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diff --git a/old/54086-0.txt b/old/54086-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 68b2e66..0000000 --- a/old/54086-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4837 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Human Leopards, by Sir Kenneth James Beatty - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Human Leopards - An Account of the Trials of Human Leopards before the Special Commission Court; With a Note on Sierra Leone, Past and Present - - -Author: Sir Kenneth James Beatty - - - -Release Date: January 31, 2017 [eBook #54086] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUMAN LEOPARDS*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 54086-h.htm or 54086-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54086/54086-h/54086-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54086/54086-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/humanleopardsacc00beatuoft - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -HUMAN LEOPARDS - - -[Illustration: SACKVILLE STREET, FREETOWN.] - - -HUMAN LEOPARDS - -An Account of the Trials of Human Leopards Before the Special -Commission Court; With a Note on Sierra Leone, Past and Present - -by - -K. J. BEATTY - -Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law for Some Years Resident in -Sierra Leone - -With a Preface by Sir William Brandford Griffith - -33 Illustrations - - - - - - -London -Hugh Rees, Ltd. -5 Regent Street, Pall Mall, S.W. -1915 - -Printed by -Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ld., -London and Aylesbury. - - - - - PREFACE - - -Captain Beatty, just before leaving for the Dardanelles, asked me to -write a preface. I think that the best preface will be to answer, as far -as I am able, several questions which were frequently put to me on my -return to civilization after the conclusion of the Special Commission -Court. These questions were, “What was the object of the Human Leopard -Society? Were its members cannibals for the purpose of satisfying an -appetite for human flesh, or was it some religious rite? Would the -sentences inflicted by the Special Commission Court have the effect of -stamping out the horrible practice?” - -The first question can be answered with some confidence. The trend of -the whole evidence showed that the prime object of the Human Leopard -Society was to secure human fat wherewith to anoint the Borfima. The -witnesses told us how the occasion of a murder is used to “blood” the -Borfima, but the potency of this terrible fetish depends upon its being -frequently supplied with human fat. Hence these murders. - -The question as to cannibalism it is not possible to answer with any -degree of certainty. The Commission sat for over five months, had before -it hundreds of witnesses, and the notes of evidence ran into thousands -of pages; but the Court was a judicial tribunal, and it was anxious to -bring its labours to an end as speedily as possible, so that no question -was asked or allowed by the Court which was not relevant to the issue. -Again and again answers given by witnesses opened up avenues which it -would have been most interesting to investigate, but, unless the -investigation was relevant to the case in hand or would have served to -elucidate some other part of the evidence which was doubtful, the Court -could not allow it to be pursued. Nor would it have been seemly for the -members of the Court to make private investigation into a matter before -them judicially. Consequently we could not probe down and ascertain the -reason of things, but had to be content with the bare facts which came -out by way of evidence. - -Moreover, although it was possible to have a fair idea as to whether a -witness was generally speaking the truth or not, it was extremely -difficult to lay one’s finger on any detail and be satisfied as to its -reasonable correctness. Furthermore, whenever a witness approached -cannibalism he palpably made reservations or additions, whilst at all -the more interesting junctures we had to keep severely in mind that we -were not holding a scientific inquiry but were a judicial tribunal -having as the sole issue before us whether the deceased was murdered by -the prisoners in the dock in connection with an unlawful society. -Consequently, notwithstanding the time spent over the different trials, -and despite the fact that whenever the subject of cannibalism came up -the Court was keenly on the alert to fathom its objects, it is not -possible to state definitely why the members of the Human Leopard -Society ate their victims. There was, however, one outstanding fact: all -the principal offenders were men of mature age, past their prime; they -were the ones who, so to speak, managed the concern, who arranged for -victims, and who received the most coveted portions of the slaughtered -bodies; and I formed the opinion that when they devoured the human flesh -the idea uppermost in their minds was that they were increasing their -virile powers. - -There is no sentence in the notes of evidence which I can quote in -support of this theory, but after an extended experience of the point of -view of the West African mind, and with some acquaintance with the -subject on the spot, I venture the opinion that the Human Leopards eat -the flesh of their victims, not to satisfy any craving for human flesh -nor in connection with any religious rite, but in the belief that their -victims’ flesh will increase their virility. - -Whether that was the original idea when the first person fell a victim -to the Human Leopards may be questioned. Cannibalism is probably only a -bye-product in these murders. Originally it may have been to bind the -murderers together and so preserve inviolable secrecy that each member -of the Society partook of a portion of the flesh; or it may have been to -continue the leopard-acting, i.e. by devouring the prey; or it may have -been with a combination of these ideas that cannibalism originated. -Gradually, however, the notion arose that human flesh had specific -virtues; as the Borfima’s energy was replenished with human fat so would -the cannibal be reinvigorated with other parts of the human body; and -possibly during the last few decades the value placed upon human flesh -was equal to or even exceeded that set upon human fat. Such an -explanation would help to account for the expansion and increased -activity of the Society during the past twenty years. - -Then comes the question whether the punishments inflicted by the Special -Commission Court will have the effect of stamping out the Society. In -considering this question the environment of the people must be taken -into account. I have been in many forests, but in none which seemed to -me to be so uncanny as the Sierra Leone bush. In Mende-land the bush is -not high, as a rule it is little more than scrub, nor is the vegetation -exceptionally rank, but there is something about the Sierra Leone bush, -and about the bush villages as well, which makes one’s flesh creep. It -may be the low hills with enclosed swampy valleys, or the associations -of the slave trade, or the knowledge that the country is alive with -Human Leopards; but to my mind the chief factor in the uncanniness is -the presence of numerous half-human chimpanzees with their maniacal -shrieks and cries. The bush seemed to me pervaded with something -supernatural, a spirit which was striving to bridge the animal and the -human. Some of the weird spirit of their surroundings has, I think, -entered into the people, and accounts for their weird customs. The -people are by no means a low, savage race. I found many of them highly -intelligent, shrewd, with more than the average sense of humour, and -with the most marvellous faculty for keeping hidden what they did not -wish to be known—the result probably of secret societies for countless -generations. But beyond such reasoning powers as are required for their -daily necessities their whole mental energies are absorbed in fetish, -witchcraft, “medicine” such as Borfima and the like. What they need is a -substitute for their bottomless wells of secret societies, for their -playing at being leopards or alligators and acting the part with such -realism that they not only kill their quarry but even devour it. In my -opinion the only way to extirpate these objectionable societies is the -introduction of the four R’s—the fourth, Religion, being specially -needed to supply the place of the native crude beliefs. No doubt the -energetic action of the Government, and in a lesser degree the labours -of the Special Commission Court, will have a good effect; but, I fear, -only a temporary effect. The remedy must go deeper than mere punishment: -the Human Leopard Society must be superseded by Education and Religion. - - W. BRANDFORD GRIFFITH. - - 2, ESSEX COURT, TEMPLE, - _September, 1915_. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - _PART I_ - - - CHAPTER I - PAGE - - INTRODUCTORY 1 - - - CHAPTER II - - THE PORO, TONGO PLAY, BORFIMA, WITCH-DOCTORS, OATHS 15 - - - CHAPTER III - - THE KALE CASE 27 - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE IMPERRI CASE 36 - - - CHAPTER V - - THE KABATI CASE 44 - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE YANDEHUN CASE 61 - - - CHAPTER VII - - BORFIMA AND MEMBERSHIP CASES 71 - - - CHAPTER VIII - - OTHER CASES OF LEOPARD MURDER; THE HUMAN BABOON SOCIETY 80 - - - _PART II_ - - - CHAPTER IX - - A NOTE ON SIERRA LEONE, PAST AND PRESENT 88 - - - APPENDIX - - DESPATCH FROM THE GOVERNOR OF SIERRA LEONE REPORTING ON THE 119 - MEASURES ADOPTED TO DEAL WITH UNLAWFUL SOCIETIES IN THE - PROTECTORATE - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - SACKVILLE STREET, FREETOWN _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - - VIEW OF FREETOWN 1 - - A TEMNE GIRL 3 - - OBLIVIOUS OF HUMAN ALLIGATORS 9 - - PORO DEVILS 15 - - ENTRANCE TO A PORO BUSH 19 - - BUNDU DEVILS, SIERRA LEONE 21 - - WIVES OF A NATIVE CHIEF 25 - - A PORO DEVIL 28 - - WEAVING COUNTRY CLOTH 30 - - BUNDU GIRLS AND DEVIL 35 - - STOCKADE SURROUNDING GBANGBAMA PRISON AND GUARDHOUSE. 38 - PRISONERS AWAITING TRIAL, GBANGBAMA PRISON - - A NATURAL BRIDGE ON THE ROAD TO GBANGBAMA 43 - - A NATIVE VILLAGE 46 - - PALM FOREST, SIERRA LEONE 51 - - A NATIVE VILLAGE 56 - - A SELF-CONFESSED CANNIBAL 63 - - A WATER-SIDE VILLAGE 66 - - HINTERLAND TYPES 71 - - WEST AFRICAN SOLDIERS 74 - - THE PRISONERS OF A NATIVE CHIEFTAINESS, CRACKING 79 - PALM-KERNELS - - LADIES OF THE SIERRA LEONE HINTERLAND 83 - - A NATIVE CHIEFTAINESS 85 - - EMPIRE DAY IN FREETOWN 88 - - WHERE HAWKINS MAY HAVE LANDED FOR SLAVES 90 - - THRESHING RICE, SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE 93 - - A NATIVE HUNTER 96 - - PICKING PALM-KERNELS 99 - - THE HIGHLAND OF SIERRA LEONE, WITH HILL STATION IN THE 104 - FOREGROUND - - BUNDU GIRLS AND BUNDU DEVILS 111 - - COTTON TREE STATION, 9 A.M. BUNGALOW TRAIN, FREETOWN 115 - - FREETOWN FROM THE HARBOUR 117 - - VIEW FROM GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FREETOWN 125 - -[Illustration: VIEW OF FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE.] - - - - - HUMAN LEOPARDS - - - - - _PART I_ - - - - - CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTORY - - -That there were cannibals in the Hinterland of Sierra Leone in former -days appears from the observations[1] of William Finch, who visited -Sierra Leone in August, 1607. This accurate observer states, “To the -South of the Bay, some fortie or fiftie leagues distant within the -Countrey, inhabiteth a very fierce people which are man-eaters, which -sometimes infest them.” This clearly points to the Mende country, where -the Human Leopard Society was lately flourishing. Finch does not, -however, refer to anything but pure cannibalism. - -In 1803 Dr. Thomas Winterbottom, the Colonial Surgeon, Sierra Leone, -wrote an account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra -Leone, and, after quoting and criticizing various authorities who had -alleged the existence of cannibalism in different parts of West Africa, -states (vol. i. p. 166) as follows: - -“That this horrid practice does not exist in the neighbourhood of Sierra -Leone, nor for many hundred leagues along the coast to the northward and -southward of that place, may be asserted with the utmost confidence, nor -is there any tradition among the natives which can prove that it ever -was the custom; on the contrary, they appear struck with horror when -they are questioned individually on the subject, though at the same time -they make no scruple of accusing other nations at a distance, and whom -they barely know by name, of cannibalism.” - -Joseph Corry[2] (1806) hints at human sacrifices, but neither he nor -Major Laing[3] (1822) heard anything of cannibalism, whilst Harrison -Rankin[4] (1834), who appears to have made considerable inquiry into the -matter, and who speaks of “slavery, cannibalism and polygamy” as being -deemed domestic virtues in the wilds of Africa, specifically mentions -the only definite and well-ascertained case of cannibalism which came to -his notice; it was the case of a liberated resident (i.e. a native -African liberated from a captured slaver) who had wandered in the bush -and had killed another native for food. Rankin in conclusion states, “In -the heterogeneous commixture of tribes in the British Colony, I -discovered none which doubted the practice of cannibalism, but none of -the established residents would plead guilty to the charge themselves or -admit it of their own nation. They generally agreed in attributing it to -the savages of the river Bonny.” - -[Illustration: A TEMNE GIRL.] - -The first trace of human leopards appears in the following quotation -from Bishop Ingham’s “Sierra Leone after a Hundred Years,” published in -1894. The Bishop writes at p. 272: “The Temnes believe that by -witchcraft a man may turn himself into an animal, and, in that form, may -injure an enemy. A man was burnt at Port Lokkoh in 1854 for having -turned himself into a leopard.” His lordship, who went to Africa about -thirty years and who wrote about forty years after the event above -mentioned, would probably have heard of this fact through Christian -natives who (even if they had known the real reason for the burning) -would have been keen to put it to the account of witchcraft; but taking -into consideration the frequent criticisms of Temne “boys” at Gbangbama -during the sitting of the Special Commission Court that it was absurd to -waste so much time over the prisoners, but that we ought to burn all the -persons charged with human leopard offences together with their villages -and families, and so stamp out the practice as it had been stamped out -in the Temne country, it seems more than probable that the man was -burned not for witchcraft but as a human leopard. - -The first definite reference to human leopards is to be found in -Banbury’s “Sierra Leone; or, the White Man’s Grave,” 1888. At p. 183 he -says: “Secret cannibalism is also prevalent, though the native -punishment for this custom is death, and in the Mendi Mission (an -American society) they possess the skin of a large leopard, with iron -claws, which had once been the property of a man who, under this guise, -satisfied his horrible craving.” This clearly refers to human leopard -activity. - -Mr. Alldridge,[5] who has had a long and intimate acquaintance with the -Mende tribes, is of opinion that the Human Leopard Society is of no -great age, probably not more than half a century. All, however, that can -be said with certainty is that until comparatively lately the operations -of this society, if it existed, were so limited or so secret that the -Society was unknown to Europeans, or indeed to Africans who were in -touch with Europeans. - -In 1891 the report from the Mende country that a number of cannibals had -been burnt to death came as a shock to the Executive. The existence of -the practice of cannibalism was known, but there was no idea that there -was cannibalism on such a large scale. It seems that the inhabitants of -the Imperri chiefdom had suffered so heavily at the hands of the -cannibals that they complained to their chief. The complaints becoming -too numerous and too insistent to be disregarded, the chief called a -meeting, and the big men of Gangama, Gbangbama, Yandehun, and other -towns and villages met at Bogo. Here the question of cannibalism was -discussed, and those present were informed that a number of Tongo -players[6] had been summoned for the purpose of discovering the -cannibals, the guilty parties no doubt depending upon their Borfima[7] -and bribes to escape detection. On the appointed day the Tongo players -arrived. A huge fire was lighted, and the Tongo players were directed to -throw into the fire all persons whom they found to be cannibals. One of -the first to be cast into the flames was the principal chief who had -been instrumental in calling in the Tongo players, and it is asserted -that as many as eighty persons were burnt to death, a number of them -anticipating their fate and of their own accord throwing themselves into -the flames. A mercantile agent who visited Bogo shortly after this -terrible retribution reported that the spot where the burning took place -was a sickening sight, with its heaps of white ashes and remains of -human bodies, whilst Mr. Alldridge, who held an inquiry into the matter, -says that the pyramid of calcined bones which he saw at the junction of -two roads just outside Bogo was about four feet high. - -But the Government could not view with indifference such a crude and -barbarous administration of justice, and on the 5th May, 1892, issued -the following proclamation: - -“WHEREAS from time to time in the Imperri Country and elsewhere within -the Colony of Sierra Leone there have been native plays or dances -commonly called or known as ‘Tongo Play,’ whereby some of the -inhabitants of the said Colony have been accused of and denounced as -being ‘Human Leopards,’ or as guilty of various crimes and -misdemeanours, and upon such accusation and denouncement they have been -unlawfully burnt to death or otherwise illegally punished: - -“Now THEREFORE His Excellency the Administrator of the Government of the -Colony aforesaid doth hereby publish, proclaim, and make known— - -“That from and after this date the play or dance of the Tongo People -commonly called and known as ‘Tongo Play,’ being contrary to law, must -at once cease throughout the Colony. - -“That every Tongo person is hereby enjoined and required to quit the -Colony within twenty-one days from the date of this Proclamation on pain -of being arrested, detained, and deported as a Political Prisoner: - -“That every person taking part in any ‘Tongo Play’ or action resulting -thereupon will be prosecuted and punished according to law: - -“And all the inhabitants of and sojourners in the Colony are hereby -enjoined to govern themselves accordingly.” - -With all dread of the Tongo players removed, cannibalism burst out -afresh towards the end of 1894, and at the beginning of 1895 a number of -murders took place. It was then definitely ascertained that these -murders had been committed by members of a society which afterwards -became notorious as the Human Leopard Society. To deal with this -extraordinary class of crime the Government of the Colony of Sierra -Leone decided that drastic and exceptional legislation was necessary, -and a Bill entitled the Human Leopard Society Ordinance, 1895, was -introduced and passed as Ordinance No. 15 of 1895. - -The object of the Ordinance was set out in the preamble, which read as -follows: - -“WHEREAS there exists in the Imperri Country a Society known by the name -of the Human Leopard Society formed for the purpose of committing -murder: - -“AND WHEREAS many murders have been committed by men dressed so as to -resemble leopards and armed with a three-pronged knife commonly known as -a leopard knife or other weapon: - -“AND WHEREAS owing to the number of these murders, and the difficulty of -detecting the perpetrators of the same, it is expedient to amend the -law: - -“Be it therefore enacted by the Government of the Colony of Sierra Leone -with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof as -follows”: - -Then followed provisions making it penal for any person without lawful -excuse to have in his possession or keeping any of the articles -mentioned in the Schedule, viz.: - -“(_a_) A leopard skin shaped so as to make a man wearing it resemble a -leopard; - -“(_b_) A three-pronged knife; and - -“(_c_) A native medicine known as ‘Borfima’”; and under the Ordinance -the police were given powers where there was reasonable ground of -suspicion to arrest and to search without a warrant, and heavy penalties -were imposed for obstructing the police. - -On the 9th October, 1896, a Protectorate was proclaimed over that -portion of the Hinterland of the Colony of Sierra Leone which had -hitherto been merely under the control of the Colonial Government. - -Up to this date, for more than half a century, the Government of the -Colony had claimed and exercised the right of intervention in disputes -which led to intertribal wars or which interfered with the trade routes -from the interior, but beyond this and the efforts made to stop -slave-raiding there had been very little interference with the -Hinterland natives. - -During the same year it was found necessary further to strengthen the -hands of the Executive in dealing with crimes committed by members of -secret societies, and the Human Leopard Society Ordinance of 1895 was -added to, provision being made whereby any chief who was proved to have -permitted or who failed to report within a reasonable time any -celebration of Human Leopard Customs which had occurred in any place -under his control was liable to heavy penalties. - -Under the amended law the Governor-in-Council was given power to order -the arrest and detention of chiefs when it was deemed expedient to do so -for the preservation of peace and order and the suppression of the Human -Leopard Society. Power was also given to the Governor-in-Council to -deport any such chief from the British sphere of influence in Sierra -Leone. The reason for the latter enactment seems to have been that it -was considered impossible for the Society to flourish without the -connivance of at least some of the chiefs in the part of the territory -affected. - -It appeared that while some chiefs had been most active in their support -of the Government, others had given no assistance or had even put -obstruction in the way of investigating charges by refusing to deliver -up witnesses and by allowing them to leave the country, with the result -that in many cases it was difficult to bring offenders to justice. -Prosecutions, however, took place from time to time for offences against -the Ordinance, and in a number of cases convictions were obtained on -capital charges as well as in lesser offences against the Ordinance. - -[Illustration: OBLIVIOUS OF HUMAN ALLIGATORS.] - -During investigations connected with the offences committed by members -of the Human Leopard Society, it came out that another secret society -existed known as the Human Alligator Society. This Society appears to -have been an offshoot of the Human Leopard Society and the usual -meeting-place of this new society was in the vicinity of rivers where -crocodiles or as they are called locally alligators abound. - -Thereupon the law was further amended in 1901, and it was made a felony -for any person without lawful authority or excuse to have in his -possession, custody, or under his control an alligator skin shaped or -made so as to make a man wearing the same resemble an alligator. - -During the year 1903 a Circuit Court, presided over by a judge who sat -with assessors, was constituted, and after that date all offences -against the Human Leopard and Alligator Society Ordinances were tried by -that Court. From that date up to the middle of 1912 there were before -the Circuit Court 17 cases, in which 186 persons were charged with -murder under the above-mentioned Ordinances; of these persons 87 were -convicted and sentenced to death, and in many cases the sentence was -duly carried out publicly in the vicinity of the place where the murder -was committed. - -In July, 1912, a murder took place at Imperri; the murderers were -disturbed at their work; a man who was patently concerned in the murder, -but was not one of the actual murderers, was arrested; upon this man’s -shoulders the murderers threw the whole burden of explanation. Unable to -invent even a plausible explanation, he made a clean breast and gave the -names of those implicated in the murder. In the course of his -explanation other murders were referred to and other names were -mentioned, with the result that further arrests were made, whilst other -members of the Society whom he named turned King’s evidence. In this way -the authorities obtained information with respect to about 30 human -leopard murders since 1907, and between 300 and 400 persons, including -several paramount chiefs (Mahawas) and a large number of sub-chiefs -(Mahawurus), were arrested. As in many cases no corroborative evidence -was procurable, the majority of these persons were released, leaving -108, who were committed for trial. - -To meet some of the difficulties which had arisen, the Government -thereupon brought forward two Bills, one of which extended and -strengthened the existing law as to unlawful societies, whilst the other -set up a special court for the trial of persons charged with offences -connected with unlawful societies, and authorized the deportation of -persons who, although acquitted by such court, were, in the opinion of -the court, a source of danger to the peace of the district. The -Attorney-General, in introducing the first Bill into the Legislative -Council of Sierra Leone, said: - -“It will be within the knowledge of Honourable Members of this Council -that the operations of the Human Leopard Societies in the -Protectorate—chiefly in the Northern Sherbro District—have been lately -very active. - -“Not only have many murders been committed this year in connection with -the Human Leopard, but murders which have been committed within the last -three or four years have only just come to light. I can say that, so far -as I know, there are over twenty murders at least in connection with -this Society perpetrated this year or within the last three or four -years just recently come to light. This is a very serious state of -affairs, and one that has to be dealt with in a drastic manner. As far -as my knowledge of this Society goes, twenty years ago its operations -were confined to, not the big men of the Protectorate, but lesser -people; in fact, it was the paramount chiefs who took part in trying to -suppress the Society. However, it seems as years have gone by, this -state of things has changed, either from natural inclination or from -force of circumstances, and the Society has become too strong for the -chiefs, with the result that the paramount chiefs themselves have been -drawn into the Society and are now the leaders of it. - -“Section 2 of this Ordinance gives the Governor power, when any murder -has been committed in any chiefdom, to declare such chiefdom or any part -thereof to be a proclaimed district, and gives the District Commissioner -power to arrest anybody therein. In the past the Government’s chief -difficulty has been to get evidence to substantiate a prosecution, as it -is generally after a long time that people come forward to make -statements about these murders, and, owing to the intimidation practised -by the influential chiefs upon possible witnesses, the Government have -always encountered great difficulty in procuring witnesses to bring to -justice the perpetrators of the crime. It will be seen by Section 2 the -District Commissioner has power to arrest any person whose arrest and -detention he may consider advisable in the interests of justice; the -first person he will naturally arrest would be the chief of the -district. - -“This power seems drastic, but the circumstances of these murders are so -exceptional that drastic powers are required. Honourable Members will -remember that in the Principal Ordinance it is a serious offence to be -in possession of certain articles. It is proposed to add three other -articles which will be seen detailed in Section 7. Up to the present, -the possession of certain articles has been necessary to enable the -District Commissioner to deal with persons who are known to be active -members of the Human Leopard Society. It is now made criminal for a man -to be a member or to take any part in the operations of this Society. -These are the two chief points in the Bill. Another addition is that by -Section 5 which gives power to the Governor to deport a man who has been -connected with this Society, and, if he is an alien, to banish him -permanently from the Colony. As the District Commissioners have been -obliged to arrest a good many persons for whom it may not be possible to -formulate any charges, Honourable Members will see from Schedule 9 that -there is an indemnity clause covering all the arrests which have been -made.” - -The three articles mentioned by the Attorney-General are described in -the Ordinance as: - -“(_a_) A dress made of baboon[8] skins commonly used by members of an -unlawful society; - -“(_b_) A ‘kukoi’ or whistle commonly used for calling together the -members of an unlawful society; - -“(_c_) An iron needle commonly used for branding members of an unlawful -society.” - -In introducing the Special Commission Court Ordinance into the -Legislative Council the Attorney-General said: - -“This Bill gives the Governor power to constitute special courts for the -trial of all offences under the Human Leopard and Alligator Societies -Ordinance, 1909, and also the Ordinance (the Human Leopard and Alligator -Amendment Ordinance, 1912) which has just been read a second time. I may -say that the usual way of trying offenders in the Protectorate is by the -Circuit Court with three or four Native Paramount Chiefs, but as a great -number of these chiefs are implicated and have been arrested in the -Protectorate, it is obvious that the services of many, if any at all, -will not be available. Moreover, there are 64 persons under trial. It -will take up too much of the time of the Circuit Judge if all were sent -for trial before the Circuit Court. The Governor has the power to -appoint Commissioners, usually men who are Senior District -Commissioners. However, it is not desirable to appoint Commissioners in -the ordinary way to try offences like these. Instead of the prisoners -being tried by the Circuit Judge in the ordinary way, they will be -charged before a special court of three Judges. - -“It is proposed in the Bill, which I may point out will only be in -operation for one year, to appoint a Special Commission Court consisting -of three persons. Who they are or who they will be I cannot say; but I -can say that they must be either judges or barristers of a British -court. - -“The Bill also provides that there must be unanimity before a prisoner -can be convicted. The procedure will be practically the same as that of -the Circuit Court, and all the procedure of the Circuit will be -followed. - -“It will be observed in Clause 10 that the same powers of deportation -will be given to the Governor when dealing with prisoners convicted by -the Special Commission Court as with those convicted by the Circuit -Court. By Clause 11 further power is given to the Governor. -Unfortunately, it sometimes happens in these cases that there are -several persons who are more or less connected with these Societies, but -against whom there is no evidence; they will be simply ordered to leave -the Colony and will not be allowed to return.” - -The Colonial Office were fortunate in being able to secure the services -of an able and distinguished lawyer and judge in the person of Sir -William Brandford Griffith, an Ex-Chief Justice of the Gold Coast -Colony, to be President of the Court, and he arrived in the Colony from -England on the 8th December, 1912. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - These observations, to be found in vol. i. of Samuel Purchas’s - “Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrimes, containing a History - of the World, in Sea Voyages, and Lande Travells,” by Englishmen and - others, are printed in full at p. 94. - -Footnote 2: - - “Observations upon the Windward Coast of Africa, the Religion, - Character, Customs, etc., of the Natives, etc. etc., made in the years - 1805 and 1806,” by Joseph Corry, 1807. - -Footnote 3: - - “Travels in the Timmanee, Kooranko, and Soolima Countries in Western - Africa,” by Major Alexander Gordon Laing, 1825. - -Footnote 4: - - “The White Man’s Grave, a Visit to Sierra Leone in 1834,” by F. - Harrison Rankin, 1836. - -Footnote 5: - - “The Sherbro and its Hinterland,” by T. J. Alldridge, 1901. - -Footnote 6: - - See p. 21. - -Footnote 7: - - See p. 23. - -Footnote 8: - - This was owing to the fact that a society known as the Human Baboon - Society had been discovered to exist in one of the Northern Districts - of the Protectorate. - -[Illustration: PORO DEVILS.] - - - - - CHAPTER II - THE PORO, TONGO PLAY, BORFIMA, WITCH-DOCTORS, OATHS - - - THE PORO - -Although it is impossible to say that the Human Leopard Society is -connected with the Poro, nevertheless any account of that Society would -be wanting unless accompanied by some reference to the Poro, one of the -secret societies by which the natives of the Sierra Leone Hinterland are -educated and were, until the British Government took over the -administration of the country, ruled. Mr. Migeod, in the _Journal of the -African Society_ for July, 1915, ventures the suggestion that Purrus -Campus in Ptolemy’s map of the second century may be no other than the -Latin for Poro bush; and everything points to the custom being of great -antiquity. The earlier writers on Sierra Leone dwell almost exclusively -upon the predatory habits of the Poro and the danger of trespassing into -the Poro bush, but Major Laing (1822), who travelled amongst the -Hinterland tribes to the north of Sierra Leone, also points to the fact -that it was the Poro which governed the country. He says: - -“Particular pieces of ground (generally eminences covered with thick -wood) are consecrated to the Greegrees and held sacred. I have always -seen those enclosures approached with reverential awe, and have been -informed that the smallest encroachment upon them would subject the -aggressor to the most awful punishment from the Purrah, an institution -which is much dreaded by the whole of this unhappy country. Their power -supersedes even that of the headmen of the districts, and their deeds of -secrecy and darkness are as little called in question, or inquired into, -as those of the inquisition were in Europe, in former years. I have -endeavoured in vain to trace the origin or cause of formation of this -extraordinary association, and have reason to suppose that it is now -unknown to the generality of the Timannees, and may possibly be even so -to the Purrah themselves, in a country where no traditionary records are -extant, either in writing or in song. - -“In the early ages of the slave trade (which particularly prevailed in -this country) every nefarious scheme was resorted to by the headmen for -the purpose of procuring subjects for the markets. It may be conjectured -that where liberty was so insecure concealment not difficult, and the -means of subsistence easy to be procured, and when the power of the -headmen did not extend beyond the limits of their own town, many -individuals, whose safety was endangered, would fly to the woods for -protection; and as their numbers increased, would confederate for mutual -support, and thus give rise to secret signs of recognition and rules of -general guidance. It may further be supposed, that in a country divided -amongst numerous petty authorities, each jealous of the other, such a -confederacy may soon have become too powerful for any probable -combination against them; and being possessed of power would at length -employ it in the very abuses to which it had owed its own origin. - -“The headquarters of the Purrah are in enclosures situated in the woods; -these are never deserted by them entirely, and any man, not a Purrah, -approaching them is instantly apprehended, and rarely ever heard of -again. The few who have reappeared after several years of secretion have -always become intermediately Purrah men themselves; those who do not -again appear are supposed to be carried away to distant countries and -sold. The Purrahs do not confine themselves always to the seizure of -those who approach their enclosures, but frequently carry off single -travellers, and occasionally whole parties, who are imprudent enough to -pass from one town to another in certain districts without applying for -an escort from the body. To ensure safety, one Purrah man is sufficient, -who, while leading the party, blows a small reed whistle suspended from -his neck. At the advice of Ba Kooro, I procured one of these persons as -a guide from Ma Bung to Ma Yasoo, the intermediate country being thickly -inhabited by the Purrah. As we passed along, they signified their -vicinity to us, by howling and screaming in the woods, but although the -sounds denoted their neighbourhood, no individual was seen. - -“The Purrahs frequently make an irruption into towns in the night-time, -and plunder whatever they can lay their hands upon—goats, fowls, cloths, -provisions, men, women, or children. On such occasions the inhabitants -remain shut up in their homes, until long after the plunderers retreat. -During the time that I was in the interior, I always had a sentry over -my quarters at night, for the protection of the baggage. One night, the -town in which we slept was visited by the Purrah, and my sentinel -remained firm at his post. When the Purrah came up, an attack was made -upon him, but the application of the bayonet kept them at a distance -until I made my appearance, when the Purrah, uncertain of their power -over a white man, scampered off; they were mostly naked and unarmed, but -a few had knives. - -“The outward distinguishing marks of the Purrah are two parallel -tattooed lines round the middle of the body, inclining upwards in front, -towards the breast, and meeting in the pit of the stomach. There are -various gradations of rank among them, but I could never ascertain their -respective offices; persons said to be men of rank amongst them have -been pointed out to me with great caution, as the Timannees, generally, -do not like to speak of them; but I could learn nothing further. -Purrah-men sometimes quit their retirement, and associate with the -townspeople, following employments of various kinds, but no chief or -headman dare bring a palaver against a Purrah-man, for fear of a -retributive visit from the whole body. At stated periods they hold -conventions or assemblies, and on those occasions the country is in the -greatest state of confusion and alarm; no proclamation is publicly made, -but a notice from the chief or headman of the Purrah, communicated by -signs hung up at different places, with the meaning of which they are -acquainted, is a summons to them to meet on an appointed day, at a -certain rendezvous. Palavers of great weight, such as disputes between -rival towns, or offences of such magnitude as to call for capital -punishments, are always settled by the Purrah—the headmen of towns not -having at the present day (whatever power they may have possessed -formerly) the lives or their subjects or dependents in keeping. The -Purrah may be therefore said to possess the general government of the -country, and from the nature of their power, and the purposes to which -it is applied, they will probably be found a most serious obstacle to -its civilization.”[9] - -[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO A “PORO BUSH.”] - -Every subsequent writer touches upon the Poro, and gradually more -information is gleaned as to its object and procedure and the manner in -which it exercises its power. The fullest account is to be found in Mr. -Alldridge’s “The Sherbro and its Hinterland” (1901). The Poro is for men -only, and it begins by training the youth of the country. Boys between 7 -and 20 are taken into the Poro bush for several months. “The meetings of -the fraternity for initiation of new members always take place in the -dry season, from November to April, as they are held in the Big Bush, a -part of which is sufficiently cleared and the ground cleaned. The -opening to the Big Bush is rudely constructed of palm leaves, the -entrance being through leafy bowers, and the aperture serving for a -doorway hung with country mats. Inside, the place is separated into -compartments similarly divided by palm leaves—that entrance also being -hung with mats. The whole is beneath the dense and overspreading foliage -of high trees, and is known as the Poro bush.”[10] This Big Bush is -usually much higher than the usual low bush of the country, and looks -more like virgin bush—a scarce commodity in Mende land. Here the boys -are taught and trained and initiated, here they dance and sing after -dark, and here they are imbued with the idea of the power and authority -of the Poro. After some months of training the boy is placed in— - -(1) The Messenger or servant class; or, - -(2) The Mohammedan Mori[11] or the Devil men class; or, - -(3) The Chiefs’ class; - -when further initiation and instruction suitable to his class are given. - -Until the British Government proclaimed a Protectorate, the government -of the country was practically in the hands of the third class. The -chiefs would assemble in the Poro bush, they would be sworn to secrecy, -and then would discuss the matter in hand; their orders would be issued -and carried out by the whole Society; any member in default could be -tried by a Poro tribunal inside the Poro bush, condemned, and there put -away. - -Every member of the Human Leopard Society is a member of the Poro, the -main supporters of both societies are the chiefs, the place of meeting -for both societies is the Poro bush—this suffices to show how easily the -Poro organization can be used, and no doubt has been used, for many of -the purposes of the human leopards. - -[Illustration: BUNDU DEVILS, SIERRA LEONE.] - - - TONGO PLAYERS - -A quotation which Mr. Alldridge has been so good as to allow from his -“Sherbro and its Hinterland” (pp. 156–159) with respect to the Tongo -players already alluded to will illustrate the atmosphere in which the -human leopards worked. - -“Formerly when suspicious circumstances, such as frequent sudden deaths, -or the continuous disappearance of individuals, as in the case of the -victims of the Human Leopards, arose and baffled the local fetish, -recourse was had to the terrible Tongo player system, especially if -cannibalism was thought to be at the bottom of the mischief. - -“To set this medicine going the intervention of a most appalling fetish -had to be invoked through a class of medicine people from the upper -country called the Tongo players. - -“As soon as the Tongo players had determined to comply with a request -from a chief, they sent out their emissaries into his towns and villages -to obtain information concerning suspected people. When all was ready -the head of the Tongo, named Buamor Neppor, attended by his two -principal assistants, Akawa (Big Thing) and Bojuwa (Great Thing) with -their following, arrived in the principal town and proceeded to clear a -space in the bush for their encampment, where they made their fetish -medicine. This place of concealment was called Mashundu. - -“In the investigation one village at a time was dealt with. A messenger -was despatched to call all the men, women, and children to a meeting to -be held on an appointed day. - -“The meeting was held on a cleared space, called the Korbangai, outside -the town, to which the people had been summoned. They were then drawn up -into line. Their names were called by a spy from their own village, who -was in the pay of the Tongo players. Certain questions were asked. The -names of suspected persons were then submitted to the medicine-men, -hidden in the bush, who professed to go through the ordeal by which the -guilt or innocence of these suspected persons might be determined. The -operator’s ordeal was the plunging his hand into a cauldron of boiling -oil and pulling out a piece of hot iron. If the hand was burned, it was -certain proof of guilt; if not burned, of innocence. - -“The victim thus being found out, he was brought before the head Tongo -player, who asked him if he were prepared to pay money. If he were, time -was allowed for him to send to his family; meanwhile he was detained and -stocked. Having got as much as they could out of the man and his family, -an excuse was made, and he was burned to death. - -“On some occasions a Tongo play was held. The players were arrayed in -barbaric costume. They wore a leopard-skin cap, the side flaps of which -drooped over the face, a leopard tail hung down from the back of the -cap, and a sort of door bell was attached to the end. There was a -leopard-skin jacket; the wrists, elbows, and ankles were further adorned -with strips of leopard skin; the whole costume being completed by short -cloth knickers, trimmed with leopard skin, and leopard-skin gaiters. - -“The Tongo players came out and danced; the headman and his attendant -carried a knobbed staff set with sharp cutting instruments, called the -Tongora, which was loosely veiled with leopard skin. - -“While dancing the headman and his two attendants suddenly rushed up to -the suspected persons and dealt them heavy blows with the Tongora, blows -which may or may not have killed them at once; but whether killed or not -they were quickly taken away and thrown on the fire.” - - - BORFIMA - -A word which was constantly heard before the Special Commission Court -was Borfima, the “medicine” referred to in the Human Leopard Ordinance. -The word is a contraction of _Boreh fima_, medicine bag, and is usually, -but not invariably, tightly bound up in a leather package. This package -contains, amongst other things, the white of an egg, the blood, fat, and -other parts of a human being, the blood of a cock, and a few grains of -rice; but to make it efficacious it must occasionally be anointed with -human fat and smeared with human blood. So anointed and smeared, it is -an all-powerful instrument in the hands of its owner, it will make him -rich and powerful, it will make people hold him in honour, it will help -him in cases in the White Man’s Court, and it certainly has the effect -of instilling in the native mind great respect for its owner and a -terrible fear lest he should use it hostilely. An oath administered by -the proper person and with due ceremony upon Borfima is of the most -binding nature, and it was by means of such oaths that great secrecy was -obtained. But the potency of this great fetish apparently soon -evaporated. Owners of the Borfima found that their riches did not -increase as rapidly as they anticipated, they lost cases in the Courts, -expectations were not realized with respect to adverse witnesses upon -whose hearts and livers and kidneys imprecations had been showered—all -this showed that the Borfima had become weak and needed resuscitation -with fresh human fat and blood—and to obtain this human fat and blood -was the primary object of the Human Leopard Society. - - - WITCH-DOCTORS - -To give an idea of the mental outlook of the majority of the natives -before the Court, and so that some of the difficulties under which the -prosecution laboured may be appreciated, allusion should be made to -witch-doctors and oaths. - -[Illustration: WIVES OF A NATIVE CHIEF.] - -A witch-doctor holds a high position in a native community, and is often -able to accumulate great wealth. The practice of this profession is -usually confined to certain families, the secrets of the profession -being handed down from father to son. Only one member of the family -practises at the same time, although he may have a number of assistants -who are commonly members of his family. Some of these witch-doctors -profess to be able to name and trace their ancestors back to a remote -period. All the followers of this profession are skilled herbalists and -have some knowledge of surgery, but they profess to effect cures by the -aid of witchcraft. If a native is ill, it is said that he has been -caught by some devil, and it is the business of the witch-doctor to rid -him of that devil. The witch-doctor knows that certain devils dislike -certain herbs, which, if administered to the sick person, may have the -effect of disgusting the devil and making it fly away. A devil is -frequently caught and put into a bottle, and then it is for the patient -to say whether he will have it destroyed, which can only be done by -fire, or whether he will allow it to be released and propitiated by -various offerings, and by such means transform it into a friendly devil, -which he can make use of to injure some other person. The witch-doctor -is frequently employed by chiefs or other much-married men to discover -whether their numerous wives have been guilty of acts of infidelity; -they are also frequently employed to discover the perpetrators of any -crime and the place of concealment of stolen property, and it is -extraordinary what successes they achieve, particularly in discovering -stolen property. - - - OATHS - -Another line of practice in which witch-doctors excel is the “pulling of -swears”—_anglice_, the removal of oaths. When an oath is taken upon an -ordinary native “medicine,” it is possible for the oath-taker to be -absolved from the consequences of a breach of his oath by engaging a -witch-doctor, who, for a fee proportionate to the potency of the -“medicine” used, will “pull the swear.” This is accomplished by certain -ceremonies performed with other “medicines.” After the “swear has been -pulled,” the first medicine has, so to speak, its teeth drawn. - -The “medicine” on which pagan Mende witnesses were sworn before the -Special Commission Court was compounded every Monday morning by the -Court interpreter, and consisted of a preparation of salt, pepper and -ashes mixed with water. A spoonful of the mixture was taken by each -witness when sworn; if there were many witnesses, fresh “medicine” had -to be prepared later in the week. The oath administered in the presence -of the Court and repeated by each witness was, in its English -translation, as follows: “I (_name of witness_) swear by this medicine -to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Should I -tell a lie, if I go to the farm may snake bite me, if I travel by canoe -may the canoe sink, and may my belly be swollen. I swear by my liver, my -lungs, my kidneys, and my heart that, should I tell a lie, may I never -be saved, but may I die suddenly.” - ------ - -Footnote 9: - - Pp. 92–99. - -Footnote 10: - - “The Sherbro and its Hinterland,” p. 126. - -Footnote 11: - - When it suits his purpose a Mori man will insist that by his religion - he can have nothing to do with such a heathen custom as the Poro; but - one of the features of the Sierra Leone Hinterland is the remarkable - way in which Mohammedan Mori men are associated with every form of - secret society, magic, witchcraft, “medicine,” and every sort of - trickery. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE KALE CASE - - -The Special Commission Court, consisting of Sir W. B. Griffith, -President, Mr. F. A. Van der Meulen, and Mr. K. J. Beatty, commenced its -sittings at Gbangbama in the Northern Sherbro District on the 16th -December, 1912. - -Gbangbama is a town belonging to the Imperri Chiefdom, and is situate in -the heart of the Mende country, having, within a radius of ten miles, -several towns where murders committed in connection with the Human -Leopard Society had recently taken place. - -The Court was held in a large barri[12] specially erected for the -purpose. The prisoners were confined in a number of huts surrounded by a -stockade, and were guarded by a company of the West African Frontier -Force. Several members of the Freetown Bar were present for the purpose -of defending various persons to be tried by the Court. - -The first two days were occupied chiefly with legal questions raised by -counsel on the cases before the Court. - -The first case dealt with was the one known as the KALE CASE, which -occupied the time of the Court for nearly a fortnight, and in which the -evidence of a large number of witnesses was taken. Three men[13] were -charged with the murder in or about the month of March, 1911, of a boy -named Kalfalla, aged about fourteen years. The murder took place at a -village named Kale, which is situated on the bank of the Mongheri River -opposite the town of Mongheri, both of which places are within the Jong -Chiefdom. The accused were all headmen and men of importance in the -Chiefdom, and the deceased Kalfalla was the son of one of them, and was -at the time of his death in the process of being initiated into the -Poro. - -The three boys who were put in the Poro bush at the same time as the -deceased gave evidence before the Court, and described how they had been -captured by the Poro Devils and taken to a Poro bush at the town of -Senehun, which was under the control of an important person who was -described as the Kumrabai (King-Maker) of the Jong Chiefdom. While they -were in the Senehun Poro bush, two of the accused came to the Kumrabai -and asked that these boys should be allowed to go to the Kale Poro bush, -so that they should be available to assist in farm work. Permission was -at first refused, but eventually they were allowed to go, where, in -accordance with Poro custom, they worked out of sight of all women. A -shimbek (i.e. a grass hut with grass walls) was built in the Kale Poro -bush for the boys, and for several nights they slept in this shimbek. - -[Illustration: A PORO DEVIL.] - -These three boys stated that one evening the three prisoners, one of -whom was the father of the deceased, came into the Poro bush and told -them that they were to come out of the bush that night and sleep in the -barri (a shelter with low walls) at the back of a house belonging to one -of the accused, the deceased’s father. They described the position in -which they slept, how shortly before daybreak they were awakened by a -noise, and how they saw one of the prisoners holding the deceased boy by -the legs, whilst another of them, who had a leopard skin over the top of -his head and hanging down his back, was bending over the body. The boys -raised an alarm, and as the accused ran away they heard sounds which -resembled the pit-a-pat of hurrying feet, and the impression created was -that it was a large number of persons who were running away from the -barri. Soon after this the father of the murdered boy again appeared on -the scene; he went immediately to the barri and appeared to show grief -on seeing that his son was dead. His accomplices next appeared, followed -shortly afterwards by a number of other men, who assisted in carrying -the body to the Poro bush. Arrived there the accused, together with some -other members of the Society, consulted together or, as the witnesses -described it, “hung head.” It was agreed to bury the body at once, and -the boys were threatened that if they spoke about the matter something -bad would happen to them; that if they were ever asked what had happened -to the dead boy they were to say that a snake had bitten him. The eldest -boy was also sworn on the Borfima not to reveal what he had seen and -heard. This boy described the oath he took, which was to the effect that -if he revealed this matter and afterwards went by water he would drown; -if he went into the bush a snake would bite him; and if he walked on a -road thunder would strike him. He was further sworn on his heart and on -his kidneys that both would wither away if he broke his oath. - -The boys and several witnesses described the wounds on the deceased, -three of which were in the throat, and the other on the chest. From the -description given of the wounds there could be no doubt but that they -were caused by some sharp instrument, probably a knife, and could not -have been caused by a leopard’s claws. The accused, in accordance with -native custom, were compelled to report the matter to the “Grand Master” -of the Poro, but contrary to native custom they did not report until -after the body was buried. At this breach of custom the Kumrabai was -annoyed, but he allowed himself to be pacified with a “head of -money”—seven country cloths, valued at about thirty shillings. - -[Illustration: WEAVING COUNTRY CLOTH.] - -Two witnesses who confessed to being members of the Human Leopard -Society were called and gave an interesting description of their -initiation into the Society. They had joined the Society at different -times, and belonged to different branches of it. One belonged to the -branch in the Imperri Chiefdom, and the other to a branch in the -Gallinas Chiefdom, several days’ march distant, but their description -tallied in almost every detail regarding the initiation ceremony and the -objects of the sacrifice. A mark is made on a candidate for initiation, -usually on the buttocks, so that it will be concealed by the loin cloth, -the usual and only article of dress worn by the ordinary native in those -parts. The mark is made by piercing the flesh with an iron needle, -raising it, and shaving off a thin slice of flesh. The wound is then -treated with a medicine known as Nikori, which apparently has antiseptic -qualities, and which is made by grinding the bark of the wild ground -nut. The blood taken from the wound is put on the “Borfima,” and the -novice by this means becomes what is spoken of as “joined or married to -the medicine,” and a full member of the Society. Meetings are only held -when the leaders of the Society consider that the Borfima belonging to -their particular branch requires what is spoken of as “feeding” or -“blooding,” and this can only be done by the killing of some person. -Apparently one of the rules of the Society is that a victim must be -provided by a member of the Society; usually, the person called upon to -provide the victim is a member who has received some material -advancement, such as becoming a Mahawa (a paramount chief) or a Mahawuru -(sub-chief), as it is considered necessary on such occasions to -propitiate the Borfima, which is looked upon as all-powerful for good or -evil. When it is arranged who is to provide the victim, a date is fixed, -usually four to six days later, a rendezvous is decided upon, and the -persons who are to do the killing are selected. The second meeting is -generally fixed for just after dusk, usually in the Poro bush, and the -victim is either enticed to a place in the vicinity of the -meeting-place, or certain members are appointed to do the killing in the -town or village, and convey the body to the Poro bush, where the Borfima -is first “blooded” and then the body is divided up among the members, -and, according to the evidence of the ex-members of the Society, the -flesh is either eaten raw on the spot or taken away and cooked. To use -the words of one of these witnesses, “some like it raw, some roast, and -some prefer it boiled with rice.” The witnesses also described how the -members of the Society made themselves known to each other by a movement -of the second finger across the palm of another person in shaking hands, -and also by a peculiar rolling of the eyes. Both signs were demonstrated -to the Court. The witnesses examined certain marks in the buttocks of -the three prisoners, and alleged that they were the marks made at -initiation into membership of the Human Leopard Society. - -The following, somewhat interesting, point of native custom was touched -on in the evidence: When a boy who is in the Poro bush dies, the body is -buried there, and his death is not announced to the female relatives -until after the Poro has “been pulled” (finished). It is the duty of the -Lakai (the head-messenger of the Chiefdom and a high officer in the -Poro) and of him only to announce the death. When the Poro is about to -be “pulled,” all the women who have sons in the Poro bush are made to -stand in a circle at the entrance to the town. The Lakai is escorted by -his retainers into the midst of them. He carries an earthen pot, and if -a death has occurred among the Poro boys he dashes the pot to the ground -and breaks it at the feet of the mother of the boy, and in this way -announces to her the death of her son. The women wail for some hours, -after which a funeral dance is given by the parents or the nearest -relatives of the deceased; and this dance may be kept up for several -days and nights, according to the wealth of the family of the deceased, -who provide the food and drink for the occasion. - -None of these ceremonies were performed in connection with the death of -the boy Kalfalla; but the omission of these rites was not a matter to -which much weight could be attached, owing to the difficulty of -obtaining reliable information on matters connected with the Poro, and -the custom is only mentioned incidentally. - -The defence of the accused was that a bush leopard had killed the boy. -They admitted that they had concealed this fact and had given out that -it was a snake-bite which had caused the death of the deceased, but they -said that their reason for doing so was in order to save the father of -the deceased, the first accused in the case, from certain penalties -which he would have incurred had it come to the ears of the Poro Headman -that he had allowed a “bushboy” who was still in the Poro to sleep in an -open place outside the Poro bush. The position, shape, and character of -the wounds were emphasized to show that it must have been a bush leopard -which had caused them, and it was pointed out that it was an offence -against the law of the country for any one to sleep in an open place -exposed to danger, such as the barri where the boys had been permitted -to sleep. The accused alleged that these “bushboys” should not have been -allowed to sleep out of the Poro bush, and that it was an aggravation of -the offence that they had been allowed to sleep in an open place like a -barri; that the first accused, as head of the family, was the person on -whom the blame would have fallen; and that he, for these reasons, -persuaded the others to give out that it was a snake-bite which had -caused death. If this was accepted, they urged, they would not be called -on to show the spot where the boy was injured, and they added that the -burial was hurried so that people should know as little about it as -possible. Had the burial been delayed, the women might have got to know, -and that would have been a further offence against Poro law. It was also -submitted that it was contrary to nature that the first accused would -have murdered his own son in such a cold-blooded manner. - -The prisoners were ably defended, but the arguments put forward for the -defence did not create doubt as to the main facts deposed to by the -witnesses for the Crown. - -From the evidence of the witnesses one thing emerged conclusively—viz. -that it was no bush leopard which killed the boy, but that it was some -person or persons simulating a leopard who murdered him; and the -evidence of the other boys that they had heard the pattering of many -feet outside the barri when they raised the alarm pointed to the fact -that there were a number of persons concerned in the murder. - -The Court could come to no other conclusion than that the murder was -committed in connection with the Human Leopard Society, and that the -first and second accused were the actual murderers of the boy Kalfalla. -These two men were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, and -were publicly executed at Mattru in the presence of the acting paramount -chief and a large number of his people on the 25th January, 1913. - -[Illustration: BUNDU GIRLS AND DEVIL.] - -The third accused, who had taken a prominent part in concealing the -murder, and who was proved to be leading member of the Human Leopard -Society, was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to -murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. - ------ - -Footnote 12: - - I.e. a thatched roof on wooden posts with thick mud walls about two - feet high. - -Footnote 13: - - At the request of the Colonial Office the names of the accused persons - in all the cases have been withheld. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE IMPERRI CASE - - -The second case dealt with was the one known as the Imperri case. -Fifty-four persons were charged with the murder of a boy aged about -twenty years. They were also charged with being accessories after the -fact to murder and further with being members of an unlawful society: to -wit, the Human Leopard Society. - -The murder took place on 13th July, 1912. - -The Crown Prosecutor, for want of evidence to corroborate the story told -by accomplices who had turned King’s evidence, only proceeded against -fifteen of these persons on the capital charge. - -The case was commenced on the 13th January and the verdict was given on -the 3rd March. Fifty-nine witnesses gave evidence, and the notes of -evidence taken reached nearly a thousand foolscap pages. - -The facts as alleged by the witnesses for the Crown were as follows: - -Very early on the morning of Sunday the 8th July, 1912, the leaders of -the Human Leopard Society met at some place near the town of Victoria, -the chief commercial town in the Imperri Chiefdom, and decided to hold a -general meeting of the Society that same evening in the Imperri Poro -bush. The Santiggies (messengers) of the Society were despatched to warn -members to attend, and about sixty of them met that same evening. - -They began to arrive at the rendezvous, which was a clearing in the -centre of the Poro bush, soon after dark. There was only one path -leading into this clearing, which was surrounded with dense bush, and on -this path were stationed certain executive members of the Society, who -passed the members along after they were satisfied as to their -membership. They proved this chiefly by the peculiar handshake of the -Society. - -No lights were allowed at this meeting. Towards midnight the President -of the Society, who owed his position to his being the most important -man in the Chiefdom, arrived with his staff, and after the names and -rank of the persons present were called, he proceeded to address the -meeting. He announced that the object of calling members together was to -discuss and consider the question of providing food, or in other words -“blood” and fat, for their medicine. That it was some time since the -parent Borfima was fed, and that it was necessary that their own -Borfimas should also be blooded and anointed. - -A discussion then arose as to the means of providing the necessary -victim. One of the members present was asked to supply a victim, and -when he demurred it was pointed out to him that it was his turn to do so -by the rules of the Society, and it was suggested that the person to be -supplied should be his adopted son Yagba. Both this member and the uncle -of the boy Yagba protested strongly, a heated discussion followed, and -finally the two members in question were informed that unless they -immediately consented to give the boy asked for, either one or both of -them would take his place. Under fear of this threat they consented. - -It was then arranged that the members should meet again on the Friday -following, and both the father and uncle of the promised victim were -warned that if the boy disappeared or there was any difficulty about -obtaining him one of them would be taken instead. After nominating two -of the members to do the killing and others to convey the body to the -Poro bush the meeting was adjourned. - -On the following Thursday a boy died in the town of Imperri and his body -was buried next day. In the ordinary course of events there would have -been a funeral dance that evening, but fearing that it might interfere -with their projects, some of the members of the Human Leopard Society -secured its postponement. - -As it grew dark that evening, the members of the Society gathered -together in the Poro bush. The members deputed to do the killing were -dressed in their regalia of leopard skin. - -As the evening wore on and the time for sleep came, the boy Yagba, under -instructions from his uncle, spread his mat on the verandah of the -latter’s house and lay down and eventually went to sleep. About midnight -the two murderers arrived and crept on all fours up to where Yagba was -lying. One of them held him while the other stabbed him in the neck with -a knife. Death was not instantaneous, and the boy moaned and beat the -ground with his feet. This awakened some women and a youth who were in -the house, and their screams aroused the whole town. An attempt was made -by the two murderers to drag the body away, but as a number of people -rushed out of their houses they gave up their attempt and fled into the -bush where they warned the others of what had happened and got rid of -their leopard-skin dress. The members belonging to the town hastened to -get back to their houses before their absence should be discovered. - -[Illustration: STOCKADE SURROUNDING GBANGBAMA PRISON AND GUARD HOUSE.] - -[Illustration: PRISONERS AWAITING TRIAL, GBANGBAMA PRISON.] - -The townspeople collected round the body of the murdered boy and kept -saying to each other, “What is this trouble?” “What has happened?” The -uncle of the boy, who had been beside him the whole time and who -appeared to be very upset at seeing the body, said in reply to the -questions on all sides that koribrah (leopard people) had killed him. He -was taken aside by some of the accused, and the seriousness of his -admission pointed out to him. He was told to say that owing to distress -of mind he did not know what he was saying, that what he really meant to -say was that it was a bush leopard that had killed the boy, and that he -himself had seen two leopards rushing out of the town after the alarm -had been raised. He was promised a sum of money if the matter was hushed -up on the basis of the death being attributed to a bush leopard, but it -was incidentally mentioned to him that if he did not succeed in creating -this belief the town would in all probability lose another of its -citizens, as their Borfima had not yet been fed, and they would, in a -certain event, know where to look for a victim. The story was then -circulated that it was a bush leopard that had killed the boy; and there -was some confirmation of this story by the statements of some women and -boys who said they saw what looked like a leopard running away after the -alarm had been given. From the evidence it appeared that these people -had mistaken the murderers in their dresses of leopard skins for real -leopards, which are numerous in the vicinity. - -About 6.30 the following morning the clerk to the District Commissioner -overheard a man at the town of Gbangbama tell a friend that a bush -leopard had killed some one at the town of Imperri the night before. The -clerk immediately proceeded with some police or, as they are called in -the Protectorate, Court Messengers to the town of Imperri, and arrived -there soon after 8 a.m. They were met by the chief men of the town and -taken to view the body of the boy Yagba, several of the accused being -present and volunteering the information that a bush leopard had killed -the deceased. The Court Messengers, as a preliminary step, took into -custody all the people who occupied the house where the deceased had -been killed, including the uncle of the boy. Meanwhile a vigorous search -was prosecuted to find the spoor of a leopard, but none was to be found -in or about the town. His uncle was then taken on one side by the clerk -and Court Messengers and in view of the nature of the wounds and the -fact that there were no signs of any leopard was asked to explain how -the boy had come by his death. - -It was clear, owing to the nature of the wounds, that no leopard had -killed the boy; and, faced with this fact and his admission of the night -before, he gave an account of the murder and the names of the persons -concerned in it. As many of these persons as could then be found were -forthwith taken into custody, the others were subsequently arrested, and -after a preliminary examination before the District Commissioner all -were committed for trial. - -The chief testimony against the accused was that of two accomplices who -had turned informers. These men confessed to being members of the Human -Leopard Society and as having been present at the murders of several -victims of the Society. They gave evidence to the effect that all the -accused bore the mark of the Leopard Society. The mark on each of the -accused was pointed out during the hearing of the case, but although -there were certain peculiarities about the mark, and although its -position on the person of each of the accused was in most instances -approximately the same, yet, owing to the fact that the majority of them -had other marks, similar in shape and colour, some doubt existed as to -whether the marks pointed out were really the marks received on -initiation into the Society. - -After hearing the evidence, no one could doubt that a murder had been -committed, and that that murder had been committed by members of the -Human Leopard Society. Their plans miscarried, they were disturbed at -their work by the cries of the occupants of the house; the actual -murderers finished their work, but those deputed to carry away the body -failed, the uninitiated in the village awakened, and saw what had -happened, and it was too late to remove the body. The question then -followed as to whether the persons charged were those who had actually -committed or who had taken part in the murder. The evidence of the -accomplices was strong, but the chief difficulty in regard to the case -for the Crown was to obtain corroboration of the evidence of these -accomplices. In cases of this sort where the principal men are bound -together by the bonds of guilt as well as of secrecy, where the victim -is provided by the head of the family, who, instead of ferreting out the -crime, uses all his influence to have the matter hushed up, and where -the whole people cower down in dread of the terrible vengeance -threatened by the awe-inspiring Borfima, it is not to be wondered at -that it is exceptional to be able to procure independent evidence. The -relatives, even the mother of the victim, will not come forward -willingly, and when such witnesses are forced to give evidence they will -only say what they think is non-committal, and from that they will not -budge. They look upon the “medicine” as being responsible, and hold the -view that the members of the Society are forced into killing a victim in -order to “feed” the Borfima. - -In this case, however, many of the non-committal statements pieced -together formed important corroborative evidence, and that, together -with other evidence, satisfied the Court as to the guilt of six of the -accused, who were found guilty of murder. - -The sentence on four of them was publicly carried out at the town of -Imperri on 18th April, 1913. The fifth and sixth, who were domestic -slaves, were also found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but the -sentences, on the recommendation of the Court, were afterwards commuted -by the Governor-in-Council to life imprisonment. The Lavari to the -principal accused was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact -to the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. - -[Illustration: A NATURAL BRIDGE ON THE ROAD TO GBANGBAMA.] - -There is little doubt that but for the chance overhearing by the -District Commissioner’s clerk that a boy had been killed by a leopard -this crime would never have been brought to light. After a time, when -all trace of evidence had vanished, it would have been given out that -the boy had been killed by a bush leopard. And this story would have -been all the more difficult to disprove from the fact that in that -neighbourhood leopards abound. Within a few hundred yards of where the -Court sat was a leopard trap, whilst during the hearing of this -particular case at least two leopards were shot within a mile of the -Court barri. - - - - - CHAPTER V - THE KABATI CASE - - -The next case dealt with was the one known as the Kabati Case, from the -village where the murder took place. In this and the following cases -Lieut.-Colonel H. G. Warren sat in place of Mr. Van der Meulen, who -proceeded on leave. - -Originally fifty-six persons had been charged and committed for trial on -a charge of murder. - -The person murdered was a young woman named Mini, and the murder took -place in or about the month of May, 1911, at Kabati, a small village in -the Northern Sherbro District of the Protectorate. - -As in the previous case, sufficient corroborative evidence to support -the stories told by accomplices, who were the chief witnesses for -prosecution, could not be obtained, and the Crown Prosecutor decided to -proceed against only three of the prisoners, entering a _nolle prosequi_ -on the capital charge against the remainder. These latter were -subsequently prosecuted, and a number of them were found guilty of being -members of an unlawful society. - -Of the three men proceeded against two were men of importance in the -Protectorate; the first accused was a paramount chief or Mahawa, and the -second was a sub-chief or Mahawuru, the third accused being a brother of -the Mahawuru. The girl Mini was weak in intellect, but to what extent it -was not easy on the evidence to say. She was the niece of the second -accused, the Mahawuru, and for some time prior to the murder had formed -a member of his household. The story told by the witnesses for the Crown -was as follows: - -Some time toward the end of May, 1911, a meeting of the members of the -Human Leopard Society was convened and held one evening at Mosenge, a -deserted village on the borders of the Imperri and the Jong Chiefdoms, -and was attended by most of the members belonging to that particular -branch of the Society. Soon after dark the members began to arrive, and -after giving the countersign were admitted to the meeting. A small fire -was lighted, round which the members sat. Three Mahawas or paramount -chiefs were present, and they with other big men of the Society sat in -front with their subjects, in order of precedence, immediately behind -them. When all those summoned were assembled, the second accused—the -girl Mini’s uncle—was elected Mahein (presiding officer) of the meeting. -He first called the names of all the principal men, who answered to -their names. The senior member then, in accordance with the custom, said -to the second accused, “You”—mentioning his name—“have called a meeting -of the members of this Society, which should not meet except when -important business is to be done; we therefore look to you now to tell -us what that important business is.” The second accused, after walking -three times round the circle, proceeded to address the meeting. He said, -“The spirits have spoken to me and told me that unless we want something -bad to happen to us we should put blood on our Borfimas when four days -and four nights have passed. I invite you all to meet again, and at that -meeting I myself will supply a person whose blood will satisfy the -hunger of the Borfima.” - -In answer to inquiry the second accused further informed those present -that the person he proposed to give would be his niece Mini, whom he -stated had a devil in her. Then after some discussion as to how the -murder was to be carried out and after details had been arranged the -meeting broke up. - -On the evening of the fourth day after this the members of the Society -reassembled at Mosenge, and about sixty persons were present. When all -the expected guests had arrived, the second accused, who was still -Mahein, called over as before the names of those present. It was -arranged that they should remain at Mosenge until it was sufficiently -late for ordinary villagers to have retired for the night. Towards -midnight a move was made in the direction of Kabati, which was about -three miles distant, and on their arrival at the outskirts of the -village they were led to some bush, where they were told to sit down. -The second accused, who was the Mahawuru of Kabati, and his brother then -went into the village, and were quickly followed by members wearing the -regalia in the form of the leopard skin of the Society. The woman Mini -had for some days previous to this been sleeping alone in a room at the -back of her uncle’s house, at some distance from where his wives and the -other members of his household slept, and one of his domestic slaves, -who for the purpose of performing menial acts had been made a member of -the Society, was placed on guard over her. On this man signalling that -all was well the second accused went into the room and quickly awakened -the girl, who followed him down the bush path to where the other members -were waiting. She came quite quietly, and did not appear to realize that -anything unusual was occurring. It was stated by persons present that a -firi (a horse tail elaborately decorated with sebbehs) and an Aku -(Yoruba) cap to which more sebbehs (charms) were attached were then -produced by two important members of the Society, and that a certain -ceremony was gone through which included the pointing of these things at -the girl. It was then announced that members present need not feel any -alarm in regard to what was going to happen, as the ceremony performed -would have the effect of warding off suspicion and would assist them in -concealing what was going to happen that night. - -[Illustration: A NATIVE VILLAGE.] - -It was alleged that the third accused then went behind the girl and -stabbed her in the side with a large knife. She fell forward, and was -immediately seized by four men and hurriedly carried farther along the -path to a small clearing. The other members of the Society fell in -behind. The body was deposited near where the Society’s “medicine,” the -Borfima, had been placed, and veins of the victim’s throat were opened -so that the blood might flow over the “medicine.” - -After the parent Borfima had been blooded, a few persons who were -sufficiently important to be able to keep their own Borfimas advanced in -order of seniority and collected a few drops of blood on their -“medicine” which they had brought with them for that purpose. - -Two men were then nominated to cut up the body. The belly was first cut -open and flapped over the chest and the interior organs were removed. -The breasts were then cut away and given to one of the Mahawas (chiefs), -and part of the belly, the finger and toe-nails and the scalp containing -the hair were given to the first accused. The heart was set aside to be -sent to an important and educated member, who was represented at the -feast, but who did not wish to be present himself. The more important -persons present named in turn the particular piece of flesh they wanted, -and the remainder of the body was divided among those of lesser -importance. A fire was lighted, over which a certain quantity of flesh -was cooked, but a number of the members appeared to have vied with each -other in seeing what quantity of raw flesh they could eat. The bones, -after being picked clean, were left lying near the spot, and the “empty -skull” was thrown down an incline towards a stream some twenty or thirty -yards away. - -On the 30th May, as near as could be calculated by the phases of the -moon as described by the witnesses, the Lavari of the second accused -approached him and mentioned that he had a matter to discuss with him in -the presence of the other big men of the town. A meeting was immediately -called, and those summoned assembled under a cocoa-nut tree near the -compound of the second accused, who, as has been already stated, was -Mahawuru or sub-chief of Kabati village. The Lavari, who was an old man -and of some importance in the village, said that he had summoned those -present, as it had been brought to his notice that the girl Mini was -missing; that apparently no effort had been made to find her; that -trouble had been caused in the past by persons disappearing; and that as -they did not wish to be viewed with suspicion by the Government -Authorities they should make every effort to trace the missing girl. The -second accused said that it was true that his niece was missing, but -that he did not know that there was any occasion for alarm, as the girl -was crazy, and that she had disappeared before and had been found -without much difficulty; that she had probably gone to her parents at -the town of Yandehun; that he was quite able to look after his own -affairs, and that if he had wanted the help of the people of the town he -would have asked for it; that he looked upon it as officiousness on the -part of his Lavari to have interfered in a matter connected with his -household; and he added that there was nothing they need do but “beg -him” (apologize to him) for making a lot of unnecessary trouble. That -evening he left the town and was absent for some days. On his return he -summoned the people together to the village court barri and said that -some one, whose name he had not yet been able to ascertain, had been to -the village of Makelpe and had spread a report that he had sacrificed -his niece, and he angrily asked who had done this. Of course every one -denied having said anything, and some discussion arose between the -people and himself as to why he had not told them at the time of the -disappearance of his niece. One of those present expostulated with him -for his callous conduct in not having caused a general search to have -been made immediately after it was noticed that the girl was missing. To -this he replied that he had told certain persons; but these persons, on -being referred to, stated that it was not till after they had commented -on the girl’s disappearance that he had mentioned anything about her -being missing. - -At this meeting it was decided that all the young men of the town should -search the fakais (farm villages) round about, and search-parties were -then and there formed. It should be mentioned in connection with this -meeting that a rumour had reached the town that the disappearance of the -girl had been reported to the Government, and this probably accounts for -the strong action taken by the people in expressing dissatisfaction with -their Mahawuru. - -Towards the evening of the same day, whilst the people were searching, -the sound of “bugles” was heard, and two paramount chiefs arrived from -opposite directions with their followers simultaneously in the town. One -of these was the Mahawa or paramount chief of Imperri; the other was the -Mahawa or paramount chief of Jong, and was the first accused. It was -about this time that the third accused disappeared from the town. The -two Mahawas (to give them their native titles) announced that they had -been sent by the District Commissioner to investigate the circumstances -connected with the disappearance of the missing girl, and they said that -they had been instructed to see that a proper search was made. Before -the Special Commission Court witnesses swore that both these Mahawas -were actually present at the murder, but the people of the town of -Kabati at that time seem to have had no suspicion that either of them -was in any way connected with the disappearance of the girl, or that -they were members of the notorious Human Leopard Society. The Mahawas -then ordered the arrest of all the big men of the town, who, including -the second accused, were detained in a barri whilst the remainder of the -townspeople were instructed to continue searching; but no trace of -deceased was found that day. - -[Illustration: PALM FOREST, SIERRA LEONE.] - -The next day search was continued and some bones were found. The Mahawas -went to see these bones, which were less than half a mile from the town, -and every one appears to have agreed that they were the bones of the -missing girl. - -Some of the people appeared to have had information that the Assistant -District Commissioner was on his way from the town of Victoria, which -was then his headquarters, to visit the town of Kabati, and he arrived -there soon after the discovery of the bones. He was taken to where the -bones were along a path that had been newly cut through the bush, but he -noticed what looked like an old path leading from the place where the -bones were found, and that the bush round the spot appeared to have been -cleared at some recent date; this, however, was explained by pointing to -a farm on the other side of the stream, and by saying the people had -probably come there to cut sticks to build a farm-house. He noticed a -black patch about a yard in diameter, and remarked that there had been a -fire there, but one of the Mahawas (the first accused in the case) -remarked that that was where the body had rotted. - -The Assistant District Commissioner stated in his evidence that on one -side of the black patch were some bones which looked like leg bones, and -piled on them were other small bones, and he said that from their -position they must have been so placed by human agency. They were just -as if people had been gathering sticks. There were other bones scattered -about within a radius of fifteen yards; the bones were dry, and he found -no marks upon them; he thought that the thigh bones were attached to the -pelvis, and the greater portion of the spinal column was intact. He made -a careful search for clothing and beads, but there was no trace of any. -He said that on the way to the bones the first accused told him that the -girl was crazy and had gone into the bush and died. - -After seeing the bones and ordering them to be collected, the Assistant -District Commissioner asked for the skull, and was told that it was at -the foot of the hill near a stream just below the bones. He went there -with the first accused and others, and found the skull at the edge of -the stream in a spot so exposed that it was visible for about twenty -yards inside the farm across the stream. The skull was absolutely clean, -bleached, and “perfectly dry.” At the top of one jaw, level with the -ear, the bone was broken. There was no doubt in the minds of any of the -witnesses that these were the bones of the girl Mini. No further trace -of her was hinted at and no cross-examination was directed to that -point. - -The Assistant District Commissioner then released all the villagers who -had been arrested except the second accused, the uncle of the deceased. -He also held an inquiry into the circumstances of the girl’s -disappearance, and, as the result, took the second accused in custody to -Victoria. Being unable, however, to obtain any evidence to connect him -with the death of the girl Mini, the Assistant District Commissioner -placed the matter in the hands of the Mahawa of Jong, the first accused, -who found that his Mahawuru, the second accused, had failed to report -the disappearance of his niece, and fined him fifty pounds and deposed -him from his office of Mahawuru. There, for the time, the matter ended. - -In July, 1912, the Imperri murder already dealt with took place. The -murderers were disturbed at their work, and one of their number on whom -suspicion was cast when called upon for explanation admitted that it was -a leopard murder, and mentioned the names of several persons who were -implicated. He was brought to Gbangbama on the 15th July, 1912, having -previously confessed to being a member of the Human Leopard Society and -as having been present at the meetings where the murder was arranged. A -number of names were mentioned by him in connection with this murder, -and amongst them was that of the second accused. Facts with respect to -previous murders were then elicited; but although he mentioned a great -many names he did not mention those of the two Mahawas or paramount -chiefs as having been present at any of those murders. - -This mentioning of names continued up to the 25th July when his various -statements were reduced to writing. This writing was witnessed by the -two Mahawas concerned, who, up till that time, had retained the -confidence of the Government Officers. On Monday the 29th July the -District Commissioner had an interview with the informer for the first -time without the presence of the Mahawas, and something was said which -induced the District Commissioner to order forthwith the arrest of one -of them, the first accused. At once Court Messengers were sent to search -his quarters in Gbangbama town. They found in a box in his house a -chewing-stick of a peculiar kind, a cap with sebbehs (charms), and an -envelope containing human hair, and in a gown hanging close to his bed -they found a small packet containing nine parings of human nails. His -house at Mattru was also searched, and there was found a firi (i.e. a -horse tail with cloth wrapped round the handle) and another packet -containing eighteen parings of human finger and toe-nails. All these -articles he admitted were his property, with the exception of the sebbeh -cap. - -In this case, too, evidence was given as to the alleged leopard marks -upon the three accused. But this evidence as to marks broke down. In the -first place, the witnesses were not in agreement as to the alleged -leopard marks upon the accused; secondly, the medical evidence was not -convincing; thirdly, some other prisoners were produced by the defence -with a number of marks which to the ordinary eye more or less -corresponded with the so-called leopard mark, one of these men being -literally covered with small-pox marks, some of which were not unlike -the so-called leopard mark; fourthly, a mark produced by the Government -Medical Officer, in accordance with the directions of one of the expert -witnesses, was quite unlike the so-called leopard mark; and finally a -number of girls and boys, whose ages ranged from seven to sixteen years, -were produced by the defence with marks,[14] as far as the ordinary -person could judge, exactly corresponding with the so-called leopard -mark. - -There is little doubt that members of the Human Leopard Society are -marked on entering into the Society, but such marks are so like the -marks left by wounds caused by accident or disease that it is not -possible for any ordinary person to distinguish, with any certainty, the -difference between them. - -The defence of the first accused, the Mahawa of Jong, was that the story -of the informer, so far as he was concerned, was absolutely devoid of -truth, and that at the time of the alleged murder he was suffering from -the effects of boils under his arm so that he was unable to move about; -he gave evidence per-porting to show that the possession of the firi, -the chewing-stick, the nails and hair was perfectly lawful, and stated -that the sebbeh cap was neither his property nor was it found in any of -his boxes; whilst he produced official testimony with a view to showing -that he was earnestly striving to eradicate cannibal murder from his -chiefdom. - -Furthermore he alleged that the chief witness had a special ill feeling -towards him because of a land dispute between the Kabati and Imperri -people, and that he had only mentioned his name in connection with this -matter after compulsion on the part of the District Commissioner. He -further stated that some time after his election as Mahawa certain -villages, including Kabati, which had been a part of Imperri Chiefdom, -were transferred to his Chiefdom. He stated that it was well known that -cannibal murder was rife in these villages, but that it was unknown in -the other parts of his chiefdom. He pointed out that to put a stop to -cannibalism he had made certain rules with regard to strangers reporting -their presence in villages, as to people not sleeping outside a house, -as to proper doors for houses and such like. He had also assisted the -Government in the Mochach murder about September, 1910, and in the -Sawura murder in 1911, and had done what he could at the request of the -District Commissioner to elucidate the facts in this very case. He drew -attention to the fact that the second accused had been handed over to -him to be dealt with in accordance with country law, and that he was -sent for by the Government Authorities to assist in the Imperri case, -when he did all he could to elicit information from the very informer -who was now giving evidence against him. - -The firi, he stated, was an heirloom and appurtenant to his office, and -witnesses for the prosecution admitted that big Mahawas do possess -firis, which are used as the credentials of important messengers. He -explained that the chewing-stick was a present from a Muhammedan to whom -he had rendered some service, and that the Arabic text found in the -wrapper was nothing more than an invocation that none but seasonable -words might drop from the lips of him who used it. - -[Illustration: A NATIVE VILLAGE.] - -As to the hair found in his house, it seemed clear that many persons, -even educated persons in Freetown, have a superstition about their hair -being left about, and take precautions to have it disposed of in such a -way that nobody can get possession of it. Strong “medicines” are -supposed to be made with human hair, and with this “medicine” injury can -be inflicted on the person from whom the hair was obtained. He said that -soon after he arrived at Gbangbama he had his hair cut and that he kept -it pending his return to Mattru, where he intended to have it destroyed. -Finger and toe-nails also appear to be capable of malevolent use, and -should not be left lying about; he said that he had cut his finger-nails -just before he left Mattru, and had put the parings carefully in his -gown, intending to get rid of them later, but forgot about them, and -that was how they came to be in the pocket of his gown when his quarters -were searched. As to those found at Mattru, he stated that the wife who -assisted him when cutting them must have put them away in the small box -in which they were found, that that box used to stand upon his table, -and that his wife must have forgotten them, but that they were quite -safe, as the box was the one in which he used to keep his pocket cash -and was usually locked. - -The sebbeh cap he denied the ownership of. He stated that it belonged to -an Aku or Yoruba medicine man who came to Gbangbama about the same time -as himself, that this man placed the box containing the cap in his -house, and that the cap was not found with his things, but in another -box altogether. This statement was to some extent supported by the fact -that the sebbehs when opened did not, as was expected, contain Arabic -texts, but only black powder and tree bark, and he called as his witness -the Yoruba man to whom he alleged the cap belonged. - -The defence of the second accused, the girl’s uncle, was that Mini was -of weak intellect, and that during a period of insanity she had wandered -into the bush, and, not being able to find her way out, had died there. -He stated that she first became insane after the birth of her second -child, and that she became so violent that she had to be put in the -stocks. He said that he obtained and had given her some sacred water and -a charm which cured her for a time, that she subsequently lost the charm -and became insane again, and could not be made to wear any clothes, that -he was absent from Kabati at the time she disappeared, and that on his -return he had made every effort to find her. - -The third accused’s defence was that he had left Kabati about six weeks -before the girl’s disappearance and was absent in another chiefdom at -the time of her disappearance; that on the 10th June, 1911, he arrived -at Yandehun, where he had a “wife,” and then for the first time heard of -what had happened in Kabati, whither he immediately returned. - -The prisoners were defended by counsel, and forty-five witnesses were -examined in the case. - -The chief witness for the Crown was the accomplice who had turned -informer. His evidence on one or two points one could not help regarding -with suspicion, though on the other hand he gave his evidence freely; he -was quite open, there was little hesitancy, he did not shelter himself -under generalities, but was always prepared to go into details. In view -of the fact that he had given evidence upon so many different occasions, -and that he had to keep in mind so many different meetings, one was -struck with the small number of inconsistencies, and every now and then -it was noticeable how two unconnected details fitted in with the rest of -the evidence; then the further he was cross-examined the more truthful -did his narrative appear, matters which seemed doubtful at first were -cleared up, and at the end his evidence seemed stronger than at the -beginning, and formed a marked contrast to the evidence of many of the -other witnesses. Finally an inspection of the _locus in quo_ tended to -confirm his testimony. But this witness being an accomplice, -corroboration of his evidence as to each of the accused was necessary -before the question could be considered as to whether or not the accused -were guilty of murder. There was ample corroboration as to the -circumstances of the murder, and that it was committed by members of the -Human Leopard Society, but in addition to this it was necessary that -there should be corroboration of the evidence of the accomplices as to -the identity of each of the persons charged. - -On the question whether it was proved that the first accused, the Mahawa -or paramount chief, took part in the murder of the girl Mini the Court -was divided and the majority were in favour of a verdict of NOT GUILTY. -This man was, however, deposed from the chieftainship, and has, on the -recommendation of the majority of the Court, in accordance with the -provisions of the Special Commission Court Ordinance, been expelled from -the Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone. - -There was ample corroboration as well as strong circumstantial evidence -against the second accused, the uncle of deceased, and he was found -guilty of murder and publicly executed at Imperri on the 2nd June, 1913. - -There was some doubt as to the identity of the third accused. Another -person of the same name appears to have figured prominently in the -conferences of the Society. He was therefore found not guilty and -discharged. - ------ - -Footnote 14: - - Not artificial marks, but scars, the result of ulcers induced by larva - of the tumbo fly or of bruises obtained when working in the bush. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE YANDEHUN CASE - - -This case was one which created exceptional interest locally by reason -of the fact that the accused was a minister of religion and a man well -known in the Colony and Protectorate. He was connected with the United -Brethren in Christ Mission and had been a minister of religion since -1878. - -The accused, who was defended by four members of the Freetown Bar, was -first charged with the capital crime of murder, but after some evidence -had been given the Crown Prosecutor realized that he had not sufficient -evidence to secure a conviction on that charge, and intimated that he -proposed to call no further evidence, whereupon a formal verdict of Not -Guilty was recorded. - -The accused was then proceeded against on the following charges—(i) of -being a member of the Human Leopard Society on or before the 5th -November, 1912, the date of the Human Leopard Amendment Ordinance, 1912, -and (ii) with having taken part in the operations of an unlawful society -on the 17th October, 1909. - -The accused had apparently been well educated, and whilst he was in the -witness-box it was difficult to conceive how a man of his stamp could -possibly be connected with a cannibal society; on the other hand, it was -undisputed that he had permitted himself to be elected Mahawa (paramount -chief) of one of the chiefdoms in the Protectorate, and had acted in -that capacity from 1899 to 1905, which connotes much; and he stated that -he only ceased to be Mahawa after his trial upon a charge of cannibal -murder which took place before a judge and jury in Bonthe in 1905. - -The case for the prosecution depended chiefly upon the evidence of two -informers. Upon the depositions their testimony was corroborated by the -evidence of two witnesses, one of whom was a petty trader and the other -a teacher in another branch of the United Brethren in Christ Mission, -but, as these witnesses when before the Special Commission Court swore -that their previous statements were false, the case for the prosecution -was left to depend almost solely upon the evidence of the two informers. - -These two informers stated that towards the last quarter of 1909 -(cutting-rice time) a meeting of the Human Leopard Society was called -near Yandehun for the purpose of arranging for a certain newly appointed -Mahawuru (sub-chief) to provide a victim to celebrate his appointment. -At that meeting a number of important persons were present, and it was -settled that the Mahawuru should give a girl to whom he stood _in loco -parentis_, and that the murder should take place on the evening of the -fourth day from that. - -[Illustration: A SELF-CONFESSED CANNIBAL.] - -On the evening arranged the two informers and many others arrived at the -appointed place, the Mahawuru enticed the girl to the spot, and he and -his Lavari set upon her and killed her. Her body was divided up and one -of the informers was despatched with a portion of the girl’s flesh to -the accused and another member who had not attended the meeting. He -handed over this flesh to this other member and asked him to give the -accused his portion. - -The next morning the informer went to the town of Victoria and saw the -accused at the French Company’s Factory, and informed him that he had -been sent to ask him whether he had received a share of the “meat” that -was sent for him, to which the accused replied that he had received it. -The informer stated that the accused then said, “All right, I am now -going. I only came for that purpose,” and that the accused then took the -road leading in the direction of Mobundo (New London), which is situated -farther down the river and is one of the starting-places when going by -water to Bonthe. - -If that story was true, there could be no doubt that the “meat” was a -portion of the body of the murdered girl, and an admission by the -accused to a member of the Human Leopard Society that he had received -such “meat” would have been conclusive proof that he was a member of -that Society. - -Both the informers also stated that they saw one of the witnesses, a -petty trader, at the French Company’s Factory on that particular -occasion, and also the school-teacher referred to. That was practically -all, apart from proof of the girl’s disappearance at the time in -question, that the prosecution could prove at the trial. - -Upon the depositions, however, the case was much stronger. At the -preliminary investigation in the District Commissioner’s Court the -previous September the petty trader referred to stated that about two -and a half years before September, 1912, early one morning he saw one of -the informers and the accused coming out of the French Company’s Store. -He further said that he got the school-teacher referred to to write a -letter to a person at Moyamba, but he did not actually connect this -letter with the day on which he saw the informer and the accused -together. He admitted that the school-teacher had written a letter for -him, that he took this letter to a person at Moyamba, and that just -before he started for Moyamba with that letter he went to the French -Company’s Store to get some provisions; but he denied, when before the -Special Commission Court, having seen either the informer or the accused -there. - -The school-teacher in his depositions at the preliminary investigation -in September, 1912, gave important corroborative evidence. He there said -that the accused came to Victoria on the 17th October, 1909, and stayed -the night with him; that the accused went out about 9 p.m. and returned -about 10 p.m. with two persons (who had since been executed for leopard -murder), and that these two stayed with him for about a quarter of an -hour; that next morning the accused went to the French Company’s Factory -and came back to the house; that he asked the accused to stay and preach -for him, but the accused said “No,” that he was in haste, as the -Government, since his previous trial, never allowed him to come to -Victoria, and the witness fixed the date by saying that the petty trader -came to him the same morning to have the above-mentioned letter written. -This letter was produced and identified, and was dated 18th October, -1909. At this preliminary investigation this witness, when -cross-examined by counsel for the accused, said further, “I am certain -that the accused slept at Victoria on the night of October 17th, 1909.” -He also said in cross-examination that he was certain that accused came -there only for the purpose of collecting subscriptions for the Mission -to which he belonged, and that on this occasion he got a subscription -from at least one other person besides himself. But before the Special -Commission Court all this was changed. The keystone of the accused’s -defence was that his collections at Victoria were made on or about the -17th December, 1909, and that he only paid this one visit to Victoria -during the year 1909, and these two witnesses, when before the Special -Commission Court, made their evidence fit in with this defence. - -The school-teacher witness was married to a niece of the accused, and -both he and the petty trader witness admitted having gone back on their -statements about seeing the accused in Victoria in October, 1909, after -an interview with the son of the accused—who was also connected with the -United Brethren in Christ Mission.[15] - -The introduction of outside influences to vary the evidence of important -witnesses for the prosecution gave rise to grave suspicion, but the net -result so far as the actual charges were concerned was that the -prosecution was left without corroboration of the evidence of the -accomplices. - -Had the only issue before the Court been the charges recorded, it is -possible that counsel for the defence would not have called any -witnesses, but would have claimed a verdict upon the evidence; but the -Court drew attention to Section 11 of the Special Commission Court -Ordinance, 1912, which declared that notwithstanding an acquittal, if -the Court is of opinion that it is expedient for the security, peace, or -order of the district that the acquitted person should be expelled -therefrom, the Court shall report to the Governor, who may expel such -person from the Colony and Protectorate accordingly. - -Counsel for the defence therefore decided not to let the matter rest -there, but to call evidence so as to exonerate the accused completely if -it were possible to do so. - -The accused himself first went into the witness-box and proved by -letters to persons connected with his Mission in Freetown that in -September, 1909, he had arranged to make a tour of his district early in -October. He gave evidence to the effect that he started on the 20th -October, proceeded up certain rivers some distance from Victoria, and -that he remained in those parts preaching and giving magic-lantern -entertainments, with the object of obtaining subscriptions for his -mission, until early in December, when he came to New London (Mobundo), -which he reached on the morning of the 7th December, 1909. - -[Illustration: A WATER-SIDE VILLAGE.] - -He related how he had gone to the school-teacher’s house at Victoria and -then to the French Company’s Factory and then to one King, and how he -had got subscriptions, only spending an hour or two at Victoria. He -stated that he then walked to the outlying villages and obtained -subscriptions from persons named Nicoll and Cole, that he then returned -to New London, where he picked up his boat and started home for Bonthe, -which he reached early on the morning of the 8th December. In -corroboration of his story he produced the subscription book which he -kept during the tour, and in which there can be little doubt that the -names of King, Powell, Nicoll, and Cole written by themselves appear in -their due places after the subscriptions given during the earlier period -of the tour. - -These subscriptions seemed to be perfectly genuine, the entries of the -names seemed perfectly genuine, the whole book bore every appearance of -being quite genuine. King and Nicoll, two respectable traders, proved -their signatures in the book and said that they put them there in -December 1909. In some details the evidence of King was inconsistent -with that of the accused and his boatman, but this pointed to little -more than that there had been no collusion. - -Several servants of the accused were also called as witnesses for the -defence, and a number of discrepancies were found to exist in the -various accounts given of the circumstances connected with the trip to -Victoria—a matter not without importance, as one at least of these -servants would probably have accompanied the accused if he visited -Victoria in October as well as December. - -One thing was quite clear: viz., that the accused was at Victoria in or -about December, 1909, and that he then collected subscriptions. The -question therefore naturally arose as to whether his presence in -December was inconsistent with his presence there on the 17th and 18th -October. There could be no doubt that it was not. It is true that he had -produced evidence that he was only at Victoria once during the year -1909, but this evidence was not of high value. There was nothing to -prevent the accused having been at Victoria on the 17th and 18th -October. His letters to Freetown showed that he had intended to begin -his tour early in October, but his start was delayed until the 20th. The -first Human Leopard meeting at Yandehun was, according to the -prosecution, on the 13th October; prominent members of the Society would -have had notice of this meeting prior to the 13th October. Assuming that -the accused had such notice, he would have received it just about the -time he had originally meant to start, and this would account for his -start being delayed until the 20th of October. And the view that he made -a surreptitious visit to Victoria for unlawful purposes was strongly -supported by the fact that the witnesses for the Crown who testified to -his visit had been tampered with. Then the chain of facts worked out by -the prosecution connecting the witnesses and the letter of 18th October -with the accused’s visit, though not sufficient to be of itself -corroboration, was significant confirmation of the story of the -informers. - -The Court in giving judgment stated that, as the accused was a man of -education and a minister of religion connected with a Missionary -Society, they had been slow to form an opinion adverse to him, but that -after careful and anxious consideration they were unwillingly forced to -the opinion that he was so connected with the Human Leopard Society that -it was expedient for the security, peace and order of the District that -he should be expelled from the Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone; -and this was accordingly done. - -This man, who was born in America, successfully raised his American -citizenship on the previous occasion when he was indicted for cannibal -murder. The trial of a person residing in the Protectorate for an -indictable offence ordinarily takes place before the Circuit Court Judge -and assessors, who take the place of a jury, the assessors being usually -native chiefs who sit with the judge and advise him on questions -concerning native law and custom. At the close of the case the judge -sums up to them as he would to a jury, and they individually give their -opinion as to the guilt or otherwise of the person being tried. The -judge, although he is not bound by their opinions, naturally attaches a -good deal of weight to them, but the final verdict is left entirely with -him. Non-natives, however, have the right, when charged with a capital -offence, to be tried by a judge and jury in the Colony instead of the -Circuit Court Judge and assessors, and the plea to the jurisdiction was -successfully raised by counsel when the accused was before the Circuit -Court, on the ground that he was an American subject and therefore a -non-native so far as the provision regulating the trial of natives of -the Protectorate was concerned. The case was then transferred to Bonthe, -where he was found Not Guilty by a jury of educated natives. After his -acquittal he rejoined the United Brethren in Christ Mission and went on -a lecturing tour through America on behalf of the Mission. One of the -European members of the Mission who was present during the trial of the -case before the Special Commission Court stated that he had heard him -lecture in the United States, and that by his eloquence and interesting -description of Sierra Leone he drew large audiences and was successful -in collecting a considerable sum of money for Mission purposes. He is -also known in England, where he had many friends; on several occasions -he has been the guest of persons in high position, to whom his trial -upon a charge of cannibal murder must have come as a most unpleasant -shock. - ------ - -Footnote 15: - - These two witnesses were subsequently prosecuted for perjury before - the Circuit Court and found guilty. - -[Illustration: HINTERLAND TYPES.] - - - - - CHAPTER VII - BORFIMA AND MEMBERSHIP CASES - - -The first of these cases was one against an important person who held -high office in the Imperri Chiefdom. The charge against him was that in -or about the month of July, 1912, he had in his possession without -lawful authority or excuse certain articles, to wit a native medicine -commonly known as “Borfima,” and a “kukoi” or whistle, contrary to -Section 2 of Ordinance No. 28 of 1909 (The Human Leopard Society -Ordinance) as amended by Section 7 of Ordinance No. 17 of 1912. There -were two other counts charging him with (i) the custody and (ii) the -control of the “Borfima” and “Kukoi” mentioned above. The accused was a -man of striking personality, and appears to have exercised a great -influence in the Imperri Chiefdom. - -The facts of the case were simple. In July, 1912, it was stated by -members of the Society who had turned King’s evidence that he had been -present at several meetings of the Human Leopard Society and had taken a -prominent part in the preliminary arrangements for securing various -victims, and that he had at these meetings produced the “mother” Borfima -of the Imperri Chiefdom. In these circumstances he was arrested and his -houses at Gbangbama and Victoria were watched by Court Messengers. - -Early one morning the senior Court Messenger saw one of the accused’s -wives leave the house at Gbangbama with a bundle. He followed her, and -when she saw that there was no escape she threw the bundle down and ran -away. This bundle held, amongst other things, an iron pot containing -“medicine.” - -The accused admitted that the “medicine” was his, and made a statement -as to how it had come into his possession. This will be best described -in his own words: “I am a sick man. My sickness arose over a dream. A -snake swallowed me up to my waist. I screamed and then awakened. In the -morning I was unable to move. My legs and body up to the place where the -snake had swallowed me became ‘dead.’ I remained like that for four -years. I heard that there was a Mori Man at a town called Behol, and -sent a messenger for him. I employed this man to make a medicine for me -and I paid him £3 for it. That is the sebbeh (charm) which was in the -pot which the Court Messenger took from my wife. The Mori Man told me -that I would not dream again, and that the lassimo (medicine) would ward -off ill-health and bad dreams so long as I always kept it with me. Ah! -if he were not dead I would not be here” (meaning that had the Mori Man -been living it would not have been in the power of the white man to -interfere with him). - -The accused caused some amusement in Court by describing how the senior -Court Messenger brought the sebbeh to Gombo-kabbo (“Fire in the grass,” -the native name for the Assistant District Commissioner), and how he -heard him shout out in a triumphant voice, which he imitated, “I have -brought Daddy Borfima—come and see!” - -He likewise imitated the voices of the two ex-members of the Human -Leopard Society who were witnesses against him. One of these men had a -deep voice and the other’s voice was just the reverse, but this did not -appear to present any difficulty to this extraordinarily good mimic. - -Evidence was given that he bore the mark of the Human Leopard Society. -His retort was that even in England people have marks. He went on to say -that the people were beginning to say that the white man “is bad,” but -that it was not altogether the white man’s fault, as he was being misled -by the persons who said they had been members of the Human Leopard -Society and now, to save themselves, gave evidence for the prosecution. -He gave one to understand that words failed him to express his contempt -for these persons, and that if they had to deal with them under native -law they would know what to do. - -He described how the District Commissioner had forced him to throw the -Borfima into a fire made for that purpose; and how he had protested -against this, stating that he had lost good money over its destruction. -He went on to pay a subtle compliment to the Court by saying, “We were -thinking in this country that there were no judges in England until you -‘daddies’ arrived.” - -Although the accused very ably defended himself, there was no doubt from -the evidence of the witnesses that the medicine in question was Borfima. -It was also proved very clearly that he was one of the leaders in the -Human Leopard Society. Found Guilty, and asked if he had anything to say -why sentence should not be passed on him, he replied: “I am the cow with -the short tail, God will drive the flies away. The Judges, you, -represent God. You didn’t believe when I spoke of those men who said -they belonged to the Leopard Society. I see the result now.” - -A sentence of fourteen years’ imprisonment with hard labour was passed -on this man, who, even after the passing of the sentence, had a last -word of protest and pathetic appeal. As he was leaving the Court, he -burst out, “I am an old man, fourteen years is a longer time than I will -live: Judges, if you must have my life take it at once; the soldiers are -there with their guns to shoot”—the military guard round the Court-house -when the Court was sitting. - -It may be mentioned in connection with this case that the prisoner, -without any family influence, had gained an ascendancy over the people -of the Chiefdom unequalled by even the Chief himself. Some years ago he -was tried for Leopard murder, but was acquitted, and from that date he -appears to have been marked out as a person of distinction. It was -asserted that his “medicine” was sufficiently strong to guard him -against all bad trouble that might be put upon him, and he was selected -as the custodian of the chief “medicine” of the Human Leopard Society -known as the “Mother Borfima.” When fresh Borfima was made it was -necessary that a small portion should be taken from the parent Borfima, -and this formed the foundation for the new Borfima. - -[Illustration: WEST AFRICAN SOLDIERS.] - -Another interesting native was brought before the Court in the person of -a Chief from the southern portion of the Protectorate near the Liberian -frontier, charged with a similar offence. The District Commissioner -obtained information that this man had in his possession the “medicine” -belonging to a branch of the Society, and Court Messengers were detailed -to search his house, with the result that a large quantity of “medicine” -of various sorts was discovered and produced before the Court. - -The accused in his defence stated that he had been one of the leaders of -the “War boys,” who operated with the British force during the 1898 -Rebellion, and that the “medicine” produced had been seized by the War -boys from the rebels and was afterwards deposited for safe keeping in -his house; that the War boys had never returned to claim these -curiosities or trophies, and that the bags in which the “medicine” had -been kept had never been opened up until their seizure by the Court -Messengers. There was reliable evidence that a portion of the “medicine” -was Borfima, and it was apparent that some of the leather wrappings -round it had recently been repaired. From the evidence it was clear that -the prisoner had made use of the “medicine” for unlawful purposes, and -he was therefore found Guilty; but as he had been a great warrior and -had rendered valuable service to the Government during the 1898 -Rebellion, a comparatively light sentence was passed on him. - -Another Chief from yet another part of the country was indicted for -being in possession of Borfima without lawful authority. There was also -a second charge against him of having in his possession a Kukoi, i.e. a -special kind of whistle used for calling together members of the Human -Leopard Society. Information reached the District Commissioner of the -Island of Sherbro during the month of August, 1912, that the accused had -Borfima in his possession. This man was known to be of a rather -truculent disposition, and it was considered desirable that there should -be some show of force when his chief town was visited for the purpose of -effecting his arrest, as otherwise some resistance might have been met -with by the officers detailed for this duty. An armed party of the West -African Frontier Force accordingly made a surprise visit and surrounded -his house, and effected his arrest without any resistance being offered. -His house was then searched and a quantity of “medicines” found which -were produced in Court. - -The accused admitted that the “medicines” belonged to him, but stated -that they had been left to him by his predecessor, and that during his -absence on one occasion while he was in Freetown they had been put in -his dwelling-house, and that he, fearing these “medicines,” had kept -them locked up in a leather bag. He further denied that any of the -“medicines” was Borfima. The witnesses for the prosecution all stated -that a portion of the “medicines” was Borfima, and it was apparent that -the wrappings of this particular “medicine” had been recently repaired. - -The Court in delivering judgment pointed out that the accused, by -keeping this medicine in his possession, gave himself and others the -opportunity of using it, and that there was satisfactory evidence to -show that it was not kept for curiosity or for any legitimate object, -but for an unlawful purpose; however, as there was no evidence to show -that the Borfima had been taken to the scenes of any of the recent -murders, and there was no reason to believe it had, the Court took this -into consideration in deciding on the punishment to be imposed on the -accused. The sentence imposed was a term of two years’ imprisonment with -hard labour. The evidence regarding the Kukoi (whistle) was not -considered reliable, and on this charge he was found not guilty. - -A number of other cases besides those mentioned occupied the time of the -Court for some weeks, and among them were a number of cases in which -prisoners were charged with being members of the Human Leopard Society. -As there were so many persons under arrest on this charge, the Crown -decided to proceed only against the important men concerned. Most of -these men were defended by counsel, who examined the witnesses for the -prosecution at great length, but in many cases they were unable to shake -their evidence. A number of these prisoners were proved to have been -present at various meetings of the Society at which the details of -several murders had been arranged, and the Court in giving judgment -stated that on the facts proved such persons were really accessories -before the fact to these murders and might on the evidence have been -found guilty on the capital charge had they been prosecuted for it, and -in those cases the Court felt compelled to pass the maximum sentence of -fourteen years’ imprisonment with hard labour. - -The only other case of interest was one in which a man of some -importance in his chiefdom was charged with having in his possession -without lawful authority a certain article, to wit an iron needle of a -peculiar shape used for marking on initiation members of the HUMAN -LEOPARD SOCIETY. - -The possession of this article is made an offence under the HUMAN -LEOPARD SOCIETY ORDINANCE, punishable with imprisonment up to fourteen -years. The case resolved itself chiefly into a discussion on a point of -law, the arguments in the case all turning on the word “branding.” - -The case for the prosecution was that iron needles, made specially for -the purpose, were used in the following way: the needle was inserted -under the skin, the skin and flesh were raised, a razor then cut under -or over the needle in such a way as to make a small wound from which -blood flowed. A preparation called Nikori was then placed on the wound, -and the result was a peculiar scar or mark. It was contended that an -iron needle used for that purpose could be held to be a needle used for -branding persons. - -For the defence it was argued by counsel that “branding” a person meant -applying a hot iron to his person, and that marking a person was not the -same as branding him; that the word “branding” by itself contained the -idea of burning, that the Statute was a highly penal Statute giving -exceptionally large powers to the Executive and imposing a heavy -punishment for breach of its provisions. It was further argued that the -needle was not even for “marking” members—that it was the razor which -actually made the mark; that although the needle might be used in the -process of marking it was no more used for “marking” the person than the -hand which held it. - -[Illustration: THE PRISONERS OF A NATIVE CHIEFTAINESS, CRACKING -PALM-KERNELS.] - -The Court held that the needle could not be held to be used for -“branding,” and found the accused not guilty, and he was discharged. - -The Crown Prosecutor entered a _nolle prosequi_ in the case of a number -of other prisoners who had been committed for trial but against whom he -did not consider that he had sufficient evidence to justify him in -proceeding further, and these men, so far as the charges on which they -were committed for trial were concerned, were discharged from custody. - -This completed the work of the Special Commission Court, which, after -sitting continuously from the 18th December, 1912, concluded its -sittings on the 15th May, 1913. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - OTHER CASES OF LEOPARD MURDER; THE HUMAN BABOON SOCIETY - - -Although the work of the Special Commission Court was completed on the -15th May, 1913, there were at that date a large number of persons still -in custody who had not been committed for trial, and who therefore did -not come within the purview of that Court. It was decided that the -District Commissioner should hold an Enquiry under the Protectorate -Ordinance and report whether on the evidence given against any of these -men he considered such persons to be a danger to the peace of the -community. - -The first enquiry made was in regard to charges preferred against a -number of men of the Imperri and Jung Chiefdoms of being connected with -the Human Leopard Society. Evidence was given by informers that all -these men were members of or connected with the Human Leopard Society, -and mention was made of a number of murders by the Society previously -unknown to the Authorities. Apart from the evidence of the informers -there was ample evidence to show that a number of these men had actually -assisted members of the Society, and the Governor-in-Council approved of -the deportation of twelve sub-chiefs and fourteen of the principle -Headmen of the Imperri and Jong Chiefdoms from the Northern Sherbro -District. - -The next enquiry was in regard to charges made against thirty-six -sub-Chiefs and principal men of the Gallinas Chiefdom. Three informers -gave evidence that they had been members of the Human Leopard Society -and had, during their membership, been present at a number of murders, -each of these men admitting having given a victim himself and giving -details regarding the sacrifices. They said that all the persons who -were the subject of the enquiry were members of the Society, and -specified the various murders at which each of them had been present; -they also gave further evidence regarding the leopard mark and exhibited -the marks which they had received on initiation. - -One of the witnesses was a boy aged eighteen years. His story was that -one evening in the previous year, as he was returning home from a visit -to a neighbouring village, night overtook him, and by mistake he took a -path leading to the Poro bush at Powolu, where he fell into a number of -people. He spoke to them, but no one answered. He then got afraid and -commenced to run away, when he was seized by some one who was assisted -by several others to make him a fast prisoner. He was then dragged -inside the Poro bush and a discussion took place, which he was able to -hear, as to whether they should kill him or not. The majority of the -members were for immediately killing him in accordance with the rules of -the Society, but it was pointed out that another victim had already been -secured, and further that as their prisoner was the son of a man of some -importance his absence might give rise to some awkward inquiries. It was -therefore agreed to give him the alternative of becoming a member of the -Society or of being immediately killed. The witness stated that he -agreed to join the Society. Borfima was then brought, and the “big man” -of the Society explained to him that the Borfima was the “mother” of the -Society and should be treated with the greatest veneration; that they -were its children and therefore brothers to each other, and in order to -join him to their brotherhood some of his blood had to be given to the -Borfima to drink; that when the blood was taken from him he should bear -the pain inflicted bravely and should not utter a sound, as otherwise it -would displease their “medicine” and might result in his being punished -in some unexpected way. The “Master” then marked him on the left buttock -by cutting a slice of flesh away and rubbing the blood that exuded from -the wound on to the Borfima. He was then made to swear an oath on the -Borfima not to reveal the secrets of the Society, and was forced to be -present and witness the killing of a girl who had been brought to the -Poro bush, and was made to eat some of the flesh of this victim. - -Although there was no direct evidence apart from that of accomplices, it -was clear from the testimony of independent witnesses that all these -persons were so connected with the Society as to make it desirable to -have them removed from the Gallinas District, where it was stated they -exercised great influence over the people. All these men, with the -exception of eight sub-Chiefs who absconded to Liberia, have since been -deported to the Karina and Koinadugu Districts of the Protectorate. - -[Illustration: LADIES OF THE SIERRA LEONE HINTERLAND.] - -Some light was thrown on the means used to terrorize the ordinary -members of the community into keeping silence regarding anything they -may have heard concerning the crimes committed by the Society. When it -was discovered that the Government officers were making enquiries -regarding the Society an attempt was made “to swear” the whole -country—that is, to put all the people under an oath of secrecy. In one -Chiefdom this was done by swearing every one who was likely to be able -to give any information on a “medicine” called Tillah. If a person -breaks an oath on this “medicine,” even though he does so unwittingly, -the natives believe that the medicine will catch him and will infect him -with a disease which first attacks his lips and nose, which it eats -away, and which eventually kills him. There are a few lepers in this -Chiefdom, and they are pointed out as people who have broken, though -perhaps unintentionally, an oath taken on the Tillah. - -Another exhibit which was produced in one of the cases before the -Special Commission Court was a stone image which is looked upon by the -Gallinas people in the light of a Deity. It is known by the name of -Toniahun. The meaning of the word Toniahun is “turn back to truth.” The -figure has been carved out from soapstone by some ancient sculptor, and -its features are more of the Arab than the Negro type. No woman will -look at this image for fear of becoming sterile, and they cover their -eyes if they approach it. This figure, notwithstanding its name, was -apparently also used for swearing persons on—i.e. to force them to state -that they knew nothing of the Human Leopard Society—and so great is the -fear of the Society and the various “medicines” employed by it that even -the parents of children who have been seized as victims cannot be -induced to assist the Authorities in bringing the guilty parties to -justice. Prior to July, 1912, no case of Human Leopardism or cannibalism -had ever been reported to have taken place in the Gallinas Country, and -the Authorities had no reason to suspect that any had taken place. It -was not until after a number of arrests had been made in other Districts -that it was brought to light that a flourishing branch of the Human -Leopard Society had existed in that District for many years, and details -of about a score of murders were given by members of the Society who had -turned informers. Although the existence of the Society must have been -known to hundreds of people, many of whom went about in terror of it, -the fear of the “medicines” of the Society acted as a sufficient -deterrent to keep the matter from the ears of all Europeans in that part -of the country, thus demonstrating the fear that an ordinary native has -of doing or saying anything which might bring him into collision with -the members of the Human Leopard Society, who might, with the aid of -their “medicines,” punish him in some fearful and unexpected way. - -[Illustration: A NATIVE CHIEFTAINESS.] - -The fact that the majority of the persons who were convicted or deported -under the Special Commission Court Ordinance were important members of -the Human Leopard Society must have the salutary effect of breaking up -for the time being this criminal organization; nevertheless, unless -vigorous measures are pursued and unless that part of the country is -more effectively policed, it is more than probable that the killing of -an occasional victim in order to renew their fetishes will be continued. -It must be a gradual evolution, which will be brought about by the -natives of those parts coming more in touch with European influence and -gradually losing faith in the potency of their “medicines.” - -While the Special Commission Court was sitting three murders occurred in -the Koinadugu District, which hitherto as far as official knowledge goes -was entirely free from cannibalism of any kind. According to the -evidence given by a number of witnesses, the people of the Symira -Chiefdom had a very vexed question to settle in the selection from a -number of aspirants of a Paramount Chief as a successor to their late -Chief who died the previous year, and who left no near male relative who -could of right claim to succeed to the Chiefdom; and it was suggested by -these witnesses that the victims were provided as propitiatory offerings -by candidates for the Chiefdom. - -A small girl aged about seven years was killed at Nerekora toward the -end of December, 1912; two days later another small girl about twelve -years of age was killed at Bafai; and early the following month another -girl aged about twelve to thirteen years was killed at Nerekora. All -these deaths were at first attributed to attacks by bush leopards, but -the evidence given by various witnesses was to the effect that these -three girls were murdered by members of the Human Leopard Society. - -Another secret society known as the Human Baboon Society, which exists -in one of the northern Districts of the Protectorate, first came to -notice about five years ago, when a number of persons were charged -before the Circuit Court with the murder of a small child. During the -investigation connected with the death of the child, it came to light -that a number of persons in the vicinity of Port Lokkoh in the Karina -District had banded themselves together and had formed a society which -has since become known as the Human Baboon Society. In the case -mentioned no evidence could be obtained to corroborate the statements of -the informers, and the accused were found not guilty and discharged from -custody. - -During the month of May, 1913, a small girl was killed near the village -of Bokamp, and, according to statements made by persons who turned -informers, she was murdered by members of the Human Baboon Society. -Their statements were to the following effect: That this Society was -formed about six years ago, and consists of twenty-one members made up -of eleven men and ten women; that seven victims, all young children, had -been provided at various times for the Society; that at their meetings -one of the members of the Society dresses himself in a Baboon skin and -attacks the victim with his teeth; that the spirit of all members of the -Society becomes centred in the person who is for the time being wearing -the Baboon skin, which, when not in use, is kept in a small forest, -where it is guarded by an evil spirit, and that the “Baboon” bites -pieces out of the victim which the other members of the Society devour. - -The only explanation that the informers could or would give as to the -objects of the Society was that the founder of it had quarrelled with -his tribal ruler, who he alleged liberated one of the founders’ slaves -and placed him in authority over him; that he, the owner of the slave, -became so incensed that he turned himself into a “witch” and induced -others to join him in doing “evil things.” - -Objects and reasons other than those given by the informers probably -exist, but it is doubtful whether they will ever be discovered. - -The information in the hands of the Authorities, however, appears to be -sufficient to allow of effective measures being taken to put an end to -the existence of this Society. - - - - - _PART II_ - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A NOTE ON SIERRA LEONE, PAST AND PRESENT - - -In acknowledging the congratulations of the people of Sierra Leone on -the occasion of his coronation, King George V referred to the Colony as -“my ancient and loyal Sierra Leone.” There is no question about the -Colony being an ancient one and one of the earliest though perhaps not -one of the brightest jewels of His Majesty’s now mighty Colonial Empire. - -The harbour of Sierra Leone was discovered by the Portuguese towards the -end of the fourteenth century, and was named by its discoverers Sierra -Leone from supposing the mountains to abound in lions, though it has -also been asserted that the name was derived from the noise of the surf -on the shores, which resembles the roar of a lion. - -At the present day there are no lions to be found along the coast of -tropical West Africa, but it is not improbable that they were numerous -in the days of the early Portuguese explorers and roared a challenge to -their ships when they put in to land. - -[Illustration: EMPIRE DAY IN FREETOWN.] - -The following lines by T. B. Rhodes in his “Bombastes Furioso,” apropos -of Col. Titus’ speech in the House of Commons on the Exclusion Bill on -the 7th January, 1681, shows that it was generally accepted as a fact -that lions abounded along the Coast of West Africa, which was the only -part of Tropical Africa known to Europeans in those days:— - - “So have I heard on Afric’s burning shore - A hungry lion give a grievous roar: - The grievous roar echoed along the shore. - So have I heard on Afric’s burning shore - Another lion give a grievous roar, - And the first lion thought the last a bore.” - -The coast-line and the rivers of Sierra Leone were explored by Pedro de -Cintra, a distinguished Portuguese navigator, in the year 1462, and this -constituted one of the last of the Portuguese discoveries carried on -under the direct influence and authority of Don Henry, the founder and -father of modern maritime discovery, who died the following year. - -The record of the voyage so far as it affects Sierra Leone is described -as follows:— - -“On quitting St. Jago we steered southerly by Rio Grande, which is on -the north of Ethiopia, beyond which we came to the high mountain of -Sierra Leone, the summit of which is continually enveloped in mist and -out of which thunder and lightning almost perpetually flashes and is -heard at sea from the distance of fifteen to twenty leagues.” - -In 1481 the King of Portugal sent Susu, his ambassador, to Edward IV of -England, claiming title under the Bull of the Pope, and requested Edward -to forbid his subjects to navigate along the coast of Africa. - -England first began to take an active interest in this part of Africa -about the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1551, in the reign of -Edward VI, some London merchants sent an English ship to trade for gold, -ivory, and Guinea pepper; and about three years later Captain John Lok -brought back a valuable cargo consisting of gold, ivory, and Guinea -pepper from what is now the Gold Coast Colony. - -Sir John Hawkins landed at Sierra Leone on the 8th May, 1562, and it is -recorded of him that he was the first Englishman who gave public -countenance to the Slave Trade, which the Portuguese had been carrying -on for some years. He brought three ships and took cargoes of slaves -from Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa and sold them to the -Spanish settlements in America. After Captain Hawkins returned to -England from his first voyage, Queen Elizabeth sent for him and -expressed her concern lest any of the African negroes should be carried -off without their free consent, which she declared would be detestable -and would call down the vengeance of heaven upon the undertakers; but it -is recorded that in the thirtieth year of her reign she was induced by -the subtle persuasion of some of her subjects to grant patents for -carrying on the slave trade from the north part of the Senegal to one -hundred leagues beyond Sierra Leone. - -Sir John Hawkins made three voyages from the coast of Africa to the West -Indies and Spanish America with cargoes of slaves; and the good Queen -Bess, having overcome her scruples regarding this lucrative trade, -fitted out as a private enterprise two ships and sent them under the -command of Hawkins, who lost the whole of her money, the ships being -taken by the Spaniards. Sir Francis Drake, who at that time had command -of the barque of fifty tons called the _Judith_, escaped and returned to -England. - -[Illustration: WHERE HAWKINS MAY HAVE LANDED FOR SLAVES.] - -It is not surprising that the name of the great Elizabethan hero, -Hawkins, is not held in reverence by the inhabitants of Freetown, who -assert that, far from being a national hero, if he had lived in the -present day he would have been hanged for some of the acts committed on -their forbears. In this connection a story is told of a prominent Sierra -Leonean who, on hearing the words “Britons never shall be slaves” sung, -remarked with some feeling, to a near neighbour, “But they have -been—Julius Cæsar took them as slaves to Rome.” - -Captain Keeling, who visited Sierra Leone in August, 1607, wrote the -following account of his visit: - -“About 7 p.m. we anchored in twenty fathoms on hard sand, the south part -of Ilha Verde bearing E. and the Cape of Sierra Leone, which is a low -point, N. by E. about eight leagues distant. But the land over the Cape -is very high, and may be seen fifteen leagues off in clear weather. -About six next morning we made sail for the road, and had not less than -16, 15, 10 and 9 fathoms till we ranged north and south with the rocks -which lie about one and a half miles west of Cape Sierra Leone; and when -one mile from the nearest shore we had seven fathoms good shoaling -between us and the rock. Immediately when past the rock we had 20 -fathoms, and shoaled to 18, 16, 12 and 10 fathoms all the way into the -roads, keeping very near the South shore; for a sand lies about two -miles from the North shore or a league from the South shore, and upon it -the sea continually breaks. We came to anchor in ten fathoms on good -ground, the point of Sierra Leone bearing W. by N., the north point of -the bay N. by W., and the sand or breaker N.N.E. In the afternoon we -were waved by some men on shore, to whom I sent my boat, which, leaving -two hostages, brought off four negroes, who promised us refreshments. My -skiff sounded between our anchorage and the breakers, finding fair -shoaling, with two fathoms water within two boats-length of the beach or -sand on which the sea breaks. All the previous observations of the -variation, since our coming from 2 N. latitude to this place proved -erroneous; for to each distance, having reference to any Meridian -eastwards, there must be added 30 leagues, and from such as referred to -western Meridians 30 leagues must be subtracted; for it appeared, by our -falling in with the land, that the ship was so much more westerly than -we supposed; myself, notwithstanding this error, being as much if not -more westerly than any of the Mariners. Yet every man must trust to his -own experience; for instruments may deceive, even in the hands of the -most skilful. The 7th August some negroes of a superior appearance came -aboard in my boat, for whom, as for all others, we had to leave one of -our men in hostage for every two of them. These made signs that I should -send some men up the country, and they would stay as hostages; I -accordingly sent Edward Bradbury and my servant William Cotterell with a -present to the Captain or chief, consisting of one coarse shirt, three -feet of bar iron, a few glass beads, and two knives. They returned -towards night, and brought me from the Captain one small gold earring -worth some eight or nine shillings; and as it was late the hostages -remained all night on board without any one in pawn for them. I sent my -boat, and brought off five tons of water, very good and easily come by. - -[Illustration: THRESHING RICE, SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE.] - -“I went ashore on the 11th, when the people came to us, accompanied by -their women, yet feared we might carry them away. We got plenty of -lemons very cheap, as they gave us 200 for a penny knife. The 13th I -bought an elephant tooth of 63 pounds weight for five yards of blue -calico and seven or eight pounds of bar iron. The 15th in an hour and a -half we took Six thousand excellent small fish called Cavallos. That -afternoon we bought two or three thousand lemons at the Village. It -rained so much at this place that we esteemed it a dry day when we had -three hours of fair weather. The 16th I allowed our weekly workers to go -on shore with me for recreation. In our walk we saw not above two or -three acres sown with rice—the surface of the ground being mostly a hard -rock. The 16th and 17th were quite fair; and on the latter I caused a -quantity of lemon-water to be made. The 20th John Rogers returned and -brought me a present of a piece of gold in form of a half-moon, worth -five or six shillings. He reported the people to be peaceable, the chief -without state, the landing to be two leagues up the river, and the -chief’s village eight miles from the landing. The 22nd I went on shore -and made six or seven barricos full of lemon juice; having opened a -firkin of knives belonging to the Company wherewith to buy limes. The -afternoon of the 7th September we went all on shore to try if we could -shoot an elephant, when we shot seven or eight bullets into him, and -made him bleed exceedingly, as appeared by his track; but night coming -on we had to go on board without effecting our purpose. The best road -and watering place is the fourth bay to the east of Cape Sierra Leone. -The tide where we rode flowed W.S.W., and the highest water upon a -spring tide was at the least 12 feet. I made no observation of the sun -in this road, neither aboard nor on shore, though I proposed to have so -done several times; but the Master made the road where we lay 8 36 N., -Cape Sierra Leone being west, a league or four miles off. He also made -the variation 1 50 eastwards; but my instrument was out of order, and I -had not time to put it in repair. We weighed from Sierra Leone the 14th -September, with the wind all easterly; but it soon fell calm, and we -drove to the north, but drifted again S.W. by S., with the ebb, and when -the flood again made, we anchored in 15½ fathoms, Cape Sierra Leone -bearing N.E. by E. about seven leagues off. We had not less than ten -fathoms all this day. The 16th we found the current setting N. by W.” - -William Finch, a British merchant who also visited Sierra Leone during -the year 1607, wrote the following lengthy and interesting account of -his visit: - -“The island which we fell in with lieth some ten leagues south from the -bay of Sierra Leone in lat. 8 N., has no inhabitants, neither did I -learn its name. It has some plantains, and, by report, good watering and -wooding for ships; but about a league from the shore there is a -dangerous ledge of rock, scarcely visible at high water. The bay of -Sierra Leone is about three leagues broad, being high land on the South -side, full of trees to the very edge of the water, and having several -coves in which we caught plenty and variety of fish. On the farther side -of the fourth cove is the watering place, having excellent water -continually running. Here on the rocks we found the names of various -Englishmen who had been there. Among those was Sir Francis Drake, who -had been there twenty-seven years before; Thomas Candish, Captain -Lister, and others. About the middle of the bay, right out from the -third cove, lieth a sand, near about which there are not above two or -three fathoms, but in most other parts eight or ten close in shore. The -tide flows E.S.E., the highest water being six or eight feet, and the -tide is very strong. The latitude is 8 30 N. - -“The King of Sierra Leone resides at the bottom of the bay, and is -called by the Moors Borea, or Captain Caran, having other petty kings or -chiefs under him; one whom he called Captain Pinto, a wretched old man, -dwells at a town within the second cove; and on the other side of the -bay is Captain Bolone. The Dominions of Borea stretch forty leagues -inland, from which he receives a tribute in cotton cloth, elephants’ -teeth and gold; and has the power of selling his people as slaves, some -of whom he offered to us. Some of them have been converted to -Christianity by the Portuguese priests and Jesuits, who have a chapel, -in which is a table inscribed with the days that are to be observed as -holy. The King and a few of his principal attendants are decently -clothed in jackets and breeches; but the common people have only a -slight cotton-cloth round their waists, while the women have a kind of -short petticoat or apron down to their knees; all the rest of their -bodies, both men and women, being quite naked; the young people of both -sexes having no dress whatever. All the people, both men and women, have -all parts of their bodies very curiously and ingeniously traced and -pintred (tattooed), and have their teeth filed very sharp. They pull off -all the hair from their eyelids. The men have their beards short, black, -and cropped, and the hair on their heads strangely cut into crisped -paths or cross alleys; while others wear theirs in strange jagged tufts, -or other foolish forms; the women’s heads being all close shaved. - -[Illustration: A NATIVE HUNTER] - -“Their town contains not more than thirty or forty houses, all -irregularly clustered together, all thatched with reeds; yet each has a -kind of yard inclosed with mud walls like our hovels or hog-styes in -England. Instead of a locked and bolted door, the entrance is only -closed by a mat, having nothing to be stolen; and for bedsteads they -have only a few billets covered by a mat; yet some have hangings of -mats, especially about their beds. Their furniture consists of two or -three earthen pots to hold water, and to boil such provisions as they -can get; a gourd or two for palm wine; half a gourd to serve as a -drinking cup; a few earthen dishes for their loblolly or pottage; and a -basket or two for the Maria to gather cockles; and a knapsack for the -man, made of bark to carry his provisions, with his pipe and tobacco. -When a negro man goes from home he has always his knapsack on his back, -in which he has his provisions and tobacco, his pipe being seldom from -his mouth; besides which he has always his little sword by his side, -made by themselves of such iron as they get from the Europeans, his bow -also, and quiver full of poisoned arrows, pointed with iron like a -snake’s tongue, or else a case of javelins or darts having iron heads of -good breadth and made sharp, sometimes both. The men of this country are -large and well-made, strong and courageous, and civilized manners for -heathens; as they keep most faithfully to their wives, of whom they are -not a little jealous. I could not learn their religion, for though they -have some idols, they seem to know that there is a God in heaven, as, -when we asked them about their wooden puppets, they used to lift up -their hands to heaven. All their children are circumcised, but I could -not learn the reason why. They are very just and true in their dealings, -and theft is punished with instant death. When any one dies, a small -thatched roof is erected over his bier, under which are set earthen pots -kept always full of water, and some earthen plates with different kinds -of food, a few bones being stuck up around the body. To the South of -this bay, some thirty or forty leagues into the interior country, there -are very fierce people, who are cannibals, and sometimes infest the -natives of Sierra Leone. - -“The inhabitants of Sierra Leone feed on rice, of which they only -cultivate what is indispensably needful for their subsistence, in small -patches near their dwellings, which they clear by burning the woods. -They likewise sow another very small grain, called pene, of which they -make bread, not much unlike winter savory. They rear a few poultry about -their houses, using no other animals for food, except when they -sometimes get a fawn of the wild deer, a few of which are found in the -mountains, or some wild fowl. They feed also on cockles and oysters, of -which there are vast quantities on the rocks and trees by the seaside, -but these have rather an insipid taste; and they catch plenty of -excellent fish, by means of weirs and other devices. They also feed on -herbs and roots, cultivating about their dwellings many plantains, -gourds, pumpkins, potatoes, and Guinea pepper. - -“Tobacco likewise is planted by every one, and seems to constitute half -their food. The bowl of their tobacco pipe is very large, and made of -clay well burnt, into the lower end of which they thrust a small hollow -cane eighteen inches long, through which they suck the smoke, both men -and women swallowing most of it. Every man carries a small bag called a -tuffio in his knapsack, in which is his pipe and tobacco, and the women -have their pipes in their hands. They prepare their tobacco for smoking -by straining out its juice while quite green, and they informed us by -signs that it would otherwise make them drunk. They afterwards shred it -very small and dry on an earthen dish over the embers. On an island in -the bay we saw about half a dozen goats and nowhere else in this -country. - -[Illustration: PICKING PALM-KERNELS.] - -“They have innumerable kinds of fruits growing wild in the woods, in -which are whole groves of lemon trees, especially near the town and -watering place, and some few orange trees. Their drink is mostly water; -yet the men use great quantities of palmito wine, which they call moy, -giving little or none to the women. It is strange to see their manner of -climbing the palmito trees; which are of great size and height, having -neither boughs nor branches except near the top. Surrounding the tree -and his own body by means of a withe or band of twisted twigs, on which -he leans his back, and jerking up his withe before him, he foots it up -with wonderful speed and certainty, and comes down again in the same -manner, bringing his gourd full of liquor on his arm. Among their fruits -are many kinds of plums: one like a wheaten plum is wholesome and -savoury; likewise a black one, as large as a horse plum, which is much -esteemed and has an aromatic flavour. A kind called man-samillius, -resembling a wheaten plum, is very dangerous, as is likewise the sap of -the boughs which is perilous for the sight if it should chance to get -into the eyes. Among their fruits is one called benin-ganion, about the -size of a lemon with a reddish rind and very wholesome; also another -called bequill, as large as an apple, with a rough knotty skin which is -pared off, when the pulp below eats like a strawberry, which likewise it -resembles in colour and grain, and of which we eat much. There are -abundance of wild grapes in the woods; but having a woody and bitterish -taste. The nuts of the palmito are eaten roasted. They use but little -pepper and grains. There is a singular fruit growing six or eight -together in a bunch, each as long and thick as one’s finger, the skin -being of a brownish yellow colour and somewhat downy, and within the -rind is a pulp of a pleasant taste; but I know not if it be wholesome. - -“I observed in the woods certain trees like beeches, bearing fruit -resembling beans, of which I noticed three kinds. One of these was a -great tall tree, bearing pods like those of beans, in each of which was -four or five squarish beans, resembling tamarind seeds, having hard -shells, within which is a virulent poison, employed by the negroes to -envenom their arrows. This they call Ogon. The second is smaller, having -a crooked pod with a thick rind; six or seven inches long, and half that -breadth, containing each five large beans an inch long. The third, -called quenda, has short leaves like the former, and much bigger fruit, -growing on a strong thick woody stock, indented on the sides, nine -inches long and five broad, within which are five long beans, which are -also said to be dangerous. - -“I likewise saw trees resembling willows, bearing fruit like pease pods. -There is a fruit called Gola, which grows in the interior. This fruit, -which is enclosed in a shell, is hard, reddish, bitter, and about the -size of a walnut, with many angles and corners. The negroes are much -given to chew this fruit along with the bark of a certain tree. After -one person has chewed it a while, he gives it to his neighbour, and so -from one to another, chewing long before they cast it away, but -swallowing none of its substance. They attribute great virtues to this -for the teeth and gums; and indeed the negroes are usually as well -toothed as horses. This fruit passes also among them for money. - -“Higher within the land they cultivate cotton, which they call innuma, -and of which they spin very good yarn with spindles, and afterwards very -ingeniously weave into cloths, three quarters of a yard broad, to make -their girdles or clouts formerly mentioned; and when sewed together it -is made into jackets and breeches for their great men. By means of a -wood called cambe they dye their purses and mats of a red colour. - -“The tree on which the plantains grow is of a considerable height, its -body being about the thickness of a man’s thigh. It seems to be an -annual, and, in my opinion, ought rather to be reckoned among reeds than -trees; for the stem is not of a woody substance, but compacted of many -leaves wrapped close upon each other, adorned with leaves from the very -ground instead of boughs, which are mostly two yards long and a yard -broad, having a large rib in the middle. The fruit is a bunch of ten or -twelve plantains, each a span long and as thick as a man’s wrist, -somewhat crooked or bending inwards. These grow on a leafy stalk on the -middle of the plant, being at first green, but grow yellow and tender as -they ripen. When the rind is stripped off, the inner pulp is also -yellowish and pleasant to the taste. Beneath the fruit hangs down, from -the same stalk, a leafy sharp-pointed tuft, which seems to have been the -flower. This fruit they call banana, which they have in reasonable -abundance. They are ripe in September and October. We carried some with -us green to sea which were six weeks in ripening. - -“Guinea pepper grows wild in the woods on a small plant like privet, -having small slender leaves, the fruit being like our barberry in form -and colour. It is green at first, turning red as it ripens. It does not -grow in bunches like our barberry, but here and there two or three -together about the stalk. They call it bangue. - -“The pene of which their bread is made grows on a small tender herb -resembling grass, the stalk being all full of small seeds, not inclosed -in any husk. I think it is the same which the Turks call cuscus, and the -Portuguese Yfunde. - -“The palmito tree is high and straight, the stalk being knotty and the -wood of a soft substance, having no boughs except at the top and these -also seem rather reeds than boughs, being all pith within inclosed by a -hard rind. The leaf is long and slender, like that of a sword-lily or -flag. The boughs stand out from the top of the tree on all sides, rather -more than a yard long, beset on both sides with strong sharp prickles, -like the saw teeth but longer. It bears a fruit like a small cocoa-nut, -the size of chestnut inclosed in a hard shell, streaked with threads on -the outside, and containing a kernel of a hard horny substance quite -tasteless, yet they are eaten roasted. The tree is called tobell and the -fruit bell. For procuring the palmito wine they cut off one of the -branches within a span of the head, to which they fasten a gourd shell -by the mouth, which in twenty-four hours is filled by a clear whitish -sap, of a good and strong relish, with which the natives get drunk. - -“The oysters formerly mentioned grow on trees resembling willows in -form, but having broader leaves, which are thick like leather, and -having small knobs like those of the cypress. From these trees hang down -many branches into the water, each about the thickness of a -walking-stick, smooth, limber, and within, which are overflowed by every -tide and hang as thick as they can stick of—oysters, being the only -fruit of this tree. - -“They have many kinds of ordinary fish, and some of which seemed to us -extraordinary, as mullets, rays, thorn-backs, old-wives with prominent -brows, fishes like pikes, gar-fish, cavallios, like makerel, -sword-fishes having snouts a yard long toothed on each side like a -saw-shark’s, dog-fish sharkers, resembling sharks but having a broad -flat snout like a shovel, shoemakers, having pendants at each side of -their mouths like barbels, and which grunt like hogs, with many others. -We once caught in an hour 6,000 fishes like bleaks. Of birds there are -pelicans as large as swans, of a white colour, with long and large -bills; herons, curlews, boobies, ox-eyes, and various other kinds of -water-fowl. On land great numbers of grey parrots, and abundance of -pintados or Guinea fowls, which are very hurtful to their rice crops. -There are many other kinds of strange birds in the woods, of which I -knew not the names; and I saw among the Negroes many porcupine quills. -There are also great number of monkeys leaping about the trees, and on -the mountains there are lions, tigers and ounces. There are but few -elephants, of which we only saw three; but they abound further inland. -The negroes told us of a strange beast, which our interpreter called a -carbuncle, which is said to be often seen, but only in the night. This -animal is said to carry a stone in the forehead, wonderfully luminous, -giving him light by which to feed in the night, and on hearing the -slightest noise he presently conceals it with a skin or film naturally -provided for the purpose. The commodities here are few, more being got -farther to the eastwards. At certain times of the year the Portuguese -got gold and elephants’ teeth in exchange for rice, salt, beads, bells, -garlick, French bottles, edge-tooles, iron barrs, and sundry specious -trifles, but for your toyes they will not give gold in this place but -victuals.” - -In 1615 Sierra Leone was visited by the _Unity_, a ship of 360 tons, of -which William Cornelison Schonten was the master. This visit is -described as follows:— - -“On the 1st August we came in sight of the high land of Sierra Leone, on -the 21st of that month, as also of the island of Madre Bomba, which lies -off the south point of Sierra Leone and north from the shallows of the -island of St. Ann. This land of Sierra Leone is the highest of all that -lie between Cape Verd and the coast of Guinea, and is therefore easily -known. - -“On the 30th August they cast anchor in eight fathoms water on a fine -sandy bottom near the shore and opposite a village or town of the -negroes in the road of Sierra Leone. This village consisted only of -eight or nine poor thatched huts. The moorish inhabitants were willing -to come on board to trade, only demanding a pledge to be left on shore -for their security, because a French ship had recently carried off two -of the natives perfidiously. Aris Clawson, the junior merchant or -supercargo, went accordingly on shore, where he drove a small trade for -lemons and bananas in exchange for glass beads. - -“In the meantime some of the natives came off to the ship, bringing with -them an interpreter who spoke many languages. They here very -conveniently furnished themselves with fresh water, which poured down in -great abundance from a very high hill, so that they had only to place -their casks under the waterfall. There were here whole woods of -lemon-trees, and lemons were so cheap that they might have had a -thousand for a few beads and ten thousand for a few common knives, so -that they easily procured as many as they wished, and each man had 150 -for sea store. The 3rd September they found a vast shoal of fish -resembling a shoemaker’s knife. They left Sierra Leone on the 4th -September.” - -[Illustration: “THE HIGH LAND OF SIERRA LEONE,” WITH HILL STATION IN THE -FOREGROUND.] - -The next recorded visit to Sierra Leone was that of the _Desire_, whose -Master was Thomas Candesh, and this visit is described as follows:— - -“They made Sierra Leone on the 23rd August, and reached its southern -side on the 25th, where they had five fathoms of the lowest ebb; having -had for about fourteen leagues, while running into this harbour, from -eight to sixteen fathoms. At this place they destroyed a negro town -because the inhabitants had killed one of their men with a poisoned -arrow. Some of the men went four miles up the harbour in a boat on the -3rd September, where they caught plenty of fish, and going on shore -procured some lemons. They saw also some buffaloes, on their return to -the ship. On the 6th they went out of the harbour of Sierra Leone and -staid one tide three leagues from the point at its mouth, the tide there -flowing S.W. - -“The 7th they departed for one of the islands which lie about ten -leagues from the point of Sierra Leone, called the Banana Isle, and -anchored that same day off the principal isle, on which they only found -a few plantains.” - -In 1622 a Dutch fleet consisting of eleven vessels put into the harbour -of Sierra Leone, where they stayed for about three weeks. The visit is -described as follows:— - -“They anchored in the road of Sierra Leone on the 11th August. Here on -the 15th some of the crew being on shore ate freely of certain nuts -resembling nutmegs, which had a fine taste, but had scarcely got on -board when one of them dropt down dead, and before he was thoroughly -cold he was all over purple spots. The rest recovered by taking proper -medicines. Sierra Leone is a mountain on the Continent of Africa -standing on the South side of the mouth of the river Mitomba, which -discharges itself into a great bay of the sea. The road in which ships -usually anchor is in Lat. of 8° 26 N. This mountain is very high and -thickly covered with trees, by which it may be easily known, as there is -no mountain of such height anywhere upon the coast. There grows here a -prodigious number of trees producing a small kind of lemons called -limasses (limes), resembling those of Spain in shape and taste, and -which are very agreeable and wholesome if not eaten to excess. The fleet -arrived here at the season when this fruit was in perfection, and having -full leave from the natives the people eat them intemperately, by which -and the bad air the bloody flux increased much among them, so that they -lost forty men between the 11th August and the 5th September. - -“Sierra Leone abounds in palm trees, and has some Ananas or Pine-apples -with plenty of wood of all sorts, besides having anchorage. They sailed -from Sierra Leone on the 4th September, on which day the Admiral fell -sick.” - -In 1730 the Merchants of Havre and Nantz sent out some armed merchant -vessels with the alleged object of exterminating the pirates in Pirates’ -Bay, Sierra Leone; history is silent as to the result of this -expedition. They visited the Colony of Gambia and destroyed some trading -centres owned by Englishmen. - -By an Act of Parliament of 1763, 4 George III, Chapter 20, Senegal and -its Dependencies became vested in a Company which is described as the -Company of Merchants Trading in Africa, and by an Act of the following -year the property of the Company became vested in His Majesty King -George the Third, and the trade to Africa was declared open to all his -subjects, the officers and servants on the Coast being forbidden to -export negroes on their own account. - -The Peninsula of Sierra Leone was purchased in 1787, and a number of -freed slaves and about sixty white women arrived from England the same -year. The Sierra Leone Company, which had been formed for philanthropic -purposes, was established by Act of Parliament, 31 George III, Chapter -55, of the 1st July, 1791, for a period of thirty-one years, and -annulled on the petition of the Company by an Act transferring to His -Majesty certain possessions and rights vested in the Company, and for -shortening the duration of the said Company and for preventing any -dealing or trafficking in buying or selling slaves within the Colony of -Sierra Leone on the 8th August, 1807. The Colony was formally -transferred to Governor Ledlum for the Crown on the 31st January, 1808. -Apart from anything else, Sierra Leone, on account of its very close -association with the abolition of the slave trade and the efforts made -to promote civilization in West Africa and to convert the natives to -Christianity, will always appeal to the sentiment of a large section of -the English public. - -It was the famous ruling of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield in 1772 that a -slave setting foot in England became free, which inspired William -Cowper’s stirring lines:— - - “Slaves cannot breathe in England: if their lungs - Receive our air, that moment they are free; - They touch our country and their shackles fall.” - - * * * * * - - “Freedom has a thousand charms to show - That slaves, howe’er contented, never know.” - -Although the slave trade was abolished over a century ago, slavery still -exists in many parts of West Africa, and it was in a great measure due -to the raids by the Sofas and intertribal wars for the purpose of -obtaining slaves that a Protectorate was in 1896 declared over the -territory adjacent to the Colony of Sierra Leone. Domestic slavery still -exists, but it is a kind, patriarchal sort of slavery, and slaves are -allowed to purchase their freedom by paying, in the case of an adult, a -sum not exceeding £4, and in the case of a child a sum not exceeding £2; -many of them prefer to remain as domestic slaves or retainers, or, as -they describe it, “sit down to some person” who makes himself -responsible for their welfare. Their position is somewhat similar to -that of the serf under the old English feudal system. - -All dealing in slaves has been made unlawful, and heavy penalties are -provided for any breach of this provision, whilst every slave or other -person who shall be brought or induced to come within the limits of the -Protectorate in order that such person shall be dealt or traded in, -sold, purchased or transferred as a pledge or security for debt, is -declared to be free. The principles underlying the administration of the -Protectorate have been to recognize as between natives the use of native -customs and laws, and to preserve the authority of the native rulers -while preventing any acts of aggression on their part. - -The Protectorate Courts Jurisdiction Ordinance, 1903, provides that in -the Court of the District Commissioners or the Circuit Court judicial -cognizance may be taken of any law or custom not being repugnant to -natural justice. Courts of Native Chiefs are also recognized by the -above Ordinance, and such Courts are declared to have jurisdiction -according to native law and custom to hear and determine all civil cases -arising exclusively between natives, other than a case involving a -question of title to land between two or more Paramount Chiefs, and all -criminal cases arising exclusively between natives, other than Murder, -Slave-raiding, Cannibalism, and a few other of the more serious -offences, provided that the Chief shall in no case be permitted to -inflict punishment involving death, mutilation, or grievous bodily harm; -formerly it was the custom to hand over the wrong-doer to the injured -party, who could take his life or keep him as a slave until such time as -he or his family paid a sufficient sum to have him redeemed. - -The administration by the native rulers is kept under close observation, -and they are encouraged to educate themselves in the application of -their own code. Each chief has his advisers or counsellors, some of whom -are selected by himself and others elected by the people. When a chief -dies it is not customary to announce the fact at once—his chief speaker -would announce first that he was suffering from a bad sickness, and was -therefore unable to attend the affairs of State, later he would announce -that he had gone to Futah—Futah Jalloh being in the eyes of the natives -a land rich in cattle and everything that they most desire. Steps would -then be taken to elect a new chief. The person usually selected would be -the senior male member of the deceased’s family, though they sometimes -go to the female side, as there is no Salic law to prevent such a -course. The person nominated is taken to a hut on the outskirts of the -town near the burial-place of the chief, where he lives out of sight of -all persons for two or three months; during this period he is supposed -to hold high converse with the mighty dead, and learn from them how to -govern wisely and well. After the lapse of this period the principal men -of the chiefdom visit him, and he is escorted into the town, which gives -itself up to wild enthusiasm. The chief elect is carried round the town -by a struggling, shouting mob, and at this stage it is permissible for -any one to strike him. The reason given for this ceremony is that it -enables the chief to feel the pain he will have in his power to inflict -on others, and in consequence it may teach him compassion. After the -chief has been formally elected and acclaimed, his body is sacred. Among -the Mendes, women are frequently elected to the chieftainship; a -chieftainess does not marry, but may have a consort, whom she changes at -will. She is also permitted, contrary to a strict rule regarding other -women, to join the Poro Society. The Bundu Society, a women’s society -which corresponds with the Poro for men, plays a very important part in -native life among the Mendes and Temnes. Bundu girls have to undergo -during their novitiate period an operation somewhat similar to that -performed on the Poro boys, and their backs and loins are cut in such a -manner as to leave raised scars which project above the surface of the -skin. They also receive their Bundu names by which they are afterwards -known. Their release from the Bundu bush is carried out with great -ceremony, and they are usually accompanied by persons wearing hideous -masks who personate Bundu devils. A procession is formed, which marches -through the town or village accompanied by musicians, who play on a -collection of instruments consisting of drums, rattles and timbrels. A -halt is made in the centre of the town and the girls are publicly -pronounced marriageable. - -[Illustration: BUNDU GIRLS AND BUNDU DEVILS.] - -The price paid for a wife varies according to the social position of the -parties, but the usual price is between £3 and £5, though a man who has -married a shrew will often sell her second-hand for a few shillings. - -The majority of the people of the Protectorate are Pagans, but -Mohammedanism is rapidly spreading among them; and as no good Mohammedan -ever touches spirits, the advance of this faith may go a long way to put -a stop to the consumption of trade gin, which is the curse of the Coast. -The Government is doing everything possible to discourage its use as -currency, and the principle of local option has been encouraged with -good effect. One large District and portions of two other Districts have -been declared prohibited areas into which no spirits can be lawfully -imported. - -One other matter which the Local Government is doing that is likely to -result in much good is the effort being made to instruct the native -chiefs and their people in sanitation and to teach them an elementary -knowledge of hygiene. - -The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone at the present time comprise -an area of approximately 30,000 square miles, and the population, given -at the census taken in 1911, is 1,400,000. The Colony has an area of -only 256 square miles and a population of 75,000, of which about 600 are -Europeans; it is of course the Colony that has so often been referred to -in song and story on account of the evil reputation of its climate; it -is a case of “give a dog a bad name and it sticks to him.” - -Sierra Leone was and is still known, though now quite undeservedly, as -the White Man’s Grave. Mrs. Falconbridge, the wife of one of the early -agents of the Sierra Leone Company, records that during her residence in -the Colony (1793–4) it was usual to ask in the morning “how many died -last night.” This can still be heard in Freetown as a form of morning -greeting, but it now helps to start the day with a laugh, and that in -West Africa is about the best tonic known. - -Captain Chamiers, in his “Life of a Sailor,” says: “I have travelled -east, I have travelled west, north and south, ascended mountains, dived -in mines, but I never knew and never heard mention of so villainous and -iniquitous a place as Sierra Leone. I know not where the Devil’s Poste -Restante is, but the place must surely be Sierra Leone.” - -Burton, in commenting on the above on the occasion of a visit paid to -Freetown, the capital of the Colony, prior to writing his interesting -book “Wanderings in West Africa,” says in justice to the place, “Here, -as elsewhere, the saying may hold good that a certain person may, -perhaps, not be so black as he is painted.” - -The educated Sierra Leonean is proud of the fact that the great Milton -in “Paradise Lost” referred to Sierra Leone, even though it was only in -connection with the awe-inspiring tornado to which the Colony is -frequently subject, in those lines: - - “With adverse blast upturns them from the South - ... black with thund’rous clouds from Sierra Leone.” - -Sierra Leone as it exists to-day is, owing to segregation and up-to-date -sanitation, comparatively healthy for Europeans. The progress of the -Colony has been phenomenal during the last fifteen years, and the credit -is chiefly due to two energetic and far-seeing Governors in the persons -of Sir Frederick Cardew and Sir Leslie Probyn, who foresaw the great -benefit that would accrue by opening up the Protectorate, and this has -been done by building lines of railway into the rich palm-kernel belts -and encouraging the natives to gather the natural products of the -country for export. - -The revenue of the Colony, which in 1898 was only £117,000, had -increased to £618,000 in 1913, and although the expenditure has -proportionately increased, the finances of the Colony may be looked upon -as satisfactory. - -Freetown, the chief port and the seat of the Government, is a city with -a population of about 35,000 inhabitants, of which about two-thirds -belong to a class known as Creoles, the majority of whom are the -descendants of the liberated slaves. It is beautifully situated, at the -foot of a circle of hills on the summits of which are barracks belonging -to the Garrison Artillery, the West India and the West African Regiment; -and a short distance beyond lies Hill Station, the residence of the -majority of the European officials stationed in the Colony—Sugar Loaf, a -beautiful wooded mountain which rises to a height of nearly 3,000 feet, -forming a picturesque background. Altogether the natural beauties of -Freetown and its surroundings are many, though it is frequently asserted -by the jaded or bored temporary resident, that to enjoy the view really -one must see it from the stern of one of Messrs. Elder, Dempster’s ships -homeward bound. - -[Illustration: COTTON TREE STATION, 9 A.M. BUNGALOW TRAIN, FREETOWN.] - -In regard to the temporary resident—which every European must consider -himself, as, even with the greatest progress possible, Sierra Leone can -never be regarded as other than a black man’s country—a discussion -recently took place at a meeting of the members of the Hill Station -Sports Club on the interpretation of the words “permanent residents” and -“ordinary members” of the Club. One member humorously moved the deletion -of the words “permanent” and “ordinary,” assigning as his reason that -the only European “permanent” members were those in the cemetery, and -that there was a misuse of the word “ordinary” as no one who was -ordinary ever came to West Africa; needless to say the proposal was -carried _nem. con._ The European officials and officers of the garrison -are well provided for in the way of means of recreation. There are -numerous tennis courts, a golf link, stickie and squash courts, and a -cricket ground—and there is no doubt that the fact of being able to take -healthy and pleasant exercise reacts favourably on the health generally -of the white community. Hill Station is situated nearly 1,000 feet above -sea level and in the midst of most beautiful surroundings, and here the -European official can enjoy the refreshing breezes from the broad -Atlantic after leaving his office and the used-up atmosphere of -Freetown. The Station is connected by a line of rails six miles in -length with Freetown. The train is naturally not a “flying Scotchman,” -and some years ago the Railway Department were practising economy by -feeding their engines with firewood instead of coal; however, the train -service at present is as good as can be expected, and there are a -sufficient number of trains to meet the requirements of residents. - -Hill Station is fortunate in having an excellent water supply laid on to -all the bungalows, which are roomy and comfortable; and, all things -considered, the Colonial Official’s lot in Sierra Leone is not an -unhappy one. - -In the streets of Freetown there are natives of many races to be seen. -Chief among them are the Mendes and Temnes, but there are also many -Mandingos, Susus and Limbahs. The market women of Freetown, chiefly -Creole, are also one of the features of the place. They are keen -business women, and look upon it almost as a matter of honour to haggle -over the smallest commercial transaction. There are of course many -Creole traders who have shops of their own, where anything from a bag of -sand to a pearl necklace can be purchased, but the chief trade is in the -hands of European firms. The educated Creole youth usually looks for -employment as a clerk, and when once he has attained that object he -makes little further effort to improve his position. - -According to the last census the Creole population shows a decrease of -over 6 per cent. during the ten years under review, while the other -native races in the Colony show a considerable natural increase. The -ordinary Creole has always shown a marked antipathy to agriculture, and -the principle here applies that when a nationality declines to cultivate -the earth, the first industry of life, that nationality has a tendency -to decrease. - -Mission enterprise has not been a success in West Africa, and this is -probably due to the fact that the first stage in converting the pagan is -the effort made to break down his superstitious beliefs in good and evil -spirits, which are matters of the gravest importance in his social life. - -Witches and vampires are still in fashion among them, and belong to the -good old-fashioned variety which come to your bedroom in the dead of -night, sit on your chest and suck your blood. It is not unusual to hear -even the more or less educated native complain that he has passed a most -unpleasant night because “witches” have visited him. - -It is certainly no compliment to call a lady in this country a witch; -she is liable to be maltreated and even beaten to death, and it is not -uncommon for the police to be asked to protect a Freetown lady who is -suspected of being a witch. - -[Illustration: FREETOWN FROM THE HARBOUR.] - -It would appear from the criminal statistics that Freetown has a -demoralizing effect on the aboriginal native who comes from the -Protectorate to trade or obtain employment, and this is probably due to -the fact that he is free from tribal authority and that his -superstitious belief does not present any obstacle to his helping -himself to the white man’s property. - -There is very little stigma attached to imprisonment, which, after all, -is the chief deterring factor in civilized countries; it does not -necessarily follow that a scale of punishments suitable for offences -committed by a civilized people is suitable for offences committed by an -uncivilized people, and there are strong arguments in favour of allowing -corporal punishment to be inflicted as well as imprisonment for offences -committed by uneducated natives. Imprisonment to the educated native is -of course a real punishment, though the social consequence following it -would not be as serious as in the case of a European. - -Commercially the importance of Sierra Leone is small as compared with -its easterly neighbours, the Gold Coast Colony with its hinterland -Dependencies of Ashanti and the Northern Territories, and the huge new -Colony of Nigeria made up of three older Colonies, but of all our West -African Colonies Sierra Leone is probably the best known to the British -public, and with the fine harbour and important coaling station at -Freetown, its capital, Sierra Leone is a valuable link in the great -chain of Imperial communication. - - - - - APPENDIX - - DESPATCH FROM THE GOVERNOR OF SIERRA LEONE REPORTING ON THE MEASURES - ADOPTED TO DEAL WITH UNLAWFUL SOCIETIES IN THE PROTECTORATE - - - THE GOVERNOR TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE - - (Received 21 July, 1913.) - - GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SIERRA LEONE, - _9th July, 1913_. - - SIR, - -I have the honour to transmit, for your information, a report on the -steps taken to deal with unlawful societies in the Protectorate. - - I have, &c., - - E. M. MEREWETHER, - Governor. - - Enclosure. - - REPORT ON THE MEASURES ADOPTED TO DEAL WITH UNLAWFUL SOCIETIES IN - THE SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE. - -For a number of years past the Northern Sherbro district has been the -principal field for the operations of an organization which goes under -the name of the Human Leopard Society. It has not yet been decided -whether the object of the Society is merely to satisfy the craving which -some savages have for human flesh, or whether the eating of human flesh -is only part of some ceremony which is believed to have the effect of -increasing the mental and physical powers of the members of the Society. -Whatever the object is, the result is a very powerful and widespread -secret organization, to which most, if not all, of the principal men of -certain districts belong. - -2. Several cases of murder committed by this Society have at various -times come before the Circuit Court, and convictions have been obtained, -but the full extent of the Society’s operations was not brought to light -until last year, when the District Commissioner received information -that from 20 to 30 murders had been committed since the year 1907, the -Imperri sub-district and the country round Pujehun being the principal -centres of the trouble. - -3. The District Commissioner reported the matter to the Government at -the end of July, and proceeded to arrest the persons who appeared to be -implicated. By the middle of October 336 persons had been arrested, -including several Paramount Chiefs and leading men from the different -chiefdoms. A company and a half of the West African Frontier Force were -sent down to the Northern Sherbro District to preserve order and assist -in guarding the prisoners. - -4. The only direct evidence against the persons arrested was found in -the statements of certain of their number who turned King’s evidence. -These men admitted that they themselves were members of the Human -Leopard Society, and described what had taken place at the various -murders in which they had taken part. - -5. In many cases there was no corroborative evidence, and all attempts -to obtain such evidence proved fruitless, a very strong oath of secrecy -having clearly been imposed on all the people. Even the relatives of the -victims, who were in most cases young boys and girls, were afraid to -give information. - -6. It soon became clear that, although the District Commissioner and his -assistants relied on being able to prove a special mark indicating -membership of the Society, there was not sufficient evidence against -many of the persons arrested to justify their being committed for trial. -Accordingly, in order to assist the District Commissioner, who was -overwhelmed with work, the Solicitor-General was sent to the Northern -Sherbro District with instructions to go into the cases with him and -ascertain in how many there was a sufficiently strong _prima facie_ case -against the accused. - -7. The result of the Solicitor-General’s enquiry was: out of 336 persons -who were detained in custody at Pujehun and Gbangbama, 42 were committed -for trial, three turned King’s evidence, and 291 were discharged after -the preliminary enquiry had been held. Later on, 66 other persons were -arrested, all of whom were committed for trial on various charges. The -total number committed was, therefore, 108. - -8. The state of things disclosed by the reports of the District -Commissioner was so serious, and the pernicious influence of the Human -Leopard Society appeared to be so widely spread, that it was considered -necessary, in order to deal adequately with the situation, to give the -Government special powers. The Human Leopard and Alligator Societies -Ordinance of 1909 was accordingly amended in the following particulars:— - - (_a_) The two Societies were declared to be unlawful societies. - - (_b_) Power was given to the Governor to proclaim any chiefdom in - which a murder had been committed in connection with an unlawful - society, and to the District Commissioner to arrest and detain - any person in a proclaimed chiefdom on a warrant under his hand. - - (_c_) It was made an offence to be a member of an unlawful society, - or to take part in the operations of any such society or of any - meeting of an unlawful society. The effect of this provision was - made retrospective. - - (_d_) Powers of search were given to the police in the Colony, and - to court messengers and the West African Frontier Force in the - Protectorate. - - (_e_) Power was given to the Governor-in-Council to order the - expulsion of any alien convicted under the Ordinance and - sentenced to imprisonment on the expiration of his term of - imprisonment. A copy of the amending Ordinance (No. 17 of 1912) - is attached. - -9. It was further considered necessary to appoint a special tribunal to -deal with offences committed by members of unlawful societies, for the -following reasons:— - - (1) The number of cases to be heard and the number of persons - committed for trial was so large that it would have been - impossible for the Judge of the Circuit Court to hear them - without seriously interfering with the ordinary criminal and - civil work of the Court. - - (2) In the Circuit Court, native chiefs sit with the Judge as - assessors, and as it appeared from the reports of the District - Commissioner that many of the Paramount Chiefs in his District - were implicated in the crimes of the Human Leopard Society, - there was a danger of the Assessors being in sympathy with the - persons whom they would be called upon to try. - -10. An Ordinance was accordingly passed empowering the Governor to -appoint a Court or Courts of Special Commissioners for the trial of -persons charged with offences committed in connection with unlawful -societies, whether before or after the commencement of the Ordinance, -and defining the powers and jurisdiction of the Court. A copy of the -Ordinance (No. 18 of 1912) is attached, together with a copy of -Ordinance No. 21 of 1912, by which certain amendments in matters of -detail were made. - -11. Under Section 2 (2) a Special Commission Court consists of three -persons, one of whom must be a judge or barrister or solicitor of the -Supreme Court of the Colony or of any other Court in the British -dominions, and one of the members is appointed to be President of the -Court. By Section 10 the powers conferred by Sections 5 and 6 of the -Human Leopard and Alligator Societies Amendment Ordinance, 1912, and -various other powers conferred by the Human Leopard and Alligator -Societies Ordinance of 1909 are extended to persons convicted by a -Special Commission Court. - -12. It was recognized that, in view of the terror inspired by the -Society and the oath of secrecy which was believed to have been imposed -on the people of the District, there would be great difficulty in -obtaining evidence; and that persons of whose connection with the -Society there was no moral doubt whatever might be acquitted for want of -sufficient evidence to satisfy legal requirements. Section 11 of the -Ordinance accordingly provides that in any such case, if the Court is of -opinion, after hearing all the evidence, that it is expedient for the -security, peace or order of the District that the accused person should -be expelled from the District, the Court may, notwithstanding his -acquittal, send to the Governor a report of the case, and thereupon the -accused may be expelled from the Colony and Protectorate. - -13. The importance of having an officer of high legal attainments, and -one who had had previous experience of West Africa, as President of the -Court was obvious, and the Government was fortunate in being able to -secure the services of Sir William Brandford Griffith, late Chief -Justice of the Gold Coast. The other members of the Court, as it was at -first constituted, were Mr. A. Van der Meulen, Solicitor-General, and -Mr. K. J. Beatty, Police Magistrate, both of whom are barristers-at-law. -Later on, Mr. Van der Meulen went on leave, and his place was taken by -Lieutenant-Colonel H. G. Warren, District Commissioner of the Karene -District. - -14. The Court commenced its sittings on the 16th December. Owing to the -large number of prisoners and witnesses, all of whom resided in the -Northern Sherbro District, it was decided that the Court should sit at -Gbangbama, in the Imperri chiefdom. The Crown was represented by Mr. E. -D. Vergette, Crown Prosecutor, assisted by Major R. H. K. Willans, -Acting District Commissioner, and Mr. C. S. H. Vaudrey, Assistant -District Commissioner. The prisoners were all represented by counsel. - -15. The trials were conducted with the utmost care and patience. The -hearing of the first case occupied 11 days, of the second 36 days, and -of the third 28 days. The other cases were disposed of more rapidly. - -16. In the third case the question of the initiation mark alleged to be -borne by members of the Human Leopard Society was very carefully gone -into. The accomplices showed the mark on their own persons, and -described how it was made. They also pointed out marks on the prisoners -which they alleged to be the mark of the Society. Unfortunately, their -evidence in some instances was contradictory, and they identified -different marks on the same person as being the initiation mark. -Moreover, it was proved, by taking persons haphazard in the Court who -were not suspected of any connection with the Society, that it was -hardly possible to distinguish the alleged Human Leopard mark from scars -caused by disease or slight injuries. The Court was, therefore, unable -to accept the mark as evidence of membership of the Society. - -17. In view of this ruling, it was obviously useless to proceed with -cases in which the alleged mark formed the only corroboration of the -evidence of accomplices, and it was decided to enter a _nolle prosequi_ -in such cases. - -[Illustration: VIEW FROM GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FREETOWN.] - -18. Out of 108 persons committed by the District Commissioner, 34 were -brought to trial, 71 were released after a _nolle prosequi_ had been -entered, and three died before trial. Of the persons brought to trial, -nine were convicted of murder and 10 others of lesser offences, the -remaining 15 being acquitted. Seven of the nine men convicted of murder -were executed, and in the case of the other two the capital sentence was -commuted for one of imprisonment for life. Of the 15 persons who were -acquitted 11 have since been expelled from the Colony and Protectorate -on the recommendation of the Court; and by arrangement with the -Government of Southern Nigeria those who have been sentenced to -imprisonment will be transferred to Lagos to undergo their sentences -there. - - * * * * * - -19. While it is permissible to believe that the action taken by the -Government has had the effect of checking the activities of the Human -Leopard Society, at all events for the time being, it would be by no -means prudent to assert that this criminal organization has been broken -up. Many persons of whose connection with the Society there is little or -no doubt are still at large, and probably there are not a few others who -have hitherto not come under the notice of the authorities. - -20. The blind belief of the natives in the efficacy of the “medicines” -concocted by the Society (especially that known as “Borfima”); the power -and authority enjoyed by the possessors of these medicines; the fact -that periodical human sacrifices are considered to be necessary in order -to renew the efficacy of the medicines; and a tendency on the part of -some natives to cannibalism pure and simple—all these causes will -contribute to the survival of this baneful organization. It has held -sway for many years—possibly for centuries—and the task of stamping it -out will undoubtedly be one of great difficulty. - - E. M. MEREWETHER, - Governor. - - GOVERNMENT HOUSE, - FREETOWN, - _9th July, 1913_. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: Title.] - -An Ordinance to amend the Human Leopard and Alligator Societies -Ordinance, 1909 - - NO. 17 OF 1912 - -[Sidenote: Enacting Clause.] - -Be it enacted by the Governor of the Colony of Sierra Leone, with the -advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:— - -[Sidenote: Short Title.] - -1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Human Leopard and Alligator -Societies Amendment Ordinance, 1912. - -[Sidenote: Proclamation of districts.] - -2.—(1) Whenever it appears to the Governor that a murder has been -committed in connection with an unlawful society in any chiefdom, it -shall be lawful for him by proclamation to declare such chiefdom or any -part thereof to be a proclaimed district. - -(2) In a proclaimed district it shall be lawful for a District -Commissioner to order the arrest and detention in custody of any person -whose arrest and detention he may consider desirable in the interests of -justice. A warrant under the hand of a District Commissioner shall be -sufficient authority to the person named therein to detain any such -person in such place as shall be mentioned therein. - -[Sidenote: No. 28 of 1909.] - -3. For the words “the/any Human Leopard Society and/or Alligator -Society” wherever they occur in the Human Leopard and Alligator -Societies Ordinance, 1909 (hereinafter called the Principal Ordinance), -shall be substituted the words “any unlawful society.” - -[Sidenote: Unlawful societies.] - -4.—(1) Every person who knowingly— - - (_a_) is or has before the commencement of this Ordinance been a - member of an unlawful society; or - - (_b_) takes or has before the commencement of this Ordinance taken - part in the operations of an unlawful society or of any meeting - thereof, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment, with - or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding fourteen years. - -(2) A Magistrate or District Commissioner on sworn information may -authorize any member of the Sierra Leone Police Force or West African -Frontier Force or a court messenger to search any person whom there is -good reason to suspect of being a member of an unlawful society or of -having taken part in the operations of an unlawful society, or of any -meeting thereof, and for this purpose may authorize any of the -afore-mentioned persons to enter any premises at any time and, if need -be, by force, on Sundays as well as on other days; and if any person -wilfully hinders, molests or obstructs any of the aforesaid persons in -searching such suspected person, every such person shall be liable, on -summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to -imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding -twelve months. - -5. For Section 12 of the Principal Ordinance shall be substituted the -following section:— - -[Sidenote: Power of Governor-in-Council to order deportation.] - - 12. When any person shall have been convicted of complicity in any - murder committed in connection with an unlawful society, whether - before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, and the Governor - shall have decided to grant a pardon to such person on condition of - his undergoing a term of imprisonment with or without hard labour, - or when any person shall have been convicted of complicity in any - murder aforesaid not involving the punishment of death, or when any - person shall have been convicted of an offence under this Ordinance - or any Ordinance amending the same, and shall have been sentenced by - the Court to undergo a term of imprisonment with or without hard - labour, the judge before whom such person was so tried and convicted - shall forthwith send a report of such case to the Governor, and it - shall then be lawful for the Governor-in-Council to direct that such - person, not being an alien, shall be deported from the Colony or - Protectorate to any other British Colony, there to serve such term - of imprisonment in such prison as the Governor of such Colony may - direct. - -[Sidenote: Expulsion of aliens.] - -6.—(1) In the case of a convicted person, who is an alien, it shall be -lawful for the Governor-in-Council, after the completion of the term of -imprisonment awarded to such convicted person, to make an order (in this -Ordinance referred to as an expulsion order) requiring such alien to -leave the Colony or Protectorate within a time fixed by the order and -thereafter to remain out of the Colony and Protectorate. - -(2) If any alien in whose case an expulsion order has been made is at -any time found within the Colony or Protectorate in contravention of the -order, he shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment, with or -without hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years. - -(3) Any person aiding or attempting to aid any person, in whose case an -expulsion order has been made, to return to the Colony or Protectorate, -and any person harbouring such person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour -and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment, with or without -hard labour, for a term not exceeding two years. - -7. The schedule to the Principal Ordinance is hereby amended by adding -at the end thereof the following words:— - - (6) A dress made of baboon skins commonly used by members of an - unlawful society. - - (7) A “kukoi” or whistle, commonly used for calling together the - members of an unlawful society. - - (8) An iron needle, commonly used for branding members of an - unlawful society. - -[Sidenote: Interpretation of terms.] - -8. In this Ordinance “unlawful society” means the Human Leopard Society, -the Human Alligator Society, or any other society existing for the -purpose of committing or encouraging or procuring the commission of -murder. - -“Alien” means a person who is a natural-born subject or citizen of a -foreign state, or has been naturalized as such. - -[Sidenote: Indemnity clause.] - -9. Whereas various murders are alleged to have been committed in -connection with unlawful societies, and various persons have been -arrested and detained in custody in connection therewith; - -Now it is hereby enacted that all persons who were before the -commencement of this Ordinance concerned in the arrest or detention in -custody of such arrested persons are hereby fully indemnified for -anything done by them in the arrest or detention in custody of such -arrested persons, and no action at law or otherwise shall be maintained -for such arrested persons having been so arrested and detained in -custody, and no writ of _habeas corpus_ shall be issued on their behalf. - -[Sidenote: Extent of Ordinance.] - -10. This Ordinance shall apply to the Colony and Protectorate. - -Passed in the Legislative Council this Thirty-first day of October, in -the year of our Lord One thousand nine hundred and twelve. - - F. A. MILLER, - Clerk of Legislative Council. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: Title.] - - An Ordinance to constitute Special Commission Courts for the trial - of persons charged with offences committed in connection with - unlawful societies. - -NO. 18 OF 1912 - -[Sidenote: Preamble.] - -Whereas there exist in the Colony and Protectorate certain unlawful -societies formed for the purpose of committing murders; - -And whereas many murders have recently been committed under the -influence of such unlawful societies; - -And whereas, owing to the number of these murders, it is expedient to -try all persons charged with offences committed in connection with such -unlawful societies by a special tribunal; - -[Sidenote: Enacting Clause.] - -Be it therefore enacted by the Governor of the Colony of Sierra Leone, -with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as -follows:— - -[Sidenote: Short Title.] - -1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Special Commission Ordinance, -1912. - -[Sidenote: Special Commission Court.] - -2.—(1) The Governor may from time to time direct a commission or -commissions to be issued for the appointment of a Court or Courts of -Special Commissioners for the trial in manner provided by this Ordinance -of persons, committed for trial before the Supreme Court of the Colony -or the Circuit Court of the Protectorate, for any of the following -offences committed in the Colony or Protectorate, whether before or -after the commencement of this Ordinance; that is to say, - - (_a_) murder, committed in connection with an unlawful society; - - (_b_) attempting or conspiring to commit murder in connection with - an unlawful society; - -[Sidenote: No. 28 of 1909.] - - (_c_) any of the offences under Section 2 of the Human Leopard and - Alligator Societies Ordinance, 1909, or under any Ordinance - amending that Ordinance; - -and the Governor may by warrant assign to any such Court of Special -Commissioners (in this Ordinance referred to as a Special Commission -Court) the duty of sitting at the place named in the warrant, and of -there, without a jury and not assisted by any native chief, or -non-native or native assessors, hearing and determining, according to -law, the charge made against the person so committed for trial and named -in the warrant, and of doing therein what to justice appertains. - -(2) A Special Commission Court shall consist of three persons to be -named in such commission, of whom one shall be a judge or barrister or -solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Colony or of any other Court in -the British dominions, and they shall try in open court, according to -the tenor of a warrant under this Ordinance, all persons named in the -warrant who may be brought before them for trial. The Governor shall -appoint one of the members of a Special Commission Court to be the -President thereof. - -[Sidenote: No. 1 of 1870.] - -(3) A member of a Special Commission Court shall take such oaths as are -prescribed by the Promissory Oaths Ordinance of 1870, to be taken by -Judges. - -(4) The evidence taken on a trial before a Special Commission Court and -the reasons, if any, given by the members of the said Court in -delivering judgment, shall be taken down in writing by the President of -the said Court. - -(5) A person tried by a Special Commission Court shall be acquitted -unless the whole Court concur in his conviction, and the members of the -said Court shall in all cases of conviction give in open court the -reasons for such conviction. - -(6) The Governor shall from time to time provide for the payment of the -reasonable expenses of witnesses. - -[Sidenote: Appointment of Assistant Master.] - -3.—(1) There shall be attached to a Special Commission Court an -Assistant Master, who shall attend such Special Commission Court, when -sitting to try persons charged with offences under this Ordinance. Such -Assistant Master, while discharging or performing the duties of his -office, shall have all the powers of the Master of the Supreme Court of -the Colony. - -(2) If at any time the Assistant Master shall be prevented by illness or -other unavoidable absence from acting in his office, it shall be lawful -for the Court to appoint from time to time a deputy to act for the said -Assistant Master and to remove such deputy at its pleasure, and such -deputy, while acting under such appointment, shall have the like powers -as if he were the Assistant Master. - -[Sidenote: Regulations as to warrants and notice of trial.] - -4.—(1) A warrant for the trial by a Special Commission Court of a person -charged with an offence shall be in the form contained in the Schedule -to this Ordinance. - -(2) Not less than seven days before the sitting of any Special -Commission Court, notice thereof shall be published in the _Gazette_ -stating the names of the Special Commissioners, the place at which the -Court will sit, and the day on which the sitting of the Court will -begin. - -(3) An objection to the jurisdiction of a Special Commission Court to -try a person for any offence shall not be entertained by reason only of -any non-observance of the provisions of this section; but the Court, on -application, may adjourn the case, so as to prevent any person charged -being prejudiced by such non-observance. - -[Sidenote: Regulations as to courts.] - -5.—(1) If any member of a Special Commission Court dies, or if it -appears to the Governor that from illness or some reasonable cause it is -necessary that another person should be appointed in the place of a -member of a Special Commission Court, the Governor may, if he thinks it -expedient so to do, direct a supplemental commission to be issued, -appointing another person to fill the vacancy in such Court. - -(2) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, and for the purpose of -the trial of any persons charged before them, a Special Commission Court -shall have the same privileges, powers and jurisdiction as if it were -the Circuit Court of the Protectorate, trying with native chiefs, or -non-native or native assessors an offender before such Court, and shall -follow, as far as possible, the practice and procedure of that Court, -and in hearing and determining the cases of all persons tried before a -Special Commission Court, such Court shall, as far as possible, be -guided in arriving at a decision by the laws in force in the Colony. A -Special Commission Court shall be a court of record, and the same -intendment shall be made in respect of all orders, writs, and process -made by and issuing out of such Special Commission Court, as if it were -a court of record acting according to the course and by the authority of -the common law. - -(3) All the members of a Special Commission Court shall be present at -the hearing and determination of the case of a person tried before such -Court, but, save as aforesaid, the jurisdiction of the Court may be -exercised by any of such members, and any act of the Court shall not be -invalidated by reason of any vacancy among the members. - -(4) The trial by a Special Commission Court of a person in pursuance of -a warrant under this Ordinance shall begin as soon as may be, but it -shall be lawful for the Court to postpone such trial on the request of -such person, or on account of the illness or absence of a witness, or on -account of a vacancy in the Court, or of the illness of such person, or -some other sufficient cause, and to discontinue a trial of a person, -when commenced, on account of a vacancy in the Court or the illness of -such person, or some other sufficient cause. - -(5) Where a trial of a person is postponed or discontinued, the trial of -such person may take place before the same Court or any other Special -Commission Court, and shall take place as soon as may be. - -(6) In the event of a trial of a person taking place before another -Special Commission Court, a new warrant shall be issued for the trial of -such person. - -(7) A commission appointing a Special Commission Court shall not be -superseded or affected by the issue of another like commission, nor -shall the sitting or jurisdiction of such Court be affected by the -sitting of any such commission or of the Supreme Court of the Colony or -the Circuit Court of the Protectorate. - -[Sidenote: No. 5 of 1896.] - -[Sidenote: No. 12 of 1910.] - -(8) A Special Commission Court shall be a Court within the meaning of -the Perjury Ordinance, 1896, and the Children (Criminal Law Amendment) -Ordinance, 1910. - -[Sidenote: No. 14 of 1912.] - -(9) The provisions of the Supreme Court Amendment Ordinance, 1912, shall -not apply to a trial of a person by a Special Commission Court. - -(10) An objection to the jurisdiction of a Special Commission Court to -try a person in pursuance of a warrant under this Ordinance shall not be -entertained by reason only of any want of form in the warrant, or of any -mistake in the name or description of such person in the warrant, if it -is shown that the person tried is the person to whom the warrant -relates; and an objection to the proceedings of such Court for any want -of form on the trial of any person shall not be entertained, if no -injustice was thereby done to such person. - -[Sidenote: Procedure.] - -6.—(1) When a person is brought up for trial before a Special Commission -Court, he shall be triable for any offence, being one, or connected with -one, of the offences referred to in Section 2 of this Ordinance, -disclosed by the depositions taken by the Court of the District -Commissioner at the investigation of the charge, and the Special -Commission Court shall inform such person specifically of the charge -whereon he is to be tried, and shall record such charge in writing and -call upon such person to plead thereto. - -(2) At any time before the trial, on application by a person charged -with an offence or by some person on his behalf, a copy of the written -charge, if any, of the depositions and of the statement of such person -so charged shall be supplied by the officer in whose custody the -originals are deposited at the time of such application, for which a -reasonable charge, not exceeding sixpence for every hundred words, may -be made, or the same may be supplied without payment, as shall to the -officer granting the application in his discretion seem expedient. - -[Sidenote: Depositions of absent witnesses when admissible.] - -7. The deposition of any witness taken by the Court of the District -Commissioner at the investigation of the charge in the presence of the -person charged, such person having had full opportunity of -cross-examining such witness, may be given in evidence before a Special -Commission Court if the witness be dead, or if the Court be satisfied -that for any sufficient cause his attendance cannot be procured. - -[Sidenote: Audience of counsel.] - -8. Barristers and solicitors of the Supreme Court of the Colony and -officers appointed by the Governor to prosecute shall be allowed to -appear and be heard at the trials of persons charged with offences -before a Special Commission Court. - -[Sidenote: Power to inflict sentence of death.] - -9. A Special Commission Court shall have power in capital cases to -inflict punishment of death, and when a sentence of death has been -passed, all the proceedings in the case shall with the least possible -delay be forwarded, together with a report from the Special Commission -Court, to the Governor, and no sentence of death shall be carried into -effect except upon the warrant of the Governor and in the mode and in -the place directed by him, and such warrant shall be the authority for -carrying the same into effect. - -[Sidenote: Deportation.] - -[Sidenote: No. 17 of 1912.] - -[Sidenote: No. 28 of 1909.] - -10. A Special Commission Court shall send to the Governor a report of -the cases of all persons convicted by such Court, and thereupon the -power of deportation and expulsion conferred by sections 5 and 6 of the -Human Leopard and Alligator Societies Amendment Ordinance, 1912, shall -extend to persons convicted by a Special Commission Court, and all the -applicable provisions contained in Sections 13, 14 and 15 of the Human -Leopard and Alligator Societies Ordinance, 1909, and in Section 6 of the -Human Leopard and Alligator Societies Amendment Ordinance, 1912, shall -extend to all persons deported or expelled under this Ordinance, and to -all persons aiding or attempting to aid such deported or expelled -persons unlawfully to return to the Colony or Protectorate, and to all -persons unlawfully harbouring such deported or expelled persons. - -[Sidenote: Power to expel persons even if acquitted.] - -11.—(1) If a person tried by a Special Commission Court shall be -acquitted, but the Court shall be of opinion that it is expedient for -the security, peace or order of the district in which the offence with -which such person was charged took place, that such person should be -expelled from such district, the said Court shall send to the Governor a -report of the case, and thereupon it shall be lawful for the -Governor-in-Council to make an order (in this Ordinance referred to as -an expulsion order) requiring such person to leave the Colony or -Protectorate within a time fixed by the order, and thereafter to remain -out of the Colony and Protectorate. - -(2) If any person in whose case an expulsion order has been made is at -any time found within the Colony or Protectorate in contravention of the -order, he shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment, with or -without hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years. - -(3) Any person aiding or attempting to aid any person, in whose case an -expulsion order has been made, to return to the Colony or Protectorate, -and any person harbouring such person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour -and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment, with or without -hard labour, for a term not exceeding two years. - -[Sidenote: Definition of unlawful society.] - -[Sidenote: No. 17 of 1912.] - -12. The expression “unlawful society” has the same meaning as in the -Human Leopard and Alligator Societies Amendment Ordinance, 1912. - -[Sidenote: Extent of Ordinance.] - -13. This Ordinance shall apply to the Colony and Protectorate. - -[Sidenote: Duration of Ordinance.] - -14. This Ordinance shall continue in force until the expiration of one -year next after the commencement thereof: Provided that the expiration -of this Ordinance shall not affect the validity of anything done in -pursuance of this Ordinance, and any person convicted under this -Ordinance may be punished as if this Ordinance continued in force, and -all prosecutions and other legal proceedings pending under this -Ordinance at the time of the expiration thereof may be carried on, -completed and carried into effect, and the sentences carried into -execution as if this Ordinance had not expired. - - * * * * * - - SCHEDULE. (Section 4.) - -Whereas by a commission dated the day of and issued under and -by virtue of the Special Commission Court Ordinance, 1912, you have been -appointed Special Commissioners to form a Special Commission Court for -the trial in manner provided by the said Ordinance of persons committed -for trial before the Court of the for offences, in connection -with unlawful societies; - -And whereas the persons whose names are set out in the Schedule hereto -have been committed for trial before the Court of the for -offences in connection with unlawful societies; - -Now I, , Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Sierra -Leone, hereby assign to you the said Special Commissioners the duty of -sitting at in the Protectorate (_or Colony_) of Sierra Leone, and -of there, without a jury and not assisted by any native chief or -non-native or native assessors, hearing and determining, according to -law, the charges made against the persons whose names are set out in the -Schedule hereto, and of doing therein what to justice appertains, and -this shall be to you a sufficient warrant in that behalf. - -Given under my hand this day of - - To - - Governor. - - SCHEDULE - -Passed in the Legislative Council this Fifteenth day of November in the -year of our Lord One thousand nine hundred and twelve. - - F. A. MILLER, - Clerk of Legislative Council. - - * * * * * - - An Ordinance to amend the Special Commission Ordinance, 1912 - - NO. 21 OF 1912. - -Be it enacted by the Governor of the Colony of Sierra Leone, with the -advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:— - -[Sidenote: Short title.] - -1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Special Commission Court -(Amendment) Ordinance, 1912. - -[Sidenote: Various amendments in No. 18 of 1912.] - -2. The Special Commission Ordinance, 1912, is hereby amended, - - (1) In section 1, by inserting the word “Court” after the word - “Commission.” - - (2) By adding at the end of subsection (5) of section 2 the - following paragraph:— - - “In all other matters the decision or opinion of the Court shall be - according to the decision or opinion of a majority of the - members of the Court.” - - (3) In line 3 of section 3, by inserting the word “triable” after - the word “offences,” and in line 8 of the same section by - substituting the words “reasonable cause” for the words - “unavoidable absence.” - - (4) In subsection (10) of section 5, by inserting the words “to be” - before the word “tried” in line 5 thereof. - - (5) In section 6, by inserting the words “which may in the opinion - of the Court be” after the word “Ordinance” in line 4 thereof. - - (6) In section 9, by inserting the words “the notes of evidence and” - after the word “passed” in line 2 thereof, and by inserting - after the word “case” in line 3 thereof the words “or copies - thereof certified under the hand of the Assistant Master.” - - (7) In subsection (3) of section 11, by inserting the word - “unlawfully” before the word “harbouring” in line 3 thereof. - - (8) By inserting the word “To” at the beginning of the Schedule, by - transferring the words “given under my hand this day - of Governor” in lines 19 and 20 of the Schedule to the end - of the Schedule to the Schedule, and by striking out the word - “To” in line 22 of the Schedule. - -[Sidenote: Powers of Crown Prosecutor.] - -3. An officer appointed by the Governor to prosecute at the trials of -persons charged with offences before a Special Commission Court shall, -for the purposes of such trials, have the same rights and powers as the -Attorney-General. - -[Sidenote: Duration of Ordinance.] - -4. The following section shall be substituted for section 14 of the -Special Commission Court Ordinance, 1912:— - - “14. This Ordinance shall continue in force until the expiration of - one year next after the commencement thereof: Provided that the - expiration of this Ordinance shall not affect the validity of - anything done in pursuance of, nor the continuing validity of any - deportation or expulsion under this Ordinance, nor the liability to - punishment of any persons committing an offence under sections 10 - and 11 hereof, and any person convicted under this Ordinance may be - punished as if this Ordinance continued in force, and all - prosecutions and other legal proceedings pending under this - Ordinance at the time of the expiration thereof may be carried on, - completed and carried into effect, and the sentences carried into - execution, and deportation and expulsion orders made, as if this - Ordinance had not expired.” - -[Sidenote: Extent of Ordinance.] - -5. This Ordinance shall apply to the Colony and Protectorate. - -Passed in the Legislative Council this Thirteenth day of December, in -the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and twelve. - - F. A. MILLER, - Clerk of Legislative Council. - - - - - PRINTED BY - HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD., - LONDON AND AYLESBURY. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - The Nation in Arms - - By Lieut.-General Baron von der Goltz. Demy 8vo. 475 pages. New and - revised edition. Price 7s. 6d. net. - - A popular abridged edition. Cloth, 2s. 6d. net; paper, 2s. net. - -“The work is full of interest from beginning to end, and must always be -one of the World’s military classics. It repays earnest study alike of -statesmen and soldiers.” - - _Journal of United States Artillery._ - - - Sadowa: A Study - - By General H. Bonnal. Translated from the French by C. F. Atkinson, - Lieutenant, 1st V.B. Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Demy - 8vo. 255 pages. With 21 Maps and Plans. Price 7s. 6d. net. - -“We welcome the publication of a translation by Mr. C. F. Atkinson of -General Bonnal’s “Sadowa.” The standing of French military judgment is -now, by universal admission, so high that the treatment of the Prussian -Campaign of 1866 against Austria on their lines has become a book -essential to British military study.”—_The Athenæum._ - - - Military History applied to Modern Warfare - - By the late Captain J. W. E. Donaldson, R.F.A. Second edition, - revised and enlarged, by Captain A. F. Becke, late R.F.A. Demy 8vo. - 395 pages. With 15 Maps and Plans. Price 8s. 6d. net. - -“As a guide to the study of military history the book has a definite -sphere of usefulness. It deals specially with the campaigns of -Austerlitz, Jena, Vimiero, Corunna, Salamanca, Waterloo, and the -Shenandoah Valley. Ample illustration of the points discussed is -provided by an excellent series of maps.”—_Scotsman._ - - - Bush Warfare - - By Lieut.-Colonel W. C. G. Heneker, D.S.O., Connaught Rangers. Demy - 8vo. 203 pages. 13 Maps and Plans. Price 6s. net. - -“His volume is full of instruction, and we would commend it to all -soldiers, because the British Army has done, and probably will have to -do, more bush fighting than any other army in the world.”—_Army and Navy -Gazette._ - - - British Battle Books - - By Hilaire Belloc. Illustrated with Coloured Maps. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, - 1s. net each volume. - - 1. BLENHEIM. - 2. MALPLAQUET. - 3. TOURCOING. - 4. WATERLOO. - 5. CRECY. - 6. POITIERS. - -The British Battle Series consists of a number of monographs upon -actions in which British troops have taken part. Each battle is the -subject of a separate book illustrated with coloured maps, illustrative -of the movements described in the text, together with a large number of -line maps showing the successive details of the action. In each case the -political circumstances which led to the battle are explained; next, the -stages leading up to it; lastly, the action in detail. - - - The Japanese in Manchuria, 1904 - - Translated from the French of Colonel Cordonnier by Captain C. F. - Atkinson. - - VOL. I.—THE YA-LU AND TELISSU. Price 7s. 6d. net. - VOL. II.—LIAO-YANG. With case of Maps. Price 9s. net. - -“Colonel Cordonnier’s book is not a mere history of a campaign, but -rather a study, and an especially valuable one, of the concerted action -of policy, strategy, and tactics which together form what men call -war.”—_United Service Magazine._ - - * * * * * - - HUGH REES, LTD., 5 Regent Street, London, S.W. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors. - - 2. 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