Morning journal and courier., 1885-05-22

Women in His Army.
 From the Pall Mall Gazette.l
 The Germans. to whom Africa as field of colonization is a mine of inexhaustible novel, ty, have just rediscovered the amazons of Dahomey. These famous warriors, of whom so little has been heard for so many years, have been inspected by Dr. Zoller, ..who give an account of his reception at the court of the Portuguese half-breed, Juliano de souza, who, in his semi-royal state at Whydah, re- joices in the possession of fully equipped battalion of women who fight. Alas! how ever, for our preconceived notions, the amazons of De SouZa have more resemblance to @ corps de ballet than to corps d'armee, and the deepest impressions which they left on the mind of their visitors was that they would make the fortune of any enterprising impresario who would introduce them to European audiences.
 Of Juliano de Souza himself, who has had son educated in an English boarding school, and married by French priest, Dr. Zoller speaks in high terms:
 'The tall, broad chested man, with dark yellow, almost brown, complexion, received us with the amiable politeness of a pompous aristocrat He wore a long, shirt-like cotton garment reaching down to his feet, high European boots, an embroidered smoking cap, and-although he is a Fetish worship per-a big black metal cross on his chest After apologizing for the remarkable costume which he had to don because of indisposi- tion, Juliano gave the sign for the beginning of festivities The stage for these was the open space in front of Juliano's house, a rather rickety building of two stories in the middle of the village, which was filled with the upper ten of Whydah, multitude of black spectators, all of whom pretended to be of T.-I without being a white man, dares to wear European boots, CT allow himself to be car ried in 8 hammock, the European means of conveyance. Not even the king would ever dream of committing so unpardonable a breach of African etiquette.
 FWhen it was dusk the army of amazons made their entrance into the yard fantastical- ly attired, and looking more fantastical still by the glare of the torches borne~ before them. Shortly before their dance com inenced the Chacha distributed German beer and Bahia rum among the audience, which consisted of some 800 spectators, many of whom were accompanied by their tame sheep, which follow their masters like dogs. Rum is the ordinary beverage offered to visitors in Dahomey. The amazons of Abome, of whom there are at the most some 6, ,000. are nominal ly the wives Of the king, and as such form body guard, which is said to be superior to the male soldiers in courage, discipline and loyalty. But although these amazons ac- company the king on all his wars, I think they are more for show than for service. Among all the savage and seni-savage tribes singing and dancing are considered essen tial as drilling and drumming among our selves. It is natural that the amazons, hav- ing from their earliest childhood been edu- cated as warriors, dancers, and singers, should be as superior to male soldiers in these accomplishments as our guards are to the reserves.
 ''The amazons of the Chacha, all of whom have served in the army of Abome, are women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five; and as the Chacha does not go to war, they are naturally only kept for show. They have no separate barracks, but live, quarters of the town, whence they are called together whenever they are wanted. At their first entrance, when, marching up in a long procession, they saluted their lord and master, was astonished at the military ex- actitude of their movements. Imagine six ty young women, strong and slender, who, without losing anything of their womanli- ness, present decidedly warlike appearance. Among Europeans this combination of the woman and the warrior could not be imag ined; here it is expla' ed by the peculiar for nation of the neglo 1eleton. The skele- tons of negro women / striking contrast to those of the mulattoes) are strikingly like the skeletons of male negroes.
 ''The assertion is untrue that the female warriors of Dahomey have their breasts cut off, like the mythological amazons of the ancient Greeks Their picturesque uniform might furnish our masters of the ballet with fresh ideas. The fresh young faces look from under the white, brimless yokey cap, ornamented with black pictures of animals, such as lizards, birds, and others. The feet are bare; short knickerbockers of rad unllptv rnakarial 1,narlv down to the knees, and Q bright eolored tunic of striped silk of velvet, which leaves only the neck and the arms free, covers the upper part of the body, which is supported by corsets of native manufacture. broad belt of many colors heightens the slim ap- of the female warrior. At the left side of the belt short sword is fastened, and a small cartridge pocket in front A scarf of white or light green silk is worn like 8 Scotch plaid. The armament consists of swords, battle axes and guns, which latter are put aside during the dance. Quite apart from the effect of combined dancing and singing, the performances, which went for several hours uninterruptedly before our eyes, were quite ill the style of our corps de ballet, with the only difference that perhaps no other corps de ballet would dance with equal exactitude.
 "First came tall and somewhat elderly She was the captain, and as she sntered the son of Chacha whispered to me, Just look how we'll my mother dances Then followed, with battle axes uplifted, the youngest officers, and in their rear the still younger troops, now dashing toward us in their sham fight, HOW wheeling round, lispersing, and again uniting. And all this with rythmitical movements, half warlike, half coquettish, but never clumsy, the ele- yant play of the bare round arms recalling to 5he mind the limbs of ancient classical stat nes. All dances which I have seen performed among savage and demi-savage peoples have been grotesque, and to certain degree yo- uptuous. Here for the first time @ perfor- nance was given which would have held it's own before serious esthete."
 Contemplating this remarkable feat, and listening to the strange rhythm of the songs of the amazons, who, even after perfor- nance of several hours, showed no sign ot fatigue, the delighted Germans spent the evening, and next morning were invited to 8 similar dance performed by twelve young ladies of the age of 16 and IT, all of whom the Chacha introduced as his wives. Their performance, however, was inferior to that witnessed the night before. The three days