The record-union., 1896-06-28
COMMANDER OF THE DISTRICT.

Behind the coast line of West Africa,
from the Gambia to the Congo. lies a
wild country of dense forest and dismal
swamp intersected here and there by
sluggish rivers and shallow lagoons.
| Although the Portuguese, Dutch and
English have traded along the coast
for more than 400 years, civilization
has but lightly touched the savage in
habitants Of the interior, and battle,
murder, and sudden DEATH" the "Ju Ju"
or fetch worship, with it's horrible rites
of human sacrifice, and in many places
cannibalism, are prevalent
In British dominiOns, a few District
Commissioners and other officers in
charge Of small detachments of Haus-
sas. who are Mohammedan black troops,
maintain, or struggle to maintain, some
kind of order along the frontier. among
many thousands of savages.
| Now it happened that one morning
in April, Captain Wayne, in command
of a dozen Haussas, sat out on the We
randa of his house, which was situated
near the headwaters of a muddy river
| on the frontier of the Gold Coast and
the Shantee country, and looked across
the misty landscape that lay before him.
| By and by as the sun rose the mist gath
cred itself together into heavy wreaths
and rolled away to seek hiding place
till nightfall among the swamps, leav-
| ing open to view mile after mile OF
| dense forest that stretched away to the
! blue line of distant mountains on the
northern horizon, while near at hand
three winding rivers and wide lagoon
| lay gHttering in the early sunshine.
| The Captain lay wearily back in his
chair, haggard and yellow-faced from
constant attacks of the malaria fever,
the scourge of the land, and oppressed
| by the intense loneliness, for he had
seen no white man for more than a year.
Instead of the slight GOODNESS that
might have been hoped for in the morn
ing breeze, the air was hot and heavy
with the smell of vegetation rotting in
the swamps and the river mud.
At this moment, Akoo, Sergeant of
Haussas, came up the stairway leading
to the veranda, and saluting the officer,
said: "Bushman come in, sab, bring little
word, say Kasro people chop two men,
make Ju Ju."
Hang the Kasro people," said the
Captain aside. II must stop the Ju Ju
sacrifice, and yet if there's any blood
shed, it will mean the sending up of an
expedition, and unending trouble. Akoo,
get ten men ready, rifles and twenty
rounds of ammunition"
| The Sergeant saluted as he went
away, and shortly afterwards bugle-
call rang out and Captain Wayne, weak
and trembling from fever, marched in
to the forest at the head of his men.
| Tall, splendidly developed negroes from
the far north, ,stanch Mussulmans, light
er in color and in every way superior
| to the coast tribes, the Haussas will
follow their white officers with courage
| and devotion equal to that of any Of
her Majesty's troops.
Meantime in the Shantee town Of
Kasro a great Ju Ju feast was being
held, at which the Chief administered
| justice, and various rites were per-
formed by the fetch men to propitiate
their gods. The mud-built, palm
thatched huts lay in rows beneath the
shade of feathery palm trees around
great open square. In the center OF
this, beneath the shade of huge tree
consecrated to the Ju Ju or fetch gods,
sat Chief Kasro, attired in cast-off
steamboat officers uniform and a dra-
goon's brass helmet Over his head
stretched the spreading arms of the
tree from which hung long strings of
charms, human skulls, bones, sharks
teeth, leopard's claws, and similar odds
and ends, the symbol of the fetch au-
| thority, for over native warfare, trade,
and justice, or rather injustice, the Ju
In,
| Chief stood rows Of native warriors.
naked with the exception of a narrow
| strip of cloth round the loins, while
the whole Of the square was filled by
an excited crowd of men and women.
equally scantily attired, singing and
dancing in groups round a crouching
musician tapping the native skin drum.
firing their long fintlock guns in the
air, or reeling about hopelessly intoxi-
Gated with palm wine. Two stalwart
slaves held a huge umbrella the sym-
Dol Of authority over the Chiefs head.
while on either side stood a Ju Ju man
to act as counselor, as the Chief dis
missed, one after another, the trembling
| prisoners who awaited his sentence
Lying on the ground, bound hand and
| foot with palm fiber, were two man
evidently of a different tribe. entirely
naked. their black skins shining as the
perspiration beads rose upon them. for
| they were purposely placed in the fierce
glare OF the sun, and smudged the
stripes Of white clay with which thew
were daubed
When the last criminal was led treu-
| piihg away, the two Ju Ju priests ad-
| Vanced toward a fire of scented wood
| rcund winch lay a number of brass YES
sels; and as the Chief raised his hand
& ploodthirsty roar broke from the ex
cited crowd, while the guards dragged
Forward the white painted victims. and
loosening their bands, placed one on
| esther side of the Afire A huge naked
negro with necklace of bones now ad-
vanced, heavy straight sword in his
hand, while the priests threw armfuls
OF an aromatic wood On the fire, so that
the whole square was filed with tho
odor. The executioner stepped forward
and swung his sword round his head
While fresh howl like that of pack of
hungry wolves burst from the crowd
when the Chief rose to his feet and or
dered him to desist
Toward the outside Of the square tho
crowd were shouting, pushing and
struggling, and a few moments later
fell away left and right. while down the
clear passage came Captain Wayne at
the head OF ten Haussas with fixed bay-
orets. His Karki uniform was torn
and plastered with mud and the Cap
tain, between weakness and fever, could
scarcely stand erect. But keeping him.
self in hand by desperate effort. he
] walked I'D to the two ShiYeriner wret chac