160 Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 
by Mawu (God), which the black eagerly appropriated 
for purposes of trade," 
In Dahomey similar customs to those of the Ewe- 
negroes prevail. The famous Amazons of the king, who 
dwell in a house richly ornamented with skulls and cowry- 
garlands, have a custom of glueing a cowry-shell for each 
slain enemy to the stocks of their muskets, the shells being 
glued by means of the blood of the slain man. Another 
custom of the Dahomeyans takes the form of a “ fight for 
cowries ” thrown by the king and his Amazons, this being 
followed by the sacrifice of a human victim upon which 
cowries and other objects have been dashed. At the con- 
clusion of these ceremonies a number of cowries are 
thrown upon the blood-stained earth.’ 
In Yoruba, as in Dahomey, cowries have been a 
recognised form of currency for centuries, and in recent 
years thousands of tons have been imported into Lagos. 
According to Hoffmann, in 1850, about 40 white cowries 
(C. moneta) were equal to an English penny. In Yoemba, 
in Iander’s time, it was the custom on the death of a 
chief for one of his wives to destroy all his possessions 
and shell-money and then destroy herself. On his travels 
through Yoruba, Lander also saw a sorcerer whose cowry- 
hangings he estimated at 20,000 specimens. Not far off 
the river Mussa, Forscher saw a hut with a veiled entrance 
in which it was customary for passing negroes to place 
cowries, because the god housed therein gave them water, 
corn, and yams in abundance.'” 
Among the Egbas, according to Brown,'” it is the 
custom when a great man dies for slaves to be slain to 
act as his attendants in the land of spirits. Messengers 
11° ©. Spiess, Deutsch. Geogr. Blatter, 1899, p. 33 (fide Schneider). 
'1* Brown, ** Races of Mankind,” vol. iii., pp. 92 and 100-2. 
146 Schneider, of. c#t., pp. 154-6, and 170, 
116 Brown, of. cié., ili., pp. 114-15. 
