A HUMAN SACRIFICE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 234, 1 October 1881, Page 1

A HUMAN SACRIFICE.

[From " Savon Tears ia Sou tfc Afrida" by Dr.Emile Holub] While a new Seeheke was beiag built Sepopo brought it about that a resolution should ba passed by the secret tribunal to the effect that in torderto save the new town from the ;fate of the old (fire), the son of one of, the chiefs should be killed; but that his toea and fingers should be first cut off, and pres^fved'as a charm in a wardrutn. In spite of the secrecy which was enjoined, the rumour of the resolution came to one of the chiefs, who ■communicated it privately to many of ibis friends* This was about the end ol September, when Blockley "' was the jonly white man left in Sesheke. Night after night groups of men were to be seen stealthily making their way past his quarters to the woods ; they were the servants of the chiefs, carrying away the young boys, whither they hoped to have, them 1 out the tyrant's reach, and Bome little time elapsed before either the king or his . executioner was aware of the steps thai were being taken to frustrate the bloody order. The appointed day arrived, Mashoku's emissaries were sent to ascertain from which of the chieftain's enclosures a victim might most readily be procured, but one by one they returned and reported that not a child was to be found At last, however, one of the men brought word that he had seen a solitary boy playing outside his father's fence. Apprised of thiß, the king immediately seut directions to the . father tp go out at once and procure some gi&BS and reeds for a hut that be was building, and then charged Mashoku to lose no time. As soon as he had satisfied himself that the man had left his home,- Mashoku sent his messenger to fetch the child to the royal courtyard, where, although the place %as full of 'people, a perfect silence prevailed, The king was in a terribly bad temper, and no one dared to breathe a word. The executioner's assistant made his way to the abode of the chief, and was greeted by, the mistress of the bouse with a -friendly " rumela ;" ho then proceeded to tell her that the Kosana, her husband, was jußt setting out in his cancc, and that he had sent him to say he wished ing little son to go wit-fa him. The mother acquiesced, ami tbel boy was delighted to accompany the man, who, of course, took him off to the royal courtyard, where a sign from Mashoku announced their arrival to the moody king. Sepopo started to his feet, and, accompanied by his band, made his way toward the river, the child being led behind him. Bewildered as the poor little victim was, he waa somewhat reassured by the direction, they were taking; bufc all at once he was alarmed ab the shrieks of a chieftain's wife, whose house they were passing, and who, knowing the purpose on which they were bent, cried out in horror. At the river the whole piirty, numbering Dearly seventy, embarked and crossed

to the opposite side. The myrimbas were left behind, bufc the ]arge drums were taken over. Shortly after landing, the king sea'ed himself on a little stool ; he made the executioner, a few of his own personal attendants, and the members of his secret council, formed an inner circle ; beyond them he placed the drummers ; and outside these, he ordered the rest of the company to ; group themselves, so as to conceal from tbe town the deed that was bein^ perpetrated. The poor buy by this time hftd almost fainted from fear ; but when, at a nod from the king, the executioners seized him, he began to scream aloud from terror. The drummers were ordered to play with all their might, so that the piteous shrieks should not be heard ; several assistants were then summoned to hold the child ; so that resistance was impossible, and the two doctors eet themselves deliberately to jWork to amputate finger after fiDger, and toe after toe, No drumming could drown the heartirending cries of the sufferer. The people of Seaheke could hear him, in the midst of his torture, calling out "Ba,ra, kame, ra, ra !" (Father, 0 my father !) and "" umu unu bulaya " (they are killing me) ; but though a large crowd was thus made aware of what was going on, no one dared to raise a hand to rescue the miserable sufferer. When the doctors had finished their cruel operation, the hapless boy was strangled and knocked on the head with a kiri. The whole party then returned to their boats, which were pushed off into mid-stream, where, as if by accident, they were formed into a circle, but, in reality, with the design of concealing the corpse as it was dropped into the wator. Meanwhile the weeping mother had made her way down to the bank, and, regardless alike of the crocodiles and of the displeasure of the tyranf, waded into the stream and demanded her son —her darling Mushemani. Bufc to Sepopo a mother's grief was nothing ; he landed quite unconcerned, and proceeded with his myrmidons to eDJoy his pots ot butshuala, while tha doctors stored away the dismembered toes and fingers in a war-drum.