The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1857-07-09


passed through his cheeks, was remarkable
The right hand Of the victim was ther
Topped otf, he was thrown down, and hi,
head was sawed rather than cut off; it wa.
cruelty prolonged, will not say wilfully
Twelve more were dragged forward, bu
we forced our. way through the crowd and
retired to our quarters. Other sacrifices
principally females, were made in the busl
where the body was buried Itis usual tc
"wet the grave" with the blood Of free
man Of respectabilily. All The retainers o,
the family being present, a slave from be
hind stuns one Of these freemen with VIC
lent blow, followed by deep cash in the
back part Of the neck, and he is rolled in
on the top of the body Of The deceased, and
the grave instantly Oiled up. A sor, o
carnival, varied by firing, singing, drinking
and dancing was kept up in Assafoo fol
several days, the chiefs generally visiting il
every evening. &
i On the death of a king, all the customs
which have been made for the subjects who
have died during his reign must DC stimuli
taneously repeated by the families, (the hu
man sacrifices AS well as the carousals and
Pageantry,) 10 amplify that for the monarch;
which Is also solemnized, independently, at
the same time, in every excess OF extrava.
gance and barbarity The brothers, sons
aud nephews of the king, affecting tempo.
rary insanity, burst forth with their mus.
kets, and hire promscuously amongst the
| crowd; even man Of rank, il they meet
| MN, Is their victim, nor is their murder OF
him or any other, on such an occasion, Wis.
lied or prevented; the scene can hardly be
imagined. The kings Ocras, who will be
mentioned presently, are all murdered on
ms tomb, TO the number of 100 or more.
ana women in abundance. was assured
oy several, that the custom for Sal Qaamue
was repeated weekly for three months and
that 200 slaves were sacrificed, and 25
barrels of powder fired each time. Blu, the
custom for the kings mother, the regent of
the kingdom during the invasion Of Fan,ee.
is the most celebrated. The king himself
devoted 5000 victims, upwards of 1000 Of
whom were Fantee prisoners,) and 25 bar
reis OF powder. Five Of the largest places
furnished 100 victims, and 90 barrels Of
powder each, and most Of the smaller towns
10 victims, and two barrels Of powder each.
These human sacrifices are frequent and or.
dlnary TO water the graves of the kings.
Mr. Dupuls, who was at Coomassie yeal
or two later, gives similar account of the
bloody customs of Ashantee; lie tells us
that before the king set forth on his cam
paign against Canaan, he began 10y sacrif
eng 80 male, and s female victims, as an
explatory Offering to his gods but the an
swers from the priests being deemed bv the
council rs still devoid of inspiration, the
king was induced 10 make custom at the
sepulchres of his ancestors, where many
hundred bed On the conclusion of the
war 1000 prisoners were slaughtered over
the royal death-s,ool, in honor of the shades
OF departed kings and heroes.
The Kings own account was no; exar.
gerated, for two respectable Moslems n,
Coomassie, in describing to Mr.. Dupuis The
scene of the Canaan war, declared ihatlli
had witnessed the massacre Of 10000 old
men, women, and children, besides numbers
OF chieflains. who we've put 10 death by tor
lures The most revolving to humanity.
II appeared tbat the King rather conceal
ed his human sacrifices while Dupuis was
in Coomassie, for two reasons; the one. that
they concerned the mission, as the King
had been impIorng his idols to incline the
heart OF the great King of England towards
him: the other, that it might not be report
ed that the sovereign o! Ashantee delighted
10 spilling human blood; which, it was
known, gave rs much offence to white men
as It did to Moslems Outputs, p. l4O)
subjoin another case Of atrocity abridp
ed likewise from Dupuis: "On the 18Th The
Adai custom was ushered in by the dis
charge of firearms, and the sound of many
barbarous instruments. Numbers of vie
tins were offered up TO the gods, although
secretly, in ibe paldce and the houses of the
chieftains. The city itself exhibited the
most deporable solitude, and the few who
were courageous enough 70 appear in the
streets, fed at the approach Of captain
and barrlcaded the doors of their huts, TO
avoid the danger of being shot or sacrif-
.ced." The following day similar train
OF horrors succeeded, and sill was left in
suspense, for my own linguists and messen
gers were not hardly enough TO knock at
theroyal gate. They dreaded, as they said
the fetish men, who guarded the avenue
aud who alone were suffered 10 enjoy free
ingress." From the Moslems ne learned
further that seventy men and women had
been put 10 death the day previous in the
palace only, besides those who were sacri-
feed in private houses or in the forest. Most
OF these unhappy beings were Canaan pris-
oners, who had been purposely reserved as
an offering to the gods; the others were
criminals or disobedert slaves.
l find another instance, not the less touch.
ing because more simple, and more easily
conceived by the mind than these heca-
tombs, and not less clearly proving the ac-
tual co-existence Of keen pursuit of the
trade" witha remorseiess waste Of the lives
Of its objects.
"March, I'd, 1851 learned from the
King" says the Rev. Mr.. Fox. chat they
brought $50 Foulahs from Foolokoong,
besides 100 they killed. asked him how
many OF these Foulahs were at Madina,
4 l asI r \