The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-05-15
A ROYAL MONSTER.
KING OBBAH OF BENIN AFRICA'S
WORST SOVEREIGN,
A Distinguished and Brutal Can
nibal-In His Possession Arc
Stores of Ivory Worth
Many Millions.
r r England makes good its inten.

TT 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 monarchs
will get taste of the misery he has SO
generously bestowed upon tens OF
thousands of others. And that England |
will do this there rs little doubt, for |
in addition to avepging 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 go
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 q formidable part of the
social fabric of this African kingdom.
It supplies 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 Ashantee,
Dahomey and Brass. Captain. d. 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 red
CLAW with a matched roof at his dis
posal. In the morning the first thing
he saw was the body of crucified 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 crucihed. =.
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 conjectured. as the mel
are constantly going on expeditions il
the country. The number of womel
, 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 Sc
much money. They are virtually
slaves from birth, and eventually man,
t of them are sold by the dealers in thu
I slave warts of Morocco.
1t is believed that the city of Benin
|, contains fabulous amounts of ivory
: For many generations the natives hav
0 been compelled to give the reignin
king a certain amount of ivory, and
# as the surrounding country is tn
Q richest in elephants Of any section c
t Africa. the accumulation of tusks
u figured to be immense.
II When Captain Galway visited th
q kings palace he saw enough to cor
t vince him that the ivory of the king
a dom was worth millions. The palac
1t is surrounded by high walls of clay
and in the Enclosure we're numbers {
shrines of carved tusks, some OF thel
of prodigious size. Each shrine WI
guarded day and night by attendant
y as the average native is not abo,
r: stealing from his king, although /
al well knows that detection means deaf
n in horrible form.
IL King Obbah has some pieces
ID smooth. bore cannon, and the STAY
al dealers have taught his soldiers no
e. to manage them. Some of his soldi
t, are. also armed with old-style rifle
ne but the bulk of them are armed mere
D. with native weapons. Against til
ne rapid.fre guns which the English W
$, bring against them they will be now
or down like grass.
h. In the campaign against Premp,
ne the English won bloodless victory
ng employing pyrotechnics at night. ~
Al fireworks scared the natives almost
on death, and depopulated the capt.
Mt CITY of Kumasi in less than half
in hour. King Obbah, however, has b
ed more experience In modern warfa
nd than the Ashantee king, and it is to
IN expected he will make more stubbo
if fight.
a To punish King Obbah will not
et- an easy matter. To reach the city
th Benin means march of more tn
we two hundred miles through an almt
M impenetrable country, where the da
in ger of falling into an ambuscade v
e." be great. TO guard again this raj
ow firing guns will be employed neal
&c, every minute in the march OF ma