Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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After He Had Finished Reading, The
Priest Descended From The Hillock, And With The Help Of His
Assistants, Slaughtered A Sheep Which Had Been Bound And Brought To
Him For Sacrifice.
The blood of the animal was caught in a calabash,
and the king and the more devoted of his subjects washed their hands
in it, and sprinkled some of it on the ground.
The conclusion of the
ceremony was announced by the discharge of a few old muskets, and
with drums beating and fifes playing, the people returned to their
respective homes. The majority of them were smartly dressed in all
the finery they could procure. About a hundred of the men rode on
horseback, with lances and other weapons in their hands, which, with
the gay trappings of the horses, gave them a respectable appearance.
In the afternoon, all the inhabitants of the town, and many from the
little villages in the neighbourhood, assembled to witness the horse
racing, which always takes place on the anniversary of the Belun
Salah, and to which every one had been looking forward with the
greatest impatience. Previously to its commencement, the king with
his principal attendants rode slowly on round the town, more for the
purpose of receiving the admiration and plaudits of his people, than
to observe where distress more particularly prevailed, which was his
avowed intention. In this respect we do not see that the African
kings are a jot worse than the Europeans; it is true, indeed, that
the African monarch has in some measure the advantage over the
European, for we have never heard that any European king,
particularly an English one, ever even conceived the idea of parading
the town in which he might reside, for the purpose of finding and
relieving the distressed, but when he does condescend to show himself
amongst the people, to whom he is indebted for the victuals which he
eats, it is for the purpose of attending some state mummery, or
seeing a number of human beings standing in a row, with the weapons
of murder in their hands, but which, when called into action to
gratify the senseless ambition of the said king, is called privileged
homicide.
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