A MURDER AND CANNIBAL SOCIETY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10631, 28 March 1896, Page 6

A MURDER AND CANNIBAL SOCIETY.

THE STBANGE STORY OF " THE

HUMAN LEOPARDS."

A correspondent who was en route for the Ashantee expedition sends to the Westminster Gazette o£ 9th Jscusry, from Cape Coast Castle, the following account of an extraordinary trial which was then proceeding at that place :—

Tbe preseat Acting ChioE Justice is his Honor W. Clark, aud I was present sit feha High Court asd wiSDeeced port of a trial which is exciting unbounded interest throughout the leugth aud breadth o" tha West Coast of Africa. Bafore, however, giving «n account o£ the piescat trial, I will d«a«i fbs what ia known of the Society of Human Lvopatds, vribose organisation is gradually baiEg laid before the world by tha energy aud perspicacity of the Prosecuting Counsel Queen's Advocate, tbe Hou. F. Sroyly. Ever since European* have lived on the West Coast of Africa tbare have always been circulated among them tales of some dreid secret society, formed to murder and eat the ucsanpectiog wanderer. Bat up to quite lately noShiog bat: rurooars and old wives' teles existed. . Nothing certain or trustworthy in connection with fee society, could ba obtained. But last yesr in the Meedi country three men were caught almost red-handed in the commission of one of these mysterious crimes. One was dressed up in » leopard's.skin, and his victim was found with his throat cat. They were brought for trial and condemned to death. But so obvious was their guilt that the motives for the crime were net inquired into very fully. They were taken back to their own-country and publicly hanged. Curiously eaougb, the actual murderer wts tha ooly one of, the three who showed the white feather.

Such a Btern, swift meting out of punishment gaemed likely to put a stop to the horrid deed 3 of bleod committed by the society, and there was every reason for believing thst its member* would give .np nil connection with an .oxgamsafcion which tad so thoroughly fallen under the suspicion of the Government. But the whole colony was ronssd into excitement by the new» of another of these marderß in the Empari country. The body of a watch-

loan, employed by a well-to-do eduoetcd native named Kaisyi!, was found with the unmistakable signs of having mob his death &\ the hands of a Human Lsopaid. Suspicion fell upon a man earned Kperewa, of the same district, and he was arrested. Then farther inquiries were instituted, and Kaitell was charged before Major A. I. Mnnfeena.ro, acting magistrate (who took part in the Ashantee ezpe-! dition), with participation in the deed. They were sent up to tho Supreme Court 'for trial, which commenced on 11th November. The chief evidence was procured from informers, and gradually the whole organisation of thii Society of Human Leopards came to light; »nd the following is a brief description 'df, its methods:—

There are many reasons given for the origin of the society, and Sbe most plausible is that the desire' for human food, wkich is undoubtedly inherited, is at Hm bottom of.it all. In times of was, even-at the present day, there can be no donbfc that -tribes—eren those- which have some veneer of civilisation — indulge to a certain exienfc in cannibalism, Bat when thera is jresce these 13, a lack of opportunity of satisfying the horrid appetite. The desire is still there, however, and it must be satisfied. And lisas comes in the fetish part of the business. Ewisiently the appatite for' human food, even in the minds cf the..most degraded natives, requires an excuse or a-cloak in superstition and tasKgroa. So the Society of Human Leopards comes on the scene with ■ solemn organisation and all the eacrednes» of a fetish. In. this ease the fetish is a miserable little round box about a foot high and half a foot in diameter. 0;s the - top in inserted an antelope's horn, which is used as a whistle. Round this horn is a hollow, which'must be filled up with human fat to complete the efficacy of the fetish. And to gut human fat it is -necessary to kill» human feeing, and having killed a human being it n only natural that a part of it should fall to the lot of tie slayer sod his helpers. : ' ■..■ '

In the case befora the court, however, theie are several points which ' excite more than ordinary interest. In the first place, the prisoner K&itsll is an educated man,, who owns a ■prosperous factory at Habundoo, the scene of the crime. I watched him during the trial, and he took copious notes of all the proceedings, writing with ease and clearness. When he was first brought before the magistrate bis hair was as black as ink; now it is ae.white *s snow—the effect of*fear and awful dread. The story of his connection with the case is curious, and brings out an extraordinary regulation of the society. It seams that whori a new member joins hemoat take au oath to pay his, " debt" when called upon. In other words, ha undertakes to proride a victim for the eiecuttaner of the society, 4ha Human Leopard. Ha is only sailed upon to do this once every four years. In this ease, so it isalleged by the informers, Ksitell was required to pay-hjs "debt," and, as is the custom, gave his watchman t« satisfy the claim. Tha ordinary procedureiß to give a servant, or if the member has no servant he delivers up a member of bis family. .Kpsrewa, the executioner, proceeded to kill his victim. Dressed is a leopard skin, with the grinning teeth set in his bead, and a curious tfarea-pronged knife in each band, held as one hoids a fcnEckfe-doster, he crept softty and swiftly alter the poor watchman, and waiting for his opportunity he sprang upon him, and with one quick movement he bad cub open his jugular vem and the windpipe. There was na cry or groan,.so speedily was the crime committed, and the body nu quickly dragged under the shelter of a shed, there to be eaten, with the exception of the buttocks, which rare reserved for the mauafscture of the fat. But there was an alarm, and the feast did not teke place, and-ins'.ead Kartell and Kperewa are now on trial on the-charge of-marder.

Thsra woald have teen a very slight chance of obtaining ssmcrant evidence to indict the two man wcre-it not for fee fact that eereral informers, memhars of the society, came forward. Thare they sat in a row in the court, listening to the clear speech of ths Chief Justice and the tetUng cross-examination of tie Queen's AdvocaSo, with a Kstlessness and a Jack of mteresfcwhich, under-the ciroumstancss, seemed nomethmg • extraordinary. ' Presently on« of them gave evidence, and Hus was the oath be toot. Holding a piece of iron in each hand, aud knocking oae-againsi the other, he sajd the following wor«3a id his own language :— "This oath I now take in the case now before the conrt and jury. I swear that I will speak the trnth. If I tsft lie, when I climb up a palm txea let me fall down and die; if I tell lie,' when I go into a caeca let the canoe sink and I die ; if I tell lie, when I go into the bush let snake bite and I die ; but it" I speak-the trnth, then let no harm happen to me." So far goes the evidence, bnt of course the guilt or the innocence of the prisoners remaini yet to be proved. All the facts, so far, are merely " alleged." Whatever be the result the case will rank as one of the most extraordinary that evar came before an English judge. . ■