OF THE GRAND CUSTOMS AND THE ANNUAL CUSTOMS GENERALLY.
The word “Custom” is used to signify the cost or charges paid to the
King at a certain season in the year. It is borrowed by us from our
predecessors on the West African Coast—the old French—who wrote
_coûtume_,[347] and the Portuguese _costume_, meaning habit or usage.
The Grand Customs[348] are performed only after the death of a king.
They excel the annual rites in splendour and in bloodshed, for which
reason the successor defers them till he has become sufficiently
wealthy. The “History,” which was not written in the days of details,
gives cursorily some terrible accounts of the slaughter and of the
barbarities which accompanied it. “In the months of January, February,
and March (1791), the ceremonies of the Grand Customs and of the King’s
coronation took place; the ceremonies of which lasted the whole three
months, and were marked almost every day with human blood.” Captain
Fayrer, and particularly Mr. Hogg, Governor of Appolonia, were present;
and both affirm that not fewer than five hundred men, women, and
children fell “victims to revenge and ostentation, under the show of
piety. Many more were expected to fall; but a sudden demand for slaves
having thrown the lure of avarice before the King[349] he, like his
ancestors, showed he was not insensible to its temptation.”
The curious reader will find at the end of the present work a paper by
the Rev. Mr. Bernasko, who was present at the last Grand Customs
performed in November, 1860, by the present sovereign, to honour the
manes of his sire. Although the horrors of this rite were greatly
exaggerated, with ridiculous adjuncts,[350] in Europe, it is clear that
very little change has taken place, especially in the number of victims,
during two-thirds of a century.
The yearly Customs were first heard of by Europe in the days of Agaja
the Conqueror (1708-1727), although they had doubtless been practised
many years before him. They form, in fact, continuations of the Grand
Customs, and they periodically supply the departed monarch with fresh
attendants in the shadowy world. They are called by the people Khwe-ta-
nun, “The yearly head thing,” and Anun ’gbome[351] “Going to Agbome in
the Dries.” The number of victims has been much swollen by report. Mr.
James, at the beginning of the present century, found the maximum of
three several years to be sixty-five. Commander Forbes, who writes
feelingly, owns that, in the later years of King Gezo’s reign, not more
than thirty-six heads fell. I have laid down a total of at most eighty
during the time of my mission, and of these none, except the criminal
part, was Dahoman.[352]
The season of the Customs, which combine carnival, general muster, and
_lits de justice_, seems to comprise the whole year, except the epoch of
the annual slave-hunts, here dignified by the name of “wars.” For
instance, at present the King purposes to set out on his marauding
expedition in February, and to return in March or April. He then lodges
at the Jegbe Palace, “spreads a table” (in other words gives a banquet),
and purchases the captives from his soldiery. The next move is to the
country-quarters at Kana, where, about May, he will perform the Oyo
Customs,[353] and then take his rest—a happy murderer. In November, when
the rains are ended, he will summon his chiefs, sleep at the Adan-we
Palace, and on the next day make a ceremonious entrance into his
capital, like that which I have just described. This year various delays
have put off the rites till December.
The annual Customs are of two kinds. The first—which happened, for
instance, in 1862-63—is called Atto-ton-khwe, or the Atto[354] year,
from the Atto, or platform, in the Ajyahi market, whence the victims are
precipitated. Of its peculiarities we have sketches by Mr. Norris (1772)
and M. Wallon (1856-58), finished descriptions and poor drawings by
Commander Forbes (1849-50), and, later still, an official account by
Commodore Wilmot.[355] The second is the So-sin-khwe (1863-64), the
“Horse-tie year,” and the reason of the name will presently appear. As
yet, no traveller has, I believe, described the ceremonies of the So-
sin, which, however, differ but little from those of the Atto.
[Footnote 347: So Barbot (i. 4) speaks of _La coûtume_ (the tax) _de
Parmier_.]
[Footnote 348: Dr. M‘Leod (p. 59) distinguishes them as double customs,
opposed to single custom; but he is singular in this.]
[Footnote 349: Agongoro (Wheenoohew), the grandfather of the reigning
sovereign.]
[Footnote 350: For instance, the Europe-wide report that the king
floated a canoe and paddled himself in a tank full of human blood. It
arose from the custom of collecting the gore of the victims in one or
two pits about two feet deep and four in diameter. See Appendix III.]
[Footnote 351: Literally, anun (_in the_ dries _after the rains_),
’gbomen, for Agbomen (_we will go to_ Agbome). The other name is khwe
(year), ta (head), nun (thing).]
[Footnote 352: So Mr. Duncan states. “The people thus sacrificed are
generally prisoners of war, whom the king often sets aside for this
purpose. . . . . Should there be any lack of these, the number is made
up from the most convenient of his own subjects.” Such, however, is not,
I believe, the custom now.]
[Footnote 353: See chap. vii.]
[Footnote 354: Pronounced Attaw. In the History there is mention of four
platforms, raised stages of rough timber, covered with cloths and
provided with seats for the King and his visitors. Gezo reduced the
number to one, and his son has again excelled him by doubling it.]
[Footnote 355: See Appendix III.]