The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-09
Scattered about the world today


may black kings and queens in exile
royal pretenders, have much more ro-
mantle histories behind them and do not
cause so much trouble. Dinizulu, son of
Cetewayo and king Of the Amazulu. lives
in state on the Island Of st. Helena. a
prisoner of the British. Behanzin, King
or Dahomey, lives with his court in the
west. Indies, q prisoner Of the French,
on the Island of Martinique Ranavalo,
Queen of Madagascar, also a prisoner of
the French, is established with her ex-
He'd court in a villa near Algiers Lii
uokalani, once queen of Hawaii, is more
fortunate than these other dusky and
dethroned ones, for she can live and die,
If she pleases, In her native land The
United States is not fond of political
prisoners, though there may be a secure
house preparing somewhere in these
states for the residence of person by
the name of Aguinaldo. The British have
one or two other African ex-potentates
besides Dinizulu in their keeping, and the
French have few in Paris. One of
them is the King of Sokoto, who not long
dEO pellliOISQ lIl6 DISiCn SOVcI UIuSNI W
have his pension raised from $500 to $500
a year.
OF all these black royalties no one Is
more interesting because of himself and
of his family history than DiniZulu. the
BLACK Napoleon" of st. Helena, When
the great Napoleon was overrunning
Europe a British sailor was cast ashore
on the African coast. Some say he de-
serted his ship, which was trading there;
at any rate, he was captured by the ma
tives and taken before the great chief
Chaka, King of the Zulus. He told the
king of the outside world, and especially
Of Napoleon. That put an idea into the
head of Chaka, and he resolved to make
for, himself empire after the manner
Of the Corsican. So he began conquer
ing neighboring tribes and uniting them
under his sway until he had formed the
empire of the Amazulu.
When the British landed in Natal In
1924 the Amazulu were a great power,
and the sway Of Chaka extended along
the southeastern coast Of Africa from
the Limpopo to the Cape of Good Hope.
Chaka made a treaty with the British,
and for that he was slain by his brother,
IL.
ewayo, took up the fight against the
white man and carried it on until his
defeat and capture which was shortly
followed by his death in 1884.
In this war of Cetewayo against the
British there took place the slaughter Of
Isandula, where the naked 1mpis, or
regiments Of the king, broke the British
squares. In this war, too, the house or
Bonaparte and the house of Chaka again
made history for each other, for the
Prince Imperial, heir of Napoleon, was
killed by the soldiers of Cetewayo, heir
of Chaka. He died fighting for the Brit
ish against the power which owed its
origin to the example of his great uncle.
After the death Of Cetewayo, his son,
Dinizulu, kept up the fight for a while,
but was finally captured and sent to st.
Helena, to become a prisoner to the
English on the very rock where was i'm
prisoned, by the same people, the great
Napoleon. Dinizulu Is powerful kaffer
of almost gigantic build. He is a man
of intelligence and considerable reading,
and processes the Christian religion. He
maintains an establishment of considera-
Bile size in his exile, and Is treated by his
household as king. With him are his
two uncles, several chiefs and chaplain.
The uncles the chiefs and the clergyman
have their wives with them, and are at
tended by numerous Zulu servants Dini-
zulu himself is unmarried The one great
desire of his life is to see Zululand again.
but that, In all probability, he never
Will The presence of a prince of the
house of Chaka would not make for
peace in South Africa
Behanzin, king of Dahomy, lives In q
rather small house on the outskirts of,
the City Of Fort de France, MARTINIQUE.
but he still surrounds himself with the
ret1nue OF court, as courts are under
stood In Dahomy. He has with him his
family, consisting Of two wives, a son
and three daughters, and also his court
officials, consisting of an interpreter his
umbrella-bearer and his chief execution
er, whom he brought with him from Da-
honey. When Behanzin sat on his
throne in Dahomey the office of chief
executioner was anything but a sinicure,
but III these days and in Martinique,
that functionary gets a much-needed
rest. All he has to do is to look fierce
when he walks out with the king The
umbrella-bearer and the interpreter
however still. have the duties Of their
offices to perform. Behanzin was q
bloody old fellow when he was reigning
in his capital of Abomey, and he Is not
man, Of either pleasant or intelligent
countenance. He was captured by the
French in 1893, and brought to Marti-
nique soon after. He appears to be COM
Portable in his exile, but is said to be
afflicted every now and then with at,
tacks of dependency and inconsistencies.
His ancestors founded tho kingdom of
Dahomey early in the seventeenth cen
fury, and for a long time it was the
most powerful and prosperous of the ma