Note 81 — Chapter III

Which is the polite way of directing him to retire to his harem, and then and there to poison himself, unless he wishes a worse fate. This constitutional proceeding is the Harikari, or ‘happy release’ of the Japanese, and in practice is not unknown in Europe. In Africa, hasty deposition is checked, however, by the custom of slaying openly, or secretly, the high officer called the ‘king’s father,’ and other great chiefs, to meet him in Orun or Hades. Since the above was written the Alake died on the 1st September, 1862.