The Opelousas courier., 1890-07-19

There is a special tempe iol sLo =. ::
maternity, and women resort 10 - IL
oreat numbers with gifts and sacrlnces
sar the wooden images that preside with
This same fetch has forbidden Che
pahomey people from lighting upon sne
water s5abtless III consequence OF some
p msSI conflict IN times past shas esulss ss
NJ sf.o,,sTy for Dahoney. Advantage
IL taken Of this by the people along the
coast, who build their towns upon pines
out IL The iag6ots and hays ana 50 g.
cane entirely from the falds OF she I'D
honey warriors. o;n
slaves and captives are kept in restrain
largely by fear Of the fetch. lney DC,
Iieve that if they run away the fetlen VIII
,tranrls them. and so they stay to be De,
bssded when the time for the annoai
haassasre comes around;
Tbesg mmtagsadafFas Dire the ESSENTIAL teaS'
srs If Dahomian culture-the duintes'
sauce IF the religion Of the fetic2:
Whils tng Wholesale slaughter is in.
dulged in only during two Hohshs IN sne
year. the business is kept up IN a sulaliez
wav all the year round. The Daaomey
neople have a profound belief IN a III,
h,re life; and III order that their irleno
nav not want there fof suitable sers.
oicc and attention, they cut the throats
If . lot of slaves at the funeral. II they
wish to send word to some one in the
other world, they give the message yer
bally to a slave and cut the messenge!
,ead off before he has time to forget IT,
Provisions, rum and tobacco for q de-
.eased relative are likewise intfusteo 20 o
lave; who is sent with his burden TO 'he
hereafter by decapitation:
Formerly these massacres TOOK place
:lso id Porto Novo, and in the palace OF
King Toffa there still remains the fetlen
door. through which the bodies OF sne
victims were brought out after the cere-
nony. It is death for a native to toucn
this door.
Massacres in times of peace form 9
principal occupation Of those OF the
Ning's ama7ons who are kept o tne
SQUIRT. When it is desired to give a
particularly gala air to the festivities thF
victim is dressed in European costume,
3oubtless as a token of contempt Tor tne
whites, and an umbrella is placed be.
tween his knees. The amazons surround
:. him with guns and other weapons, VIII.
which they torture him much as Amer
. .an Indians torture their captives, slash
ing at him with knives, firing the gun
,, about his head, and in other ways en-
! asayoring to terrify him before the fata
stroke is administered and his head come
, of.
: The amazons, who form the bulk {
I sae Kings army, are recruited IN Varlo.
, WAYS. They are far from being I'll
: flower of the kingdom, however. Man
are criminals who We commute
offences and who savestheir W heat
!. b, becoming cutters off of the heads
. others. In a general way, all the wome
: for whom no better use can be found ~
2 put into the army. The greater porto
. 2 Of the recruits are said to come from tt
q ranks of what are called the daughters
: the King When the army baf
0 from a raid into Porto Novo the XIII
: takes as many as he pleases OF the fema
= captives, and the rest are divided
- among the officers of the court and
= the army and other favorites of the KIM
ALL the female children born to the
u women are sent to Ahomey aud reared
y adaughters Of the King. From au1o
! them the King chooses those who plea
u him for service about the court, and T
others are trained up for the 9th
y divisions of the amazon army. 4
9 training is said to be severe and to c
:. - velop women as strong as men, Who q
VI utterly careless OF their lives in battle
y in hunting. Their Workmanship is So
:. to be poor, but otherwise 60 are go
soldiers.
~ They are organized in divisions, mu
2 as armies in more civilized lands, al
= have uniforms, according to what bran
of the service they are in. Those "
u constitute the Kings body guard
drillel constantly aud become We
:, proficient in their maneuvres, which
:. cIude a wild native dance. Expedite
: of amazons are sent far into the inter
= to hunt the elephant for ivory for I
% : King, and are often gone for a year
- more at a time.-Mem York Sun.
H IA -