Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-12-14
h The SLAVE COAST.
-, Sacrifices Witnessed by
Missionary in Africa
,r,,ss inundated at the Graves
The Bloody Rites Of Fetish
..iosrs---Oragging People
Into Bondage.


study in Lafayette Place re-
! ,hs,,ed about the many curious
,,,l seen in Africa. He was the
5,r Ferdinand Merhni, mission
c.,huEc Society Of African MIS-
has come home to secare funds
new missions among the Fetish
y o, the West Coast Of Africa.
.o,p. seven years among the native
T. has seen many exhibitions o.
.5srUaS rites
MYSTERY" he said. 80 our mis-
ON the Slave and Gold Coasts, aud
I, NIGER. Why the negroes indulge IN
spouS cruelty as
/ Il. Offering of Human Sacrifice
49, BE- accounted for by their slay-
lance TO their fetish priests be-
f.,mrslly sll the 10000, 1000 negroes
f.,.,ion territories are OF mild disPo-
IA cuy Catholic missionaries during
I, o, Gurzo, late monarch OF Ds-
/ .grcredrd in generally suppresSing
: J,rous rites. But King Grery, his
=, is slave to tstishism, and makes
81 ,ryif.rs Of human life.
.,,riGees," Father MerEni con
: 4 ,,crrgate many hundreds of per
4.srslS. II a great parsonage dies
a ), aud slaves are slaughtered iniIs.
e,., and tossed into the grave OF the
,r along with IA qusntity OF food.
IS aiterwsrd other persons are
.-rI in the SuperStiliOus belief that
.,ryud 10 his new abode as mes
,ml,l him the news from his late
,,,ac. aud attend TO his personal
III The victims OF this superstition are
II yp.rg slave girls.
Gr.-v has been the most ferociOus
..o;,y ruler Dahomey has had Tor
L.; l.rmskeS constant inCursiOnS IN
"a .57-irg territories with his Two regi.
.oc,plure slaves. The caPtiyes are
/ into three classes when brought into
T.. territory. One class is sold to
~ merchants ofthe interior. Another
i llsav women, is fsttened and sold to
- Nbo
Slaughter Them
,r- the human flesh in their shops for
1901. The third class is reserved for
Iscrifces, which take place in the
H., u! August aud SEPTEMBER, during
i .rjra,ion Of the fetish festival OF the
i Customs. These ceremonies have q
1 4 purpo,e-thst Of pacifying Oguu,
/ IA If var. and other 1eiGes, and also
4fgecalling the memory of desd kings
ending them supplies OF men aud pro
q There exists a belief among the
rs that man passed into the future
lArs With hun hi that is placed IN his
When king dies all his women,
and Ministers Of state must follow
H. long since, when the King Of Porto
died Of poison, administered to him
rysl claimant Of the throne, hisfuueral
i riue days. A considerable number
INNS we're sacrificed every night in the
forest every night destined for the
BID Customs" The missionaries from
a,ighboring dwelling could hear the
u he sufferers, whose mutilated bodies
seen every morning in the public
/ 70 o: the town arranged in lines.
b = O'Clock on the morning ofthe ninth
he new King aud his suite, preceded
fish priests, moved TO the wood
lie
Grave of the Late King
epn dug. The sacrifice began. Seven
N, we're slain, and their blood was mike
earth 10 form a kind Of plaster, with
the grave was lined. The seven
) of the victims, With provisions Of all
we're deposited st the bottom, and
5cdY Of the king was then lowered,
Z. were seen approaching nine OF his
lea in Il cir ID 9 colored garments
ro5e!y intoxicated. They passed through
rhrOug, casting smiles on every side.
s1 thew reached the edge OF the open
tvs they were made to kueel down. Then
b we're stunned with blow on the head,
i3'e they had any suspicion Of what was
lcg TO happen, and thrown, still alive,
pa the body Of their royal spouse. Earth
: slslly flung in to cover the pile Of dead
. living.
j: distance of q few steps a stake was
70 prepared, and there the Kings Minis
acre 10 be burnt. But these sstute
,oOs had dressed up some saves in their
Is OF Office, and the substitutes were
Burnt In Their Stead,
lie ;hey themselves escaped.
t2ua'iCiSm makes brutes of men. When
'A5 on the battle field of Tel-el.Kebir, two
rs sgo, | saw MohammedsnS slaughter
Christians ike dogs from sheer hatred
heir religion. FL Mshdi's instruction
ied the death Of many Of our mission
> and Catholic Sisters. For refusing a
lmaud 10 embrace Mohsmmedanism four
SONAR priests and three Sisters are
= lingering in chains in the SOudan.
re men are hunted like animals to be
al the public markets. Villages are
rounded b7 fOcks Of traders aud burned.
sick, Infants and the aged are thrown
o The flames, while the robust are chained
dragged to market. These markets of
nan beings are principally along the left
X Of the White Nile. Il is computed
The slave trade takes every year from
Il native country a million souls, and
, eight hundred thousand Of these poor
i,uTes
Die on the Road
n hunger and exhaustion.
We have been able to DO much to sd-
ice civilization in those regions. We
'e FIVE missions already established on
Slave and Gold Coasts and on the Niger.
e Parent House is at Lagos, where are
&c male schools and two female semin-
e, besides several hospitals for the sick,
ed for by the Sisters OF the mission. 1t
no rare thing to find the children of
noes carrying OF prizes while competing
thOols with the children Of Europeans
nlciIed at the missions.
The sexes marry between the ages Of 10
ia. When boy has attained the age
% he is advised BY the mission priests
nselves TO select q wife from among the
Is OF the convent school. The children
obtained by the missionaries from their
eats without any trouble, as the latter
angly part with them, seeing the sd-
ntages which the children derive from
fning how to read and how to work. The
lTes yield 10 the doctor Of the mission q
mage second only to that shown to their
11g He has only to threaten to leave,
! IN most cases he obtains from the SOW
ign
Anything He May Demand.
lents besiege him every day. N'ighbor-
nonarehs often make month journey
Spa AND u IL