Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-01-15

King. who rules Dahomey like demi-
god. being regarded as auch by the pso-
pie, makes every year such sacrlnces as
he deems becoming to the dignity OF
monarch who terms himself the brother
of the stars.
These annual sacrifices are called the
"customs, and every year from sixty
to one hundred victims are put to death,
partly in honor of the gods and partly
To carry news to the dead. The Daho-
mans believe in the Immortality OF
the soul, and also that every
soul enters the other world
in precisely the same condition
in which it leaves this; that o King Is
forever King; that slave can never
hope for freedom. Every year when
the season for the customs" appro-
aches, q certain number OF persons,
sometimes capttves taken In war, are
selected for the sacrifice. The native
Dahomans are alone intrusted with the
Kings message to the dead, and each,
in turn, is brought to the King on the
great day of the festival. The supreme
ruler of Dahomey whispers into the ear
of the doomed man the message he Is TO
convey to the other world, and he Is
Immediately decapltated.
In Dahomey no sanctity Is attached 10
human remains. The bodies OF the VIC
tins are dragged to the suburbs OF Alb
omey, the capital, where clouds OF hum
pry vultures wait for the coming feast,
and in a few hours nothing Is lett OF
the unhappy victims but the bones.
Nor are these inferred, and hundreds
of acres of ground in the vicinity OF the
capital are strewed with the whitened
relics Of mortality. The skulls alone are
preserved; carefully cleaned, they be-
come trophies, and are seen everywhere
In the vicinity Of the capital, on DOOR
posts, on poles, on the cornices OF the
houses, while the walls OF the temples
are almost entirely composed OF these
CHASTITY reminders.
FATE OF THE SLAVES.
The Kings people are rarely subject
ed to the horrld tortures that fall TO the
fate OF slaves. The Dahomans are
warlike people, and every year raids
are organized into the neighborlng
country to recruit the number OF slaves.
In the palmy days Of the slave trade
sacrifices OF the captlves were by no
means so numerous as after its supprs-
sion. Then slave was valuable, ana
the cupidity OF the King prevented such
destruction of property as was involved
on the sacrifice OF human life. But
since the suppression OF the trattc
in human flesh the lives OF
slaves are comparatively worthless
to Dahomey, and hundreds are annually
put to death with the most savage tor
ture.
They are Remembered limb from
limb they are tied TO posts and hounds
are set TO worry them to death; they are
security fastened 70 the ground near the
nests OF feroclous ants OF the country,
that attack them and tear their flesh,
bit by bit, away, the spectacle Of still
living man with his body hall eaten
by the ants being not infrequentiy seen.
Near the royal palace there are long
avenues, and when the King desires TO
receive an embassy with unusual ponp
pibbets are erected, and on these are
hung. head downward. dozens OF hap
less slaves, there to remain, guarded
by the Kings soldiers, until death puts
an end to their sufenngs.
Even before the breath has left the
body, however, the vulture, In Da-
honey a sacred bird, begins his work,
and the screams OF the sufferers, torn
TO pieces by the greedy birds, render
the vicinity Of the palace hideous.
Such scene Is depleted in the illustrs-
ton. copied from q foreign periodical,
the occasion being one when the King
desired 10 show especial honor 70 Wis
itors to his capital. 1t is from . sketch
made by q foreigner, who for some
time residedsn Abomey, and witnessed
almost daily spectscles to make the
blood run cold. Shocking as are the
daily exhibitions OF cruelty ia this terri
BILE country, they are far surpassed BY
the terrible scenes which take place
when a monarch Is crowned.
The new King provi'es himself as
speedily as possible with . sufficient
number OF victims, and then celeDates
the .sgrand customs" In which from
| 500 TO !, 600 men are put 70 death In order
70 provide the deceased King with Z
| suitahls retinns In the othar world.