The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-01
THE LONG JU JU.
Description of the Chief West African
 Fetich Shrine M

DeScElpllOu Ol lllt Cuiel west AlIlChIl Fetich Shrine.
 | The approach to the Long Ju Ju is
 through dense bush, which gradually
 becomes thicker and thicker until one
 arrives at the entrance of deep oval
 shaped pit, seventy feet deep sixty
 yards long and fifty yards wide. One 1 then climbs down the precipitous sides
 of the rock into a. narrow gorge and into
 running water, up which one wades, 1 passing under two fences, until one finally comes to place where the wates comes out of the solid rock in two big streams, which unite below a small is land, on which are two altars, one made of many trade guns. stuck muzzle
 downward into the ground, and topped with skulls, the other being of wood,
 and supporting more skulls, bones,
 feathers, blood, eggs and other votive
 offerings to the Ju Ju, including the
 head of the last victim. Over the rock,
 where Is the source of the water, is a
 roof of human skulls with curtain, the
 top part of which Is composed fo
 clothes, and the lower part of native
 mating, screening the rock and hang
 ing just short of the waters edge. The
 lower portions of the rock composing
 the other sides of this crater are draped with mats only. On the left of the en-
 trance, centrally situated and opposite
 the island, has been hewn out of the rock f1at-topped ledge for sacrificial purposes
 The water, about twelve inches deep, is full of tame, gray-colored fish, about two feet in length, with long suckers and glarng yellow eyes, which have a most bizarre appearance a., they glide noiselessly through the clear water in the dom light of this charnel-house of fetich lore, which is roofed with dense- ly intertwined creepers. These fish are regarded as sacred. On the left of the exit lies another pile of human skulls and other relics of Ju Ju rites, and on the right the last sacrifice-a white goat, trussed up in the branches of palm tree and starving to death.
 The long Ju Ju is probably the best known and most powerful religious center in West Africa, and is visited from hundreds of miles by natives of all sorts and conditions. It is impossible, at present, to get full and accurate de- tails from the people of the ritual, which has been in vogue for centuries in this gloomy. cave of savage superstition. first because they are afraid, and, secondly, because the priests have yet to be cap tured. Everything which is sacrificed, such as cattle, goats, fowls, &c. must be white The high priest of the oracle, who, it appears, is swathed in clothes, Is usually out of sight, and addresses the pilgrims in impressive monotone, having previously been made cognizant of every detail concerning the suppli- Cants and their disputes by means of a sort of fetich Freemasonry, which cer- tainly extends as far as the limits of southern Nigeria.
 The conducting of visitor to the Ju Ju is usually a somewhat lengthy pro- cess, and when he arrives in it's proX- imity he is led by a circuitous route and finally marched in backward. It would seem to be a fair estimate to put the of pilgrims down at about five hundred annually, all of whom pay dearly for the advice or degree which is to them. Probably the number of human sacrifices does not reach a total of fifty per annum, while l about two hundred people are sold into slavery and the remainder are allowed to go away free.-London Daily News.