The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-01-22
THE CITY OF BLOOD,
Great Britain's Latest Little War
In Africa.
Renia 10 q Walled City With Modern
Guns.

Great Britain's latest little war to chas
tise King Drunami and capture Benin, tn,
horrible city Of blood, now enlists chic
attention. The Niger protectorate SEN
8 Englishmen and ESQ native carriers
all unarmed, to visit King Drunami and
warn him not TO interrupt trade
AS you know, only2 Englishmen an.
20 natives escaped the frightful massacr
that the king ordered. Had 2 men Wis
tied him they might have succeeded, bu
hearing that large force was coming h,
mistook the nature of the visit. Now an
expedition Is forming to thrash the blood
thirsty savage. Quick work must be done
as the season for inland operations cease
in March
The affair has an interest far beyont
previous African wars. The whole worlt
suddenly learns of the existence of an al
most fabulous city and of n potentate whit
makes massacre and murder his daily
pastime and loves to drench his capital In
blood
We learn, too, that his capital is for.
midable walled city, protected by quick
firing guns and snider rifles in the hands
Of savage but well drilled troops.
The Benin country is inside the bend OF
,he elbow in upper Guinea, north of the
French kongo country. The west coast is
little known. IL Is fiat country, covered
with dense forests, streaked by many
creeks The natives call the capital Benin
Ubine, and sometimes Addo The most
important tribes under the king are the
Jekris and Sobos. The Jekris are very
warlike and got thrashed in 1894 under
Mana.
Ever since then the British have been
trying 10 control the most turbulent chiefs
and develop the trade of the interior. This
was rendered impossible by the king OF
the bloody city, whose fetch customs and
rule of terror prevent commerce in the
most important products.
The people are governed solely by fear,
and the most barbarous customs prevail.
The subjects are brutalized by incessant
human sacrifices, torture and cannibalism.
The district Is immensely rich and abounds
In rubber gum, copal, gum arabic, tur
meric, incense gums fibers, mahogany and
many hard woods. Many of these things
are under the ban of fetch, and of ivory
the king claims one-half, which he ex.
changes for slaves and refuses to sell ia
Europeans. The king Is terrible fellow,
ruling the land rocking with blood.
James Pinnock of Liverpool recently
went 10 Benin with Captain Galway, q
British representative.
The king kept them outside the walls
two days consulting the fetch. At last the
visit was permitted, and the two men took
their revolvcrs and saw the king, who was
surrounded by crowds Of hundreds The
king wore garment Of beads, which GOV.
cred all his body except his toes, fingers,
nose and mouth, and was so heavy that he
could not move AS the flies alighted on
these oxtremities black servant knocked
the insects oil and scratched the sore spots.
A treaty was signed between the king
and Queen Victoria, and the white men
were then invited to witness human sac.
riflce They declined and were then al.
lowed 20 walk through the town. They
saw at various points human bodies, one
body being on cruciilx, the arms and leg.
stretched on IT, Another body, that of
man, was tied 10 IA tree. He had been
starved to death on account of there hav.
ing been too much rain. A third body
was also that of man who had been ex.
ecuted because the weather was too hot
In various parts Of the city lay corpses,
hcadless or armless or shockingly mutt.
lated.
Since that visit tho king has several
times sent insolent messages to the coast,
saying he was as big as the white queen
and wanting to know il her majesty sent
her respects 10 him.
Other visitors while in Benin got mos
sages from King Drunami telling them
to stay indoors, as the chiefs were out kill
ing, 10 being the custom 70 gain promo
ton, rank 10 rank, by killing as many
men as possible. This is accomplished by
waylaying in tho nighttime.
Ii Is Drunami's custom 20 kill large
number OF slaves overy anniversary Of his
fathers death. The population of the dis
trict IS not numerous, not as large as
Ashanti. The people are indolcnt and cow. !
ardly and chiefly occupied with agricul /
turc and the production Of palm oil.
One correspondent says few white meu
have visited the place. Tho best known /
was the traveller Belzoni who was buried |
there In 1928. The place is of vast antiq. |
uity. and the ancient scat OF great fetch |
dynasty, which passed from one genera
tiOn to another, still exists, with all its |
primitive revolving sacrificial customs.
a trader who has been there twice says
the natives como hooting down the roads
barring the way even 25 miles from the
city. Tho approaches to the city walls
present an aspect OF bloodthirsty barbarity
almost impossible to describe. On either
side of the roads are the remains Of victim,
done 10 death with the most cruel fctict
rites, both men and women being cruel
fled impalcd. mutilatcd or half buried "a