| Age. | Wives. | Children. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living. | Dead. | Living. | Dead. | |||
| 1. | Ajeh, king’s brother | 40 | 80 | 40 | un- cer- tain. | un- cer- tain. |
| 2. | Amorara, judge and king’s mouth | 40 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3. | Ozama, headman | 35 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 4. | Omenibo, headman | 32 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5. | Amebak, headman | 28 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 6. | Magog, bugler | 34 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 7. | Ambili, headman | 35 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 8. | Ogrou, headman | 30 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 9. | Obi, king | 44 | 110 | uncertain. | ||
Let us see something more of this female quarter, which, in the negro parts of Africa, presents a social scene, in the way of barbarism, which the harems of Asia—bad as they are—far fall short of. Obi’s establishment was seen to advantage; for his wives were amused at the faces and dresses of the Europeans who visited their lord and master, and they flocked in swarms to laugh at them. Their mirth then “brought[37] out about twenty damsels of more mature age, who were superannuated wives, permitted to live within the precincts of the palace.” What will be the ultimate fate of these old and young, active and superannuate? Even this—that when the king dies, they will be sacrificed to his manes.
[37] Dr. McWilliam—Medical History of the Niger Expedition.
This practice is common throughout the districts under notice. At Old Calabar, the south-eastern angle of the Delta, the death of a well-known chief or caboceer,[38] named Ephraim, caused the death of some hundreds of men, women, and children who were immolated at his burial—decapitation, burning alive, and the administration of the poison-nut, being the methods resorted to for terminating their existence.
[38] From the Portuguese Cabocero—Captain.
Again, when King Eyeo, father of the present Chief of Creek Town, died, an eyewitness, who had only arrived just after the completion of the funeral rites, informed me that a large pit had been dug, in which several of the deceased’s wives were bound and thrown in, until a certain number had been procured; the earth was then thrown over them, and so great was the agony of these victims, that the ground for several minutes was agitated with their convulsive throes. So fearful, in former times, was the observance of this barbarous custom, that many towns narrowly escaped depopulation.[39]
[39] Dr. Daniell on the Natives of Old Calabar, “Transactions of the Ethnological Society.”
The savage character of the negro warfare is on a level with such practices as these—the slave trade being the chief incentive to them. When these take place, and when the burial-place of a king is known to the enemy, they rifle his grave for his remains; and having obtained his scull, keep it as a trophy. For this reason the tombs of royalty are kept concealed.
But there is another peculiarity. In more than one part of the western coast, the woman serves as a soldier, or even as a captain. In Akkim, on the Gold Coast, the notice of a female colonel, when first made, excited as much incredulity as surprise. The fact, nevertheless, has been confirmed by respectable testimony, by Mr. Duncan, and Captain Forbes, more especially; inasmuch as in the kingdom of Dahomey, there is a whole regiment consisting exclusively of females—a large proportion being the ex-wives of the king. The following song, given on the authority of the last-named author, shows the temper and spirit of the unsexed Amazons:—
1.