The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-12-18
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W my journey, made
in December, 1889,
may not be without interest. King
Adola died some eighteen months be-
fore my expedition and his successor,
Obbah, or Adubowa, after sending 400
slaves to accompany his father to
Wherever he might be located, was then
nrmly settled on the throne. On ar
rival at Benin we were taken to a
house, the owner of which was one
EJomun, second in Importance to the
king. y y + We were first taken to
see an old chief named Arribo and
afterWard another chief named Ewag-
we. At 4:30 we were finally sum-
moned to see the king. We crossed a
KIND OF common, passed down some
streets and finally arrived at a court
yard with a high wall of red clay. We
passed through a gateway and found
ourselves in a large open court, II end
of which was covered over, and in the
center we could distinguish teeth and
ivory s%pringing from heads, as in
EWagWe's house. There was a large
standard of wrought iron supporting a
basin. This was really a lamp, used on
occasions of the kings plays, as they
facetiously called them, and when a
score or two of human victims are mas
sacred for the king to make his ia
theirs with We were led up to this
lamp and told to stop. The crowd
formed a lane up to a respectful dis
lance of the covered shed. In one part
OF this shed was an arrangement of red
BAIT like he o of a theater. Seated
in this we could dimly see a figure in
a large hat, which we were told was
the king, We took off our hats and
bowed. The messengers now came
down the lane of %pOpulace and informed
us that the king sent greeting; he was
glad to see us; had We been properly
treated while in his country? George,
the Interpreter, gave us the hint that
the correct method of salutation in this
country was to raise the right hand.
Not wishing to appear ill-bred, we did
so. We replied that we had been we'll
treated and thanked him, but would
like to see his majesty at closer quar-
tiers. Being at last informed that the
king was ready we we're led through a
gateway into what | supposed was his
house. 1t was of the same shape as
the other Benin houses, only larger and
~loftier. A number of natives assembled
in the first half, or court, but we were
ushered into the second, into the kings
presence. The scene which met our
view was weird and bizarre enough to
be described by Rider Haggard. The
hall was of considerable size and height
and the roof was open, as usual. There
was a large well, or bath, in the enter
of the floor to catch the water from
the roof. At first, in the hazy light of
the smoky palm-oil cressets, we only
noticed a large hall with people crowd
ing round it. But, as we looked up
the length of the hall, we saw the king
standing on a raised step, with his
arm supported by members of his
court. On his right along the hall were
arranged the personal attendants of the
household. None of these was allowed
to wear so much as a Waist-cloth, but
all had necklaces of Benin coral and
agate. On the left were the nobility
of his court, their costumes of silk and
cotton skirts padded out to look big,
and the upper part of their bodies
bare, save for many necklaces of coral
and agate. In front of the king was &
"Ju-Ju" altar, composed of some white
looking compound, the top studded
with nail-like protuberances. In the
enter of these, and smeared with red,
which we took to be blood, but found to
be palm oil, was a human skull, look
49, .l,,+1,- ~ thp div, lf-It a. -
side of the altar, painted on the floor
was a "Ju-Ju" hieroglyphic, and up to
this we were led, but told not to go be-
yond. His majesty was dressed in a
cloth of gold tinsel and covered with
coral necklaces. He was a man of
about 80, with an intelligent, or, rather
amiable face. Certainly to look at nc
one would suppose him capable of
Strengthening some hundreds of people
as a sacrifice to the shades of his ia
then He was very pressing for us to
stay in his town and said he had many
things to show us and talk about. Fl,
nally we consented to stop over the
morrow. We were taken the next morn.
ing to the court dedicated to the lats
king. Terrible horrors must have
, taken place in the Enclosure during the
preceding twelve months. We haC
! heard stories from the Jakrimen o.
hundred of slaves being caught all ovel
/, the country, carried up to the capita
y and slaughtered by the king for thu
purpose of what they call making hi.
father and also of "chopping king
! i. e., fulfilling the rites and ceremonie!
required before a new king is consid
cred as properly seated on the throne
A horrible object close to the gate wa
- a human being, lately sacrificed, an
now suspended between two trees. w
II asked if he was a criminal, but wer
y told not at all; he had been killed TO
u "Ju-Ju." In one corner of the o III
l was a deep pit, the mouth of whicl
was covered with slabs of galvanize,
u iron. This pit was called Iva" an
into it were thrown the bodies Of tn
victims. At present it was empty. TIL
s. bodies were not left there altogether
ID but were removed and burned and tn
he ashes spread out on the ground in from
TX of the big "Ju-Ju." The fact hat W
2! were standing in a gray ash made u
ask questions that elected this infol
nation. After a time, when sufficier
victims had beer sent to keep the dea
of king mpany the pit was closed.