A mission to Gelele, King of Dahome, Vol. 2 (of 2)

"A mission to Gelele, King of Dahome, Vol. 2 (of 2)" by Sir Richard Francis Burton is a travel narrative and ethnographic account written in the late 19th century. It chronicles Burton’s diplomatic mission to the West African kingdom of Dahomey, centering on royal ceremonies, the famed female military corps, warfare, religion, and the politics of slavery and sacrifice. The work blends eyewitness reportage with comparison to neighboring states and European practices. Readers should expect vivid, densely detailed depictions of ritual, military display, and court life filtered through a period European lens. The opening of this volume plunges into the “So-sin Customs,” a sequence of state ceremonies in Abomey: Burton describes dances, fetish displays, and the King’s dramatic scattering of cowries that sparks rough-and-tumble scrambles, as well as ritualized visits to a shed of prisoners where pardons are theatrically granted. On the following day the Amazons perform, officers and captains of both sexes swear oaths to break Abeokuta, bards sing royal titles, and rum and cowries are distributed amid repeated war speeches. Burton then pauses to explain the “Evil Night,” arguing that Dahomean human sacrifice is a funerary, religious practice tied to royal ancestor cults and largely aimed at criminals and captives, estimating several dozen victims during the annual rites while contrasting Dahomey with other West African polities. The fifth day brings an immense procession “of the King’s wealth,” with ministers, jesters, female officers, companies of archers and blunderbuss-women, drums, trophies, skull standards, carriages, umbrellas, and the “leopard wives,” all punctuated by toasts, songs, and vows of war; Burton counts fresh corpses and severed heads from the night before, meets the King, and secures a day of rest. The section closes by beginning a demystification of the so‑called Amazons—their historical roots, selection and enforced celibacy, their organization into three main commands, and the social costs of maintaining a female corps—while correcting European exaggerations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)