To Provide A Proper Burial For The Dead Relation Is The Great Duty
Of A Negro's Life, Its Only Rival In His Mind Is The Desire To Avoid
Having A Burial Of His Own.
But, in a good negro, this passion will
go under before the other, and he will risk his very
Life to do it.
He may know, surely and well, that killing slaves and women at a
dead brother's grave means hanging for him when their Big Consul
knows of it, but in the Delta he will do it. On the Coast, Leeward
and Windward, he will spend every penny he possesses and, on top, if
need be, go and pawn himself, his wives, or his children into
slavery to give a deceased relation a proper funeral.
This killing at funerals I used to think would be more easily done
away with in the Delta than among the Tschwi tribes, but a little
more knowledge of the Delta's idea about the future life showed me I
was wrong.
Among the Tschwi the slaves and women killed are to form for the
dead a retinue, and riches wherewith to start life in Srahmandazi
(Yboniadse of the Oji), where there are markets and towns and all
things as on this earth, and so the Tschwi would have little
difficulty in replacing human beings at funerals with gold-dust,
cloth, and other forms of riches, and this is already done in
districts under white influence. But in the Delta there is no
under-world to live in, the souls shortly after reaching the under-
world being forwarded back to this, in new babies, and the wealth
that is sent down with a man serves as an indication as to what
class of baby the soul is to be repacked and sent up in. As wealth
in the Delta consists of women and slaves I do not believe the
under-world gods of the Niger would understand the status of a chief
who arrived before them, let us say, with ten puncheons of palm oil,
and four hundred yards of crimson figured velvet; they would say,
"Oh! very good as far as it goes, but where is your real estate?
The chances are you are only a trade slave boy and have stolen these
things"; and in consequence of this, killing at funerals will be a
custom exceedingly difficult to stamp out in these regions. Try and
imagine yourself how abhorrent it must be to send down a dear and
honoured relative to the danger of his being returned to this world
shortly as a slave. There is no doubt a certain idea among the
Negroes that some souls may get a rise in status on their next
incarnation. You often hear a woman saying she will be a man next
time, a slave he will be a freeman, and so on, but how or why some
souls obtain promotion I have not yet sufficient evidence to show.
I think a little more investigation will place this important point
in my possession.
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