The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1897-03-27
A ROYAL MONSTER,
KING OBBAI OFBENiN AFHICA'S
WORST SOVEREIGN,
A Distinguished and Brutal Can
nibal-ln His Possession Arc
Stores OF Ivory Worth
:. 80, Many Millions.

F England makes good its inten.
ton to punish King Obbah of
Benin for the recent massacre of
{ an unarmed expedition, the most
attrocious OF the African monsrchs
will get taste OF the misery be has so
generously bestowed upon tens of
thousands Of others. And that England
will do this there is little doubt, for
in addition to avenging the deaths of
her subjects, the conquest of Benin
will open up country of immeasur-
able richness. Not only this, but it
will abolish one of the central points
OF the slave traffic in Africa, and 90 a
long way towards crushing cannibalism
and human sacrifice.
The domain of King Obbah forms
the central section of the notorious
slave coast OF the Gulf OF Guinea.
Slavery is formidable part Of tho
social fabric of this African kingdom.
It supplies o currency system; it does
away With the need Of jails or peni-
tentiaries; it is an exchangeable COM
modify for the riches Of the slave cities
in northern Africa, and forms a scheme
for the disposition of captives made
in the petty wars which are constantly
being waged,
Very few white men have ever Wis.
itea the city Of Benin, located some
two hundred miles inland from the
coast. Even, the missionaries have
given the city wide berth, although
they have penetrated to all parts of
the neighboring kingdom of Aehantee,
Dahomey and Brass. Captain H. L.
Galway, the British Vice Consul OF
that district, visited the place and
concluded a treaty with King Adola.
the predecessor OF Obbah.
Adola was reckoned to be much
more humane monarch than Obtah.
but some of the things witnessed by
Captain Galway seem to have reached
the pinnacle of outrageous barbarian.
He reached the city at night, and the
king cordially placed a house of rcd
clay with matched roof at his dis.
posal. In the morning the FIRST thing
he saw was the body of a cruciied wo.
man who had been sacrificed some two
weeks before, according to fetch rites,
that the rain might stop. Nearer his
house were two bodies frightfully
mutilated, and further away were the
bodies of two other women who had
been crucifed.
When he examined his own house he
found that the walls were adorned
with many human skulls and bones.
and there were many bloodstains on
the wall, some Of them quite fresh,
showing that the two rooms had re-
Gently been the scene of some wild
slaughter.
The city of Benin is quite extensive.
having twelve or fifteen hundred
houses of clay. What the population
is can only be conjcctured, as the men
are constantly going on expeditions in
the country. The number of women
and children in the city is very great.
Polygamy is extensively practiced.
The fathers look upon the girl chill.
dren as SO much property, or as so
much money. They are virtually
slaves from birth, and eventually many
of them arc sold by the dealers in the
slave marts OF Morocco.
It is believed that the city of Benin
contains fabulous amounts of ivory.
For many generations the natives have
been compelled to give the reignlng
king certain amount of ivory, and,
as the surrounding country is the
richest in elephants OF any section of
Africa, the accumulation of tusks is
figured to be immense.
When Captain Galway visited the
kings palace he saw enough to con-
vince him that the ivory of the king.
dom was worth millions. The palace
is surrounded by high walls of clay,
and in the inclosure we're numbers of
shrines Of carved tusks, some of them
of prodigious size. Each shrine was
guarded day and night by attendants,
as the average native is not above
stealing from his king, although he
well knows that detection means death
in horrible form.
King Obbah has some pieces of
smooth.bore cannon, and the slave
dealers have taught his soldiers how
to manage them. Some OF his soldier
are also armed with old.style rifles,
but the bulk of them are armed merely
with native weapons. Against the
rapid-fre guns which the English will
bring against them they will be moved
down like grass.
In the campaign against Prempeh
the English won b)oodless victory by
pyrotechnics at night. The
fireworks scared the natives almost to
death, and depopulated the capital
city of Kumasi in less than half an
hour. King Obbah, however, has had
more experience IN modern warfare
than the Ashantee king, and it is to be
expected he will make more stubborn
fight.
To punish King ODbah will not be