GRANARIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
The storehouses or granaries now in use in Mexico, Peru, and other
empires, are not the Pyramids which were built and used in the time of
Joseph and Moses. A recent traveller gives the following description of
a modern granary situated near Canton, in China:—
“Here we saw a large magazine for grain; it was a quadrangular building
about 350 feet each way, lined on the outside with plank, and on the
whole appeared well adapted for the intended purpose. Such depôts for
corn, they (the Chinese) tell us, are very common everywhere, yet,
except in this instance, they have hitherto escaped our notice.”
From what the same traveller says about some remarkable rocks that he
saw in China, there appears to be every likelihood of finding pyramids
in that country which, built by Moses and his followers during their
sojourn there, still remain unopened after all these ages, even by the
present generation of the Chinese, who conquered the country from the
colonists left in the empire by the Law-giver. These solitary rocks
were situated in plains surrounded by corn-fields, similar to the
situation and position of the Pyramids of Egypt and Mexico. The
traveller says:—
“In the course of the day we passed by one town and three villages
(proceeding towards Canton from the south), likewise several remarkable
rocks, nearly perpendicular on all sides, and about two hundred feet
high, perfectly isolated, and unconnected with any elevated ground
whatsoever; besides, the circumjacent country is low, level, alluvial
soil, _well cultivated_.
“All these circumstances considered, it is rather difficult to account
for the existence of such a phenomenon as these solitary rocks, so
remote, too, from any mountain, unless, perhaps, those prodigious
masses of solid stone have been, at some very remote period of time,
each the nucleus of a hill, in which case they must have been below the
surface of the soil, which, being gradually washed down and carried
away by the floods, these rocks became denuded, and left exposed in
their present situation.
“Another conjecture may be offered on this subject, that probably they
have been placed, as now seen, by the operation of the same causes that
effected the general deluge, when the globe suffered such dreadful
disruptions and convulsions as, according to the Mosaic relation, to
shake the very pillars of the earth, and to break up the fountains of
the great deep; the truth of this will appear obvious when we consider
the nature of that powerful agent which occasioned this memorable
catastrophe.”[73]
The Pyramids of Mexico are termed by the learned Dr. Robinson temples
and mounds of earth; and the Pyramids of Egypt have been mentioned by
Bruce and other travellers as natural rocks and mounds. So that it is
not extraordinary that a shipwrecked seaman, travelling on foot along
the coast of China towards Canton, should call these unexplored
pyramids solitary rocks. There are such mounds or rocks in Ireland. Now
that country was visited in ancient times by the Phenicians, who were
originally a colony of Egyptians, and who must have witnessed the
construction, or perhaps even assisted in the building of the Pyramids
of Egypt, by command of Joseph, or Zaphnath-paaneah; they also assisted
King Solomon in building the Temple in Jerusalem. These Phenicians,
then, built pyramids in Ireland, which, though a fertile island, has
been subject to frequent visitations of famine. The learned traveller
Kohl speaks of these erections, in his work on Ireland, as follows:—
“The Moate of Lisserdowling is a round conical hill, about forty feet
high, and almost five hundred feet in circumference. It stands in a
plain, and is surrounded by _corn-fields_, and, being planted with
trees and white-thorn bushes, presents a stately object on the naked
level. On the summit the Moate was flat, with an indentation in the
middle, leaving a few stones bare, that seemed to form part of some
masonry concealed under the turf, by which the whole of the artificial
hill was covered.
“The popular tradition, I was told, assigned the moat as a
dwelling-place to an ancient Irish chief of the name of Naghten
O’Donnell, and a small by-road in the neighbourhood is still called,
after him, Naghten’s Lane. The hill stands in high repute throughout
the country, and is a favourite resort on fine afternoons, when
hundreds may be seen sitting and lying on its sides; but not one of
these visitors remains after dark, when the Moate of Lisserdowling, and
the lane leading to it, are abandoned to the fairies, or ‘good people,’
as they are called in Ireland. Nor will anyone touch a stone or a stick
on the hill, ‘unless they have had a dream,’ as my farmer expressed
himself, ‘and have had a commission from the good people.’
“I observed on the side of the mount the stump of an old thorn-bush. My
guide informed me that the bush itself had been blown down one windy
night, many years ago, and had been left to rot on the ground where it
fell, no one daring to touch it, though in general the poor people are
ready enough to appropriate to themselves anything burnable that they
may find by the wayside. Young trees they will steal with very little
remorse, but wood growing on one of these fairy mounts is almost always
secure from their depredations.
“On the following day I visited a similar hill, the Moate-o’-Ward,
which was likewise covered with white thorns, and in the sequel I met
with great numbers of these artificial hillocks, of which Ireland
contains many more than England or Scotland. The people call them
moats, a word used in English to designate the ditch of a fortress. In
Irish they are called ‘raths,’ a word bearing precisely the same
signification. They are also sometimes called ‘Dane’s Mounts’; for in
Ireland, as every art of destruction is charitably set down to
Cromwell’s account, so every erection of a remote date is attributed to
the Danes.
“The popular belief is quite unanimous, therefore, in giving the Danes
the credit of having erected these tumuli, as fortresses whence they
might hold the country in subjection; and when the Danes had been
expelled, an Irish chief here and there chose the deserted fastness for
his dwelling-place. The learned are not quite so unanimous in their
views as to the origin of these erections. Some go with the stream, and
set them down to Danish account; others believe the hillocks to be of a
much more ancient date, and to have formed the strongholds of the
ancient native kings. In the north of Ireland is a mound of enormous
size, said to have been the seat of the kings of Ulster.
“Probably this earthy architecture, which appears to have been so
widely diffused over Ireland, was the work of different ages, of
various races, and had more objects than one in view. Nearly all the
nations of Europe, in the infancy of their civilization, seem to have
delighted in the erection of these artificial hills. The whole of
Southern Russia is full of them, and we meet with them in Hungary,
Turkey, Scandinavia, and Denmark, as well as in England and Ireland;
but nowhere in such numbers as in Ireland, whence we may conclude that
the ancient Irish must have built many of their raths long before the
Danes arrived among them.
“It is also probable that they were erected with different objects in
view. Some, we know, were intended as boundary marks, and some, we
know, were raised over the remains of distinguished heroes and chiefs.
From some it was customary for the law-givers and judges to announce
their decisions to the assembled multitude, and on others kings were
anointed and crowned. The Druids required sacred hills to offer their
sacrifices on, and where a natural hill was not to be had an artificial
one, no doubt, was often formed.
“Others, again, may have been intended as fortresses on which the
people might seek refuge from an enemy. Many, no doubt, remain that are
quite enigmatical. Several, when opened, are found to contain passages
and cells, of which it is difficult to guess what use they were
intended for. They are too small for storehouses, and can scarcely have
served as tombs, or bones and other remains would have been found there.
“Lisserdowling, a high pyramid surrounded by a low rampart and ditch,
is more likely, in my opinion, to have been erected as a religious
monument than as a fortress. Had it been intended for a fortress, why
should so much labour have been expended in giving it a conical form,
and why not have bestowed more pains on the circumvallation. As a
fortress it would have been the strangest and most ineligible that
could have been built. The space on the summit would scarcely afford
room for two huts, and when the ramparts had once been stormed by the
enemy, the defenders would have been at the greatest disadvantage on
the sides of the cone.
“Probably the circumvallation has led to the belief that this, and many
other tumuli, were intended for fortresses; but Stonehenge, which
nobody ever took to be a fortress, is also surrounded by rampart and
ditch. The circumvallation may have been intended simply to mark the
boundary of the holy place, and to cut off all connection with the
profane part of the world.”
These ruins which Mr. Kohl has described, and respecting which he has
given his opinion, are simply the remains of ancient granaries or
pyramids, erected by the Phenicians, who left them standing when they
returned to their own country. After the departure of these Phenicians,
Ireland was visited by the Moors, who were masters of Spain and
Portugal. These Moors coming from the coast of Africa, opposite Spain,
were a colony formerly from the heart of Negroland, whence they reached
the coast by way of the great desert called the Sahara, and joined
their countrymen who had already settled in the new empire called
Mauritania, which comprised Morocco and Tunis, &c., of our time.
These new visitors erected the round towers, in which to stack corn,
just as their predecessors had constructed the Pyramids for a like
purpose. There are round granaries in Africa, constructed with
materials procurable in the place; but in Ireland they used stone
instead, which was more durable, although retaining the same form as in
the prototypes. The following is what Kohl says about the round
towers:—
“On leaving Kilrush I entrusted my person and my portmanteau to a small
boat which I had engaged to carry me over to Scattery Island, and
thence to the coast of Kerry. The morning was warm, and not a breath of
wind disturbed the surface of the water, but the sun was completely
concealed by a thick yellow fog, which scarcely allowed us to see
beyond the length of our boat. Nevertheless, my boatman brought me in
safety to the little green island, which I was about to visit for the
sake of its interesting ruins, and by the time we reached its shore the
fog had sufficiently dispersed to allow us to distinguish the remains
of its ‘Seven Churches,’ while the lofty column of the round towers
presented itself at first as a dark line, and then gradually broke with
more distinctness through the turbid atmosphere.
“These Round Towers are the most interesting remains of antiquity that
Ireland possesses. Like most travellers in Ireland, I was soon infected
with a passion for round towers; but as this passion is one of which
few of my friends in Germany are likely to have a distinct idea, I
believe that some introductory remarks on these venerable buildings
will not be out of place here.
“These Round Towers are built of large stones, and when seen at a
distance look rather like lofty columns than towers, being from the
base to the top of nearly the same thickness. They are now, indeed, by
no means all of the same height, many of them having fallen into ruins;
but those which remain tolerably complete are all from 100 to 120 feet
high, from forty to fifty in circumference, and from thirteen to
sixteen in diameter. At the base the wall is always very thick and
strong, but becomes slighter towards the top. Within, the tower is
hollow, without any opening but a door, generally eight or ten feet
from the ground, and some very narrow apertures or windows, mostly four
in number, near the top.[74] These windows are usually turned towards
the four cardinal points of the compass.
“In all parts of Ireland these singular buildings are found scattered
about, all resembling each other like the obelisks of Egypt. Sometimes
round towers are found in solitary islands, sometimes on the side of a
river, or a plain, or some secluded corner of a valley. The whole
number of them, according to the map of Ireland published by the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, is, at present, 118; of
these fifteen are in a perfect state of preservation, and of thirty-six
little more than the foundation remains.
“The general name of ‘Round Towers’ is very little characteristic of
these remarkable buildings, for towers are seldom otherwise than round.
Some writers have called them ‘pillar temples,’ but this name assigns
to them a designation which it is by no means certain that they bore.
The characteristic peculiarity of these towers consists in their
resemblance to mighty pillars, and the most appropriate name for them
would, in my opinion, be ‘pillar towers.’
“In no part of Europe do we find any similar building of antiquity. In
Scotland, it is said, two or three pillar towers exist, and these, it
may be inferred, were reared by Irish colonists. In the far east only
we come to erections of the same character and dimension; the first
thing that a traveller is reminded of on seeing an Irish round tower,
is a Turkish minaret.
“No authentic records exist to guide us to a knowledge of the time when
these towers were built, or of the use for which they were intended.
Everything proves that they have existed from a very remote antiquity,
and the most opposite conclusions have been adopted with respect to the
period and object of their erection; none of these hypotheses carry
conviction with them, but of many, at least, the absurdity can be shown
with little trouble.
“Some, for instance, have maintained that these towers were built by
the Danes; but these sages appear to have forgotten that round towers
are found in parts of the island where the Danes never set foot, as,
for instance, in Donegal and the remote counties of Connaught. Besides,
had these been Danish erections, how came the Danes not to leave any of
them in England?
“Popular tradition assigns them to the Phœnicians, and learned
antiquarians ought not too hastily to reject popular tradition, for
often the memory of a people undergoes less corruption and change in
the course of a thousand years than do the records preserved in books.
There is nothing very improbable in the hypothesis that these towers
were built by the Phœnicians, who are known to have visited the island
and to have exercised power there.
“Travellers have recently discovered in the Persian province of
Masanderan towers precisely similar to those of Ireland, and in India
erections of a similar kind, dedicated to religious purposes, have also
been met with. This, taken in connection with the shape of the Turkish
minaret, makes it extremely probable that the round towers have had an
Oriental origin. Many have been staggered by the great antiquity which
such an hypothesis would assign to the Irish towers, but they are
buildings of wonderful solidity, and there is nothing at all
extraordinary in the supposition that these stones may have remained in
their present position for some thousands of years. Have we not even
brick buildings of Roman erection, that are known to have been built
before the Christian era?
“No less diversified have been the opinions respecting the use for
which the round towers were intended, and on this subject some
strangely absurd doctrines have been advanced. Some people have
supposed them to have formed chains of telegraph stations spread out
over the whole island; but the absurdity of this notion is sufficiently
shown by the position of some of the towers upon low ground, in the
corners of valleys, and on remote and solitary islands, whence nothing
could well be seen, and nothing, therefore, made known. This opinion
is, nevertheless, still entertained by many.
“Others suppose the towers to have been fortresses, erected in the
early ages of Christianity as places of refuge, in case of danger, for
the priests and their church treasures. I can hardly think, however,
that any people could have selected such a style of architecture for
places of defence. The defenders within would have had to stand upon
each other’s heads, and their only means of annoying their enemies
would have been the four small openings at the top, eighty or a hundred
feet from the ground. Besides, had the round towers been military
places of defence, they would probably have all been destroyed in the
course of the constant wars by which the island has been afflicted,
whereas the round towers have evidently been preserved by the people
with great care, and have ever been looked on by them with the greatest
veneration.
“The notion that the round towers were built by the early Christians as
steeples to hang their bells in is equally untenable, for, though they
are frequently found in close vicinity to the ruins of churches, yet no
kind of steeple could be worse constructed for such a purpose, as the
sound of the bells would scarcely have been heard through the small
apertures at the top, except by those who had already assembled around
the tower.
“Many other opinions have been hazarded, but all at variance with the
popular tradition, which represents the round towers to have been the
temples of the old fire-worshippers from the East, who came over with
the Phœnicians. The poet Moore and other Irish antiquarians are
disposed to adopt this tradition, the more so as the pyreas of the
Ghebers, according to the account of several travellers, bear the
closest similitude to the Irish towers, and because the worship of fire
is known to have been at one time the prevailing religion of Ireland.
The dark interiors of these towers have been well calculated to show
the sacred fire preserved there to the greatest advantage, and the
height of the entrance-door from the ground would be explained by the
sanctity of the place, to which only a few were probably allowed to
have access.
“The great height of the towers has been objected to as entirely
superfluous, supposing them to have been applied to such a use; but it
may have been customary to place the sacred fire in an elevated
position, as an additional mark of respect, and then the towers may
have answered more purposes than one; from the windows at the top
signals may have been made to summon the faithful to prayer, or the
apertures may have been used for astronomical observations, intended to
fix the time of the religious feasts.
“Christian emblems have been discovered in some of these towers. On the
summit of that near Swords, in the county of Dublin, is a small stone
cross, and in others even representations of the Virgin have been
found; but these, there cannot be a doubt, are of modern addition. That
churches and cemeteries should so often be found in the vicinity of
these towers is nothing surprising, for a building that has once become
sacred in the eyes of a people, generally retains a portion of its
sanctity, even though the original religion may be utterly swept away.
Most of the early Christian churches were erected on the foundations of
heathen temples, and a large portion of the Turkish mosques were
formerly Christian churches.
“Generally, where in the vicinity of a round tower there occur the
ruins of churches, these are in number seven. This has been explained
by supposing that, previously to the appearance of St. Patrick,
Christianity—but not Roman Catholic Christianity—had been introduced
into Ireland. This ante-patrician Christianity is said to have been
introduced by the Apostle James, who first preached the gospel in
Ireland, and established the Eastern Church there, with the rites of
the Eastern Œcumenic Synods; and the frequent appearance of seven
churches close to each other is accounted for as a reference to the
seven celebrated churches of the East.
“In this hypothesis, though stoutly denied by the Roman Catholics,
there is nothing improbable, and, if true, it affords another
remarkable proof of the early connection between Ireland and the East.
In no other Christian land in Europe do we constantly find the ruins of
ancient churches in groups of seven.
“We effected a landing on Scattery Island, called in ancient times
Inniscattery, and at present occupied by a few tenants of a Mr. M’Kean,
who graze their cattle there. ‘It is a very old ancient place,’ said
one of the boatmen, as he was carrying me through the water on his
shoulders, for we had come to a landing-place where the tide had left
one foot of water over a large extent of coast. This pleonasm of ‘old
ancient’ might be applied to many parts of Ireland, where old and older
ruins are constantly found in close contiguity.
“In general, where there are seven churches, in Ireland, some ancient
saint is named as having lived and died there, and as having belonged
to the first preachers of Christianity in the country. At Scattery it
is Saint Senanus, whose grave is still shown amid one of the ruins, and
whose fame has been extended far beyond his native isle by one of
Moore’s melodies. These ancient ruins, however, have many graves of a
more modern date; for bodies are still brought over from the mainland
to be interred at Scattery. On the occasion of such a funeral, one boat
serves generally as a hearse, and the mourners follow in other boats.
“I saw many tomb-stones only a few years old, with new inscriptions,
from which the gilding had scarcely begun to fade, and their effect
upon the solitary and remote island was peculiar and by no means
unpleasing. Among them were the tombs of several captains of ships, and
it would have been difficult to suggest a more appropriate place of
interment for such men than this little island cemetery at the mouth of
a great river, with the wide ocean rolling in front. Indeed, there is
no other country in Europe where there are such interesting cemeteries,
or such picturesque tombs, as in Ireland, partly on account of the
abundance of ivy with which they are hung, and partly on account of the
practice that still prevails of burying the dead among ruins.
“Of some of the seven churches on Scattery isle, scarcely a trace
remained; but three of them were in tolerable preservation. Their
walls, covered with ivy, remained, and into the wall of one of them,
that nearest the round tower, a stone strangely sculptured into the
form of a human face had been introduced. Strange to say, it has
completely the stiff, mask-like features and projecting ears of the
Egyptian statue, whence I conclude it must have belonged originally to
some other building. On the opposite wall is a stone with evident
traces of an ancient inscription.
“The round tower stands a little to the side. Although not perfect, it
belongs to the most picturesque in Ireland, for it has been struck by
lightning, and has received a split on one side from top to bottom. On
the south side it is covered completely with mosses and creeping
plants; on the north and west side it is bare, the heavy winds, as the
sailors told me, making all vegetation impossible there. Lightning and
vegetation are the worst enemies the round towers have to contend with,
and it is strange that such active foes should not have been able to
overturn the whole of them in a space of two thousand years.
“All the land upon the little island, except the cemetery, is
pasturage. A small battery has been erected here to protect the mouth
of the Shannon, the entrance to which river is defended by no less than
six batteries and forts, while at the mouth of the Thames there is not
one.
“On leaving Inniscattery, to repair to the kingdom of Kerry, we had
work enough before us, for the tide was against us, besides which we
had to contend with such a variety of currents, that the boatmen
required all their skill and experience to carry their slight skiff in
safety to the little port of Tarbert, whither we were bound. The mouth
of the Shannon has rather the character of an arm of the sea, but to
consider it as such would be in violation of the principles of Irish
geography.
“The waves, now of a very respectable size, were rolling out towards
the ocean; but the fog was completely gone, and we had the most
beautiful sunshine. With the exception of our own little bark, which
seemed to crest the waves like a bird, neither ship nor boat was to be
seen upon the noble estuary, and, without passing a human creature with
whom we could have exchanged a salutation, we arrived at length in
safety at our destined harbour.
“There I learned, when it was too late, that without any additional
expenditure of time or trouble, I might have effected a landing at
Ballybunian, whose marine caverns, at the mouth of the Shannon, are
reckoned among the wonders of Ireland. These caverns stretch more than
a mile from the sea into the land. Ireland, indeed, is rich in
remarkable caverns, many of which are but little known to the
scientific world.”
The original models from which the Round Towers of Ireland were taken
are still to be found in the Soudan of Africa; and the people whose
ancestors erected buildings after this fashion, as they migrated from
their native country to the seaboard, and crossed over to Spain—whence
they visited Ireland—are to this day as savage in manners and customs
as their forefathers were before they left Africa. The following
description of the round conical granaries, the country where they are
situated, and the builders of them, is taken from a work called _Egypt,
the Soudan, and Central Africa_, by John Petherick, F.R.G.S., Her
Britannic Majesty’s Consul for the Soudan:—
“Those of my men who had wintered with the Djour had procured from the
negroes a large quantity of tusks, the accumulation of several years’
hunting. Their journeys had extended to the confines of the Rohl, in
the east, and in the territory of the Djour westwards beyond the large
stream which, on reference to the map, will be seen as the largest
feeder of the lake. I had discovered southwards they had penetrated the
Dôr territory; and as they had succeeded in gaining the good-will of
the Dôr chief Djau, I despatched a party to invite him to meet me.
“The porters who had accompanied me from the Raik, on learning my
intention to proceed south amongst tribes unknown to them, and dreaded
in consequence of the difference of weapons and savage habits, refused
to proceed; and, consigning loads of ivory to them, in charge of a
detachment of my Khartoumers, I sent them back to their own country.
Levying in their stead a party of Djour for the transport of my stock
in trade, I took the advantage of a moonlight night to perform the
journey to the Dôr to Fan-Djau (the country of Djau), so named after my
chief Djau, situated in about six degrees north latitude.
“Our reception amongst them was most hospitable, and in the vicinity of
the chief’s huts we were accommodated with strong wooden sheds, about
six feet high, upon which their corn, divested of its reeds, was
prettily stacked, consisting of different kinds of dourra of different
colours—white, grey, and red—in separate batches. The stacks were
formed with much taste, the sides being perpendicular, terminating in a
cone. The precaution of raising their stacks so high from the ground
was to preserve it from vermin and the white ants.
“The Dôr surpass the Djour in industry, a proof of which existed in
their extensive fields and granaries. Prior to the rainy season, their
grain was threshed and preserved in large cylindrical receptacles,
constructed of reeds and clay, from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter,
and four feet in height, supported upon a strong wood framework some
four feet from the ground. To preserve its contents from the rain, it
was covered by a large thatched framework, not unlike an extinguisher
in shape, and was so light in substance, that when the grain was
required, one side of it could be lifted and supported by a pole, and
the granary entered.[75]
“Their huts were constructed of a beautiful basket-work of cane. The
perpendicular walls were six feet high, and were surmounted with a
pretty cupola-shaped reed roof, topped with wood carvings of birds. A
wooden bedstead occupied its centre, and an oval-shaped hole, two and a
half feet high, barely sufficient to admit a man in a stooping posture,
formed the doorway. At night this was barricaded with logs of wood laid
horizontally upon each other, between perpendicular posts.
“Cooking was carried on in a separate hut, and in lieu of the
stone-mill in use in the Soudan, a large wooden mortar, the pestle some
four or five feet in length, by three inches diameter, served as their
flour-mill. Their food consisted principally of a thick porridge, and a
sauce flavoured with herbs and red pepper; but beef, whenever they
could obtain it by barter for grain with the Djour, or meat from the
chase, was preferred. Rats, mice, and snakes were highly esteemed, and
of these the children were continually in search. Fowls were reared to
a great extent, but from some unaccountable superstition they were only
considered proper food for women: if eaten by men, it was a proof of
effeminacy.
“The Dôr territories are more considerable than any I had yet
traversed; and their language, the nouns of which generally terminated
in _o_ or _a_, was entirely different from any that I had heard. The
men were shorter in stature than the tall Dinka Shillooks, but broader
in the chest and stouter-limbed.
“Total nudity was held in contempt by them, although their covering was
reduced to the smallest possible amount; and when the Djour entered
their village, the little hide ornament worn by them in common with the
Dinka tribes, as a mark of respect was turned round to the front.
“Of a dark brown colour, they further differed from the negroes
hitherto described, in the preservation of their teeth and the
difference of their weapons: these consisted of bows and arrows,
fearfully-barbed lances, and a variety of clubs. Some resembled the
mace of the Middle Ages, whilst others, made of hard wood, were like
the mushroom. The edges were firm and sharp, and when employed against
an enemy would cleave the skull. The points of their arrows, made of
iron, are also numerously barbed; the workmanship, in a variety of
patterns, is admirable.
“The Dôr perhaps excel the Djour in smithery; and, possessing no
cattle, their valuables consist in objects of iron, mostly in circular
plates from nine inches to one foot in diameter, and long ornamented
lance-like articles. For a certain number of these they intermarry.
“Goats and fowls are their only domestic animals; the former a
short-legged and smooth-haired variety. The coat is fine, and coloured
frequently with large round spots of black, yellow, or brown upon
white: they are not milked, although, when taken to Khartoum and
crossed with the native race, they become excellent milkers.
“The women would be handsome were it not for a disfiguration of the
under lip, in which circular pieces of wood are inserted, varying in
size, according to age, from a sixpence to a florin. The young women
are naked, but the married women wear large clusters of green leaves in
front and behind, which, attached by a belt to the waist, reach to the
ankles. Clean in their habits, they are particular in the daily renewal
of their costume from the bush, the numerous evergreens and creeping
plants affording them an abundant material for that purpose.
“Their ears, necks, and waists are profusely adorned with beads, and on
their wrists they wear numerous iron bracelets. The ankles are
encumbered with bright heavy iron rings, fully one inch thick; and
these tinkling together as they dance produce a peculiarly fascinating
sound.
“In the centre of the village is a large circus, where, on a tree,
their war-trophies, the skulls of the slain, are suspended. Beneath it
large tom-toms, made of hollowed trunks of trees, well finished, and
strung with dressed buffalo-hides, were used only on occasions of
universal rejoicing, or to sound the alarm in time of war. The sound
could be heard miles distant. At ordinary times smaller instruments of
the same kind were employed. This large circus was carefully swept and
watered; and under the shade of the tree the men met during the day,
and in the evenings, more especially on moonlight nights, it was the
scene of great conviviality.
“The several approaches to it were narrow foot-paths, and both sides
were ornamented with rough wooden posts, carved into semblances of
human figures, four feet apart; the first were largest in size, the
others had on their heads wooden bowls. These figures were said to
represent the chief proceeding to a festival, and followed by his
retainers bearing viands and _mau_ to the feast.
“The village was prettily situated at the foot of a hill, around which
were two or three other villages, this forming the entire community of
a large district. From its summit a beautiful view of the surrounding
country was obtained. Surrounding the village, at a moderate distance,
were the unfenced gardens of the villagers, in which cucurbits,
vegetables, and seeds were grown; and beyond, to the eastward, was a
large plain of cultivated dourra fields; southward, at about one mile
distant, a winding brook was to be seen, bordered with superb trees and
flourishing canes.
“The bush supplied a variety of game, consisting of partridges,
guinea-fowl, a large white boar, gazelles, antelopes, and giraffes.
Elephants and buffalo I did not encounter, and I was told they only
frequented the locality during the rainy season.
“The Dôr acknowledge no superior chief, and the tribe is divided into
separate communities; and these, although living, as in this instance,
in close proximity, look upon each other as almost separate tribes,
holding little or no communication. They live in a state of continual
feud, attributable to encroachments on hunting-grounds. Their battues
consist in driving the game into strong nets, which, suspended to the
trunks of trees at right angles, cover a space of several miles.
“During my stay at Djau, a hunt of this description, in which the
inhabitants of a village some miles distant joined, took place, and, as
usual, ended in a quarrel. Sitting under my habitation at noon, several
boys returned to the village for extra weapons for the use of their
fathers. The alarm spread instantly that a fight was taking place, and
the women _en masse_ proceeded to the scene with yellings and shrieks
indescribable. Seizing my rifle, and accompanied by four of my
followers, curiosity to see a negro fight tempted me to accompany them.
“After a stiff march of a couple of hours through bush and glade,
covered with waving grass reaching nearly to our waists, the return of
several boys warned us of the proximity of the fight, and of their fear
of its turning against them—the opposing party being the most
numerous. Many of the women hurried back to their homes, to prepare, in
case of emergency, for flight and safety in the bush. For such an
occurrence, to a certain extent, they are always prepared; several
parcels of grain, and provisions neatly packed up in spherical forms,
in leaves surrounded by network, being generally kept ready in every
hut for a sudden start.
“Accelerating our pace, and climbing up a steep hill, as we reached the
summit and were proceeding down a gentle slope, I came in contact with
Djau and his party in full retreat, and leaping like greyhounds over
the low underwood and high grass. On perceiving me they halted, and
rent the air with shouts of ‘The white chief! the white chief!’ and I
was almost suffocated by the embraces of the chief. My presence gave
them courage to face the enemy again; a loud peculiar shrill whoop from
the grey-headed but still robust chief was the signal for attack, and,
bounding forward, they were soon out of sight. To keep up with them
would have been an impossibility; but, marching at the top of our pace,
we followed them as best we could.
“After a long march down a gentle declivity, at the bottom of which was
a beautiful glade, we again came up with them, drawn up in line in
pairs, some yards apart from each other, within the confines of the
bush, not a sound indicating their presence. Joining them, and
inquiring what had become of the enemy, the men whom I addressed
silently pointed to the bush on the opposite side of the glade, some
three hundred yards across.
“Notwithstanding my intention of being a mere spectator, I now felt
myself compromised in the fight; and although unwilling to shed blood,
I could not resist my aid to the friends who afforded me an asylum
amongst them. Marching accordingly into the open with my force of four
men, I resolved that we would act as skirmishers on the side of our
hosts, who retained their position in the bush.
“We had proceeded about a third of the way across the glade, when the
enemy advanced out of the wood and formed a long line of two or three
deep, on its confines opposite to us. I also drew up my force, and for
an instant we stood looking at each other. Although within range, at
about two hundred yards’ distance, I did not like to fire upon them;
but in preference continued advancing, thinking the prestige of my
fire-arms would be sufficient. I was right. We had scarcely marched
fifty yards, when a general flight took place, and in an instant Djau
and his host, amounting to some three or four hundred men, passed us in
hot pursuit.
“After reflection on the rashness of exposing myself with so few men to
the hostility of some six hundred negroes, and in self-congratulation
on the effect my appearance in the fight had produced, I awaited the
return of my hosts. In the course of an hour this took place; and as
they advanced I shall never forget the impression they made upon me. A
more complete picture of savage life I could not have imagined. A large
host of naked negroes came trooping on, grasping in their hands bow and
arrow, lances and clubs, with wild gesticulations and frightful yells
proclaiming their victory, whilst one displayed the reeking head of a
victim.
“I refused to join them in following up the defeat of their enemies by
a descent on their villages. With some difficulty they were persuaded
to be content with the success already achieved—that of having beaten
off a numerically superior force—and return to their homes. Their
compliance was only obtained by an actual refusal of further
co-operation; but in the event of a renewed attack upon their villages,
the probability of which was suggested, I promised them my willing
support.
“We had not gone fifty paces, when I beheld the form of a young man
prostrate, apparently lifeless; and seeing only a deep incision across
his wrist, nearly severing the hand from the arm, and a lance-thrust
that had penetrated the shoulder between the muscle and the flesh, his
open eyes suggested that life might not be extinct. I felt his pulse,
but it was imperceptible. At the same time a negro with his lance
coolly severed the muscle, and extricated the barbed projectile. I
looked upon the man with disgust; but, with a laugh, taking the body by
the hand, he rolled it over on the chest, and then two open
lance-wounds between the shoulders plainly showed the cause of death.
“On our way home the body was drawn by the legs for a considerable
distance, and finally carried on the shoulders of some of the party to
conceal the trail. It was secreted in the bush in the hope of its
eluding the search of the enemy, leaving it to be devoured by beasts of
prey; but the head, severed from the body, was secured and destined,
with four others, to be suspended on the tree in the centre of the
village circus.
“At night great rejoicings took place, commencing with a war-dance by
the women, who, in pairs, closely following each other to the sound of
the tom-tom, and chanting a war-song, moved in measured steps round the
tree. At each time, as the procession approached the heads of the
victims, a halt took place, and insulting epithets addressed to the
fallen were followed by the clanking of their anklets and shrieks of
applause. Sickened with the exhibition, I retired from the scene.
“The day following, after a night’s conviviality, the heads were
secreted in the bush in order to bleach the skulls. Another feast
celebrated their suspension on the tree.”
These are the descendants of the Moors who built the Round Towers in
Ireland, when they became masters of Spain!