Sharp County record., 1885-06-11
THE AMAZONS.
An Account of the Famous Women-War.
riors of Dahomey.

The AmaZons of AbCme, Of whom
there are at the most 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 Amazons accompany
the King on all his wars, l think they
are more for show than for service.
Among all the savage and semi-savagc
tribes, singing and dancing are con-
sidered as essential as drilling and
drumming among ourselves. 1t is nat
ural that the AmazOnS, having from
their earliest childhood been educated
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 60 to war they are
naturally only kept for show. They
have no separate barracks, but live, like
the thirty male soldiers, in different
quarters of the town, whence they are
called together whenever wanted. At
their first entrance, when, marching up
in long procession, they saluted
their lord and master, l was
astonshed at the military exact
itude of their movements. Imagine sixty
young women, strong and slender
who, without losing anything of their
womanliness, present decidedly war
like appearance. Among Europeans
this combination of the woman and the
warrior could not be imagined; here 1t
is explained by the peculiar formation
of the negro skeleton. The skeletons
of negro women Gn striking contrast to
those of the mulattoeS) are Strikingly
like the skeletons of male negroes. The
assertion is untrue that the female war
riors of Dahomey have their breasts cut
of, like the mythological amazons of
the ancient Greeks. Their picturesque
uniform might furnish our masters OF
the ballet with fresh ideas. Their fresh
young faces look roguishly from under
the white, brimleSS yokey-cap, orna-
mented with black pictures of animals,
such as lizards, birds, and Others. The
feet are bare; short knickerbOckers of
green, red or yellow material come
down nearly to the knees, and bright
colored tunic Of striped silk or 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. A broad belt of
many colors heightens the slim APP
pearance of the female warrior
At the left side of the belt a
short sword is fastened, and a small
cartridge pocket in front A scarf of
white or light green silk is worn like q
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 on for several hours unin-
terruptedly before our eyes, were quite
in 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 woman. She was the
Captain, and as she entered the son of
the "chacha" whispered to me: Just
look how well my mother dances. .
Then followed, with battle-aXes uplift-
ed, the younger officers, and in their
rear the still younger troops, now dash
ing toward Us in their sham-hght, now
wheeling round, dispensing, and again
uniting And all this with rhythmical
movements half warlike, half coquct-
tsh but never clumsy, the elegant play
of the bare, round arms recalling to the
mind the limbs of ancient ella Ssical
statues. All dances which | have seen
performed among savage and demi-
savage peoples have been grotesque,
and to a certain degree voluptuous.
Here for the first time performance
was given which would have held its
own before a serious critic and aesthetic.
Cor. H0Lnische Zeitung.