Chapter II: Part VII: Savage Kings and Courts

CHAP. XVII.--The savage considered as a child of nature--what he
lives for--kings by birth--a king to be wished dead--Commander
Forbes’ introduction to the King of Dahomey--formalities to
be observed on approaching Dahoman royalty--the palace hedged
in with human skulls--a saltatory welcome--Gezo king of
kings--his majesty “stands a drain”--grand display of rum and
gunpowder--the ceremony of Eh-bah-tong-ah-bah, or exhibition
of the king’s wealth--the red pool at the threshold--Dahoman
“half-heads”--King Gezo the “leopard” and the “hawk”--items
of his majesty’s wealth--“One washing pan, seven pans of
skulls, and a grandmother”--an umbrella ornamented with eighty
jaw bones--the probable value of the whole lot--great cry
and little wool--the ceremony of Ek-que-noo-ah-toh-meh or
the throwing of presents--the king’s platform and the hungry
mob below--how his majesty was dressed--rum and tobacco and
cowries showered to the people--kings and ambassadors joining
in the scramble--the human sacrifices and the expectant
savages--feed us! “we are hungry”--the victims launched into
the pit--a recent grand custom--“Little Popo, August 6th,
1862”--glad to see a Dutchman--the Dutchman’s reception by the
king--exhibition of a crucified missionary--an earthquake in
the midst of a “custom”--twenty-four live men thrown to the
hungry ones--sixteen women, four horses, and one alligator
sacrificed--Bullfinch Lamb--his evidence as to what Dahomey
of old was like--£10,000 demanded by the king as Bullfinch’s
ransom--he writes home describing his misery--he shows himself
a fox rather than a Lamb--Bullfinch wins the king’s heart
by making him a kite--the kingdom of Abó and its ruler--Mr.
Baikie’s approach to the royal residence--a palace of mud and
thatch--King Ishúkuma--royal robes--the king’s sister acts as
“crier” to the “court”--King Ajé--his shoeless feet and his red
nightcap--Ajé gives Mr. Baikie his “dash”--Baikie’s visit to the
terrible Neam Nam--some of his followers flee at the mere sight
of the town--the ogres surround the adventurers--prospects of
a jolly feast--prospects blighted--a friend in need--“Look at
the things they hold in their hands; touch them not”--wonderful
effects of a gun shot--a ticklish moment--the good will
of the cannibals secured--the Fernandian town of Issapoo
and Browowdi the king--Mr. Hutchinson’s description of the
Browowdi palace--the king’s rig: “a filthy old stool for a
throne, an old bamboo-leaf hat for a crown”--a coronation at
Issapo--what his newly-made majesty may eat, and what he must
leave alone--royalty in Old Kalabar--King Eyamba--the State
carriage _alias_ “the white man’s cowhouse”--comical use of a
carriage--the Egbo drum--Aqua-el-dere or chop-day at Duketown--a
royal feast--ju-ju wood and palaver sauce--interesting mode
of feeding at the royal table--“King Eyo Honesty”--how he
keeps the Sabbath--his band--the order of Egbo--how it is
constituted--its similitude to free-masonry--Idem and his
terrible cow-hide whip--his outrageous privileges--Egbo
bells--Brass Egbo day--Egbo trials and criminals--the “Bloodmen”
of Duketown--the Mambo of Lunda--his magnificent attire and
how he held court--his Muata Cazembe or prime minister--the
Muata’s seven umbrellas--the Mambo’s wives--the election of a
Jaga--singular ceremony attending it--how the Jaga selects a
site for a palace--the novel rite of Sambamento--the unfortunate
Nicango--his fate. Pages 1–137.

CHAP. XVIII.--Royalty in Southern Africa--Doctor Livingstone
and Shinte--King of Makololo--the king’s crown of beads and
goose feathers--the doctor’s reception--his majesty’s hundred
wives and his wife in chief--the royal piano and the four
pianists--the doctor and his followers fall into the hands of
Manembo, a South African chieftess--she gives her guests a bit
of her mind--her advice to Dr. Livingstone--“now, my little man,
do as the rest have done”--from South Africa to Abyssinia--Mr.
Stern among the Falashas--he commits a grave breach of court
etiquette--an Abyssinian cure for melancholy--Mr. Bruce’s
experience of the cure--Bruce’s introduction to the Lady
of Sittina--her splendid attire--Bruce’s gallantry by no
means surprises the lady--he volunteers a piece of wholesome
advice as a physician--a delicate conversation--the King of
Seenaar--how he was greased--a cure for red hair--the throne
in Madagascar--Madame Ida Pfieffer’s introduction to the
queen--paying your “footing”--her majesty neither cordial
nor over polite--a Malagasey palace--its chief pillar--five
thousand labourers to bring it home--death of fifteen thousand
builders--the silver palace--ceremony observed on the death
of a Malagasey king--the feast of the queen’s bath--great
rejoicing on the occasion--the Malagasey army and the military
band--wretched condition of the soldiery--a handful of rice food
for a day--a Malagasey court ball--ball dresses--the “Segu”
dance--niggardly behaviour of her majesty. Pages 38–53.

CHAP. XIX.--Borneo and the Borneans--installation of a
Dayak-rajah--_Hot_ council and _Cold_ council--ceremony of
election as described by Baiah Brooke--“may the government be
cold”--a visit to the chief of the Grungs--capture by the old
women--revolting customs--a Dayak dance--more physicking--Corea
and the Great Loo Choo Islands--the chief of Corea--his
visit to the British ship “Lyra”--dignified behaviour of the
chief--his uproarious attendants--he orders an arrest--a cheap
entertainment--punishment of the arrested one--the chief loses
his temper and makes free use of his rod of office--the court
of king Finow--marriage of his eldest daughter to the great
chief Tooitonga--the bride’s anointing and her bridal robes of
superfine mats--the bridesmaids--the marriage feast--twenty
baked hogs--the music and dancing--King John of Adelaide,
Australia--his death and trussing and roasting--horrible
ceremony--The roast king’s dutiful _lubras_--a mummy “up a gum
tree”--King John the thickest headed king ever known--his skull
to prove it--dying fate of the common Bushman--enticing away
the “spirit that kills”--the Bushman’s grave--Bushman mourning
customs. Pages 54–66.