Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 25.djvu/855

Rh funerals and "customs" of Tepi-Land, on the West Coast of Africa. According to him, when the king becomes dangerously ill, he is placed under the close care of a circle of chosen attendants. The fact of his illness must not be mentioned directly, but may, when that is necessary, be alluded to in some roundabout phrase, or as if it were the speaker himself that were sick. At the same, time the affairs of the court go on in their usual course, one of the chiefs representing the king and offering to the people, when inquired of, some plausible excuse for his majesty's absence. When death takes place, all who are cognizant of the event, if they have not succeeded in running away, are put under guard, and the secret is kept as long as possible. Generally, however, some manage to escape, and they will give the news to their friends in obscure hints, saying, perhaps," Things are becoming dangerous," "The great tree has fallen," "Look out for the earthquake," but never plainly that the king is dead. Loud mourning is prohibited at this stage of the proceedings. The victims to be offered up are secured, and one is sacrificed, to lie at the feet of the corpse while it is prepared for burial. The body having been dressed and the head and breast sprinkled with gold-dust, if it can be afforded, his majesty's death is announced to the chiefs, still in some obscure phrase; as, "The king is unwell, and desires to see you," "The king has gone to bed and can not get up," "The only free is asleep"; and the chiefs, but no common man, under penalty of death, are admitted to view the body in private. The corpse is carried at crowing of the cock to the royal burial-place, where sheep are slain, and the favorite dishes of his majesty, of which no one is allowed to eat but the designated chief victims, are set before him. The chief victims have been selected beforehand, and are distinguished during life by a peculiar badge. They are sacrificed by breaking their necks, while the heads of the other victims are cut off by a band of executioners composed of relatives of his late majesty. The victims are usually persons who have committed some misdeed or have incurred the dislike of their fellow-slaves, and with them are offered up persons who have been sentenced to punishment and kept in reserve for the occasion. After these ceremonies are over, the wives of the king that have not been dispatched after him assemble around a ceremonial coffin and set up the stated mourning. The wives are expected to observe the conventionalities of mourning till they are given to the new king to be his wives, and this can not happen till after the celebration of the "customs," which is frequently delayed for a long time on account of the expense. The successor to the throne is chosen after consultation between the chiefs and the women of the royal family, in secret. Having been publicly proclaimed, the new king is instructed as to his own rights and duties and those of the tribe, is sworn to observe all that is prescribed, and then receives the homage of the chiefs, after which the royal feast is given and the royal gifts are bestowed. The enthronement takes place