Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-05-20


miles down to the sea between
giant Nigeria and Togo. Is the
smallest but not the least coll
orful Of the newly autonomous
French West African republics.
Dahomey. which Is about the
size Of Pennsylvania but In
some places less than SO miles
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This IS the first Of two articles on
two lttIe-known African countries
which ore trying to take their pieces
IN the world community. The writer
il on Ieoye from his job as re-
porter for The Star.
wide, was one Of the great war
rior kingdoms Of Africa. About
1920. a junior prince Of another
kingdom. realizing that he
stood a good chance of ending
up as an entire on his royal
elder brothers menu If he
hung around, set of to found
q new kingdom.
He found a likely looking bit
Of real estate ruled over by a
fellow named Dan. Dan did not
take to the idea Of other people
muscling in on his territory but
this difnculty was surmounted
by separating Dan from his
head and chucking his body
into the foundations Of the new
palace. Thus was born the
kingdom Of Dahomey, which
means Dams stomach"
Force Of Amazons
The kings Of Dahomey be-
came great slave-catchers and
fought a series Of bloody wars
to annex new bodies and terri
tory. To keep the armed serv-
Ices up to snuff, Dahomey
created an elite force of $500
Amazons,
Authenticated cases Of card
carrying Amazons are rare, but
these gals we're the real stun.
They were divided into regi-
ments of musketeers, archers
and razor-women and each
outfit had a distinctive uni
form. They were proud OF
their ability to storm thorn
stockades bare OF and to
travel in columns a thousand
strong in complete silence, an
accomplishment for any group |
of women.
The ferocity of the Amazons |
was maintained at q high pitch |
by a royal decree which kept |
them in a state of sullen cell
bacy. But Richard Burton, the
English wanderer who reached
Dahomey in 1863, reported that
girls would be girls and that
10 per cent of the troops were |
In a family way. Encouraged
by this, the French moved in
seven years later.
Portuguese Hold On
The Portuguese already had
Q fort on the coast Of Dahomey.
When the French showed UP,
they asked the sleepy comman-
dant to indicate the extent OF
Portugal's possession. He gave
q horizon embracing sweep OF
the arm which the French not
overly generously took to mean
the IL acres upon which the
fort stood. The Portuguese nag
still flies there over what must
be the smallest colony in the
world.
The Dahomeyans were adj
dicted to mass human sacrifice
and fetish worship. Whenever
the king wanted to send a mes
sage to one Of his ancestors, he
whispered it in the ear Of one
of his subjects and had the
messenger decapitated. If the
king happened to be particu-
larly chatty, or if his memory
was bad and required many
postscripts. the executioners
had a busy time of it.
One is inclined to believe
that Dahomey's position astride
the route to the interior
of Africa doomed it in French
eyes as much as its social
practices.
Now the pendulum has
swung back and Dahomey,
unnder Gen. de Gaulle's new
constitution, has complete in
ternal autonomy. But the
country has a HATEFUL Of prob
lens.
Subsidized by France
Dahomey's 80 million oil palm
trees are almost its only
economic asset and the coun-
try's $13 million annual budget
is heavily subsidized by France.
In an attempt to forestall any
possible squeeze play by Ghana
and Nigeria, Dahomey has
Joined a SPRAYING federation
of French West African states
composed, in addition to itself,
of Senegal, French Sudan and
Upper Volta.
But many Dahomeyans OPP
pose this unin and the country
is politically restless. On top of
this. $4,000 Dahomeyans were
recently repatriated after
bloody riots at Abidjan, the
capital Of the Ivory Coast.
Little Dahomey. which for
decades has sent its sons
abroad to earn their livings. is
faced with the problem of try
ing to absorb these people into
an economy already plagued
by unemployment.