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Chapter Fourteen. The Rescued Slaves |
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slavery and human sacrifice |
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Few of the captives of those tribes ever lived long, for just as mithan and buffaloes were sacrificed by the Angamis, the tribes on the Patkoi mountains beheaded a slave at their Feasts of Merit. The only humane trait in these cruel ceremonies was perhaps the custom of making the victim so drunk before slaughter that he went to his death only half conscious. At the erecting of a man's house the sacrifice of a human being strengthened the new building; the trussed slave was thrown into the hole, and crushed as the main post came smashing down. |
