XXIV 
THE HUMAN SACRIFICE 
The mourning for the destruction of poor Es- 
hagga had not ceased when Ejahyay fell. For 
six months after I left, there was no fighting. 
In the meantime Ogumulla had it circulated 
among the slave-hunting peoples that Ejahyay 
would soon fall. Then eager for prey, thou¬ 
sands of recruits joined him from neighboring 
nations until they formed three great camps, 
probably numbering 50,000 men in each. The 
allies could hardly muster one-third of that num¬ 
ber, but they continued to make a bold stand un¬ 
til the last day, when the soldiers of both allied 
armies broke camp and fled leaving the people 
of Ejahyay to their fate. Aborgoonree, Areh’s 
head slave and by the influence of the Bashorun, 
his successor, escaped with the Egbar army, but 
Areh-Argo and other Ejahyay leaders committed 
suicide. All the leading men among the cap¬ 
tured were slain, but the rest of the people were 
held as slaves to be sold or redeemed. A few 
escaped to Abeokuta, Illorin and other places 
friendly to their cause. 
241 
