In Afric’s Forest and Jungle 
liance with the English to dethrone Kosoko and 
to open up the country to legitimate trade, they 
entered into a treaty to abandon human sacrifices. 
But war had greatly demoralized them and the 
priests took advantage of this state of things to 
persuade them to return to the old ways and to 
offer up the accustomed sacrifice to the war god, 
saying his favor would be restored to them and 
he would crown their arms with victory as he 
had done in the past. Influenced by this advice, 
the chiefs and Ogbonee elders decreed that a 
slave should be purchased in the market and of¬ 
fered up as a sacrifice in a fearfully wild spot 
near our mission house on the road leading to 
Ejahyay. 
The unusual excitement which suddenly seized 
the women in the market-place near our house, 
was the first intimation that we had of what was 
about to take place. When they heard of the 
decree and that the victim had arrived at the spot 
designated, they sprang to their feet with shouts 
of joy, ran to the spot and engaged in a kind of 
frantic dance to a wild, glad chant of praise to 
Ogun. Many of them also addressed prayers to 
the man asking for some earthly good or sending 
messages to departed friends. They also cast to 
him choice articles of food. These the victim ate 
244 
