Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-04-11
AMAZONIAN WARRIORS
The King Of Dahomey's Famous
Female BodyAuard.
Weh-Formci Women Who Arc Gorgeous.
~ Attired and Go Through All Sorts
OF Military Evolutions "A Sham
Fight Of Dusl<y Beauties.


A battle has boon fought between .
force Of French troops and force Of the
possessions lie on the eastern coast Of
Africa. The natives were repulsed,
leaving four hundred Of their number
dead on the field. Among tho slain
were found a number Of tho famous wo-
men warriors who compose the body
guard Of the King of Dahomey. A cor
respondent of the Cologne Gazette,
writing from VIII ydah, the seaport Of
Dahomey, gives graphic account of
the army Of women who took part in the
recent battle. The correspondent had
been on q visit to the court of the Por-
tuguese half-breed Juliano de Souza in
Dahomey, and describes his experiences
as follows:
After apologizing for the remarkable
costume which 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,
a rather rickety building Of two stories
in the middle OF the village. which was
filed with the upper ten OF Whydah, .
multitude of black spectators, all Of
whom pretend to be Of European des-
cent. But WOO to him who without
being white man" dares to wear
European boots, or allows himself to be
carried in a hammock, the European
means of conveyance. Not even his
Majesty the King would ever dream Of
committing 80 objectionable breach Of
African etiquette.
When 1t was dusk the army of anna
cons made their entrance into the yard
fantastically attired and looking moro
fantastical still by the glare of the
| torches which were borne before them.
Shortly before their dance commenced
tho "Chacha" distributed German beer
| and Bahia rum among the audience,
which consisted Of some five hundred
| spectators, many Of whom wore 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 5000, are
nominally the wives Of the King, and
as such form a 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, think they are
more for show than for service. Among
all the savage and semi-savage tribes
singing and dancing are considered as
essential as drilling and drumming
among ourselves. 1t is natural that the
amazons, having from their earliest
childhood been educated as warriors,
dancers and singers, should be as supe-
| rior to malo soldiers in these accom-
plishments as our guards are to the re-
| serves.
The amazons Of tho "Chacha," all OF
whom have served in the army Of Abome.
arc women between the ages Of eighteen
and twenty-five, and as the "Chacha"
does not go to war they arc naturally
only kept for show. They have no sep.
arate barracks, but live, like the thirty
male soldiers, in different quarters Of
the town, whence they arc called togeth-
er whenever they arc wanted. At their
first entrance, when marching up in q
long procession, they saluted their lord
and master, | was astonishcd at the
military exactitude Of their movements.
Imagine sixty young women, strong
and slender, who, without losing any Of
their womanliness, present decidedly
warlike appearance.
| Among Europeans this combination
of the woman and the warrior could not
be imagined. Here, it Is explained by
the peculiar formation of the negro
skeleton. The skeletons of negro
women Tin striking contrast to those Of
the mulattoes) are strikingly like the
skeletons Of male negroes.
The assertion is untrue that the fe-
male warriors of Dahomey have their
breasts cut of, like tho neurological
amazons of the ancient Greeks. The
picturesque uniforms might furnish our
masters of the ballet with fresh ideas.
The fresh young faces look roguishly
from under tho white, brimless yokey
cap, ornamented with black pictures of
animals, such as lizards, birds and 9TH
ers. The feet are bare; short kniol1er-
bockers Of green, red or yellow materi-
nj come down nearly to the knees, and
q 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
| appearance Of the female warrior. At
the left side Of the belt short sword Is
fastened and small cartridge pocket in
front. A scarf Of white or light green
! silk is worn like Scotch plaid.
The armament consists Of swords, bat
| tie axes and guns, which latter are put
aside during the dance. Quito apart
| from the effect Of combined dancing and
| singing, the performances, which went
| for several hours uninterruptedly before
our eyes, were quito in the style Of our
corps de ballet with the only differ
| euce that no other corps de bal
let would dance with equal ex-
actitude. First came q tall and some
what elderly woman. She was the cap
tain and as she entered the son of the
Chacha whispered to me; Just look
how we'll my mother dances" Then
followed, with battle axes uplifted, the
younger officers, and in their rear tho
still younger troops, now dashing to-
ward US in their sham fight, now wheel
ing round, dispensing and again uniting.
And all this with rythmical movements.