The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-10-08
Funeral Rites Of an African Or RANK.


1
Funeral Rites Of an African or Rink
A correspondent Of the London Times
gives the following vivid description O
the scenes which attend the death of &
caboceer," or man of rank, in Ashantee
Well, Immediately after demise, the
body of a caboceer is washed, anointeG
with sweet oils and grease, and spIinkled
with gold-dust. The oils and grease
cause the gold-dust to stick to the corpse
which being black, throws off the bright
color of the gold to perfection. Thu
| beard is trimmed into knots and upon
each knot are tied small beadssof glass
and thin rarticles of gold, The Asian
tees, YOU perceive, are as dainty m the
decoration of the beads of their dead as
the Assyrian handles were of their own
when living. In cloth of costly silk
embroidered damask, or in velvet
or in other rich garments the
body is dressed and ornamented with
armlets and necklaces Of gold and silver.
Very of ten pure humps of unwrought mug
gets of gold, bored through and through,
are strung upon piece of hempen string
and twisted round the forearms in the
form of bracelets. Thus gayly bedizened
and performed and cleansed the body is
placed upon chair in sitting attitude,
or is shown reeumbent1 upon a. bed,
trimmed with gaudy drapery. When
this combined rite of publication and
garniture has been completed the rela-
lions assemble and begin to dance and
sing. While the relations and friends
are making merry a fetishman, or priest,
is led slowly into the festive throng, and
the female slaves of the dead cabOceeT
are brought before him. After the utter
ance of various incantations he 'pretends
that the fetish has denoted, by means of
his mediation, certain slave for election
to follow her master to the next world
but | need not be a much trouble to
suggest to you that the members of the
family always decide beforehand among
themselves which unfortunate wretch !
shall accompany the deceased chief. Be
ing chosen, and by the choice condemned
to die, the slave is stripped naked.
Around her neck wisp of hay is wound
and her arms are rudely pinioned with
rope of straw. She is now roughly
dragged a second time to the presence of
the fetishman, who recommends her, in |
speech of blasphemous rhodomontades |
and rhetorical parade, to serve her |
master dutifuily through the mazes of
the unknown sphere to which he has |
been summoned on journey. During
the delivery of the ,portentous exhorta-
ton he is busily employed IN daubing
white-colored earth over the face of the
weeping slave; and when the admOnitory
larangue has been exhausted he. strikes
ler severely with his open palm upon
either cheek. In benighted zeal the COM
Oany snatch up the sacerdotal cue. They
strive to rival one another in repeating
The assault with the harshest violence, |
md in dealing the keenest pain on her;
nude and trembling person.
the executioners, moreover, are blessed
md the congregated band of cabOceers
manifest their profound respect by raising
he foot of each executiOner with both
hands and by rubbing the sole upon the
,rown of their heads. The natives of the
Gala coast have a loose conception OF
,tate of purgatOry or probation, and en-
ertain the idea that the soul of the dead
yanders unrestingly for many yearsabo:
he world, and requires servant for the
of mental duties in his long
md ceaseless wanderings. Hence comes
he custom of killing a slave at the death
If a caboceer, for a caboceer may not draw
water, nor new wood, nor cook food. /
Having been removed by dint of cuffs
,r manual force from the sight of the fe-
ishman. the slave is hurried to wooden
,ox, into which the carcass of the cabo-
,eer will eventually be squeezed. Along
he lid of the box the slave is stretched
lpon her stomach, and her feet and head
ire grasped by two executioners, so that
Ter struggles may be subject to control.
4 friend of the dead caboceer approaches
he PROSTATE creature and slashes her
With a sword Just below the right shout
ler-blade. Catching the blood that flows
rom the wound, he smears the box.
When a sufficiency of blood has been
lravn for this purpose she is lifted from
he lid, and is reviled, struck and covered
With spittle by the bystanders. All the
while she utters the loudest and most
rrievous lamentations; and the louder
md more grievous they are, the more ac-
,eptable do the torturers deem the sacri-
icial gratuity to the deaf cabOceer. She
8 then driven to the spot where she is to
,e slain. When the head has been cut
,pening in the back. Anexecutioner re-
elves the head with yells and frantic
jgns of ioy, and runswithit through the
own. Savagely and flriously he tosses
t to the ground and kicks it like a ball
before him, snatches it up IN his flight,
pits upon it, filings it into the air, catches
t in its descent, or, permitting it to drop
heavily, kicks it again and again, The
,ody is never buried, but is spurned aside
o be eaten by wild beasts or vultures.