Chapter XVIII

The Fetish-huts and tree at Badagry — Owing to the insinuations of the Portuguese the Author is compelled by the priests of the Fetish, to swallow bitter water, being the only European that ever underwent that dreadful ordeal — His reflections when informed of the circumstance — Astonishing preservation from an expected cruel death — Sacrifices of human beings under the branches of the Fetish-tree, exceeding in atrocity all previous accounts — Song of the inhabitants with Adólee at their head, on the occasion — The Author, on his visit to a Portuguese pirate, discovers the sacred Fetish-tree of the Badagrians growing in the heart of a forest, and covered with the dismembered corpses of human beings — Remarks on the Portuguese.

In the private fetish-hut of the King Adólee, at Badagry, the skull of that monarch’s father is preserved in a clay vessel, placed in the earth. Human blood, as well as the blood of birds and beasts, is occasionally sprinkled on it; and when the king goes to war, that same skull is invariably carried with him, with which he frequently converses, and gently rebukes it, if his success does not happen to answer his expectations. “If this custom be neglected,” said Adólee, “the virtues and martial energy of my deceased father would cease to influence my actions, and defeat and disgrace would attend all my warlike undertakings.” The people of Badagry regard this skull with the same veneration as the Turks do the sacred banner of their Prophet; and believe, that should it be missed through any casualty, or captured by the enemy, the destiny of their prince would be sealed for ever, and the pillars of their monarchy crumble into dust, so that they would no longer be a people!

There is another fetish-hut at Badagry, the interior of which is positively ornamented with rows of human skulls, and other emblems of mortality, whitened by time, and having a most terrific appearance. In this Pagan sanctuary all suspected persons go through the ordeal of bitter (poisonous) water, in order to ascertain their guilt or innocence; and death, which in almost all cases ensues shortly after the prisoner receives the fatal draught into his stomach, is considered by the people as a sure criterion of the former; whilst, if the culprit has the good fortune to escape with life, which rarely happens, he is pronounced free of the allegations brought against him, and immediately acquitted.

At a short distance from this gloomy hut stands a fetish-tree, on the branches of which the headless bodies of human beings, slaughtered under them, are invariably suspended.

I did not think, as I strolled one day to the spot, and scrutinized the exterior of the fetish-hut, that I myself was so shortly to enter its doors, and be tried with bitter water by its inexorable priests, in order to prove whether I was a good or bad man, a friend or foe to their nation!

But the calumnies of the Portuguese had recently begun to display their effects very strikingly; Adólee had latterly behaved in a cold and distant manner to me; and his chiefs studiously shunned my presence whenever they observed me approaching them.

One morning, as I was taking my solitary breakfast of palm oil and Indian corn, I was startled by a message from the king, commanding me to repair at noon-tide to the fetish-hut, and be examined by the priests, who would be there assembled, to answer certain charges that would be brought against me. I was well aware in what manner my trial was to be conducted; and I could not forbear exclaiming to myself, as I mused on the dreadful fate which I imagined awaited me: “Well, then, here will be an end to my wanderings and my life; yet, having escaped so many dangers, and encountered such grievous afflictions, it is hard, after all, to cast off the fardel of existence thus prematurely; it is hard, when almost within hearing of my countrymen, that my life should be destroyed; that my skull should be preserved as a trophy by heartless savages, and my body be devoured by ravens and other birds of prey.” As I was making this saddening, and perhaps unmanly soliloquy, tears rushed involuntarily into my eyes, but, hastily wiping them off, I employed the little time allotted me in making my peace with Heaven, so that when the fellows came to conduct me to the fetish-hut, I was calm and collected, and prepared to undergo the severest punishment which the power of man could inflict upon me.

The news of the white man’s arrest, and approaching trial, spread like wild-fire through the town, and the inhabitants, assembling from all parts, armed with axes, spears, clubs, and bows and arrows, followed the procession to the dismal spot. On entering the hut, I beheld a number of priests and elders of the people, seated in a circle, who desired me to stand in the midst of them. When I had complied with their request, one of the priests arose, and presenting me with a bowl, containing about a quart of a clear liquid, scarcely distinguishable from water, cried out in a loud voice, and with much emphasis, “You are accused, white man, of designs against our king and his government, and are therefore desired to drink the contents of this vessel, which, if the reports to your prejudice be true, will surely destroy you; whereas, if they be without foundation, you need not fear, Christian; the fetish will do you no injury, for our gods will do that which is right.”

I took the bowl in my trembling hand, and gazed for a moment on the sable countenances of my judges; but not a single look of compassion shone upon any of them; a dead silence prevailed in the gloomy sanctuary of skulls; every eye was intently fixed upon me; and seeing no possibility of escape, or of evading the piercing glance of the priests and elders, I offered up, internally, a short prayer to the Throne of Mercy,—to the God of Christians,—and hastily swallowed the fetish, dashing the poison-chalice to the ground. A low murmur ran through the assembly; they all thought I should instantly have expired, or at least have discovered symptoms of severe agony, but detecting no such tokens, they arose simultaneously, and made way for me to leave the hut. On getting into the open air, I found my poor slaves in tears; they had come, they said, to catch a last glimpse of their master; but when they saw me alive and at liberty, they leaped and danced for joy, and prepared a path for me through the dense mass of armed people. These, set up an astounding shout at my unexpected appearance, and seemed greatly pleased, (if I might be allowed to judge,) that I had not fallen a victim to the influence of their fearful fetish. On arriving at my dwelling, I took instant and powerful means to eject the venomous potion from my stomach, and happily succeeded in the attempt.

I was told that the liquid I had swallowed was a decoction of the bark of a tree abounding in the neighbourhood, and that I was the only individual who, for a long season, had escaped its poisonous qualities. It had a disagreeably bitter taste, but I experienced no other ill effects from it than a slight dizziness, which wore off completely a few hours after the conclusion of the trial.

The dreadful charm having been thus providentially broken, all the cold reserve and stiffness of Adólee and his chiefs suddenly disappeared; and they visited me voluntarily a few days afterwards with presents of provisions, &c. observing frequently that the Portuguese were wicked men, but that I was a good man, under the special protection of the white man’s God, who would suffer no evil to come near me. The Houssa mallams were also permitted to introduce themselves into my society; neither did they come empty-handed, so that I scarcely regretted having drunk the fetish; for instead of suffering and death, from which I had not entertained even a hope of escaping, the most pleasing and flattering results were the consequence of my conforming to the customs of the inhabitants. On walking through the streets I was pointed at as the wonderful man, whom it would be dangerous to insult; my society was courted by all ranks; and from that hour my reputation stood singularly high with the people of Badagry, to the infinite chagrin of the malicious Portuguese, who thus saw the complete failure of their artfully laid plot, by the very means which they had fondly hoped would have been the instruments of my destruction.

Thieves, and other offenders, together with the remnant of the unpurchased slaves who are not drowned along with their companions in misfortune and misery, are reserved by the Badagrians to sacrifice to their gods; which horrid ceremony takes place at least once a month. Prisoners taken in war are also immolated, to appease the manes of the soldiers of Adólee slain in battle; and as, of all atrocities, the manner in which these wretches are slaughtered is the most barbarous, it may not perhaps be improper or ill-timed to give a detailed account of it in this place. Each criminal being conducted to the fetish-tree, a flask of rum is given him to drink, whilst he is in the act of swallowing which a fellow steals imperceptibly behind him, with a heavy club or bludgeon, and inflicts a violent blow on the back of the head with the murderous weapon, and, as it often happens, dashes out his brains; so that the executioner has no occasion to repeat his stroke. The senseless being is then taken to the fetish-hut, and a calabash or gourd having been previously got ready, the head is severed from the trunk with an axe, and the smoking blood gurgles into it. Whilst this is in hand, other wretches, furnished with knives, &c. cut and mangle the body, in order to extract the heart entire from the breast, which being done, although it be yet warm and quivering with life, it is presented to the king first, and afterwards to his wives and generals, who always attend at the celebration of these sacrifices; and his majesty and suite making an incision in it with their teeth, and partaking of the foamy blood, which is likewise offered, the heart is exhibited to the surrounding multitude. From the commencement of the proceedings under the tree, the chiefs begin to sing or chaunt, the king’s wives and the spectators assisting and joining in the chorus; and they never cease till the body, with its head, heart, and blood, is borne from the spot, when the multitude themselves take up the strain. The following lines will serve to give an idea of the subject and nature of the song used on the above occasions, which seldom, if ever, vary.

SONG OF THE BADAGRIANS AT THEIR HUMAN SACRIFICES.

When the blow the spirit lulls,

Bear him to the “House of Skulls;”

The calabash and gourd prepare—

The knife, the axe, the bow, the spear.

Faintly sighs the gasping breath;

_Agra’s_ eye-lids close in death!

’Tis done! the headless trunk remains,

Bleeding from a thousand veins.

Drink the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

_Chorus._

Drink the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

_Song._

Chieftains! where’s the foeman now?

Death smiles grimly on his brow,

And his quarter’d limbs shall be

Food for vultures on our tree.

King Adólee’s foes all must

Bend the neck, and kiss the dust,

Or, like Agra, they shall fall,

Snatch’d from Mercy’s trembling call.

Drink the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

Who so base to turn in fight?

May his spirit sink in night—

May a curse attend his ways—

May Misfortune blast his days!

But Badagrians will not swerve;

Courage thrills in every nerve.

Smite your foes, Badagrians! smite!

Gleaming spears—resistless might—

Bending bows—the arrows’ spring—

Terror to your foemen bring.

Drink the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

The bleeding heart, after being bitten by the king, and his principal wives and head men, is affixed to the point of a tall spear, and, with the calabash of blood and headless body, paraded through the town, and followed by hundreds of spearmen and a dense crowd of people. Whoever may express an inclination to bite the heart, or drink of the blood, has it immediately presented to him for that purpose, the multitude dancing, and singing:

As we gaze upon the slain,

Courage mounts in every vein:

Hearts of iron—breasts of steel

Bold Badagrians reveal.

_People, from their Dwellings:_

Lo! the bleeding heart appears,

Followed by a grove of spears;

Show it here—‘to me,’—‘to me;’

I long to taste, to feel, to see!

_Spearmen:_

Yes! your foeman’s blood is warm;

Trample on his ghastly form;

Slake your thirst with living gore;

Deeply drink; libations pour.

Gods! accept the sacrifice,

Of our great success the price.

Drink we the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

_All the people in chorus:_

Wield the club, and shake the spear!

Drink the blood! the heart-strings tear!

Terror, terror, terror, cling

Round the foemen of our king!

What remains of the heart is then flung to the dogs, and the body, cut in pieces, is stuck on the fetish-tree, where it is left till wholly devoured by birds of prey.

Besides these butcheries, the Badagrians make a grand sacrifice, once a year, under their sacred fetish-tree, growing in a wood, a few miles from the city. These are offered to their malevolent Demon, or Spirit of Evil, at whose shrine hundreds of human beings are annually immolated, their corpses undergoing the same horrid process as that which has already been described; only in this instance they are not removed from the spot, but quartered and hung on the gigantic branches of the venerable tree; and the skulls of the victims suffered to bleach in the sun round the trunk of it.

By accident I had an opportunity of seeing this much-talked-of tree, a day or two only after the celebration of one of the grand yearly sacrifices, and it was the most ghastly and appalling object which I had ever beheld. I was informed in the town one day that a Portuguese schooner had proceeded along the coast towards the Bight of Benin, and was then lying at _Adjeedore_, which is about fourteen miles from Badagry. Of course I was anxious to get out of the country, by any means, as quickly as possible, for, as may be supposed, I was heartily and completely tired of my long residence in it, and eagerly grasped at even the shadow of an opportunity that promised to bring about so desirable a good. I resolved, at any rate, to have an interview with the captain of the schooner; and, for this purpose, taking Pasko and Jowdie with me, one cloudless morning I proceeded to Adjeedore. The path leading to the place, however, winding through a thick wood, and being crossed by other roads in all directions, we struck out of the right one into another; and journeyed onwards without discovering our error for some time afterwards. We had not advanced many miles into the country before our noses were saluted with the most overpowering effluvia, like those exhaled from putrid substances; but, notwithstanding this warning, it did not occur to me at the time that the sacred fetish-tree of the Badagrians lay in that direction. The air became more strongly impregnated the further we proceeded; till at length it was wholly insupportable, and I was obliged to cover my mouth and nose with a thick handkerchief, which relieved, in some measure, its disagreeable effects, We had travelled in this manner, as nearly as I could guess, about half way to the place of our destination, or seven miles from Badagry, when the so much dreaded fetish-tree suddenly burst upon my sight, its enormous branches literally covered with fragments of human bodies, and its majestic trunk surrounded by irregular heaps of hideous skulls, which had been suffered to accumulate for many years previously. It was standing in the centre of a large piece of open ground in the heart of the forest; and was actually the largest tree I had ever seen. Thousands of vultures, which had been scared away by our unwelcome intrusion, were yet hovering round and over their disgusting food, and now and then pouncing fearlessly upon a half-devoured arm or leg. Although scenes of horror had become habitual and familiar to me, my feelings, nevertheless, were not entirely blunted, and I encountered a more violent shock, whilst staring at the overwhelming scene, than I ever before experienced. I stood as if fascinated to the spot by the influence of a torpedo, and stupidly gazed on the ghastly spectacle before me, without the power of withdrawing my sight to more agreeable objects, or even of moving hand or foot.

The huge branches of the fetish-tree, groaning beneath their burden of human flesh and bones, and sluggishly waving in consequence of the hasty retreat of the birds of prey; the intense and almost insufferable heat of a vertical sun; the intolerable odour of the corrupt corpses; the heaps of human heads, many of them apparently staring at me from hollows which had once sparkled with living eyes; the awful stillness and solitude of the place, disturbed only by the sighing of the conscious wind through the sombre foliage, or at intervals by the frightful screaming of voracious vultures, as they flapped their sable wings almost in my face—all tended to overpower me; my heart sickened within my bosom, a dimness came over my eyes, an irrepressible quivering agitated my whole frame, my legs refused to support me, and, turning my head, I fell senseless into the arms of Jowdie, my faithful slave! Pasko assisted to bear me away from the scene of blood; and the two blacks emptying a calabash of water they had brought with them on my head, face, and breast, I slowly revived, and after a slight refreshment, pursued my journey by another path.

On reaching Adjeedore, I did indeed meet with the vessel I had been informed of at Badagry; but the ferocious appearance of her crew startled me not a little. The men were a mixture of Portuguese and Brazilians, completely armed with pistols, cutlasses, and dirks; and each furnished with a long black beard, which heightened, perhaps, the fierceness of their looks. The Captain (Don Pedro he called himself,) received me politely; and after I had made him acquainted with my errand, which was simply to ask if he had any objection to convey me and my slaves to Cape Coast Castle without delay, he took me into his cabin, and treated me with the best his ship afforded. In the course of our conversation I thought he was rather too inquisitive as to the amount of property I had at Badagry; but this, I concluded, arose from a spirit of curiosity, rather than from any other reason. Every arrangement having been entered into to the apparent satisfaction of both parties, I shook hands with the Captain, and towards evening returned to Badagry. On making inquiries in the town next day, I learnt from the Portuguese that the said Don Pedro was a noted pirate who had infested the seas for a long period previously, and that his sole intention, after getting me and my property on board his vessel, was to compel me to “walk the plank,”[8] and by that means secure the latter to himself. Although I was disposed to doubt the asseverations of these men, who I well knew bore me no good will, yet Adólee confirmed their testimony; besides which I had myself heard of the existence of a pirate in the neighbourhood some weeks before; and the dubious appearance of Don Pedro and his bearded crew, certainly tended to strengthen instead of dissipating a suspicion that the pirate and the Captain were one and the same individual. Agreeably to promise, Don Pedro paid me a visit on the following Monday, to ascertain how long it would be before I should be ready to embark; but I frankly acquainted him with my change of resolution, and my reasons for adopting that alteration in my intentions; on hearing which he appeared thunderstruck, and, instead of attempting to clear his character of the aspersion cast upon it, contented himself with calling his countrymen, the Portuguese, by a variety of hard names. Rising abruptly a few minutes afterwards, he bade me a hasty adieu, and I never saw or heard any thing more of the piratical captain, Don Pedro.

I turned my thoughts with greater warmth than ever to my native country, after swallowing the fetish; but so effectually had the rascally slave merchants performed the base part they had laid down for themselves, that although I repeatedly offered a tempting reward, no one was found bold enough to brave their resentment by proceeding in a canoe to Cape Coast Castle, and informing my countrymen that an Englishman was at Badagry. The Portuguese not only shut the portal of hope in that direction, but, when they found their malicious designs so completely counteracted, actually threatened to take my life in the hearing of Adólee, who, on acquainting me with the circumstance, said, that although I bore a charmed existence as far as regarded my dealing with black people, that virtue did not extend to persons of the same hue and religion as myself; and he therefore strongly advised me never to leave my dwelling unarmed, for that the Portuguese would assuredly embrace the first opportunity of carrying their menace into effect. The intensity of my misfortunes had not entirely deadened the principle of self- preservation that resided within my bosom, particularly when so near my escape from all; and the information which the king gratuitously imparted to me, gave me considerable uneasiness, and filled me with groundless suspicions. Damocles was not more unhappy on beholding the sword suspended over his head by a single hair in the palace of Dionysius, than was I whilst I remained at Badagry. All was apprehension and anxiety on my part; and as if positive calamities had not been enough to afflict and sadden me, imaginary dangers crossed my path, and lent their aid to render my days superlatively miserable. Obliged to take numberless precautions for the safety of my person, I was a prey to fear and unceasing inquietude, and was a stranger to a moment’s ease.

I was met in the streets one day by a Portuguese, whom I considered more friendly-disposed towards me than his vicious coadjutors; and after chatting a few minutes, he invited me to go along with him to his habitation. On entering it, I found the whole of his countrymen assembled, drinking grog; and all hands appeared to be obstreperously merry. A glass of spirit was immediately poured out for my acceptance, which they urgently pressed me to drink; and on my refusal, I observed them laying their heads together, and conversing earnestly in whispers, pointing every now and then to the dirks stuck in their belts. My suspicions, ever alive, immediately caught the alarm at these significant proceedings; and looking wistfully round, I attempted in vain to steal unobserved from the society of my disagreeable companions. Seeing, therefore, no other resource, I told the Portuguese, in as bold a tone as I could command, that my presence being required at home, it was absolutely necessary that I should immediately quit their _social_ circle and repair thither. They all arose on my making this declaration; and I saw their right hands inclining instinctively towards their belts. Following their example, I laid my left hand on the hilt of a dagger concealed in my bosom, and with the other grasped a loaded pistol that was appended to my waist. In this manner, we eyeing each other with mutual distrust, I retreated backwards out of the apartment; and felt the burden that had oppressed me suddenly relieved, on being again at liberty.

I mention this little incident simply to give an idea how greatly my mind was harassed by a host of vexatious circumstances combined, which, taken singly, would only serve as matter for pleasant raillery. But whom had I to make merry with at Badagry? I looked around me in vain for a single being to share my confidence there; and my wandering mind, flung back upon its own resources, encouraged only perplexing doubts, vague suspicious, and saddening reflections to arise within me, and caused me to misconstrue every word and deed of both friends and enemies; in fact it was utterly impossible to prevent such unpleasant sensations having considerable influence over all my thoughts and actions.