Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-06-13


haustible novelty, have just rediscovered
the amazons Of Dahomey. These a.
nous warriors, Of whom so little has
been heard for 50 many years, have been
inspected by DR.. Zoller, who gives au
account Of his reception at the court Of
the Portuguese half breed, Juliano de
Souza, who, In his semi-royaI State al
Whydah, rejoices in the possession of a
fully equipped battalion of women who
fight Alas however, for our precon-
ceived notions, the amazons Of De Souza
have more resemblance to q corps de
ballet than corps de'armee, and the
deepest impression which they left on
the mind Of their visitor was that they
would make the fortune Of any enter
prising impressario who would intro
duce them to European audiences.
or Juliano de Souza himself, who has
had his son educated in an English
boarding school, and married by q
French priest. DR.. zoller speaks in high
terms:
! 'The tall, broad-chested man, with q
dark yellow, almost brown, complexion,
received us with the amiable poIitenees
Of q pompous aristocrat He wore a
long, shirt-like cotton garment reaching
down to his feet, high European boots,
an embroidered smoking cap, and-al-
though he is Fetish worshiper-a big
hlook .,.akoI reoau -, l,sc .k..A ~
apologizing for the remarkable costume
he had been obliged TO don because Of
indisposition, Juliano gave the sign for
the beginning Of the festivities. The
stage for these was the open space in
front of Juliano's house, arather rickety
building Of two stories in the middle Of
the village, which was filed with the
upper ten of Whydah, a multitude of
black spectators, all Of whom pretend
to be Of European descent. But woe
to him who, without being a white
man, dares to wear European boots, or
allow himself to be carried in ham,
mock, the European means Of convey
ance. Not even the King would ever
dream of committing so objectionable
a breach Of African etiquette:
sWhen it was dark the army of anna
IONS made their entrance into the yard
Enthusiastically attired, and looking more
fantastical still by the glare Of the
torches which were borne before them.
Shortly before their dance commenced
the Chacha distributed German beer
and Bahia rum among the audience,
which consisted of some five hundred
spectators, many of whom were accom-
panied by their tame sheep, which fol-
low 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
six thousand, are nominally 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 amas
IONS accompany the King on all his
wars, / think they are more Cor show
than for service. Among all the savage
and semi-savage tribes singing and dan
cling are considered as essential as drill
ing and drumming among ourselves. It
is natural that the amazons, having
from their earliest childhood been ed.
ucated as. warriors, dancers, and singers,
should be as superior to male soldiers in
these accomplishments as our Guards
are to the reserves.
1.-THE aTnazons 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 60 to war, they are naturally only
kept for show. They have no separate
barracks, but live, like the thirty male
soldiers, in differept 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 lords
and master, / was astonished at the mill
tary exactitude Of their movements
Imagine sixty young women, strohg and
SLENDER who, without losing anything
Of their womanliness, present deCid-
eddy warlike appearance. Among Eu-
ropeans this combination of the woman
and the warrior could not be imagined:
here it is explained by the peculiar for
nation OF the negro skeleton. The
skeletons of the negro women Gin strik-
ing contrast to these Of the mulattoes)
are strikingly like the skeletons Of male
negroes.
ssThe assertion is untrue that the fe-
male warriors Of Dahomey have their
breasts cut of. like the NEUROLOGICAL
amazons Of the ancient Greeks. Their
picturesque uniform might furnish our
masters Of the ballet with fresh ideas.
The fresh young faces look roguiahly
from under the white. brimless yokey
cap, ornamented with black pictures Of
animals. such ID lizards, birds, and