The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-03-05
The Amazons.
Geographical Magazine

Geographical Magazine.
France Is again at peace with Dahomey.
She pays the king of that country an
annual pension, and he has consented to
surrender his claims to the port of Kout-
anou, which was the great bone of conten-
tion during the recent troubles. No one
can tell how long the king will leave the
French unmolested, but his army was so
severely punished in the battles of 1890,
that the king will probably be willing to
pocket his pension, and live in peace with
his white neighbors for years to come.
The French during this brief war got an
insight into the fighting qualities of the
women warriors of Dahomey. The French
never faced more valiant savage army
than these women proved to be. Time
and again they rushed up to the French
entertainments in spite of storm of fbullets,
which laid hundreds of their numbers low,
and engaged in a hot hand-to-hand contest
with the enemy The standing army Of
Dahomey consists of two bodies a female
corps called the Amazons, known in Daho-
mey by the titles of "The Kings Wives"
and "Our Mothers :" and male corps
composed of the palace guards court criers
and other officials, and the male adults in
Abomey, the capital. Behind these two
corps is the male population of the king
dom, which is liable to be called out, in
part or as whole, to take part in any
expedition, and thus forms sort of re-
serve. The female corps, or to use a com
mon expression, the Amazons, was raised
about the year 1929, when a body of
women, who had been armed and furnish
ed with banners, merely as a stratagem to
make the attacking force appear larger,
behaved with such unexpected gallantry
as to lead to the forming of permanent
corps of women. Up to the reign of Gezo,
who came to the throne in 1918, the Anna
zon force was composed chiefly of criminals,
that is, criminals in the Dahomey sense
of the word. Wives detected in adultry,
and termagants and scolds were drafted
into its ranks; and the great majority of
the women given to the king by the pro-
vincial chiefs, that is, sent to him as being
worthy of death for misdemeanors or
crimes, were, instead of being sacrificed at
the Annual Custom, made women soldiers.
Gezo who largely made use of the Amazons
to keep his own subjects in check, and to
promote military rivalry, increased and i'm
proved the force. He directed every had
of family to send his daughters to Abo-
mey of inspection; the most suitable
were enlisted, and the corps was thus plac-
ed on new footing. The women of
nahomey have for many generations past
endured all the toll and performed all the
lard labor of the country, have, for the
weaker sex, an exceptional physique, which
,rables them to bear hardships and priva-
ricns as we'll as, if not better, than the men;
and this, no doubt, was an important factor
in the causes which led to the formation of
the corps. As Captain Burton noted, "the
women were generally tall muscular and
the men smooth, full breasted, round limb
ed and effeminite-looking," The whole
military force of the kingdom is between
10000 to 10000 combatants, of whom
probably over 1000 are Amagons, while
the male corps of the standing army does
not exceed 5000. The Amazons are
taught to disregard obstacles, dangers,
wounds, and death itself hence, they often
display ferocious courage which carries
all before it. Their chief aim in battle Is
to carry OF a large number of trophies of
their prowess in the shape of prisoners,
human heads and jaw bones. They show
utter callousness to human suffering, They
deny all assistance to wounded prisoners,
and all prisoners, who are not destined to
slavery are kept in condition of semi
that soon reduces them to mere
skeletons Amasons, who lose their wea-
pons or expend their ammunition without
bringing back human head or prisoner
are punished.