The mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1863-1943, 1865-01-28

ton, but simply to convey q true account
Of the things he has seen and hoard; such
as the history Of his "Mission to the King
Of Dahome."
Landing at Whydah, the port Of this
negro realm, Captain Burton travelled,
principally in hammock carried by ma
tive bearers, to the capital, which is many
days journey inland. The account of his
Journey is very clear and interesting;
though he met with no perils and few ad-
ventures, and the ceremonials Of his re-
ception at each town through which he
passed were tiresome and monotonous.
All that he saw on this journey tended to
convince him that the population and
power of Dahome have been immensely
exaggerated; that she is on the decline,
and has within herself no resources where.
by to repair the losses she has sustained;
and that the conquests by former kings
their policy lacking altogether any ele-
ment Of conciliation or assimilation
rather diminished than increased the num-
bers and the strength Of the nation. These
impressions we're strengthened when he
reached Agbome, the capitol, and had
leisure to form q careful estimate of the
forces gathered around the King on the
occasion Of the Grand Customs. lie con.
siders that the famous corps Of Amazons
does not exceed $500 in number; and
that only two.thirds of these are really
fighting women. The existence Of such
corps lie attributes simply to the fact that
among the negro tribes of this part of the
coast the women are equal in size and
strength to the men, and not nnfrCquently
superior; and his estimate of the real value
of the '6ghtresses, as he strangely calls
them, is very low indeed. Altogether, it
seems probable that brigade Of Sikhs
or Goorkhas would put to flight the whole
Dahoman army, and reduce the country
under British rule.
The Customs Of Dahome- the practice,
that is, of systematic human sacrifice
consist of three distinct kinds. First,
there are the grand customs, which occur
only on the death Of king, when per-
haps as many as o thousand lives may be
taken in the course of the year. Then
there are the annual customs, which in
volve much less frightful sacrifice of life,
but which are still horrible enough. Fl.
nally, it is the practice Of the King, when
ever he builds new house, receives
visit from a white man, or has any other
matters of interest to communicate to his
predecessor, to send messenger to the
shades with the announcement; and Cap
tain Burton supposes that the number Of
lives taken in the two last ways amount
to five hundred annually. lie is disposed
, to apologize for these atrocities on two
, grounds: first, that the victims are al.
! ways either criminals or prisoners Of war,
!; which can hardly be true Of so vast q
/, number, though we may believe that such
are always selected by preference /; and
secondly, that Ashantee, Abbeokuta, and
other negro States, excel Dahome in the
frequency and cruelty of their murders.
1t is impossible to read his account Of the
customs without a thrill Of horror and
disgust, when we remember that these
victims are slaughtered for no earthly
purpose except the maintenance Of an in
sang and diabolical superstition, within a
couple hundred miles Of European settle
ments; and reflect that these are the same
creatures who, under the mild and kindly
rule of white masters, may in two or
three generations become happy, content
ed, useful Christian laborers. That man
must be strangely welded TO his prcudi-
ces who is not led by the contrast between
the life Of the negro in Alabama and in
Dahome, to ask himself whether there is
no screw loose in the anti-slavery creed in
which he has been educated no error in
the policy Of his country. Can it be right
to spend hundreds of thousands Of pounds
and scores of English lives every year, in
order to prevent the subjects Of King Ge-
lee from being transferred to Cuba or the
Carolinas? In Africa the negro lives the
life of miserable savage; suffering every
evil that the brutality of savage master,
the barbarism of a government that re-
verses every principle Of rational and
Christian policy, the cruelty Of mcrciless
enemies, and the bloody rites of a degra
ding superstition can inflict; and withal
he is the helpless, hopeless slave of his
equals in brutality, ignorance and dcgra.
daton. Are We doing well to strive SO
hard against his removal to a country
where he may enjoy the advantages Of civ
ilization and Christianity and where, if
he be a slave, he will be the slave of a
humane and merciiIl man, who is to him
superior being, and protected by laws
which render his life and limbs as sacred
as those OF his master?
No doubt, even in Captain Burton's
volumes, we may discern the fact that ma
ny Oggravations of the ncgro's miseries
arise out Of the slave trade, even apart
from the additional horrors created by
our endeavors to suppress it, Slave-hunt-
ing-wars and forays undertaken for the
express purpose Of procuring slaves to sell
to the white trader kidnapping, and cru
elites only less horrible than those of the
murderous customs arc incident to the
traffic; and it may be added, that while
such trade exists, all attempts to intro
duce q more legit. .ate trade and to pro-
mote industry on tie African coast, will
be futile. On the other hand, it seems
certain that the negro will never of his
own accord abstain from murderouS raids
on less powerful tribes, from human sac
rifices, and from the enslavement of his
fellows. If we intend to civiize the ne.
gro, and to civilize him in his own coun-
try, there is but one way Of doing it,
We failed in oil attempts to abolish the
nalpractices of Hindoo superstition until
we conquered the country,an affixed Sc.
we're legal penalties to the sacred rites Of
widow murder and infanticide, of Jugger-
naut and Meriah sacrifices. If we wish
to do likewise by customs Of Dahomc and
Ashantee, we must use the like measure.
We must not send envoys to sit for hours
in the sun before Gelele's door, and wait
two months for leave to deliver Her Maj
esty's message; but we must ourselves
undertake the government of the country,
and govern it on the same principle of
benefcent despotism that has marked our