintive ditty; but it was impossible for any of us to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of Shinte, or of themselves. This was the first time I had ever seen females present in a public assembly. Generally the women are not permitted to enter the kotla, and even when invited to come to a religious service they would not enter until ordered to do so by the chief; but here they expressed approbation by clapping their hands and laughing to different speakers, and Shinte frequently turned round and spoke to them.
“A party of musicians, consisting of three drummers and four performers on the piano, went round the kotla several times, regaling us with their music. The drums are neatly carved from the trunk of a tree, and have a small hole in the side covered with a bit of spider’s web; the ends are covered with the skin of an antelope pegged on, and when they wish to tighten it they hold it to the fire to make it contract—the instruments are beaten with the hands.
“The piano, named marimba, consists of two bars of wood placed side by side here quite straight, but farther north bent round so as to resemble half the tire of a carriage wheel; across these are placed about fifteen wooden keys, each of which is two or three inches broad, and fifteen or eighteen inches long—their thickness is regulated according to the deepness of the note required; each of the keys has a calabash beneath it from the upper part of each a portion is cut off to enable them to embrace the bars, and form hollow sounding-boards to the keys, which also are of different sizes according to the note required, and little drumsticks elicit the music. Rapidity of execution seems much admired among them, and the music is pleasant to the ear.
“When nine speakers had concluded their orations Shinte stood up, and so did all the people. He had maintained true African dignity of manner all the while; but my people remarked that he scarcely took his eyes off me for a moment. About a thousand people were present according to my calculation, and three hundred soldiers. The sun had now become hot, and the scene ended by the Mambari discharging their guns.
“As the river seemed to come from the direction in which we wished to go, I was desirous of proceeding farther up with the canoes, but Nyamoana interposed numerous objections, and the arrival of Manenko herself settled the point in the negative. She was a tall strapping woman, about twenty years of age, and distinguished by a profusion of ornaments and medicines, which latter are supposed to act as charms. Her body was smeared all over with a mixture of fat and red ochre as a protection against the weather, a necessary precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was in a state of frightful nudity, not so much from want of clothing as from her peculiar ideas of elegance in dress. When she arrived with her husband Sambanza, she listened for some time to the statements I was making to the people of Nyamoana, after which her husband commenced an oration, during the delivery of which he picked up a little sand, at intervals of two or three seconds, and rubbed it on the upper part of his arms and chest. This is a common mode of salutation in Londa; and when they wish to be excessively polite they bring a quantity of ashes or pipe-clay in a piece of skin and rub it on the chest and upper front part of each arm; others drum their ribs with their elbows, while others touch the ground with one cheek after the other and clap their hands. When Sambanza had finished his oration he rose up and showed his ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings. Had they been very heavy they would have impeded his walk; and some chiefs wore so many as to be forced to keep one foot apart from the other, the weight being a serious inconvenience in walking. Gentlemen like Sambanza who wish to ape their betters adopt their gait, strutting along with only a few ounces of ornament on their legs just as if they had double the number of pounds. When I smiled at Sambanza’s walk the people remarked, ‘That is the way in which they show off high blood in these parts.’
“When erecting our sheds at the village, Manenko, the chieftess, fell upon our friends and gave us a specimen of her powers of scolding. Masiko had once sent to Samoana for a cloth, which is a common way of keeping up intercourse. After receiving it he returned it, because it had the appearance of having had witchcraft medicine on it. This was a grave offence; and Manenko had now a good excuse for retaliation, as Masiko’s ambassadors had slept in one of the huts of her village without asking leave. She set upon them furiously, advancing and receding in true oratorical style, belabouring her own servants for allowing the offence, and raking up the faults and failings of the objects of her ire ever since they were born; in conclusion, expressing her despair of ever seeing them become better until they were all killed by alligators. Masiko’s people received this torrent of abuse in silence, and as neither we nor they had anything to eat, we parted next morning. In reference to the sale of slaves they promised to explain to Masiko the relationship which exists between even the most abject of his people and our common Father, and that no more kidnapping ought to be allowed. We promised to return through his town when we came back from the sea-coast.
“Manenko gave us some manioc roots in the morning, and had determined to carry our baggage to her uncle Shinte. We had heard a sample of what she could do with her tongue, and as neither my men nor myself had much inclination to encounter this black virago we proceeded to make ready the packages; but she said the men whom she had ordered for the service would not arrive until to-morrow. I felt annoyed at this further delay and ordered the packages to be put into the canoes at once: but Manenko was not to be circumvented in this way; she came forward with her people, seized the baggage, and declared that she would carry it in spite of me. My men succumbed and left me powerless. I was moving off in high dudgeon to the canoes when she kindly placed her hand on my shoulder and, with a motherly look, said, “Now, my little man, just do as the rest have done.” My feeling of annoyance of course vanished, and I went out to try for some meat.
Ignorance of court etiquette in savage no less than in civilized countries is a fruitful source of danger, or at least unpleasantness, to the traveller ambitious to move in what the newspapers vaguely describe as “select circles.” Mr. Stern, in his recent travels among the Falashas of Abyssinia, was on one occasion advised of this fact in a rather astonishing manner. Breakfast was served in the royal tent, and it was during the progress of the meal that our traveller nearly lost the esteem and regard he had hitherto enjoyed. “According to the Abyssinian notion every man who claims to be of patrician descent, should emulate the noises made by a certain unclean animal whilst eating his meals. My ignorance of this elegant acquirement (for I had unfortunately not yet attained it) drew upon me the frowns as well as the whispered censures of the guests. Unconscious of the cause of this unexpected notoriety, I asked whether there was anything peculiar in my appearance or deportment that provoked criticism. ‘Certainly,’ was the rejoinder, ‘your conduct is so ungentlemanly that all the guests think you must be a very low fellow and quite unaccustomed to move in genteel society.’ ‘And to what am I indebted for this good opinion?’ returned I. ‘To the mode in which you eat; for if you were a gentleman you would show by the smacking of your lips the exalted station to which you belong; but since you masticate your food in this inaudible manner every one believes that you are a beggar and accustomed to eat in that unostentatious manner which pretended poverty prompts individuals to adopt.’ I assured them that any breach of etiquette must be attributed to the difference of the customs in my own country and not to the low motive they assigned, an apology which amply satisfied the most accomplished courtier in the royal tent.”
It is the constant practice in Abyssinia to beset the king’s doors and windows within his hearing, and there, from early morning to night, to cry for justice as loud as possible in a distressed and complaining tone, and in all the different languages they are master of, in order to their being admitted to have their supposed grievances heard. In a country so ill governed as Abyssinia is, and so perpetually involved in war, it may be easily supposed there is no want of people who have real injuries and violence to complain of: but if it were not so, this is so much the constant usage, that when it happens (as in the midst of the rainy season) that few people can approach the capital or stand without in such bad weather, a set of vagrants are provided, maintained, and paid, whose sole business it is to cry and lament, as if they had been really very much injured and oppressed; and this, they tell you, is for the king’s honour, that he may not be lonely, by the palace being too quiet. This, of all their absurd customs, was the most grievous and troublesome to Mr. Bruce. Sometimes, while Mr. Bruce was busy in his room in the rainy season, there would be four or five hundred people, who all at once would begin, some roaring and crying, as if they were in pain, others demanding justice, as if they were that moment suffering, or if in the instant to be put to death; and some groaning and sobbing as if just expiring; and this horrid symphony was so artfully performed, that no ear could distinguish but that it proceeded from real distress. Mr. Bruce was often so surprised as to send the soldiers at the door to bring in one of them, thinking him come from the country, to examine who had injured him: many a time he was a servant of his own, or some other equally known; or, if he was a stranger, upon asking him what misfortune had befallen him he would answer very composedly, nothing was the matter with him; that he had been sleeping all day with the horses; that hearing from the soldiers at the door that Mr. Bruce was retired to his apartment he and his companions had come to cry and make a noise under his window, to do him honour before the people, for fear he should be melancholy by being too quiet when alone, and therefore hoped that he would order them drink that they might continue with a little more spirit.
In the course of his Abyssinian journeyings, the traveller just mentioned had occasion to pass through a place called Arendi, which was governed by a female named Sittina, or the Lady. Our traveller waited on this high and mighty personage. Upon entering the house, a black slave laid hold of him by the hand, and placed him in a passage, at the end of which were two opposite doors. Mr. Bruce did not well know the reason of this; but staid only a few minutes, when he heard one of the doors at the end of the passage open, and Sittina appeared magnificently dressed, with a kind of round cap of solid gold upon the crown of her head, all beaten very thin, and hung round with sequins; with a variety of gold chains, solitaires, and necklaces of the same metal, about her neck. Her hair was plaited in ten or twelve small divisions like tails, which hung down below her waist; and over her was thrown a common cotton white garment. She had a purple silk stole, or scarf, hung very gracefully upon her back, brought again round her waist, without covering her shoulders or arms. Upon her wrists she had two bracelets like handcuffs, about half an inch thick, and two gold manacles of the same at her feet, full an inch in diameter, the most disagreeable and awkward part of her dress. Mr. Bruce expected she would have hurried through with some affectation of surprise. On the contrary, she stopped in the middle of the passage, saying, in a very grave manner, “Kifhalec,—how are you?” Mr. Bruce thought this was an opportunity of kissing her hand, which he did, without her shewing any sort of reluctance. “Allow me as a physician, Madam,” said Mr. Bruce, “to say one word.” She bowed with her head, and said, “Go in at that door, and I will hear you.” The slave appeared, and carried him through a door at the bottom of a passage into a room, while her mistress vanished in at another door at the top, and there was the screen he had seen the day before, and the lady behind it. She was a woman scarcely forty, taller than the middle size, had a very round plump face, her mouth rather large, very red lips, the finest teeth and eyes he had seen; but at the top of her nose, and between her eyebrows, she had a small speck made of antimony, four-cornered, and of the size of the smallest patches formerly worn by ladies of fashion; another rather longer upon the top of her nose, and one in the middle of her chin.
“Tell me what you would say to me as a physician.” “It was, madam, but in consequence of your discourse yesterday. That heavy gold cap with which you press your hair will certainly be the cause of a great part of it falling off.” “I believe so; but I should catch cold, I am so accustomed to it, if I was to leave it off. Are you a man of name and family in your own country?” “Of both, madam.” “Are the women handsome there?” “The handsomest in the world, madam; but they are so good, and so excellent in all other respects, that nobody thinks at all of their beauty, nor do they value themselves upon it.” “And do they allow you to kiss their hands?” “I understand you, madam, though you have mistaken me. There is no familiarity in kissing hands; it is a mark of homage and distant respect paid in my country to our sovereigns, and to none earthly besides.” “O yes! but the kings.” “Yes, and the queens too, always on the knee, madam. On her part, it is a mark of gracious condescension, in favour of rank, merit, and honourable behaviour; it is a reward for dangerous and difficult services, above all other compensation.” “But do you know that no man ever kissed my hand but you?” “It is impossible I should know that, nor is it material. Of this I am confident, it was meant respectfully, cannot hurt you, and should not offend you.” “It certainly has done neither,” replied Her Majesty—and so ended her first lesson on the etiquette of civilized life.
On another occasion, while in the neighbourhood of Seenaar, our traveller waited on the king; and about eight o’clock came a servant from the palace, telling Mr. Bruce that then was the time to “bring his present.” He sorted the separate articles with all the speed he could, and went directly to the palace. The king was sitting in a large apartment, as far as he could guess, at some distance from the former. He was naked, but had several clothes lying upon his knee, and about him, and a servant was rubbing him over with very stinking butter or grease, with which his hair was dropping as if wet with water. Large as the room was, it could be smelled through the whole of it. The king asked Mr. Bruce if he ever greased himself as he did? Mr. Bruce said, very seldom, but fancied it would be very expensive. He then told him that it was elephant’s grease, which made people strong, and preserved the skin very smooth. Our traveller said he thought it very proper, but could not bear the smell of it, though his skin should turn as rough as an elephant’s for the want of it. The king replied, that if Mr. Bruce had used it, his hair would not have turned so red as it was, and that it would all become white presently, when that redness came off. “You may see,” continued he, “the Arabs driven in here by the Daveina, and all their cattle taken from them, because they have no longer any grease for their hair. The sun first turns it red, and then perfectly white; and you will know them in the street by their hair being the colour of yours. As for the smell, you will see that cured presently.”
After having rubbed him abundantly with grease, the servants brought him a pretty large horn, and in it something scented, about the consistence of honey. It was plain that civet was a great part of the composition. The king went out at the door, Mr. Bruce supposes into another room, and there two men deluged him with pitchers of cold water. He then returned, and a slave anointed him with this sweet ointment; after which he sat down as completely dressed, being just going to his woman’s apartment where he was to sup. Mr. Bruce told him, he wondered why he did not use rose-water as in Abyssinia, Arabia, and Cairo. He said he had it often from Cairo, when the merchants arrived; but as it was now long since they came, his people could not make more, for the rose would not grow in his country, though the women made something like it of lemon-flower.
Making a skip from Abyssinia to Madagascar we there find the “Royal state” a ludicrous blending of gingerbread splendour and magnificent muddle. By-the-by, things may have reformed here by this time, as the queen of whom this description treats is lately dead: let us hope that this is the case. Our business, however, is to recite the evidence of our witnesses—the witness in this case being the courageous and truthful Ida Pfieffer.
“Towards four o’clock our bearers carried us to the palace. Over the door is fixed a great gilt eagle with extended wings. According to the rule here laid down by etiquette we stepped over the threshold first with the right foot, and observed the same ceremony on coming to a second gate leading to a great court-yard in front of the palace. Here we saw the queen sitting on a balcony on the first storey, and were directed to stand in a row in the court-yard opposite to her. Under the balcony stood some soldiers, who went through sundry evolutions, concluding with a very comic point of drill which consisted in suddenly poking up the right foot as though suddenly stung by a tarantula.
“The queen was wrapped, according to the custom of the country, in a wide silk simbu and wore on her head a big golden crown. Though she sat in the shade a very large crimson umbrella was held up over head; this being, it appears, a point of regal state.
“The queen is of rather dark complexion, and sturdily built, and although already seventy-five years of age she is, to the misfortune of her poor country, still hale and of active mind. At one time she is said to have been a great drunkard, but she has given up that fatal propensity some years ago.
“To the right of the queen stood her son Prince Rakoto, and on the left her adopted son Prince Ramboasalama; behind her sat and stood sundry nephews and nieces and other relatives, male and female, and several grandees of the empire.
“The minister who had conducted us to the palace made a short speech to the queen; after which we had to bow three times and to repeat the words ‘Esaratsara tombokoe,’ equivalent to ‘We salute you cordially,’ to which she replied ‘Esaratsara,’ which means ‘well-good.’ Then we turned to the left to salute the tomb of Prince Radama lying a few paces on one side, with three similar bows; whereupon we returned to our former place in front of the balcony and made three more. Mr. Lambert (who accompanied Madam Pfieffer) on this occasion, held up a gold piece of fifty franks value and put it in the hands of the minister who accompanied us. This gift, which every stranger has to offer the first time he is presented at court, is called ‘Monosina.’ It is not customary that it should consist of a fifty-franc piece; the queen contents herself with a Spanish dollar, or a five-frank piece. After the delivery of the gold piece, the queen asked Mr. Lambert if he wished to put any question to her, or if he stood in need of anything; to which he answered, ‘No.’ She also was condescending enough to turn to me and ask if I was well and if I had escaped the fever. After I had answered this question, we stayed a few minutes longer looking at each other, and then the bowings and greetings began anew. We had to take leave of Radama’s monument, and on returning were reminded not on any account to put the left foot first over the threshold.”
The royal palace of Madagascar is described by Mrs. Pfieffer as a very large wooden building, consisting of a ground floor and two storeys surmounted by a peculiarly high roof. The storeys are surrounded by broad galleries. Around the building are pillars, also of wood, eighty feet high, supporting the roof which rises to a height of forty feet above them, resting in the centre on a pillar no less than a hundred and twenty feet high. All these columns, the one in the centre not excepted, consist of a single trunk; and when it is considered that the woods which contain trees of sufficient size to furnish these columns are fifty or sixty English miles from the capital, that the roads are nowhere paved and in some places are quite impassable, and that all the pillars are dragged hither without the help of a single beast of burden or any kind of machine, and are afterwards prepared and set up by means of the simplest tools, the building of this place may with truth be called a gigantic undertaking, and the place itself be ranked among the wonders of the world. In bringing home the chief pillar alone five thousand persons were employed and twelve days were occupied in its erection.
“All these labours were performed by the people as compulsory service for which they received neither wages nor food. I was told that during the progress of the work fifteen thousand persons fell victims to the hard toil and the want of proper nourishment. But the queen is little disturbed by such a circumstance—half the population might perish if only her high behests were fulfilled.
“In front of the principal building a handsome and spacious court-yard has been left. Around this space stands several pretty houses, all of wood. The chief building is in fact uninhabited and contains only halls of state and banquetting rooms. On the left the ‘silver palace’ adjoins the larger one. It takes its name from the fact that all the vandyked ends with which the roof is decorated are hung with innumerable little silver bells. Beside the silver palace stands the monument of King Radama—a tiny wooden house without windows; to this fact, however, and to the further circumstance of its being built upon a pedestal, it owes its sole resemblance to a monument.”
The singular custom prevails in Madagascar, that when a king dies all his treasures in gold and silver ware, and other valuables, are laid with him in the grave. In case of need, however, the king can dig up the treasure. “As far as I could ascertain,” says the observant Ida Pfieffer, “this had been done in several instances.”
The same lady favours us with a description of the chief national festival among the Malagaseys, the “Feast of the Queen’s Bath.” It takes place on New Year’s Day.
“On the eve of the feast all the high officers, nobles, and chiefs, appear at court invited by the queen. They assemble in a great hall; presently a dish of rice is carried round, each guest taking a pinch in his fingers and eating it. That is the whole extent of the ceremony on this first evening.
“Next morning the same company assemble in the same hall. As soon as they have all met, the queen steps behind a curtain which hangs in a corner of the room, undresses, and has water thrown over her. As soon as she has been dressed again she steps forward, holding in her hand an ox horn, filled with the water which has been poured over her. Part of this she pours over the assembled company. Then she betakes herself to a gallery overlooking the court-yard of the palace and pours the rest over the military assembled there for parade.
“On this auspicious day nothing is seen throughout the whole country but feasting, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, which is continued till late at night. The celebration is kept up for eight days dating from the day of the bath. It is the custom of the people to kill as many oxen on that day as they contemplate consuming during the other seven; whoever possesses any oxen at all kills at least one at this feast. The poor people get pieces of meat in exchange for rice, sweet potatoes, tobacco, etc. The meat is still tolerably fresh on the eighth day. It is cut into long thin strips, which are salted and laid one on the other. The preliminary celebration of the feast occurs a week earlier and consists of military processions. The votaries of pleasure then begin their feast and thus have a fortnight’s jollity—a week before the feast and a week after.
“The soldiers whom I saw in the procession pleased me well enough. They went through their manœuvres with tolerable accuracy, and, contrary to my expectation, I found the music not only endurable but positively harmonious. It appears that some years ago the queen sent for an European band-master and a complete set of instruments; and her worthy subjects were inducted into a knowledge of music probably by means of a stick. The soldiers were dressed in a simple, neat, and perfectly uniform manner. They wore a tight-fitting jerkin reaching to the chest and covering part of their loins. The chest was bare and covered by the gleaming white belts supporting the cartridge-box, which had a good effect in contrast to the black skins of the soldiers. Their heads are uncovered. Their arms consisted of a musket and the national lance called sagaya.”
According to the same authority, however, satisfactory as is the appearance of the Malagasey soldier, his lot is a very hard one. He receives no pay, and even his regimentals must be provided out of his own scanty means. To meet these expenses he is obliged, if he is a craftsman, to beg so much leave each day of his superior; or, if farm work be his avocation, he on certain days of the week abandons the barrack for the plough. The soldier, however, says Mrs. Pfieffer, who would obtain enough leave of absence to enable him to maintain himself in anything like comfort, must propitiate his captain by giving him part of his earnings. The officers are generally very little richer than the soldiers. They certainly receive, like the civil officials, a remuneration for their services from the customs’ revenues; but the pay is so small that they cannot live upon it, and are compelled to have recourse to other means, not always of the most honest description. According to the law a very small portion of the customs’ revenue should come to the common soldier; but so insignificant is the amount that neither common soldiers nor officers think it worth while to make any fuss about it.
So it comes about that the unlucky Malagasey soldier who can find no work, and is too far from his native village to receive assistance from his friends, is in danger of starvation. His leisure hours are spent in grubbing about the country in search of herbs and roots with which, and a little rice, he manages to keep life and soul together. The rice he throws into a pot filled with water, and after it has soaked for a time the rice-water serves him for a dinner; in the evening he banquets on the soddened grain remaining in the pot. But in war time, as soon as he is on an enemy’s territory, he makes up for his protracted season of “short commons;” he plunders right and left and literally lives upon the fat of the land; his long training has provided him with an excellent appetite; indeed, it is said that four able-bodied Malagaseys are equal to the task of consuming an entire ox in the space of four days, and at the termination of the feast to be so little incommoded as to be able to flee from pursuit with the nimbleness of deer-hounds.
The Malagasey soldier at war, however, is only to be envied while his health remains unimpared, and while he is lucky enough to keep his carcase within a sound skin. His comrades are bound to take care of him in sickness—but how are they to do this when they themselves are pinched by poverty and are without even the common necessaries of life? It frequently happens on a march that the sick soldier’s companions will endeavour to rid themselves of him; not by killing him outright, but by the less charitable process of denying him food to eat or water to quench his thirst, till, preferring death to further torture, he begs to be laid under a tree and left, when his tender nurses readily yield to his solicitations, and he is left to die.
Let us wind up our notice of Royalty and its attributes in Madagascar by a description of a court ball.
The ball began soon after one o’clock in the day, and was not held in the apartments of the palace, but in front of the building, in the great fore-court in which we had been admitted to our audience. As on that former occasion, the queen sat on the balcony under the shade of her great parasol, and we were obliged to make the usual obeisances to her and to the tomb of King Radama. This time, however, we were not made to stand; comfortable arm-chairs were assigned to us. Gradually the ball company began to assemble; the guests comprised nobles of both sexes, officers and their wives, and the queen’s female singers and dancers. The nobles wore various costumes, and the officers appeared in European dress: all were obliged to make numerous obeisances. Those who appeared in costume had seats like ours given them; the rest squatted about as they liked, in groups on the ground.
“The queen’s female dancers opened the ball with the dreary Malagasey dance. These charming creatures were wrapped from top to toe in white simbus, and wore on their heads artificial, or, I should say, very inartificial flowers, standing up stiffly like little flagstaffs; they crowded into a group in such a way that they seemed all tied together. As often as they staggered past the queen’s balcony or the monument of King Radama, they repeated their salutes, and likewise at the end of every separate dance. After the female dancers had retired, the officers executed a very similar dance, only that they kept somewhat quicker time, and their gestures were more animated—that is to say, they lifted their feet rather higher than the performers of the other sex. Those who had hats and caps, waved them in the air from time to time, and set up a sharp howling, intended to represent cries of joy.
“After the officers followed six couples of children in fancy dresses. The boys wore the old Spanish costume, or were attired as pages, and looked tolerably well; but the girls were perfect scarecrows. They wore old-fashioned French costumes—large, stiff petticoats, with short bodices—and their heads were quite loaded with ostrich feathers, flowers, and ribbons. After this little monkey community had performed certain polonaises, schottisches, and contre-danses, acquitting themselves, contrary to my expectation, with considerable skill, they bowed low and retired, making way for a larger company, the males likewise clad in the old Spanish, the females in the old French garb.
“All these various costumes are commanded by the queen, who generally gets her ideas from pictures or engravings that come in her way. The ladies add to the costume prescribed by royalty whatever their own taste and invention may suggest, generally showing great boldness and originality in the combination of colours. I will give my readers an idea of what these costumes are like, by describing one of them.
“The dress was of blue satin, with a border of orange colour, above which ran a broad stripe of bright cherry-coloured satin. The body, also of satin, with long skirt, shone with a brimstone hue, and a light sea green silk shawl was draped above it. The head was covered in such style with stiff, clumsily-made artificial flowers, with ostrich feathers, silk ribbons, glass beads, and all kinds of millinery, that the hair was entirely hidden—not that the fair one lost much thereby, but that I pitied her for the burden she had to carry.
“The costumes of the other ladies showed similar contrasts in colour, and some of these tasteful dresses had been improved by a further stroke of ingenuity, being surmounted by high conical hats, very like those worn by the Tyrolese peasants.
“The company, consisting exclusively of the higher aristocracy, executed various European dances, and also performed the Sega, which the Malagaseys assert to be a native dance, though it is really derived from the Moors. The figures, steps, and music of the Sega are all so pleasing that, if it were once introduced in Europe, it could not fail to become universally fashionable.
Malagasey Ball.
“This beautiful dance was far from concluding the ball. After a short pause, during which no refreshments were offered, the élite of the company, consisting of six couples, stepped into the court-yard. The gentlemen were Prince Rakoto, the two Labordes, father and son, two ministers, and a general—all the ladies were princesses or countesses. The gentlemen were dressed in old Spanish costume, except Prince Rakoto, who wore a fancy dress so tastefully chosen, that he might have appeared with distinction in any European Court ball. He wore trousers of dark blue cloth, with a stripe down the side, a kind of loose jerkin of maroon-coloured velvet, ornamented with gold stripes and the most delicate embroidery, and a velvet cap of the same colour, with two ostrich feathers, fastened by a gold brooch. The whole dress fitted so well, and the embroidery was so good, that I thought Mr. Lambert must have taken the prince’s measure with him to Paris, and that the clothes had been made there; but this was not the case. Everything, with the exception of the material, had been prepared at Tananariva—a proof that, if the people of Madagascar are deficient in invention, they are exceedingly clever in imitating models set before them.
“This group of dancers appeared with much more effect than their predecessors, for all the ladies and gentlemen were much more tastefully attired than the rest of the company. They only performed European dances.
“The whole of these festivities, which had occupied three hours, had not put the queen to the slightest expense. The court-yard was the dancing floor, the sun provided illumination, and every guest was at liberty to take what refreshment he chose—when he got home. Happy queen! How sincerely many of our ball-givers must envy her!”
Borneo.
CHAPTER XIX.
Installation of a Dayak Rajah—A visit to the Grungs—A Dayak dance—Captain Hall’s visit to Corea—The chief on board the “Lyra”—Entertained at one’s own expense—The chief loses his temper—The marriage of King Finow’s daughter—The marriage ceremonies—Mummying a king—King John’s skull—The Bushman’s mourning.
In Borneo we find the ruling power to be a Sultan, assisted in his rule by “Rajahs” and “Pangerans” and “Bandars,” and many others whose titles are equally unintelligible to us. Each of these minor rulers, however, appears to rule absolutely over the people in their immediate care; and much ceremony is observed at their installation. Sir James Brooke, himself a rajah, was once present at the election of three of these petty rulers.
With the Dayaks all council is divided into hot and cold—peace, friendship, good intentions, are all included under the latter head; war, etc., are under the former. Hot is represented by red, and cold by white. So in everything they make this distinction; and as the public hall is the place for war councils and war trophies, it is hot in the extreme, and unfit for friendly conference. A shed was therefore erected close to the Orang Kaya’s house wherein the ceremony was to take place. “About nine in the evening we repaired to the scene; loud music, barbarous but not unpleasing, resounded, and we took our seats on mats in the midst of our Dayak friends. A feast was in preparation, and each guest (if I may call them such) brought his share of rice in bamboos and laid it on the general stock. As one party came up after another, carrying their burning logs, the effect was very good; and they kept arriving until the place and its vicinity was literally crammed with human beings. A large antique sīrih-box was placed in the midst, and I contributed that greatest of luxuries, tobacco.
“The feast in the meantime was in preparation, some of the principal people being employed in counting the number who were to eat and dividing the bamboos into exactly equal portions for each person. About six inches were allotted to every man, and it took a very long time to divide it, for they are remarkably particular as to the proper size and quantity to each share. The bamboos of rice being, however, at length satisfactorily disposed, the Orang Kaya produced as his share a large basin full of sauce composed of salt and chilis, and a small stock of sweetmeats, and then the ceremony of his installation commenced as follows:
“A jacket, a turban, a cloth for the loins, and a kris (all of white), were presented to the chiefs as a token of sejiek dingin, or cold (i.e. good). The chief then rose, and taking a white fowl and waving it over the eatables, repeated nearly the following words [The commencement, however, is curious enough to dwell upon: the opening is a sort of invocation beginning with the phrase ‘Samungut Samungi.’ Samungut is a Malay word, Samungi signifying the same in Dayak; the exact meaning it is difficult to comprehend, but it is here understood as some principal spirit or fortune which is in men and things. Thus the Dayaks in stowing their rice at harvest, do it with great care from a superstitious feeling that the Samungi of the padi will escape. They now call this principal to be present—that of men, of pigs (their favorite animal), of padi, and of fruits. They particularly named my Samungi, that of my ancestors, of the Pangeran from Borneo, of the Datus and of their ancestors, and of the ancestors of their own tribe. They call them—that is, their Samungi—to be present. They then call upon Jovata to grant their prayer that the great man from Europe and the Datus might hold the government for a length of time]:—‘May the government be cold (good). May there be rice in our houses. May many pigs be killed. May male children be born to us. May fruit ripen. May we be happy, and our goods abundant. We declare ourselves to be true to the great man and the Datus; what they wish we will do, what they command is our law.’ Having said this and much more the fowl was taken by a leading Malay who repeated the latter words, whilst others bound strips of white cloth round the heads of the multitude. The fowl was then killed, the blood shed in a bamboo, and each man dipping his finger in the blood touched his forehead and breast in attestation of his fidelity. The fowl was now carried away to be cooked, and when brought back placed with the rest of the feast, and the dancing commenced. The chief coming forward uttered a loud yell ending in ‘ish,’ which was oftentimes repeated during the dance. He raised his hand to his forehead and, taking a dish, commenced dancing to lively music. Three other old chief-men followed his example, each uttering the yell and making the salute, but without taking the dish. They danced with arms extended, turning the body frequently, taking very small steps and little more than lifting their feet from the ground. Thus they turned backwards and forwards, passed in and out in the inner rooms, and frequently repeating a yell and making the salutation to me. The dish in the meantime was changed from one to the other; there was little variety, no gesticulation, no violence, and though not deficient in native grace, yet the movements were by no means interesting. The dance over the feast commenced, and everything was carried on with great gravity and propriety. I left them shortly after they begun to eat, and retired, very fagged, to my bed, or rather my board, for sitting cross-legged for several hours is surely a great affliction.”
Sir J. Brooke, in company with a modern writer on Bornean manners and customs—Mr. St. John—on another occasion paid a ceremonial visit to a chief of the Grungs, and with results that are worth chronicling.
“We found the village crowded with the representatives of all the neighbouring tribes; long strings of men, women, and children were continually arriving as we approached. Directly we ascended the notched tree that served as a ladder to the Orang Kaya’s house, we found that we were no longer free agents. A crowd of old women instantly seized us and pulled off our shoes and stockings and commenced most vigorously washing our feet: this water was preserved to fertilize the fields. We were then conducted to a platform but slightly raised above the floor and requested to sit down, but the mats were so dirty that we could scarcely prevail upon ourselves to do so—perhaps the only time it has occurred to us; generally the mats are charmingly neat and clean. The arrival of our bedding freed us from this difficulty.
“We were surrounded by a dense mass of men, women, and children who appeared all to be talking at once; in fact, more excitement was shewn than I have before observed. We had to do so many things, and almost all at once,—to sprinkle rice about, to pour a little water on each child that was presented to us, until, from force of example, the women and even the men insisted upon the ceremony being performed on them.
“Silence being at last restored, Kasim explained in a long speech the object of Captain Brooke’s visit. He spoke in Malay, interlarding it occasionally with Dayak phrases—I say Malay, but Malay that is only used when addressing the aborigines,—clipping and altering words, changing the pronunciation, until I find that some have been deceived into believing this was the true Dayak language. It is to these people what the Lingua Franca is to Western Asia.
“We got a little respite while eating our dinner; but as soon as we had finished we were again surrounded. The priestesses of the place were especially active tying little bells round our wrists and ancles and bringing rice for us to—how shall I explain it?—in fact for us to spit on, and this delectable morsel they swallowed. No sooner had these learned women been satisfied than parents brought their children and insisted upon their being physicked in the same way, taking care to have a full share themselves. One horrid old woman actually came six times.
“The Orang Kaya now advanced and there was strict attention to hear what he was about to say. He walked to the window and threw some grains out, and then commenced a kind of prayer asking for good harvests, for fertility for the women, and for health to them all. During the whole invocation he kept scattering rice about. The people were very attentive at first, but soon the murmur of many voices almost drowned the old man’s tones. He did not appear very much in earnest, but repeated what he had to say as if he were going over a well-remembered but little understood lesson; in fact, it is said these invocations are in words not comprehended even by the Dayaks themselves—perhaps they are in some Indian language. Then a space was cleared for dancing; the old Orang Kaya and the elders commenced and were followed by the priestesses. They walked up to us in succession, passed their hands over our arms, pressed our palms, and then uttering a yell or a prolonged screech, went off in a slow measured tread, moving their arms and hands in unison with their feet, until they reached the end of the house and came back to where we sat; then another pressure of the palm, a few more passes to draw virtue out of us, another yell, and off they went again; at one time there were at least a hundred dancing. Few of the young people joined in what appeared in this case a sacred dance.
“For three nights we had had little sleep on account of these ceremonies; but at length, notwithstanding clash of gong and beat of drum, we sank back in our beds and were soon fast asleep. In perhaps a couple of hours I awoke; my companion was still sleeping uneasily; the din was deafening, and I sat up to look around. Unfortunate movement! I was instantly seized by the hands of two priests and led up to the Orang Kaya who was leisurely cutting a fowl’s throat. He wanted Captain Brooke to perform the following ceremony, but I objected to his being awakened, and offered to do it for him. I was taken to the very end of the house and the bleeding fowl put in my hands; holding him by his legs I had to strike the lintels of the doors, sprinkling a little blood over each. When this was over I had to waive the fowl over the heads of the women and wish them fertility, over the children and wish them health, over all the people and wish them prosperity; out of the window and invoke good crops for them. At last I reached my mats and sat down preparatory to another sleep, when that horrid old woman led another detachment of her sex forward to recommence the physicking: fortunately but few came, and after setting them off dancing again I fell asleep and in spite of all the noises remained so till morning.”
When, in the year 1818, Captain Basil Hall undertook what was in those days considered a formidable undertaking—a voyage of discovery to the coast of Corea and the great Loo Choo Island—he was entertained at the former place by a potentate of so remarkable a character as to entitle him to a place among the necessarily few and consequently rare specimens of savage royalty which figure on these pages. It will be understood that Captain Hall’s ship, the “Alceste,” had anchored off Corea, and in the morning sent a boat ashore to feel the way to closer intimacy.
“The curiosity of the natives was already aroused; every boat was crowded with people, and ornamented with numerous flags and streamers; but one of them being distinguished by a large blue umbrella, we steered towards it, on the supposition that this was an emblem of rank, in which opinion we were soon confirmed by the sound of music, which played only on board this boat. On coming closer we saw a fine patriarchal figure seated under the umbrella; his full white beard covered his breast and reached below his middle; his robe or mantle, which was of blue silk and of an immense size, flowed about him in a magnificent style. His sword was suspended from his waist by a small belt; but the insignia of his office appeared to be a slender black rod tipped with silver, about a foot and a half long, with a small leather thong at one end, and a piece of black crape tied to the other; this he held in his hand. His hat exceeded in breadth of brim anything we had yet met with, being, as we supposed, nearly three feet across. The old chief by signs expressed his wish to go to the ships. We accordingly rowed to the “Lyra,” which lay nearer to the shore than the “Alceste.” When the chief’s boat was within ten yards of the brig, they let go their anchor and threw a rope on board her by which they drew the boat alongside in a very seamanlike style. The old man did not find it an easy matter to get up the ship’s side, encumbered as he was with his splendid robes; he was no sooner on board, however, than we were crowded with the natives, who boarded us on all sides. Some climbed up the rigging so as to overlook the quarter-deck, others got on the poop, and a line was formed along the hammock netting from one end of the brig to the other. As the evening was fine, it was thought best to entertain the venerable chief upon deck, rather than give him the trouble of going down to the cabin, which, indeed, we had reason to fear would prove too small for the party. Chairs were accordingly placed upon deck, but the chief made signs that he could not sit on a chair, nor would he consent for a time to use his mat, which was brought on board by one of his attendants. He seemed embarrased and displeased, which we could not at the moment account for, though it has since occurred to us that he objected to the publicity of the conference. At length, however, he sat down upon his mat and began talking with great gravity and composure, without appearing in the smallest degree sensible that we did not understand a single word that he said. Meanwhile the crowd of natives increased, and their curiosity became so great, that they pressed round us in a way nowise agreeable. Some of them roved about the ship and appeared highly entertained with everything they saw. The chief himself, however, did not appear at ease, but continued giving directions to his officers and people about him with an air of impatience. He more than once ordered them all into their boats, but they always returned after a few minutes. One man persevered in climbing over the hammocks close to the chief to see what was going on; the noise made to keep him back attracted the chief’s attention, who immediately gave orders to one of the attendants for his being taken away: it will be seen by and by what was his fate. It was nearly dark when the chief gave directions for preparing the boats, and at the same time to two of his attendants to assist him to get on his legs. Each took an arm, and in this way succeeded in raising him up, which was no sooner observed by the people, than they jumped into their boats with the utmost alacrity, and the chief, after many bows and salaams, walked into his boat. This did not give him so much trouble as he had experienced in coming on board, for a platform of grating and planks had been prepared for his accommodation during his visit, an attention with which he seemed much pleased. So far all seemed well; but there was still something amiss, for the old man, seated in state under his umbrella, remained alongside with his attendants ranged on deck about him, he and his people preserving the most perfect silence, and making no signs to explain. We were greatly puzzled to discover what the old gentleman wanted, till at length it was suggested that, having paid us a visit, he expected a similar compliment in return. This idea was no sooner started than we proceeded to pay our respects to him in his boat. He made signs for us to sit down, honouring us at the same time with a corner of his own mat. When we were seated he looked about as if in distress at having nothing to entertain us with, upon which a bottle of wine was sent for and given him. He ordered an attendant to pour it into several bowls, and putting the bottle away, made signs for us to drink, but would not taste it himself till all of us had been served. He was nowise discomposed at being obliged to entertain his company at their own expense; on the contrary, he carried off the whole affair with so much cheerfulness and ease as to make us suspect sometimes that he saw and enjoyed the oddity of the scene and circumstances as fully as we did ourselves. After sitting about ten minutes we left the chief in great good humour and returned on board, thinking of course that he would go straight to the shore; but in this we were mistaken, for we had no sooner left him than he pushed off to the distance of ten or twelve yards, and calling the other boats round him, gave orders for inflicting the discipline of the bamboo upon the unfortunate culprit who had been ordered into confinement during the conference. This exhibition, which it was evidently intended we should witness, had a very ludicrous effect, for it followed so much in train with the rest of the ceremony, and was carried on with so much gravity and order, that it looked like an essential part of the etiquette. During the infliction of this punishment a profound silence was observed by all the party, except by five or six persons immediately about the delinquent, whose cries they accompanied by a sort of song or yell at each blow of the bamboo. This speedy execution of justice was, no doubt, intended to impress us with notions of Corean discipline. As it was now dark we did not expect the chief to pay any more visits this evening; but we underrated his politeness, for the moment the above scene was concluded he steered for the ‘Alceste.’ He was in great good humour, and seemed entertained with the efforts which were made to please him. He asked to look at a mirror which had caught his attention. When it was put into his hands he seemed very well satisfied with the figure which it presented, and continued for some time pulling his beard from side to side with an air of perfect complacency. One of the attendants thought there could be no harm in looking at the mirror likewise; but the chief was of a different opinion, and no sooner observed what he was doing, than he very angrily made him put down the glass and leave the cabin. The secretary, too, fell under his displeasure, and was reprimanded with much acrimony for overlooking our paper when we were writing. Scarcely five minutes elapsed in short during his stay, without his finding some cause of complaint against his people; but we could not determine whether this arose from mere captiousness, or was done to give us a higher notion of his consequence, because in the interval he was all cheerfulness and good humour. He was offered tea and cherry-brandy, which he took along with us, and appeared at his ease in every respect. We thought that he made signs implying a wish for us to visit him on shore; to this we cheerfully assented, and an arrangement for landing in the morning was made accordingly by means of similar signs, with which the chief appeared much pleased, and rose to go away. He had not got much beyond the cabin-door, however, before the serenity of his temper was once more overturned. On passing the gun-room skylight, he heard the voices of some of his people whom the officers had taken below, and who were enjoying themselves very merrily amongst their new acquaintance. The old chief looked down, and observing them drinking and making a noise, he called to them in a loud passionate voice, which made them leave their glasses and run up the ladder in great terror. From thence alarm spread along the lower deck to the midshipmen’s berth, where another party was carousing. The grog and wine with which they had been entertained was too potent for this party, as they did not seem to care much for the old chief, who, posting himself at the hatchway, ascertained by personal examination who the offenders were. On this occasion his little rod of office was of much use; he pushed the people about with it to make them speak, and used it to turn them round in order to discover their faces. One man, watching his opportunity when the chief was punching away at somebody who had just come up, slipped past and ran off; but the quick eye of the old man was not so easily deceived, and he set off in chase of him round the quarter-deck. The man had an apron full of biscuits which had been given to him by the midshipmen; this impeded his running, so that the chief, nothwithstanding his robes, at last came up with him; but while he was stirring him up with his rod, the fellow slipped his cargo of bread into a coil of rope, and then went along with the chief quietly enough. The old man came back afterwards and found the biscuits, which he pointed out to us to show that they had not been taken away. He continued for some time at the hatchway, expecting more people, but finding none come up, he went below himself to the main-deck and rummaged under the guns and round the mainmast to discover whether any one was concealed, but finding no person there he came upon deck, and shortly after went into his boat.”
The reader has already made the acquaintance of King Finow; here are some further particulars of him and the manner of his court in connection with the marriage of his daughter. He had three daughters, the eldest of whom, about eighteen years of age, had been long betrothed to Tooitonga, who having expressed his wish that the marriage should take place, Finow gave orders for the necessary preparations. Tooitonga was now about forty years of age. The particulars of this chief’s marriage, which was somewhat different from those of other chiefs, shall be here described.
The young lady having been profusely anointed with cocoa-nut oil, and scented with sandal-wood, was dressed in the choicest mats of the Navigator’s Island, of the finest texture, and as soft as silk. So many of these costly mats were wrapped round her, perhaps more than forty yards, that her arms stuck out from her body in a ludicrous manner, and she could not, strictly speaking, sit down, but was obliged to bend in a sort of half-sitting posture, leaning upon her female attendants, who were under the necessity of again raising her when she required it. A young girl, about five years of age, was also dressed out in a similar manner to be her immediate and particular attendant; four other young virgins, about sixteen years of age, were also her attendants, and were dressed in a manner nearly similar, but not with quite so many mats. The lady and her five attendants being all ready, proceeded to the marly of Tooitonga, who was there waiting for their arrival together with a number of other chiefs, two matabooles sitting before him. The lady and her attendants being arrived, seated themselves on the green before Tooitonga. After the lapse of a little time, a woman entered the circle with her face covered up with white gnatoo; she went into the house of the marly, and proceeded towards the upper end, where there sat another woman in waiting with a large roll of gnatoo, a wooden pillow, and a basket containing bottles of oil. The woman, whose face was veiled, took the gnatoo from the other, wrapped herself up in it, and laying her head upon the wooden pillow went, or pretended to go, fast asleep. No sooner was this done than Tooitonga rose up, and taking his bride by her hand led her into the house, and seated her on his left hand. Twenty baked hogs were now brought into the circle of the marly, and a number of expert cooks came in with knives (procured from European ships; formerly they used bamboo) to try their skill in carving with speed and dexterity, which is considered a great recommendation. A considerable part was shared out to the chiefs, each taking his portion and putting it in his bosom.
The remainder of the pork was then heaped up and scrambled for at an appointed signal. The woman who had laid herself down, covered over with gnatoo, now rose up and went, taking with her the gnatoo and the basket containing the bottles of oil as her perquisites. Tooitonga then took his bride by her left hand and led her to his dwelling, followed by the little girl and the other four attendants. The people now dispersed each to their home. Tooitonga being arrived with his bride at his residence, accompanied her into the house appropriated for her, where he left her to have her mats taken off and her usual dress put on, after which she amused herself in conversation with the women. In the meantime a feast was prepared for the evening, of pigs, fowls, yams, etc., and cava. This was got ready on the marly, where, about dusk, Tooitonga presiding, the company sat down to receive their portions, which the generality reserved to take home with them; the lower orders, indeed, who had but a small quantity, consumed theirs on the spot. After this cava was shared out and drunk. The musicians (if so they can be called) next sat down at the bottom of the ring, opposite to Tooitonga, in the middle of a circle of flambeaus, held by men who also held baskets of sand to receive the ashes. The musical instrument consisted of seven or eight bamboos of different lengths and sizes (from three to six feet long), so as to produce—held by the middle, and one end being struck on the ground—different notes according to the intended tune (all the knots being cut out of the bamboo, and one end plugged up with soft wood). The only other instrument was a piece of split bamboo, on which a man struck with two sticks, one in each hand, to regulate the time. The music was an accompaniment to dancing, which was kept up a considerable time. The dancing being over, one of the matabooles addressed the company, making a moral discourse on the subject of chastity. The company then rose and dispersed to their respective homes. The bride was not present at this entertainment. Tooitonga being arrived at his house, sent for the bride, who immediately obeyed the summons. The moment they retired together, the lights were extinguished, and a man appointed at the door for the purpose announced it to the people by three hideous yells (similar to the war whoop), which he followed up immediately by the loud and repeated sounds of the conch.
For the accuracy of the following description of an Australian monarch Mr. W. H. R. Jessop is responsible:—
“King John, chief of the great Adelaide tribe, after reigning many years to the satisfaction of his numerous subjects, was taken ill and died. His body was not buried as would have been the fate of a common body, but disembowelled, thoroughly washed, and trussed like a fowl. Then a triangle was erected like that of a gipsey’s fire, and from it he was reverently suspended. Over all a tabernacle was made of green boughs and grass, something in the shape of a beehive. Beneath the venerated remains thus shrouded, a slow fire was kindled—so slow as to burn three weeks and not consume the body, against which calamity every precaution was taken by watching day and night.