Year: 1865




Tie Paris Montteur publishes aletter from
Whydali, which supplies details respecting
the festival OF human sacrifices recently
held at Abomey, the capital of Dahomey,
before the King and in presence of all his
court and great dignltarfes OF State. The
letter says: i1i' 10y oSt 9ii' 41@
The King having announced to the peo-
pie that In a short time, to honor the names
OF Agongoro, his ancestor, the King Geo,
his father, forty prisoners belonging to the
rebel tribe of the Alankas would be i'm
molated on the market place at Abomey,
with the usual ceremony. Three days af-
terwards he decided that this barbarous
deed should be accomplished one hour be-
fore sunrise. Many Europeans who were
in town had an audience of the Monarch,
and implored him to give up the horrible
sacrifice


The King declared that he could not sup
press the national festival, but that In con-
sideration for the foreigners he consented
to reduce the number of the victims to
twelve. On the eve of the sacrifice he
went to a shed, under which the forty pris-
Oners were secured to posts. He gave an
order that twenty eight should be released,
and that they should be taken back to their
prison, and then addressed himself to the
twelve others, in order to announce to them
that next morning, in eXpiation of the
crimes committed by the chief of their
tribe, and to satisfyEthe shade of his father
and his ancestor, they would be decapita-
ted before the assembled people. The un-
fortunate men heard the royal speech with
the utmost Indifference. The King added
that two of them would be executed with
his own hand and then retired. A short
time afterwards arrived Prince Bocu-Sau,
the Kings brother. He chose two of the
prisoners announced to them that they had
been selected to be dispatched by his broth
er; but, in order to be admitted to such an
honor, it was necessary to purify their
crime stained bodies, and that they must
pass the night in the great fetish temple,
pr0strated before the idols. On the next
day the prisoners were led to the market
place, their hands bound behind their backs.
The King presided at the ceremony, seated
on large ivory throne, surrounded by his
court, the great dignitaries of the kingdom
and the ministry. On the center of the
place was large silver vessel, intended to
receive the blood of the victims. When
the hour had come, the King advanced,
took very thin steel sabre, and depressed
the heads of the two prisoners he was about
to immediate. These poor wretches, on the
order given to them, were placed atthe edge
of the vessel which was about to catch
their blood. At the conclusion of the first
execution the crowd uttered enthusiastic
shouts of applause for full five minutes, af-
ter which the King resumed his seat on the
throne. The'othe ten prisoners were ex-
ecuted by the great fetish man, or high
priest, who picked up each victims head
and showed it to the people, while they ut
tered ferocious yells. When all was over,
the populace tell upon the bodies of the un-
fortunate victims, which they cut into
pieces and then drank their blood. The
King retired in great pomp, and caused the
twelve heads to be fixed on the wall of his
palace. These monstrous scenes occur three
or four times a year. i