^(T comprise books of valuable information and acknowledged
^ W form adapted for reading- while Travelling, and at the same time of a
chaSRer that will render them worthy of preservation; but the price of v\\hich has
hitherto confined them within a comparatively narrow circle of readers.

5.*nbsp;WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. BY T. B. MACAt\'LAY.
6-7.* LAING\'S RESIDENCE IN NORWAY.

8.\'\'quot;RANKE\'S HISTORY OF THE POPES.quot; And, quot;GLADSTONE ON-
CHURCH AND STATE.quot; BY T. B. MACAULAY.
PFEIfFER\'S LADY\'S VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.
EOTHEN, OR TRACES OF TRAVEL FROM THE EAST.
quot;THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ADDISON.quot; And, H(JRACB
WALPOLE. BY THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY.
14-1.5.^ HUC\'S TRAVELS IN TARTARY, THIBET, AND CH[N\\.
16-17.* HOLCROFT\'S MEMOIRS. Reprinted in 1852.

18. L!lt;:CTURE3 AND ADDRESSES. BY THE EARL OF CARL:SLE.
19-20.* WERNE\'S AFRICAN WANDERINGS.

* The Eighteen Farts to which this (*) asterisk is prefixed, may also he had
in Nine Volumes, bound in cloth, price Half-a-CrOwn each.

Companion to his quot; Story of the Battle of Waterloo.quot;
PICTURES FROM ST. PETERSBURGH. BY EDWARD JERRMANN. Translated

from the German by F. HARDMAN, Esq.
LORD BACON, BY THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY.
SIR EDWARD SEAWARD\'S NARRATIVE, abridged.

ELECTRICITY AND THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, To which is added, THE
CHEMISTRY OF THE STARS. BY DR. GEORGE WILSON.

\' FIVE YEAES IN CHINA,quot; AND quot; SIX MONTHS IN THE AFBICAN
BLOCKADE ;quot;
DISCOVBHER OFra^^^jg^gOT^IC, ETC.

While conversing one evening, on board
Her Majesty\'s ship Cyclops, with the Hon.
Captain Hastings, he remarked that great
benefit might accrue from the visit of a
naval officer to the King of Dahomey, at a
time when the death of that king\'s chief
agent and principal merchant, Da Souza,
left him more at liberty to exercise his
humanity, and to listen to the oft repeated
appeal to suppress the slave trade in his
dominions. Having long had a desire to
visit the interior kingdoms of Africa, and
to witness the etFects of the slave trade in
the countries of its sources, I instantly
volunteered my services. But Captain
Hastings, although senior officer and him-
self the proposer, did not feel justified in
despatching me without the permission of

The Commander-in-chief received the
offer of my services, and at the same time a
request from Mr. Duncan, the newly ap-
pointed Yice-Consul, that a naval officer
should accompany him to the Court of
Dahomey, and was pleased to confer on me
the honour of the mission,

A great deal lias been written on the state
of the slave trade on the coast and at sea,
together with the fate of the slaves in the
Brazils. It is the object of the author, in
giving publicity to the following Journals,
to illustrate the dreadful slave hunts and
ravages, the annihilations and extermina-
tions, consequent on this trade ; and to
bring prominently before the British public
the sacred service they are rendering their
fellow-men, in prosecuting their increasing
efforts to allay those fearful horrors,

I had been often a day or two journeying
into various parts of the interior of Africa,

and liad seen the state of the slave trade in
its advanced systematic stage, and had con-
sidered the horrors of that division of it
disgusting enough. I have visited bara-
coons, and seen men so fearfully attenu-
ated, from want and over-exercise in the
march to the coast, as to render nature
unable to support the frame. I have seen
the hold of a slave ship, and the horrors
consequent on diseases arising from the
crowded state and want of wholesome food
to alleviate the cravings of hunger and
thirst. I have seen the slave toiling in South
America, and known that the labour of
these was a matter of calculation to the
master, whether, by continual toil and short
life, he would gain more money than by
light work and protracted miserable exist-
ence. But what are all these to the tragic
scenes that introduce the slaves to slavery ?
A country living in peace with all around,
and pursuing trade in the endeavour to
become rich, is suddenly sarrounded by

a ruthless banditti; and how changed the
scene I The old would be rejected if brought
to market, they are sacrificed ; the whole
nation are transported, exterminated, their
name to be forgotten, except in the annual
festival of their conquerors, when syco-
phants call the names of vanquished coun-
tries to the remembrance of the victors.

This state of society will last as long as
the slave trade exists. The question that
should be asked is: Is it in the power of
this country to stop it ? I will not confine
myself to opinions, but relate facts.

For six months in the year 1848, between
the colony of Sierra Leone and Liberia, in
Her Majesty\'s ship Bonetta, under my com-
mand, I captured six slavers. There were
then four cruisers on that station, and two
of which captured each two, and the third
one slave ship, in the same space of time.
This proved that the state of the slave
trade there must at that time have been
very brisk. Diogenes, in his search for an

honest man, had a better chance of success
than a cruiser has of a slaver there now.
The trade is destroyed, and the people have
receded from their evil habits and become
industrious. This portion completes a long
line of coast now open only to legal trade;
and, if joined by the part of which these
Journals treat, would embrace the whole
of the continent of Africa, to the northward
of the line. It is only a portion of the
coast to the southward that requires block-
ading now ; and the effect of the squadron
at present employed, if the trade in the
Bights could be checked, would be four-
fold on that portion of coast to be guarded.
Let the government fit out a decked boat
for each cruiser ; let her be a fast sailer,
mamied, rigged, and in every way armed
and equipped by the cruisers, and the effect
of the squadron is again double. * Many

* This opinion was written before the author had
had an opportunity of hearing the purport of Captain
Dunlop\'s evidence before a committee of the House of
Lords.

of tlie cruisers could well equip and man
two of these launches, and so line the coast
that no ingress or egress could take place
unknown.

I do not blame those who think the
squadron increases the horrors. It is a
natural conclusion, and one I myself arrived
at, until I had witnessed the true source of
the evils complained of. Then I saw that
if the squadron were withdrawn, the slave
hunts and exterminations would be in-
creased. The inhabitants of a vast extent
of coast have been led to give up the slave
trade, and why ? because they have been
taught the immense increase of the value
of the palm-oil trade over that in slaves.
In all the countries which have given up
the traffic in their fellow-men, the preach-
ing of the Gospel and the spread of edu-
cation have most materially assisted the
effects of the coercive measures of our
squadron. There are kings in the Cama-
roons and Bonny rivers, whose ledgers, kept

by themselves, would grace any counting-
house in this country; and whose minds,
expanded by education, have made them
bold enough to declare that the old super-
stition of the Eboe should no longer exist,
setting the example of becoming Christians.
When the slave trade is checked, other
trade should be substituted, or it will soon
revive. To insure success, education should
be first planted, and then trade introduced:
thus, becoming enlightened, the African
would sicken at the horrors he has hitherto
encouraged.

Dr. Johnson said it was possible, though
not probable, that amazons had existed.
The amazons spoken of in these Journals
are not deprived, like the ancient female
warriors, of their left breast, but are perfect
women. They live in chastity, nominally
as wives of the king\'s old soldiers; or, for
distinction in bravery, are given in mar-
riage by the king to his favoured subjects.

is curious to find tliat the dynasty has lasted
two centuries. Many of their customs are
strangely at variance with the horrors of
others. The forms and ceremonies of polite
society contrast oddly with the sacrifices of
their unoffending prisoners of war. The
faithfulness of memory displayed by the
troubadours and the high officers proves the
Daliomans to be capable of receiving educa-
tion. Let it be hoped that before long this
nation may be added to the many in Africa
that prefer the labour to the sacrifice and
sale of the subject: the former in the vain
attempt to propitiate an offended all power-
ful, Being; the latter to enrich, at the ex-
pense of their own, a foreign and distant,
and, alas ! Christian, land.

Journal during a Sojourn on Shore in Whydah,
from February 27th to March 31st, and a
Description of Whydah -nbsp;-nbsp;- 96

Vol. I. page 81. lines, from bottom, for quot; siloe\'s smithquot; read quot; silver-
smith.quot;

83. line 5. for quot; sodesque quot; read quot; royal master.quot;
93. last line, for quot; Haibergquot; read quot; Harvey,quot;
171. line 9. from bottom, for quot;is sacrificedquot; read quot;is not
infrequently sacrificed.quot;
Vol, IL page 160. line 4. from bottom, for quot;principalquot; read quot;principals.quot;

As the king of the slave trade and its mer-
chants, the Dahoman monarch has become
Word of common use; whilst the position
of his kingdom, and the habits, manners,
and customs of his people, equally with the
resources of its sovereign, are incorrectly,
^ at all, known. Lying inland on the
^^^inea coast, this great military kingdom
Jtends almost from the banks of the
^ iger to those of the Volta, and domineers

over, if it does not possess, the entire land
that lies between the coast thus cut otF be-
tween the mouths of these rivers and the
bases of the Kong Mountains. Until after
the commencement of the last century, the
very name of Dahomey was unknown in
Europe, and the earliest account that we
possess of its people and their power does
not date back beyond that era.

There have been some geographers who
have persuaded themselves, that in the
Dauna of Leo Africanus was to be recog-
nised the Dahomey of our own day. But
though the Yenetian map of Sanutus as
early as 1588 placed that name with ap-
parent certainty, and was followed by Dr.
Hailey in his edition of Sir Jonas Moore\'s
Mathematics nearly a century afterwards,
we now know for certain that the kingdom
thus marked on their maps is occupied by
nations differing in name, in race, and in
manners, from the Dahoman people. The
earliest intercourse between the Dahomans
and Europeans, as at present known, dates
from the year 1724, when the then king of

I^ahomey overrun the kingdom of Ardrah,
that lay between his capital and the sea-
coast, and seized in its chief town a Euro-
pean factor. This European captive, and
agent for the English African Company,
Bulfinch Lamb, though carried cap-
tive to Abomey, was well and kindly
t^\'eated by the dark monarch, and so far
allowed his liberty, as to be permitted to
Correspond with his superior, the com-
mandant of the English fort at Whydah.
It is in a letter from Mr. Lamb to the
Englisli commandant that we obtain the
earliest sketch of this little known people;
so curious is this early description,
yet so truthful to the present habits
aiicl manners of the people, that it has been
eemed advisable to reprint it in the Ap-
pendix. It is more than curious to note
little this military despotism has
changea in two centuries and a half, not-
^^ithstanding all the progress that has been
^-^lade on the African coast by European
ciiterprise and intelligence.^

Dahomey, ig carried on in separate works by Captains
Smith and Snelgrave until the time when
the imprudence of the English commandant
at Whydah brought on a second and third
invasion of the coast countries by the king,
and ended in the death of the governor,
and the temporary destruction of the
Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese
forts at the town of Jaquin. This was in
1732, the year in which the king, called
generally Guadja Trudo, died, and was
succeeded by his son, Bossa Ahadee. Of
this miserable tyrant, the history was
written by one who had been engaged for
eighteen years in the African trade, and
completed in the more perfect work of
Governor Dalziel, the governor of Cape
Coast Castle. The latter work, besides
including and continuing Mr. Norris\'s ac-

governor of tlie English fort at Whydah, at the end of
quot;New Voyage to Guinea,quot; by William Smith, Esq.
London, 1745. Full Account of some Part of Guinea,
by Captain William Snelgrave. London, 1734. See
Appendix (A).

count of Ahadee\'s reign, carried down the
I^alioman annals to the time of the son
and grandson of that detestable savage.*
From this period the history was briefly
sketched by Dr. M\'Leod, and continued to
the reign of the younger son of Weenohoo,
the grandson of Ahadee, who had suc-
ceeded to the throne in preference to his
elder brother, whose deformitv in one foot

Was deemed a sufficient, or at least was set
np as the, reason for his being rejected as
^is father\'s successor to the throne. Thus
has the history of this important and
deeply

interesting nation been brought
down to the commencement of the present
century, when it is found under a new
\'^overeign, but unchanged in manners and
abits, though greatly enlarged in its power

Memoirs of the Eeign of Bossa Ahadee ; with an
Recount of a Journey to Abomey in 1772, by Mr.

»■bert Norris. London, 1789. History of Dahomey,
2i(d from authentic sources, by Archibald Dal-
don\'nbsp;of Cape Coast Castle. 4to. Lon-

t e Manners and Customs of the Dahomian People,
y John M\'Leod, M.D. London, 1820.

and its territories, and in daily intercourse
with, and even dependant on, Europeans,
for its prosperity and its revenues. The
rise of the military kingdom of Dahomey
dates from the commencement of the seven-
teenth century. At that period, when
Tah-coOquot;doo-noo, chief of Fohee, captured
the present capital, the united provinces of
Dahomey and Fohee formed a kingdom
scarcely more extensive than the county of
Eutland. From this central state, lying
equidistant from the banks of the A^olta
and the Niger, has extended the now mi-
litary and most powerful monarchy in
Western Africa. On every side, conquest has
increased its territories, as each successive
annual slave-hunt has annexed some one or
other of the neighbouring states, which it
depopulated in its merciless progress. Had
it not been for this system of depopulation,
the conquering nation could with difficulty
have governed the extensive territories
which each annual slave-hunt added to
their kingdom. Revenue from the sale of
prisoners is the primary object of these

expeditions, and the addition of wasted
countries the necessary, hut far from
coveted, consequence.

Although, for two centuries at least, Dah«--
Igt;ahomey has been a military nation, it
^vas not until the usurpation of the present
monarch, consequent on the unmilitary
character of his deposed brother, that she
rose to her present height, as the dreaded
oppressor of neighbouring nations. Indeed,
in the reigns of the later monarchs, the
border states of Eyeo, Anagoo, and Mahee
often defied the Dahomans with success ;
but now, should a neighbouring people
become rich, it is regarded as sufficient in-
sult to call forth an immediate declaration
of war from the court of Dahomey. Thus
is it that, on the northern and north-
eastern borders, the Eyeos and the Ana-
goos have been almost entirely subjugated,
^^id the country overrun to the foot of that
Natural and impassable boundary offered
by the lofty summits of the Kong Moun-
tains. On the western and north-western
the stream of the Volta alone sepa-

rates Dahomey from its great rival mon-
archy of Western Africa, the kingdom of
Ashantee. Time alone can develope the
consequences to Africa of such powerful
and ambitious nations being divided by no
more difficult boundary than the far from
wide or impassable waters of the Volta.
Already on that side the Attahpahms and
Ahjabee have been defeated although not
annexed to the rapidly increasing territory
of Dahomey,

Sin tensive provinces of Yorihbah looked upon
with cupidity, and marked out for devas-
tation, slavery, and murder; whilst already
the populous city of Abeah-Keutah, the
abiding place of many hundreds of Chris-
tians, and the seat of missionary enterprise
in the Bight of Benin, is marked out as
the scene of the approaching slave-hunt.
The fall of this noble and nearly Christian
city demands our deepest attention. Stand-
ing on a river, which reaches the sea at
Lagos, through the Lagoons, it would, were
Lagos open to legal trade, soon become

the central emporium of commerce from
Yorihbali, Bornou, and all the other coun-
tries neighbouring on the banks of the
^iger. Lagos itself is a most important
position as a trading port from its connec-
tion with all the countries of Guinea. It is
at present notorious as one of the greatest
slave dépôts in Africa, and for many reasons
likely to remain so. The king of Lagos
Was a slave himself, and, as an usurper, is
entirely in the hands of his patrons, the
slave merchants who placed him on the
throne. On the west side the Lagoons may
be said to join the Volta, although in the
^^y season, at a little distance from the
town of Godomey (fifteen miles from
^^^hydah), a sandy neck divides the Lagoons
of Lagos and Whydah. Emptying into these
Lagoons are several navigable rivers, as
yet but imperfectly known, except to slave
enterprise; whilst, on the east, the Joh
creeks, navigated by a water population,
called the Joh pirates, connect Lagos with
the Benin, and the whole delta of the
^iger. The importance of putting a stop

to the slave trade in Lagos cannot be ex-
aggerated. A fort on the present position
occupied by the slave barracoons, would
prevent any transportation from the many
slave nations in the interior of Benin, the
king of which place now partially supplies
the Lagos trade, assisted by the Joh men.
On this question, together with family
jealousies, Benin is divided into two sepa-
rate states, Benin and Warree; and is
likely, from the increase of legal trade in
the Benin rivers and the quarrels of the
royal family, to be yet again divided. It
is long since the royal family of Benin,
becoming too numerous and burthensome
to the state, first divided; and one portion,
crossing the river, settled at Warree, de-
pendent and tributary to the parent state.
When the Portuguese settled in the river,
great inconveniences were felt by duties
being levied by both governments. At their
instance the Warree family threw off the
yoke, and declared that state independent
of Benin, and masters\' of the river and
trade, which she now holds. The Warree

family becoming numerous, one of the
younger branches founded a city on the
Jackwaw creek (connecting Lagos and the
i^enin river); and the king of Warree
baving died, and his throne being dis-
P^ted, the Jackwaw people, under their
l^bief, JibuiFu, held neutral, and will, if they
not already, declare themselves inde-
pendent of the new sovereign of Warree.

^Notwithstanding the Benin river is os-
tensibly open to legal trade, it is also traded
urough by the slave-merchants of Lagos.

ould an attack be contemplated on Lagos,
small steamers might enter the Benin river
reach Lagos by the Joh creeks.
To return to Dahomey. The only slave whydah.
port actually belonging to the kingdom is
�h: but the king claims the beach
^^^d the right of embarkation, and enforces
tribute from the European traders at the
P^rts of Porto Novo and Badagry on the
and the Popoes on the west. Several
. Nations have been conquered in open-
J^S a road from the interior kingdom of
abomey to the sea, the chief of which

was Ardrah, whose capital Allahdah still
remains. It is difficult, if not impossible,
to decide what is the actual extent of the
kingdom of Dahomey. It may, however,
with safety be taken at about 180 miles
from east to west, and nearly 200 from
the sea coast at Whydah to its most north-
ward boundary. Throughout its territories
the population is far from sufficient for an
advantageous occupation of more than one
third of the lands; utterly insufficient, there-
fore, for the full development of the many
sources of wealth which the rich soil and
mineral resources of the country afford.

Most travellers are forcibly struck with
tile rapid improvement in morality, which,
barbarous equally with civilised coun-
tries, characterises the interior of a country
as compared with its seaports. In the
Matter and their nomadic inhabitants im-
niorality seems innate, and the habits of
seafaring men of all nations and classes in
tile main tend to demoralise the society

-Luey are birds of passage and of pleasure,
and are content to seek the full of that
licence which their temporary resting place
affards. Li Africa this is most patent; and
idolatrous though they be, and barbarous
m the extreme, the people of the interior
are generally far more moral than the semi-
ci^dised and nominally Christianised in-
habitants of the sea coasts. At Whydah,

the Dahoman port, the personal depravity
of the slave merchants has destroyed the
inborn honesty and chastity of the natives,
and the meretricious gaze of the females, and
debauched and stealthy appearance of the
men, are strongly and painfully contrasted
with the modesty of the former and the
honesty and openness of the latter, as the
traveller nears the capital of the Dahoman
kingdom.

mey. toms, the kingdom of Dahomey is consider-
ably increased, and now stands the greatest
military monarchy in Western Africa.
Ashantee sends tribute, and Yorihbah
trembles when Gezo proclaims his slave-
hunt. Owing to the ravages of its devas-
tating wars, the population of the king-
dom of Dahomey does not exceed 200,000
of both sexes; and Abomey, the capital, has
not more than 30,000 inhabitants.. Of the
whole population not more than 20,000 are
free, the remainder slaves. The regular
army consists of about 12,000, and of these
5000 are amazons. When the king goes to

War, he levies in all about 24,000 men, and
an equal number of commissariat followers.
Thus he moves on his war march with
nearly 50,000 of both sexes, or one fourth
the whole population of his kingdom. It
IS scarcely necessary to state that Dahomey
is under a military rule and government,
and has no parallel in history. The time
is thus yearly divided in war and festival.
The subjects attend at the Great Festival,
the Se-que-ah-hee, with presents or tribute.
If unable to be present in person, each
iiiust send a gift according to his rank and
pretensions.

kmg commences his annual wars. For slave hunts,
three successive years his people have asked
uim for war upon a particular place; and
he marches forth, concealing until within a
day\' s march the name or the place against
^^hich he has brought them. Against the
devoted city his troops march, whilst the
^hig, nobles, and royal family remain en-
camped.

and every cunning, secrecy, and ingenuity
is exercised to take the enemy by surprise.
Thus at Okeadon, in 1848, one chief turned
traitor, and introduced the Dahomans at
daylight. They had made a feint on Abeah-
Keutah, and in the night fell back upon
Okeadon. On the opposite side to that
attacked, ran a rapid river, and in crossing
this many were drowned, and but few saved.
Although there was no resistance, all the
aged were decapitated on the spot, to the
amount of thousands, and the strength and
youth of the city sold into slavery.

every article from their town with all the
aged, youths, and females. Unfortunately,
the preparations of the Dahomans struck
terror into the minds of the soldiers of
the Attahpams, who, knowing their fate, if
conquered, excepting about 400, fled from
the city. Yet these 400 resolute men
kept the Dahomans in check, killed many,
put the males to the rout, and had it
not been for a rally of the amazons, would

^ave discomfited tlie Dahoman army. Had
tile Attahpams stood, they would, with ease,
^ave conquered the merciless invaders.

After the destruction of a town, notice
IS sent to all neighbouring cabooceers, or
chiefs, calling upon them to swear alle-
giance to the conqueror. Many do so at
and receive their original rank, with
an equal, a Dahoman, to act as coadjutor:
tile remainder are persecuted until subju-
gated.

^ Cgt;n the return from war in January, the The annual
^ing resides at Cannah, and what is termed
^makes a Fetish,quot; i. e. sacrifices largely and
gives liberal presents to the Fetish people,
at the same time, purchases the pri-
soners and heads from his soldiers: the
slaves are then sold to the slave mer-
clicints, and their blood-money wasted in
\' ensuing Custom, Hwae-nooeewha, as the
Si\'eat annual feast is entitled in Dahoman

th ^^ Customs, the most important is
^^ lield in March, and called the See-
Hne-ah-hee, at which the king\'s wealth is

profusely displayed, and of which one of
the following Journals affords the first de-
scription ever given to the world. That
which, is held in May and June, is in
honour of Trade, with music, dancing, and
singing. A small schooner on wheels, laden
with gifts, is then drawn round the capital,
and the cargo afterwards scrambled for by
the Dahoman army.

The royal In July, on an appointed day, the soldiers
are planted along the road from Abomey
to the beach at Whydah, a distance of
ninety miles. At the moment when the
king drinks, its announcement, by the first
gun of a royal salute fired at Abomey,
is carried by the musketry to Allahdah,
whence the first of a salute there is con-
veyed similarly by sound to the beach at
Whydah, intended as a salute to the Fetish
of the Great Waters, or God of Foreign
Trade. The boom of the first gun fired by
the foreign forts at Whydah is echoed back
through Allahdah to Abomey, whence
another salute finishes this extraordinary
Custom. August and September are oc-

cupied by preparations for war, serving
powder, balls, or gun-stones (small
^I\'OQstones), and mucli palavar on war
^iibjects. Before going to war the king
\'^akes a Custom to the memory of his
t\'ather, which generally lasts a month ; and
thus ends the year, keeping the nation in
a fever of excitement, dancing, singing,
haranguing, firing, and cutting off heads;
thus demoralising more and more the na-
tures of a people already among the most
barbarous of the African nations.

being, that they harboured the Attahpams.
In the Attahpam, or north-east direction,
Dahomey has no territory. To the west,
Katoo is a possession, not by conquest, but
conciliation. The people wished and the
king agreed to war; but the Fetish people
declared that, if war was made on Katoo,
the king would be killed: the king sent
large presents to the chiefs, and Katoo
voluntarily submitted.

On the north, the Anagoo provinces are
partly wastes, but still inhabited. On the
north-west, the Eyeos and Mahees are still
large nations under the Dahoman yoke.
South, several nations have been subjugated,
to open the road from the capital to the
Port of Whydah. Porto Novo belongs to
its own king of that ilk, and Badagry is
under the rule of a native chief: yet the
king of Dahomey claims the beach of both
those places, and has made warlike excur-
sions as far as the latter.

War is annual, or rather an annual slave-
hunt is undertaken, to furnish funds for the
royal exchequer. The king professes never

to make war on any country that has not
insulted him, or until asked for by his
people thrice, the mystic number. Okea-
don is an exception. The cause of com-
plaint against Abeah-Keutah now is, that,
in the Okeadon war, they made a sally
and took an amazon regiment, general;
and umbrella. Greigwee or Whydah was
taken, nominally, for selling muskets to
the Dahomans, without locks, but, in reality,
because they required a port for foreign
trade. Eyeo, Attahpahm, Yorihbah, Ana-
goo, and Mahee, all more or less subjugated,
made war upon Dahomey.

Industry and agriculture, are not en-
couraged. On the contrary, the king is
^ware, that, if the enjoyments of home,
Q-nd the luxuries of health and domestic
happiness, were once obtained, he would
fail in volunteers for the annual slave-
hunts. The road to riches hitherto has
laid m the number of retainers the noble
or chief could send to war. They are fed
^nd partly clothed, but receive no pay,
except at the scramble at the Customs.

Prisoners and heads are purchased from
them, and, according to their bearing in
war, the officers are the recipients of the
royal bounty.

The king animates his chiefs, and creates
emulation even between the highest. Thus,
the miegan and the mayo will be called to
the sacrifice of a bullock to their people.
The mayo claims the head, the miegan
demands it by right of position; the mayo
boasts that he provides more soldiers, who
do more execution in war ; and the king
allows him to retain it. If a soldier act as
a coward, or, which is considered tanta-
mount, does not either take prisoner or
head, the king will offer him a present at
the Customs ; those who have acted well
accuse him, and, if their accusation is
proved, claim the present, while this charge
thus substantiated, is acted upon at once.
The miegan The actual first man in the kingdom is
mayo. the miegau, who is the chief executioner;

the second, the mayo or grand vizier:
there is a female miegan and a mayo, who
have corresponding duties in the harem.

Under the monarch, each rank has four
equivalents : thus the miegan and the mayo
hold a balance of power; their coadjutors
in the harem are also equal to them in
rank. The people are divided into two
parties,—the miegan\'s and the mayo\'s, the
right and the left. In war, the miegan\'s
soldiers are joined by the miegan\'s amazons,
and thus form the right or advanced bat-
talion.

The amazons are not supposed to marry. The
and, by their own statement, they have
changed their sex. quot; We are men,quot; say
they, quot; not women.quot; All dress alike, diet
alike, and male and female emulate each
other: what the males do, the amazons
will endeavour to surpass. They all take
great care of their arms, polish the bar-
rels, and, except when on duty, keep them
in covers. There is no\'duty at the palace,
except when the king is in public, and
then a guard of amazons protect the royal
person, and, on review, he is guarded by
the males; but outside the palace is always
a strong detachment of males ready for

service. The amazons are in barracks
within the palace enclosure, and under the
care of the eunuchs and the camboodee or
treasurer. In every action (with males
and females), there is some reference to
cutting off heads. In tkeir dances—and it
is the duty of the soldier and the amazon
to be a proficient dancer—with eyes dilated,
the right hand is working in a sawlike
manner for some time, as if in the act of
cutting round the neck, when both hands
are used, and a twist is supposed to finish
the bloody deed.

Customs at In the royal presence no rank is free
from prostration, and the throwing dirt
on the head, except white men, and a cer-
tain class of necromancers, who regulate
sacrifices to divert epidemics, and other
evils: these people wear hats, and only
bow to the throne. The liberated Africans
and returned slaves are considered as white
men; and while the king\'s ministers are
prostrate in the dust they merely bow.
In the royal presence none may smoke
but white men; and in the precincts of

the palace, or the grand Fetish houses,
none but whites may remain covered, and
none may be carried or ride, or be shaded
by an umbrella, unless by the king\'s per-
mission. If the king\'s stick be shown, all
bow down and kiss the dust except the
bearer, who is exempt.

man presents the stranger with pure water,
which he first drinks himself; and this is
equivalent to a promise of safety. It is
customary each morning to exchange com-
pliments with sticks or seals, or other
articles of virtu which may be known as
the individual\'s representative; and each
stick-bearer receives a glass of rum !

sume from the jealousy of their despotic
lord, are considered too sacred for man
to gaze upon; and on meeting any of
these sable beauties on the road, a bell
warns the wayfarer to turn ofi^, or stand
against a wall while they pass. The king
has thousands of wives, the nobles hun-
dreds, others tens; while the soldier is

unable to support one. If one of tlie
wives of the king, or a high officer\'s,
commits adultery, the culprits are sum-
marily beheaded; and the skull of one
of the Agaou\'s wives is at present exposed
in the square of the palace of Agrimgomeh,
in Abomey. But if adultery be committed
by parties of lower rank, they are sold
Marriages, slavcs. If a man seduces a girl, the
law obliges marriage, and the payment
of eighty heads of cowries to the parent
or master, on pain of becoming himself
a slave. In marriage there is no cere-
mony, except where the king confers the
wife, in which instance the maiden presents
her future lord with a glass of rum.
pu.^sh!quot;\'^ The laws are very strict: treason,
ments. murdcr, adultery, cowardice, and theft,
are punishable with death. Besides the
form of trial illustrated in a later portion
of this Journal, the cabooceers, headed
by the Eeavoogan, form a court, of which
the decision is subject to royal confirma-
tion. If condemned to death, the convict
is removed to the miegan\'s to await the

king\'s pleasure; if to slavery, to the
mayo\'s, for the same purpose. Any head
man of a town or district can, by pros-
trating and kissing the ground, declare
a king\'s court, and try a culprit; but the
sentence must be put in force at Abomey,
and a public crier proclaims it in the
market. All rank is hereditary and pri-
mogenitive, provided the king concurs ;
if not, he nominates another member of
the family. The succession to the throne
is also primogenitive, with the concurrence
of the miegan and the mayo, who otherwise
discriminate between the several next heirs
of the reigning family.

a tunic, short trowsers, and skull-cap, all
in uniform. The general dress of the
Dahomans is a small cloth round the loins,
and a large country or foreign cloth, or
silk, amp;c., thrown over the left shoulder,
leaving the right arm and breast bare,
and reaching to the ancles. Hats are sel-
dom w^orn, shoes never; the king, how-
ever, wears sandals. The women wear a

cloth reaching to the knee, fastened under
their breasts, and leaving them exposed;
as they advance in years their breasts hang
as much as two feet long, and are truly
disgusting to European eyes. According
to rank and wealth, anklets and armlets
of all metals, and necklaces of glass, coral,
and Popoe beads, are worn by both sexes.
The Popoe bead is of glass, about half an
inch long, and perforated. It is dug up in
a country inland of Popoe, and cannot be
imitated: all attempts hitherto have been
detected. Hence it is very expensive,
selling for half its weight in gold. It
seems to me most propable that where
they are found, formerly stood a large
town, destroyed by war, and that the dead
(as is usual in Dahomey and neigh-
bouring parts in the present day) having
been buried with their ornaments, some
chemical property, that has destroyed the
remains of the inhumed, has hardened and
slightly changed the appearance of the
glass bead. The natives have a tradition
that they are the excrement of a large

serpent, or dragon, which, (to account for
its never being seen), if man beholds, he
dies.

the farm, all are similar. Walls, either of and food,
clay or palm branches, enclose, according
to the number of inmates, courts and
houses of all sizes, made of clay, and
thatched with grass.

A bamboo beadstead or a few mats,
some country pots and agricultural im-
plements, and weapons, a loom of coarse
material, besides the insignia of office (if
a cabooceer or head man), are all the fur-
niture» A store in each house is pro-
vided with cloths, grain, foreign goods,
amp;c., according to the wealth of the owner.
Within the enclosure are all domestic ani-
mals, and invariably a dog. The diet is
simple, consisting chiefly of messes of meat
and vegetable, mixed with palm oil and
pepper, with which is eaten a corn cake
called kankee, or dab-a-dab. There is
very little variety. A mixture of beans,
peppers, and palm oil, is made into a cake,

and sold to travellers; yams and cassada
form the staples of food. Foreign liquors
are scarce and expensive; and as palm
wine is forbidden by the king, the chief
drinks are a very palatable malt called
pitto, and a sort of burgoo called ah-
kah-sar. Drunkenness is not allowed; nor
is there, except in quot;Whydah, much opportu-
nity for it. As a public example, the king
kept a drunkard and fed him on rum, and
exhibited him at the Customs, that his
emaciated and disgusting appearance might
shame his people from making beasts of
themselves : this terrible example is dead.

Agricul- In agricultural pursuits they are ad-
vanced in knowledge, but extremely in-
dolent, keeping but a tithe of the land
in cultivation. Corn and beans are inter-
mixed ; and the land, although rich, highly
manured. Palm plantations are also planted
with corn, yams, and ground nuts. In
short, in the small portions that are under-
cultivation, they rival the Chinese. The
agricultural implements of both nations,
excepting the plough, are similar; but

whilst the Dahomans, equally with the
industrious Chinese, lack the energy to
overturn a bad traditionary system, they
fall far short of them in industry and
application. In the neighbourhood of
Abomey, unlike the rest of Africa, men
labour in the fields, and the women are
only employed in carrying water.

rally, would soon put an end to loreign ation.
slavery has been already commenced, Near
Abomey is a royal plantation of palms,
corn, amp;c, called Lefiie-foo. It is inhabited
by people from the province of Anagoo,
prisoners of war, and is under the direction
of a Dahoman cabooceer. The gifts of
nature are all bountifully bestowed, and
the soil rich and capable of producing
every vegetable prouction. Indigenous are
the palm, shea-butter, and cotton (the
latter perennial and uncultivated), much
fine timber, and many medical herbs and
fruits; granite, iron, and sand-stones, con-
glomerate, and chalk, are expossd.

guttural, poor and ill expressed in meta-
phors and parables: there is no written
character.

only known to the initiated. There is no
daily worship, but periods at which the
Fetish men and women dance. They who
are initiated have great power, and exact
much in return. It is a proverb that the
poor are never initiated. The Fetish of
Abomey is the leopard, that of Whydah the
snake. The human sacrifices at the See-
que-ah-hee are neither to the invincible god
quot; Seh,quot; nor to the Fetish quot; Yoh-dong,quot; but
to the vitiated appetites of the soldiery.
At the Cannah Customs there are sacrifices
to the Voh-dong; and at the See-que-ah-hee
there are sacrifices to the manes of their
ancestors ; the Dahomans, like the disciples
of Confucius, looking to their departed
ancestors for blessings in this life, and in
the world to come. There are private
sacrifices all the year round. If a rich man
dies, a boy and a girl are sacrificed to
attend him in the next world. Thus, when

Da Souza died, a boy and a girl were deca-
pitated and buried with him, besides three
men who were sacrificed on the beach at
Whydah. At all Customs there are human
sacrifices, yet much diminished in numbers.
This year (1849) at the Customs 32 were
sacrificed, last year 240. God grant they
may soon see the errors of their ways!
Eeligious toleration in Dahomey has as yet
been confined to the followers of Mahomet,
for whom there is a mosque in Abomey,
and another in Whydah, with, several
mollahs from Haussah and Bornou.

slavery if examined. The liberated African
from Bahia or Sierra Leone is received at
Whydah on a footing with the white man,
but if he stirs he is fettered j he dare not
leave the capital, even to return to the
place of his birth, nor even to attend the
Se-que-ah-hee, unless with a present accord-
ing to his pretensions.

must be conformed to on pain of imprison-
naent, slavery, or death; but the present
VOL. 1,nbsp;D

king seldom puts Ms own subjects to death,
or allows them to be enslaved by foreigners.
By these rules no man must alter the con-
struction of his house, sit upon a chair, be
carried on a hammock, or drink out of a
glass.

offi^rquot;^^\' imposed upon by the national custom of
making no charge for either a service or an
article, but of expecting a present in re-
turn. It is not for some time that the value
of an article or a service can be determined,
and each servant has his peculiar ideas of
sufficiency. Always expecting more, he
will make no charge: and if the traveller
give less, he will not take it; if enough, he
is not satisfied; and if more, the stranger
has stamped the price for his sojourn —
it will never be reduced. No office under
government is paid, and the offices, al-
though hereditary, are subject to much
espionage. In the house of each minister
lives a king\'s daughter and two officers ;
these superintend the minister\'s trade, on
which he pays tribute according to their

report. If a dispute arises in quot;whicli the
king\'s interest is at stake, these officers
report direct; and if the dispute is serious,
the minister is arrested or fined. The
whole system is one of espionage, cunning,
and intrigue ; and no man\'s head is safe on
his shoulders for twenty-four hours.

to collectors. The holders of the Customs lectors,
have collectors stationed at all markets,
who receive cowries in number according
to the value of the goods carried for sale.
Besides these, there are collectors on all
public roads leading from one district to
another, and on the lagoon on each side of
Whydah; in short, every thing is taxed,
and the tax goes to the king.

If a cock crows in the highway, it is
forfeited to the tax-gatherer, and, conse-
quently, on the whole distance from Abo-
mey to Whydah, the cocks are muzzled.
On the lagoon and public roads, there are
toll-gates, at which a custom duty is de-
manded. These, with the annual presents
at the Customs, the tithe on palm oil of

one gallon out of eighteen, and the duties
on foreign trade, form the legal revenue of
his Dahoman majesty.

Money. -jj^g curreucy of the Dahoman kingdom
is the cowrie shell, of which 2,000 are
calculated to form one quot; head,quot; to which a
nominal value of one dollar is attached.
Such, however, is the scarcity of a metallic
currency, that, in exchange, the silver dollar
is eagerly taken at 2,400 to 2,600 cowries ;
and other metals, as well the lower as the
higher, are freely taken in barter. This
scarcity of a metallic currency affords a
good opening for a trade in bullion at
Whydah, the effect of which could not but
be to materially arrest the progress of the
slave trade.

be a difficult matter to describe, depending
as it does on the whim of the sovereign.

Should a man inherit industrious habits,
he must be very cautious in developing
them, lest he fall under the suspicion of
the government. If he brings more soil
under cultivation, or in any manner ad-

varices his family to riches, without the
license of the king, he not only endangers
his fortune, but his own life and the lives of
his family: instead of becoming a man of
property and head of^a family, he is con-
demned to slavery; and, serving his Majesty
or his ministers, assists unwillingly to up-
hold the laws that have ruined him, his
only alternative being death.

The stopping the slave trade no doubt
would assist to alter such an unfortunate
state of affairs; but the true destroyer of
such gross evils would be the advancement
of civilisation,—the instruction of the mind
by the enlightenment of a religious educa-
tion.

In their every-day life there is a great
similarity in all barbarous nations ; gene-
rally the ruler is supreme, and the director
of the customs by which, under the so-
vereign, savage nations are governed. All
black nations, in common with many less
barbarous, as for instance the Chinese
and Malays, in speaking of the organ of
man\'s understanding, imagine that we

derive reason and wisdom from the belly.
In this there is not so much cause for won-
der as is generally considered: with a wild
man the day\'s pastime is regulated by
appetite, and by the state of his stomach
he is ruled. The uneducated black looks
upon eating and drinking as necessary evils
they are compelled to submit to ; and, while
satisfying the cravings of hunger and thirst,
only partake of a sufficiency to sustain
nature, and give the necessary strength to
enable them to pursue their course of duty.
These primitive habits suffer materially on
the common advance of civilisation and
intermixture with Europeans ; unless par-
ticularly guarded against, the luxury of
intoxication completely prostrates the unfor-
tunate barbarian, and, as with the Indians
of North America, might probably exter-
minate the aborigines of Africa contempo-
raneously with the advance of civilisation.

day by the cravmgs of the stomach in a
great measure, I do not mean that a con-
stant sense of the sun\'s regularity does not

convince the negro that it marks the
period of day; and in Africa its rising and
setting being generally regular, time would
require but little other measurement, were
it not that for six months of the year (the
rainy season) it is generally obscured for
the greater part of the day. They have an
odd method among the warlike tribes of
judging time by night, which is generally
managed very correctly. At each gate of
a stockaded town is posted a sentry, who
is provided with a pile of stones, the exact
number of which is previously ascertained.
The night is divided into four watches;
during each watch, the sentry removes the
pile of stones, one by one, at a measured
pace from one gate to another, calling out
each tenth removal: when all are removed
the watch is relieved-

The walled towns are particularly vigi- Jown^
lantly guarded, and besides sentries and quot;
dogs, it is not uncommon to place a town
under the charge of the fetish or charm of
some particular kind and divinity. The
most useful of these I met with was in a

stockaded town called lomiqui. In the
lighter\' portions of the bamboo stockade,
thousands of the small palm bird (a very
domestic little bird of the sparrow family,
particularly noisy) had built their nests.
The old chief with exultation told me war
dared not come; for if it did it would be
proclaimed by thousands of these fetish,
and the whole town be on the instant in
arms for its defence. As their larger fea-
thered brethren the geese of Eome, saved
the Capitol, so might the palm birds save
lomiqui by their shrill and discordant cries.

- ■ 4
f

In the autumn of 1849, the late Mr. Dun- appoinj-
can, the enterprismg African traveller, ar- mission,
rived on that coast, with the appointment
of Vice-Consul to the kingdom of Dahomey,
and applied to the then commander-in-chief
of the blockading squadron, at the request
of the Dahoman king, for a naval officer to
accompany him in his mission to Abomey.
The instructions which I received on being

appointed to this mission by the naval
commander, pointed out the strong hopes
that were entertained of the Dahoman king
being persuaded to consent to a treaty for
the effectual suppression of the slave trade
within his dominions. On my arrival off
Whydah in the Bonetta, on the 2d of Oc-
tober, I had immediate proof that our
mission was looked forward to with no
little dread by the slave dealers, in the diffi-
culty, which I learned, from Captain Her-
vey, the senior officer of the station, he
had experienced in communicating with my
colleague the vice-consul. Some days be-
fore my arrival, Captain Hervey, anxious
to acquaint Mr. Duncan with my appoint-
ment, had ordered Lieutenant Hamilton to
land with despatches. On nearing the
beach in a boat of her Majesty\'s ship
Kingfisher, that officer boarded a canoe,
when the crew declared to a man that if he
remained they would jump overboard and
swim on shore; and the communication was
eventually made by veering a small cask

through, the surf. Proceeding to the back
of the surf, I sent three kroomen in my
kroo canoe on shore to ascertain its exact
state; but, on returning, the canoe was
dashed to pieces, and the kroomen suc-
ceeded in relanding.

Harvey\'s kroo canoe, I entered her at the Whydah.
back of the surf at daylight (though the
surf was still very high), but had no sooner
topped the first wave than we were capsized,
and, with the three canoe men, Jack Smart,
Tom Walker, and Ben Coifee, I immediately
swam off, and after a good deal of trouble
and danger, landed safe on the beach. The
blacks, who had assembled in great num-
bers to view this novel mode of landing,
rendered every assistance that was in their
power; and having wrapt myself in a coun-
try cloth and taken a glass of raw rum, I
despatched a messenger to Whydah to
acquaint Mr. Duncan of my arrival.

the king. Owing, however, to the extra-
ordinary oppositions evinced by the slave
dealers and others, and in order that every
request the king had made might be com-
plied with, he could not but wish that
I should proceed on my mission, in vi^hich
he agreed to bear me company. On Mr.
Duncan\'s landing he had been well re-
ceived, and at the court was honourably
treated; but on his return, some unknown
cause had changed the aspect of aifairs; he
was viewed with suspicion, and every an-
noyance practised that was in the power of
his persecutors.

to the town of Whydah, which lies about
a mile and a half from the beach, on which
last each large factor has a temporary store.
A sandy neck separates the sea from the
lagoon (about a quarter of a mile wide),
and passing that the road leads through a
swamp. Möns. Blancleley, agent for a
Marseilles house, invited Mr. Duncan and
myself to dinner. On arriving at the

Oct. hth. — This morning on proceeding First visit
to the beach, I found my baggage landed by viceroy,
the canoes of the French agents. On my
return from this necessary preliminary, I
visited the viceroy, whom I found in a court-
yard, in the centre of a large enclosure of
innumerable huts; he was seated on a mat,
whilst in front of him were some old chairs
for ourselves; accompanying, were the
French agent, and, by the viceroy\'s desire,
the agent of the British fort.

The Viceroy of Whydah, or Ee-a-voo-gan
(minister for white men), is a tall, over-fat
black, with a jovial heavy cast of coun-
tenance. He wore a large English cotton
cloth round his loins, his only article of
dress; round his neck were strings of coral
and other beads, and on his wrists bracelets
of iron.

to request 1 would visit him and explain viceroy,
my wishes. On arriving, Mr. Duncan and

myself were ushered into a small apart-
ment, and this time took an efficient in-
terpreter, quot;the Black Governor appointed
by the king to the English fort.quot; The
viceroy was in a particularly good humour.
Having explained to him that I was the
bearer of a letter from the naval com-
mander-in-chief to the king, he received a
signet ring and despatched a messenger
with it to Abomey, and offered clear water
and liqueurs; after which the interview
came to an end in a complimentary con-
versation.

Oct Itli. — This evening a little acting
was indulged in by a Brazilian slave dealer,
who came to explain to us that he was
charged with giving information to the
men-of-war; finding nothing else would
answer, I peremptorily ordered him from
the fort.

Preceding him were about forty soldiers
armed with muskets ; next came his stool of
office and two banners; then theee a-voo-gan
on horseback, supported by two attendants,

followed by a band of discordant music.
He was dressed in a very fine country cloth,
and wore on his arms armlets of silver,
reaching from the wrist to the elbow, em-
bossed with the lion of England and the
heads of George the Third and his queen.
He had no sooner entered the yard than he
ordered his soldiers to salute me, by keep-
ing up an independent fire during the inter-
view. The conversation was purely compli-
mentary ; and, after drinking wine, liqueur,
and beer, he took leave. According to the
custom of the country, I accompanied my
visitor for a little distance on his road.

Although Da Souza died in May, the xhe Da
customs to his memory are not yet closed,
and the town is still in a state of ferment.
Three hundred of the amazons are daily
in the square, firing and dancing; bands
of fetish people parade the streets, headed
by Guinea-fowls, fowls, ducks, goats, pi-
geons, and pigs, on poles, alive for sacri-
fice, Much rum is distributed, and all
night there is shouting, firing, and dancing.

Oct ^th. — One of the slave merchants,
a native of Madeira, called. While in con-
versation with him at the window of the
fort, some of the crew of a captured slaver
passed, and became extremely abusive; their
attention was attracted by a Krooman, who
had climbed the flag-staif, to look out for
Her Majesty\'s ship Kingfisher.

Oct. lOth. — The town was much dis-
turbed, not only by the continuance of the
Da Souza custom, but also by the caboo-
ceers\' going forth to meet a supercargo of a
slave vessel, who has this day landed. The
procession was by no means unpicturesque.
First came the junior cabooceers, headed
by their armed retainers, and insignia and
flags, each followed by a band, mounted,
under a huge umbrella ; lastly, the viceroy.
This, excepting the richness of dresses and
ornament, and the convenience of sedan-
chairs, is precisely the etiquette of a
Chinese official procession. After much
firing, they proceeded to the grand fetish
tree; and, having performed a ceremony,

retired to their houses. In the evening Message
the messenger returned from Abomey, and king,
the viceroy\'s head man accompanied him.
On arriving in the hall, they prostrated
and kissed the ground, and then handed
to me a gold-headed Malacca cane, which
was explained to be my protection, adding,
that his majesty commanded Mr. Duncan
and myself to repair to Abomey at our ear-
liest convenience. Having rewarded the
messenger, he retired, whilst we began to
think over our preparations.

purchasing fifty heads of cowries, valued at omjour-
fifty dollars. Each head contains, 2,000 cow-
ries, and ten heads form a load for a woman.
Thus, to carry fifty dollars, we had to hire
five women! We next purchased fifty
gallons of rum, which were placed in twenty
kegs, and required ten women to carry them.
Two pieces of silk as a present for the king
and some cloths for his ministers, con-
cluded our purchases. Hired twenty-six
hammock-men, and sixteen men and twenty

women to carry our baggage. These people
are what is termed quot;subsistedquot; at two
strings of cowries (eighty) a day, and, ac-
cording to their work are rewarded with a
present when it is concluded. My travelling
dress in Africa was always a flannel blouse
and trowsers, and straw hat. A small quan-
tity of camphor in a bag, and a few pieces
in a goose-quill to put in the mouth in
crossing a swamp, unless already occupied
by one of an invariable supply of cigars,
completed my stores. The canteen con-
tained all necessary articles for dinner and
tea for two ; and a liqueur-case was also
supplied with glass. The hammock, which
is carried on the heads of two men by
means of a pole, was stored with a pillow,
a change of clothes, a book, and some
lime-juice, a camp bed, and two camp
stools, and money in the native currency.
Isidore, the eldest son of the late Da Souza,
called.

1 P. M. we started. According to etiquette,
we had to call upon the viceroy, who asked
for the king\'s stick. On receiving it, he
prostrated and kissed the dust, then re-
turned it, and told me that the stick was
sufficient protection, but, as an additional
escort, he gave me his quot; hand and foot,quot;
his head man Narwhey (whom I have
since discovered to be the greatest rascal
I ever met, as future Journals will illus-
trate). He then asked me if I was de-
sirous of the black interpreter, Mr.-,

mentioned before, to accompany me. I
told him, No; that he was a well-known
spy of Domingo Martins, and a very unlit
companion; that he had never asked me, but
when in my hammock, leaving the fort, he
had told me he was going to Abomey; to
which I replied, that he should not accom-
pany me.

Besides Mr. Duncan and myself, the in- Madikithe
terpreter, Mark Lemon, rode in hammocks. aXquot;quot;quot;quot;\'
Mark Lemon is the grandson of an English
corporal of the fort in Governor James\'s

time, and now commandant for the king
of Dahomey. Time has changed his name ;
the Lemon is seldom heard, and the Mark
has become Dahomanised into Madiki: a
poor simple-minded man, holding the king
of Dahomey in the light of a god. Passing
through a flat country, overrun with grass
(but in the season burnt down and planted
with corn), interspersed with a few palm-
oil plantations, at a distance of five miles
we halted during a thunder-storm at the
Savee. town of Savee. This town was formerly
the capital of the kingdom of Greigwei, and
the seat of trade; one hundred and fifty
years since, the site of the foreign forts,
which were afterwards removed to Whydah.
Let it not be supposed, in speaking of cities
and towns, that these are intersected by
streets or ornamented by public buildings.
Except a royal residence, all buildings are
similar; and a cluster of enclosures forms,
according to the ground it occupies, a city,
a town, or a village. Savee has one pecu-
liarity: in Whydah all the houses are of

clay; in Savee, of palm-branclies, and very
low. So soon as tlie tornado had passed,
we journeyed on to Toree, five miles further, Toree.
passing through a well-wooded country.
At Toree, a large fair is held on every
fourth day, where goods are exchanged,
and passed into the interior. The town is
small and has no prominent feature. Nar-
whey has a large farm there, at which we
slept for the night. What was my surprise

before me, and now facetiously prominent
in assisting me from my hammock. Calling
Narwhey to me, I explained to him that I
should start on the morrow at six a. m., and

not with me, and that if he attempted to do
so, I should forcibly eject him from my
party. This man attended Mr. Cruikshanks
on his mission, and, as my interpreter (who
was there also) informs me, corresponded
nightly with Da Souza, the eminent slave
merchant.

is more open until, after a journey of about
live miles, you arrive at the village of
Azohwee, surrounded by a forest of gigantic
trees, filled with monkeys of all sizes. In
this forest the absence of all birds, by a
freak of nature, was supplied by thousands
of butterflies of every hue and most pleas-
ing to the eye, whilst the air was redolent
of the perfume of a thousand flowers as
beautiful as they were fragrant. At noon
we entered Allahdah, a city twenty-four
Aiiahdah. miles distant from Whydah, holding a
palace, the wall of which, about a mile and
a half square, encloses many houses, one of
which, alone, standing over the gateway, is
two stories high. Here I felt I had entered
the kingdom of Dahomey. Looking over
the wall of the palace, was the skull of one
who, too curious, had sought a taste of the
pleasures of the mysteries within, now a
ghastly warning to sensualists. In the
square of the palace stood some fine forest
trees, while a row of small trees in the
centre bore each a human skull and jaw-

bone; three trees, standing apart from the
rest, bore the bleached remains of three
brothers, whose story is thus related: —
What is remarkable in Africa (where there
is a multiplicity of wives), the three
brothers were born by one father and one
mother. When the king of Dabomey made
war upon Greigwei (years lang syne), one
of these brothers was found slightly
wounded on the road, and beheaded as an
example to others. This act of tyranny
so enraged the brothers, that they de-
manded death or release from the ranks,
and received the former. As a military
example, their skulls bleach, whilst the
tale is told by every urchin. Each mi- The cam-

nister possesses a house m the town, and house,
we occupied that of the treasurer (Cam-
boodee). It was a mere shell, entirely
bare of furniture, and the walls damp and
green. With the shades of evening came
flights of vampire bats that almost dark-
ened the sky^ and swarms of Turkey
buzzards, so ravenous and daring that

they almost fought with our servants in
the court-yard for the entrails of the fowls.
During the day the bats may be seen
hanging in clusters on the tall cotton trees,
where the Turkey buzzards sit and sleep
away their repletion, to which their active
duties as the scavengers of town and
country subject them. Not a scrap of
animal remains escapes them, whether fresh
or swarming with insect life. In the even-
ing the king\'s wives sent us a present
of palm-oil soup and dab-a-dab; in return
for which we sent the royal ladies some
rum.

dah. large, but very cheap. Eggs are sold at
400 for a dollar; oranges, Avhich grow in
great quantities, at 2,000 the dollar ; whilst
eight fowls can be bought for a similar
sum. Immediately in the vicinity of the
town, the ground is under high cultivation,
but is soon lost in forest and bush. On
entering Allahdah, is a large cleared square,
in which are the fetish houses; on leaving

it, is seen a battery of fifteen guns of all
sizes, lying uselessly on the ground, with-
out carriages.

Oct. lAtli.—At 7 a.m. we proceeded on park-uke
our journey, and walked through a beautiful
undulating park-like country, studded with
magnificent trees—sycamores 130 feet high,
and the huge giant cotton with its enor-
mous girt of root spreading over 40 square
feet. The variety of flower was remark-
able, and, together with the brilliant and
varied colours of the butterflies, rendered
the scene at once fragrant and beautiful.
No one that has not travelled in Dahomey
will believe the beauty of its scenery.
Africa is considered generally as quot; a wild
expanse of lifeless sand and sky,quot; and not
supposed to offer so romantic and beautiful
a country, where large clusters of grapes,
rough in skin, but palatable in taste, grow
on all sides. The first halt was at the
village of Doonoo, which, though small,
supported a large blacksmith\'s shed, in
which the quot; cunning menquot; were indus-

triously fashioning rude hoes. At Atoogoo,
another small village, we felled a tree, in-
tending to have it removed to Whydah as
a flagstaff for the fort; and thence, passing
the village of Assegwee on the right, ar-
rived at the town of Havee, boasting a
royal residence in a very dilapidated state,
and a grand fetish house, fancifully painted.
Passing the village of Togoh to the right,
we soon entered the town of Wybahgon or
Whygon, fifty miles from Whydah, and
took up our quarters in a fetish house.
Here each farm is supplied with a separate
granary, raised, as in England, on sup-
porters ; and cultivation, as usual, extends
to a little distance round each town or
village. Many clusters of wild pine-apple
and bananas ornament the road. From
this town our course deviated from north
to north-east, in order to avoid a large
swamp which was impassable, and which
added a circuit of twenty miles to our jour-
ney from the coast of Abomey.

over an undulating forest country, present-
ing, for the first time on our journey,
stones. Not a pebble is to be found for
fifty miles inland of Whydah. The soil
over that extent of country is a stiff red
loam ; but even to the depth of wells of 100
feet there are no pebbles; and granite, for
grinding, and stones for pounding foo-foo,
are procured from the mountains of Kong,
and carried on men\'s heads to Whydah, a
distance of about 200 miles. Every kind
of burden is carried on their heads, nor
have they much idea of the division of
labour in slinging a large article. On our
march we have passed thousands carrying
goods to and fro, and noticed hardly a
single instance of the use of slings for
heavy burdens.

As we advanced, ironstone, sandstone,
and conglomerate, increased, until lost in
the oozy soil of a deep vegetable swamp, in
a large forest, formerly the bed of a river,
and leaving very little doubt of its being Pass the
(below) a coal deposit. Such a country swamp.

seems marked for railway enterprise. If
coal can be procured at will, there is timber
enough to make sl eepers, for all the cJiemins
de fer in the world, and iron ore sufficient
for every kind of machinery. The land is
capable of producing any and every thing.
Gold is found in the neighbouring state of
Ashantee, and doubtless may be traced
here. Quartz is common in the Kong
Mountains; diamonds and other precious
stones might repay enterprise. Although
we made a circuit, we did not altogether
clear the swamp, but passed several soft
patches, in the centre of which was a
market called Massee, providing for the
wants of travellers. At the village of
Ilomee we halted an hour; and arriving
at Sequeh, were met by a king\'s messenger,
who came to inquire how we had passed
the swamp. At 5 p. m. we halted in a
large market called Troo-boo-doo, twenty-
four miles from Abomey, and took up our
quarters in one of the stalls. As it was
not market-day, Mr. Duncan shot some

doves, which supplied the place of fowls.
Game is plentiful all along the road.
Guinea-fowl, bush-fowl, and partridges have
been calling along our route. The forests
abound in deer, pigs, monkeys; besides
wild beasts, as leopards and wolves. The
patakoos, as the wolves are called, are
heard howling all night long in Abomey,
Whydah, and all towns on our route ; but
the fear of the deadly cobras, which are
extremely numerous, deters the native
from warring against the wolves in their
wild haunts, and he is content to trap
them in large square traps, like gigantic
models of the ingenious little machines,
by which sparrows are caught by English
boys.

Oct. l^tJi.—Started at 7 a. m. for Cannah arrive at
Minah (Cannah). During the previous
part of the journey, I have remarked the
absence of the feathered tribe except the
police of Dahomey, the disgusting Turkey
buzzard. But now the plains of Cannah
are gay with birds of beautiful and

quot; Thick swarm the brighter birds ; for Nature\'s hand,
That with a sportive vanity has decked
The plumy nations, there her gayest hues
Profusely pours. But, if she bids them shine
Arrayed in all the beauteous beams of day,
Yet, frugal still, she humbles them in song.quot;

Oh for a bird-stufifer! What ought not
a traveller to be ? And what does he not
lose by not having studied these necessary
arts? At half-past 8 we entered the
straggling beautiful city of Cannah by
passing a pretty brook, situated in a pic-
turesque bosquet. Cannah covers about
six square miles of ground; in it are four
palaces of large extent, and each house
has its piece of ground under cultivation
dividing it from its neighbours. Here
commences a broad clean road, as wide
as any high road in England, leading
to Abomey, with branch roads, equally
good, approaching the palaces. The
market is very extensive, occurring as,

usual with all large markets in Dahomey,
once in four days. There is a sereneness
about this spot that leads the ideas far
from Africa. The views are beautiful; the
dwellings clean, neat, and quiet. Num-
bers of aged of both sexes speak of peace ;
for while the hordes of the monarch and
bis nobles carry war and devastation into
all the neighbouring countries, Cannah
(formerly the capital of Fay,-then called
Dawee), conquering Abomey, has retained
a peace of upwards of 200 years. The
cultivation in the neighbourhood rivals
tbat of the Chinese.

All visitors halt at Cannah, and report
their arrival by messengers. Having, in
pursuance of this custom, selected a mes-
senger, Narwhey prostrated himself, and
then received our sticks (three in number,
for the sable governor sends his also), and,
presenting them to the messenger, charged
bim with our greeting to the king. All our
party had arrived, to the number of one
hundred, and we now occupied the trea-
surer\'s house. As at Allahdah, it was bare

of furniture, and very damp. Soon after
our arrival we were presented with clean
water, and a present of about a hundred-
weight of food from the royal wives. The
palaces at Cannah are vast enclosures, en-
tered only and inhabited by the females,
wives, amazons, and slaves of the king.
In the walls of each are covered entries or
gates, at which the monarch receives
visitors; and a guard supervises the ingress
and egress of the inhabitants. In the
afternoon our messenger returned, com-
manding us to rise early and proceed to
Abomey, and the mayo\'s stick soon after
followed, with compliments.

Thus, in rather less than four days, we had the road
completed our journey from the coast to Camiah to
within sight of the capital of Dahomey.
It was with not little eagerness that I rose
at the earliest dawn, and, after taking a
light breakfast, proceeded slowly along the
broad road that led to the gates of the great
On both sides of the way were se-
veral small villages, and cultivation was
l^oth abundant and good. Palm-oil trees,
corn, and beans abounded, and many a
noble tree of that strange kind whence the
Shea butter is made by the natives. Of
these trees one struck me in particular,
with its thick foliage like the evergreen
oak, and its profusion of butter-nuts, as
arge as pigeons\' eggs, covered with a pala-
table pulp. On either side of the highway,
roads branch olf to the several palaces, in-

eluding that of Bah-dah-hoong the residence
of the heir-apparent to the Dahoman crown.
Of the villages, that of Leffle-foo is peopled
with captive Anagoos, the name of one of
whose provinces it bears, under the controul
of a Dahoman cabooceer, and is justly re-
markable for the superiority of its cultiva-
tion and the industry of its denizens.

and its de- City gates, on either side of tue road, under
sheds, stand a couple of two-and-thirty-
pounder carronades. From thence, to the
very gates, the road is lined by the Fetish
houses, numbering more than sixty. To
the left is seen, on the outskirts of a copse,
a palace, surrounded by a high red clay
wall. No visitor can enter Abomey with-
out a sensation of disappointment in the
want of grandeur, and disgust at the ghastly
ornaments of its gateway. The city is
about eight miles in circumference, sur-
rounded by a ditch, about five feet deep,
filled with the prickly acacia, its only de-
fence. It is entered by six gates, which are
simply clay walls crossing the road, with

two apertures, one reserved for the king,
the other a thoroughfare for his subjects.
In each aperture are two human skulls ;
and on the inside a pile of skulls, hum_an,
and of all the beasts of the field, even to
the elephant\'s. Besides these six gates,
the ditch, which is of an oval form,
branches off, at each side the north-west
gate, to the north and north-west, and over
each branch is a similar gateway, for one
only purpose — to mislead an enemy in a
night attack. In the centre of the city
^re the palaces of Dange-lah-cordeh and
Agrim-gomeh, adjoining; on the north stands
the original palace of Dahomey; about these,
and to the south gate, are houses, the most
conspicuous of which are those of the mi-
nisters. In front of Ag rim-gomeh is an ex-
tensive square, in which are the barracks and
a high shed or palaver house, a saluting
battery of fifteen guns, and a stagnant pond.
Just inside the south-east gate (the Can-
nah) are a saluting battery and pond, and
numerous blacksmiths\' shop s. The roads or
streets are in good order; and, though there

are not any shops, the want of them is
supplied by two large markets — Ah-jah-ee,
to the eastward of the central palace, at
once a market, parade, and sacrificial
ground ; and Hung-jooloh, just outside the
south gate. Besides these are several smaller
markets, the stalls of which are all owned, and
are generally attended, by women, the wives
of all classes and orders, from the miegans to
the blacksmiths. The fetish houses are nu-
merous, and ridiculously ornamented. Cloths
are manufactured within the palaces and
houses. The only other manufacture is in
a pottery, which, with a dye-house, is a royal
monopoly, inasmuch as the royal wives
work them; and none may approach the fac-
tory. Within the city are large waste lands
and many cultivated farms. There are no
regular streets, and it is difficult for a Euro-
pean to imagine himself in the capital of a
large country, as all the houses are sur-
rounded by high red clay walls, which en-
close large forest trees, besides orange,
banana, and other fruit trees. All the
houses are low and thatched, and one only.

in tlie palace of Dange-lali-cordeh, and one
in that of Cumassee, can boast of two stories.
Leaving the south gate, the traveller passes
through the town of Beh-kon, occupied
principally by the palaces of Cumassee and
Ahgon-groo, and the houses of the ministers;
whilst from the south-west gate the road
leads to another royal palace. The Daho-
man capital is, in fact, entirely unprotected
by its walls and gates, and built in the most
ill-judged of positions for so large a city.
For a distance of five miles on every side
there is no water. Passing out of the north
gate, the traveller soon arrives at a most
beautiful point of view. Standing on an emi-
nence of some hundred feet, a fertile valley
lies stretched at his feet, bounded in the ex-
treme north-west by the lofty summits of the
Dab-a-Dab hills, tinged with blue, and loom-
ing larger from the distant view. Here and
there about this fertile plain are small oozy
reservoirs of water, from which the sole sup-
ply of that necessary element is obtained for
tbe populous city. With so scanty and pre-
carious a supply, it may be well supposed

that fresh water is a luxury in Abomey,
and the cry of quot; Seedagbeequot; (good water)
as constant as the quot; Agua de Lisboaquot; of
the Gallegos in Portugal. On the north-
eastern side of the capital the farms are
dependant solely on the rain-water collected
during the rainy season, and secured in deep
pits smeared on the inside with palm-oil,
whence it is drawn off into earthen vessels,
and thus stored up within the houses until
the return of the rainy period.

Within a short distance of the royal re-
sidence we halted at the house of a friend
of our interpreter\'s, where we dressed in
our full uniforms, and then moved forward
to some shady trees to await the arrival of
the cabooceers who were to conduct us to
the royal presence. In our rear Avere ar-
ranged our followers, hammockmen, and a
crowd of Dahoman spectators. About a
quarter of a mile from us stood a vast
assembly of cabooceers and soldiers, with
umbrellas of state, flat-topped, and orna-
mented like those of the Chinese, and ban-
ners of every hue and most varied devices.

Besides tlie Dahoman standards, each of
which was ornamented by a human skull,
floated the national flags of France, Eng-
land, Portugal, and Brazil, whilst every
cabooceer had his own particular pennon.

governor of the capital, dressed in a country
cloth wrapped round his body, a slouched
hat, necklaces of coral and other beads, and
armed with a handsome sword. Behind
him came a retinue of soldiers, his standard,
his umbrella of state, and his stool of rank ;
and, lastly, a band of most discordant music.
Arrived in front of our position, he bowed,
and then marched, from right to left, round
our seats three times, completing each cir-
cuit with a low obeisance. On his third
round he discharged three muskets and
danced a short measure, then advanced and
shook hands, and seated himself on his stool
of office, which its bearer had placed on
my right hand. Ah-hoh-peh, the king\'s
brother, and Gaseh-doh, the chief of the
cabooceers of Abomey, followed with

similar attendants and ceremonies. When
the whole party was seated, a body of the
royal household, having half their heads
shaved, took position in front, and sang a
hymn of welcome to us. They were
showily dressed in scarlet trimmed vnth
yellow beads and other ornaments, with
their heads covered by silver caps, some
of which were distinguished by a pair of
small silver horns, such as are commonly
worn in the northern parts of Africa, and
especially in Abyssinia. In his right hand
each carried a horse-tail whip, with which
he beat time to the air of the chant.

Next advanced Poh-veh-soo and his
party of blunderbuss-men, who, after pas-
sing round us three times, fired a salute.
Poh-veh-soo, as will be seen in a future
journal, is at once a mihtary officer, court-
fool, and headsman, _ the latter office no
sinecure. So soon as we had completed
the usual ceremony of drinking healths, we
entered our hammocks, and, joining pro-
cession after the cabooceers and their
levees, amid the firing of muskets, blunder-

twenty feet, with human skulls, many oi Dange-iah.
which ghastly ornaments time has decayed,
and the wind blown down. Happy omen!
they are not replaced. The square of the
palace was filled with armed people, seated
on their hams, the polished barrels of their
Danish muskets standing up like a forest.
Under a thatched gateway was the king,
surrounded by his immediate wives; while
on each side sat the amazons, all in uniform,
armed, and accoutred; and in the centre of
the square squatted the males. Hundreds
of banners and umbrellas enlivened the
scene, and a constant firing from great
guns and small arms increased the excite-
ment.

When near the king\'s seat we came to a
halt, while the cabooceers bowed down and
kissed the dust. Passing before the throne,
we bowed and made the circuit of the
square three times, the cabooceers pros-

trating, and ourselves repeating our obei-
sances each time that we passed the royal
seat. On the third time, the ministers and
cabooceers formed a line to the king\'s posi-
tion ; and, as we stept from our hammocks,
the king, who had been reclining, rose,
and forty discordant bands struck up a
quick step, whilst guns were fired, and all
shouted except the ministers and cabooceers,
who prostrated themselves and threw dirt
on their heads as we advanced and shook
hands with the king. His Dahoman Majesty,
King G6zo, is about forty-eight years of
age, good-looking, with nothing of the
negro feature, his complexion wanting
several shades of being black ; his appear-
ance commanding, and his countenance
intellectual, though stern in the extreme.
That he is proud there can be no doubt,
for he treads the earth as if it were
honoured by its burden. ■ Were it not for
a slight cast in his eye, he would be a
handsome man. Contrasted with the gaudy
attire of his ministers, wives, and caboo-
ceers (of every hue, and laden with coral,

goU, silver, and brass ornaments), the
king was plainly dressed, in a loose robe
of yellow silk slashed with satin stars and
half-moons, Mandingo sandals, and a
Spanish hat trimmed with gold lace; the
only ornament being a small gold chain of
European manufacture.

Taking our seats on chairs facing the
royal mat, we entered into a complimen-
tary conversation, the king asking many
questions about our sovereign and Eng-
land, and afterwards of Messrs. Freeman,
Cruikshanks, and Wynniett, who had pre-
ceded us at his court. The ministers were
then introduced by name, and we all drank
together. Next, about forty cabooceers were
similarly introduced.

The English mother was now pointed
out (for this arrangement see journal of
the customs), and we were placed under
her care.

His Majesty, having asked me if I would Review
■^\'ish to see a review of the amazons, to AmaLns.
■^vhich I acquiesced with delight, ordered
three regiments to be paraded. The

ground was clianged, the men falling back,
and a square was marked out for the re-
view. One regiment was distinguished by
a white cap with two devices (blue alliga-
tors), another by a blue cross, while the
third had a blue crown. The officers were
recognised by their coral necklaces and
superior dresses; while each carried a
small whip, which they freely plied when
required. After being inspected, they
commenced an independent iiring, whilst
at intervals, rushing from their ranks, many
of them would advance to the foot of the
throne, address the king, hold aloft their
muskets, and then return and fire them.
During the review the ministers assembled
on the left of the king. On his right were
some high officers of the amazons in uni-
form and neat accoutrements, performing
their offices about the king\'s person: one
held a silver spittoon, another the royal hat,
a third the club, — a handsome ebony
stick ornamented with silver; one pro-
claimed the conquests of the Dahoman
army, while two, as heralds, with long

trumpets, blew a blast, and then blazoned
forth the numerous names of Gezo, the
king of kings. Immediately in rear of the
king sat the quot;Light of the Harem,quot; under a
handsome crimson and gold parasol; around
her many an envious maid, whose turn it
might be soon to be thus honoured. Their
dresses were more gaudy than rich, orna-
mented with coral and glittering beads.

The king having asked us to drink, rose,
with his glass in hand, and tapped each of
ours; then there thundered forth a salute
of guns, almost drowned by the shouts of
the multitude. The ministers and caboo-
ceers danced, and the eunuchs and ladies
held cloths before the king. Men must
not see the king eat or drink.

When the firing was over, Ahpolpoo-nomeh
and Hie-tengah, the colonels, and many
amazon officers, were introduced, and drank
onr health; in return, I gave them two
kegs of rum. The chief of Dassa was then
introduced: he was a prisoner on parole,
the same chief that was uncivil to Mr. Dun-
can on his travels. We now took leave;

tlie king, in compliment, seeing us on our
road. As he stept forth, the whole crowd
rose as a man, fired oiF their muskets, and
shouted; the din and noise was conse-
quently terrific. They then closed round
the king, whilst the bands played a quick
step. When we had arrived at the end of
the square he took leave, shaking hands
and snapping alternate fingers and thumbs
thrice. The mayo\'s retinue continued firing,
shouting, dancing, and singing all the way
to our residence in the mayo\'s enclosure — a
small neat house in a retired part, having
two orange-trees and a kitchen enclosed in
a yard, and hence private.

No king could have been more civil or
more condescending ; yet, in all it was
observable, that the visit of white men, and
show of reception, amused his people and
enhanced his own greatness in their ideas.
In the journal of the customs the power
of this king will be illustrated: sufiice it
here to say, as a military chief he is feared
by all his neighbours, and the terror of his
name is the strongest tie he has, and effects

far more than the strength of his army ever
could. Africans have but a poor means of
counting; and, although their memory is
retentive, cannot retain numbers, and be-
yond a thousand they have but little
idea. These soldiers being yearly at war,
have gained a fame that, if fairly tried.
Would soon be found wanting.

Oct. iMi.—Having made up rny present Presents to
(Mr. Duncan had made his on a former
visit), I sent it to the king, with a message
to say, that I had landed unawares, but had
collected a small present at Whydah. It was
graciously received. I sent a small dona-
tion also to the miegan, the prime minister,
naayo, grand vizier, camboodee, treasurer,
agaow, general-in-chief, e-a-wal, English
mother, with similar messages.

Daylight had scarcely broken when, one interview
after another, in came the sticks of the king,
l^ing, and every man of note in the town,
even to Hee-tou-gee, the siloe\'s smith, in-
quiring after our health. Each was carried
V two or three men ; and as each man

required a glass of raw rum, and these in-
quiries are repeated every morning, in a
long sojourn they become a great nuisance
and a great expense. After breakfasting
early by command, by 8 o\'clock we were
in full uniform in the palace square, which
was now clear. The mayo immediately
left us to be gazed upon by a collecting
crowd, and to report our arrival to the
king. In about half an hour, the great
gate was thrown open, and, passing through
an inner court, we were ushered into the
entrée of a small room, ornamented with
military arms and accoutrements. On a
bed, covered with a very handsome mat,
reclined the king. In the room were the
female ministers squatted on the ground ;
while, as we advanced and the king rose,
the male ministers— the mayo, camboodee,
caoupeh, and Toonoonoo — prostrated and
kissed the dust. Having shaken hands,
we became seated, and the ministers rose
from their degrading and disgusting posi-
tion to take their actual station, without

whose concurrence the king cannot act.
It is extraordinary that while the iniegan
and the mayo wallow in the mud. in the
I\'oyal presence, they have, if united, actually
niore power than their sodesque.

After many compliments, his Majesty Conversa-
I\'equested me to read the commander-in- the king,
chiefs letter. Handing it to him, he broke
the seal and returned it. I then read its
contents piecemeal, so that the interpreters
might the better explain it. His Majesty
listened attentively; and then explained
that he was not accompanied by those
officers who should form members of so
Serious a palaver, but if I would attend his
Customs, he would give an answer. He
then dictated a letter to the commander-in-
chief, in which he promised to give me an
answer at the Customs. Asking if we in-
tended to visit the market, he ordered ten
heads of cowries to be sent with us to pur-
chase articles with.

Mr. Duncan asked the king if he could The fate of
acquaint him with the fate of Dr. Dickson,

the fellow-traveller of Clapperton. He in-
formed us as follows:—Dr, Dickson ap-
peared at my court, accompanied by the
late cha-cha, Da Souza, at whose instance I
furnished him with a guard of sixty men.
After a short stay, during which he had the
fever, and shaved his head, he set out.
Arrived on the frontier, all but four men
returned; the remainder, under the otficers
Ah-moo-soo, Ah-sok-bah, and Boogboo ac-
companied Dr. Dickson, through Chah to
Noofee, on the road to Haussa, After
leaving Noofee, all trace was lost, and none
had ever since been heard of. He then ex-
plained that he was going, as soon as we
left, to Tengee, to make a Custom to the
memory of his mother.

Having drunk the healths of the king of
Dahomey and the queen of England in
champagne, we asked leave to retire, much
pleased with the novelty of our interview.

As we left the palace gate, hardly a soul
was to be seen in the square; but no sooner
was the king outside, than thousands of

armed men flew from all sides and assem-
bled, firing and shouting round the mo-
narch, On returning to our friend\'s house.
We changed our garments, and went to
market and purchased some pottery, dresses,
and country cloths.

to commemorate the subjugation ot Anagoo.
In Dahomey there are but few tracts in
which stone is deposited : the Anagoos had
a tradition, which they steadily believed,
that when their enemies removed stones
the country would fall. The Dahomans
conquered them, and fulfilled the prophecy
by causing the whole army, each (soldier
and camp follower) to carry a large stone.

early all are granite in different stages of
formation. Several of the royal family
called, not without expecting and receiving
a present.

Oct. 19ifA, —At six, a table was set out- Presents
side our gate by the mayo, with wine and kTng.
refreshments ; and we were invited to listen
to a salute fired. Having drunk the health

of his Majesty, soldiers stationed along the
road hurraed, and a royal salute was fired ;
followed by two salutes of nine each, for
myself and Mr. Duncan. During the royal
salute, a party of the royal wives passed,
and, headed by the aged minister, we had
to leave the gay and festive scene, and hide
our diminished heads — against a wall!
Immediately after we received his Majesty\'s
present, consisting of, to each, a bullock,
cloth, ten heads of cowries, one keg of rum,
one jar of palm oil, one calabash of flour,
one of country soap, one of peppers.

To Madiki, the interpreter, two heads of
cowries, two bottles of rum, one goat, one
calabash of flour, one jar of palm oik To
Narwhey, two heads of cowries, one bottle
of rum. To Majelica, head of followers, one
head of cowries, one bottle of rum. To our
kroomen, two heads of cowries ; hammock-
men, two heads, and two bottles of rum.
Besides the above, every day we received
about two bushels of food, palm oil, soaps,
and dab-a-dab, amp;c. Mr. Duncan presented
the king\'s weaver with a spinning-wheel.

He has the foot of a giant, and is extraor-
dinarily clumsy. He has seldom been ab-
sent an hour, breaking the threads, leathers,
amp;c,, and drinks an awful quantity of rum.

Many people called; some bringing one
or two yams as a present, all requiring a
present in return. These presents are a
terrible nuisance: the whole system is in
donations, expecting more, at least an equi-
valent, and never satisfied. Mr. Duncan is
a proficient on the Jews harp; and several
old friends have called, bringing their in-
struments, and asked for new lessons. How
quickly the black ear catches a tune ! One
Ulan, Attah, plays all the old Scotch airs
Well. Strange as it may sound, in a barba-
rous African country, women are passing
our door, like the gallegos of Lisbon, crying
quot;See-dag-hee Seequot; (sweet water, water).
Close to the mayo\'s house are the city
shambles. A good supply of meat is killed,
considering the black races do not generally
eat much animal food, quot; unless when they
have not to pay for it.quot;

Oct 20ifA—Rose at daylight and packed
de™artu?equot;\'^ up. A krooman entered our yard the day
before yesterday, and, giving him in charge
of my head krooman, I sent for the mayo.
By some neglect the man wamp;s missed. He
stated, in good English, that he and another
were left of the crew of an Enghsh mer-
chant vessel wrecked on the Popoe coast,
and had been sold into slavery. No doubt
remained in my mind but that he belonged
to the mayo : who as stoutly denied all
knowledge of him, and promised to search
for him. This morning, being ready, the
mayo sent to say we might go. I, knowing
it to be his duty to see us away, sent to
say we were awaiting his visit. In answer,
he stated that he was attendant on the
king, and that if we wanted to see him
about the kroomen they should be sent
to the Vice-Consulate when discovered.
Fearing lest these men should not be con-
sidered as British subjects, I thought it
best to leave the matter for the opinion of
the government, and we left. Mr. Duncan 1

has been poorly for some days, but to-day
evinced symptoms of sulFering from dysen-
tery. I walked to Cannah, a very pleasant
Walk, and there we halted to collect our
baggage, and give Mr. Duncan rest. It
was market-day; at the roads leading to
the market stood tax-gatherers, demanding
from five to ten cowries from all who car-
ried goods to sell. Round one of the palace
Walls, called Allah whey, was a rope of grass :
this is a fetish against fire.

miles from Cannah, and near the swamps.
Mr. Duncan very unwell. In the afternoon
a terrible noise drew my attention, when,
on examination, I found some of our ham-
mockmen and the townspeople at a war of
words. Presently the head of the town
rushed iu amongst them, prostrated, kissed
the dust, and, taking his seat on his hams,
all squatted down peaceably, scarcely a
moment after. Narwhey arrived too late;
and in a terrible passion he rushed on one
of the hammockmen, and fairly pummelled

him ; while the head man called to him to
desist, and that his conduct was contempt
of court. He fell back among the crowd,
a quiet but enraged spectator. The cause
was this: my kroomen had given one ham-
mockman twelve strings of cowries to buy
a large fowl, and the hammockman had paid
eight. The woman, hearing that twelve
had been given, after the fowl was killed
demanded restitution or the money. A
squabble ensued; and, lest the narwhey
should take up the case, the head man of
the town proclaimed a king\'s court, over
which he alone, in his district, is judge.
Several of the villagers made speeches, and
condemned Narwhey\'s conduct. After fully
proving the charge, in consideration of the
prisoner being the servant of a white man,
he was let off with paying the whole sum
to the woman. The judge again kissed
the dust, the hammock-men knelt and
clapped hands in token of submission, then
all kissed the dust and separated, and the
king\'s court was thus dissolved.

crossed the swamp. Passed a man wrapt
from head to foot in a cloth, and guarded.
His guards told me he was quot; sick.quot; At the
sight of him the hammockmen ran into
the bush, and beckoned me to do the same,
and I was warned otf in the king\'s, name.
This was either a culprit sent for commit-
ment to Abomey, or a captured slave; I
should infer the former.

Oct. \'iZrd.—Reached Allahdah; where-
upon the governor sent me a present of two
fowls, twelve eggs, six yams, and some
clean water.

Oct. 24/A.—Reached Torree. Mr. Dun-
can very ill. Sent to the British agent to
beg he would not salute when we arrived.
Visited the cabooceer, who was ^engaged
with fetish men making a chair.

Oct. Ihth.—Arrived at Whydah, the
British fort. Mr. Duncan immediately
went to bed with, what we thought and
treated him for, dysentery.

Visited the viceroy, who prostrated be-
fore the king\'s stick. Having hired a house

in the town, I had scarcely retired to it
when I was astonished to hear twenty-one
guns fired from the British fort ; and for
what, forsooth ? In honour of a present
given by Domingo Jose Martins to the king,
of thirty puncheons of rum : a distribution
in all to the value of 5,000^, to the king,
cabooceers, the late Da Souza\'s family, and
people. Three pipes were run in the public
square for the mob to wallow in.

with his compliments, to offer me anything
his house afforded. Signor Tacinta de
Rodriguez, the Madeira merchant, was very
kind in assisting me to make up medicines
for Mr. Duncan.

house is well furnished, but a mere show-
house, he living in a small place adjoining.
He has a large European garden and fine
orange grove. He kindly placed his canoe-
men at my disposal, which, as the British
factory have none, I per force gladly ac-
cepted.

Oct. 28ifA.—Visited the viceroy to take
leave, intending to embark on the arrival
of the first man-of-war. After many de-
mands for small articles, on my return I
took leave ; he explaining to me he would
acquaint the king with Mr. Duncan\'s ill-
ness, and ofi\'ering native doctors and medi-
cine, if required; adding, all you white men
are doctors, and the worst of you better
than the best of blacks. On passing from
his house (the grass very high) I observed,
within an inch of my leg, a small lizard
with its eyes fixed. It did not move on
my approach. At the same moment a cobra
darted at it, and before I could raise my
stick, bore it away ; rather a narrow escape
from death.

The peal from the bells of the Portu-
guese Catholic church are ringing merrily.
What a pity they are not responded to by
the chimes of the more simple—a Pro-
testant — place of worship ! Kingfisher
anchored.

panied by his surgeon, who decided on
taking Mr. Duncan otF at once. Having
procured canoes, we all embarked, not sorry
to be again afloat. Poor Mr. Duncan, with
so many old friends (he had taken a pas-
sage in the Kingfisher) to welcome him,
brightened and appeared for the remainder
of the day almost recovered.

return for the one fired at Abomey in
honour of her Majesty. Mr. Duncan dan-
gerously ill. On the arrival this day of her
Majesty\'s ship Bonetta, I sailed for Sierra
Leone ; where, shortly after, I heard, by the
arrival of a prize taken by her Majesty\'s
ship Kingfisher, that three days after em-
barkation Mr. Duncan had fallen a victim
to his attack. He died of a liver com-
plaint ; the disease aggravated by poison
inhaled in opening the horse of Da Souza.
He was a most enterprising man, and
worthy of the remembrance of his country-
men.

barking on board, the Bonetta\'s crew Return to
suffered severely from small-pox; and, after
a trip across the trade winds to Ascension,
arrived off Whydah at the time named by
the king for his Customs, the description of
which will form the subject of my future
Journals.

journal dtjeing a sojourn on shore in whydah,
prom february 27th to march 31 st, and a de-
scription op whydah.

Feb. \'iltli.—Landed and visited the viceroy.
AVas informed that his Majesty was still
at war, and the time of his return uncer-
tain. That about the time for the march,
several high officers had died, and, paying
respect to their memory, had detained the
array until the latter end of January. When
the king went to war, no one knew aught
about his proceedings until he announced
his return, which announcement would
come from Cannah ; and as he had been
detained, the probability was the Customs
would be put off.

Having explained to the viceroy that, at
the king\'s desire, I had landed at the time
appointed, to visit him at his Customs, and

that I bore a suitable present, in the name
of her Majesty, which I had purchased at
Sierra Leone, I told him I should not re-
embark until I had heard of his Majesty\'s
return, and received the announcement of
some definite period to return on shore.

The viceroy told me his Majesty regretted
much the death of her Majesty\'s vice-con-
sul Duncan, and that immediately he heard
it, he had sent his command to him, order-
ing him to proceed to the British fort,
where he had sat a whole day while his
retainers fired to Mr. Duncan\'s memory.
That his Majesty had also sent a large
country cloth, a piece of blue baft, a piece
of white baft, and a piece of handkerchief,
as burial clothes, and six heads of cowries
to set a table, i. e. a wake, which articles
had been given to Mr. Aberdeen.

Desiring quiet, and determined to live
regularly, I hired a house in the town in
preference to taking up my quarters at the
fort; and while my kroomen were getting
it in order, embarked on board her Ma*
jesty\'s ship King%her.

Popoe. an extensive slave port, but one in which
the trade might be easily stopped by erect-
ing a fort on a tongue of land which
commands at once the lagoon communi-
cation and the sea beach. I need only
refer the reader to the chart to see that
Little Popoe and Quittah are but a light
march apart, and adjoined by lagoons.

The state is a republic, or rather the
province of a republic. The chief or presi-
dent lives at a large town at a little dis-
tance ; -while the town of Little Popoe is
divided by the lagoon into Ajado, the
slave town, under Portuguese directors,
and JSTew London, under a president (Mr.
Lawson), whence palm oil is shipped.

The la- March 2gt;rd. — Pulled a little distance up
the lagoon—a perfect labyrinth, filled with
trade canoes. Indeed there appears to be
a very brisk trade carried on here ; and at
the chief\'s town is one of those large
markets common to Central Africa. On
the banks basked several large alligators,
and flocks of wild ducks passed within shot.

There is much fish in tliese lagoons, and
beds of fine oysters, and shoals of shrimps ;
although during the last half of the dry
season there is a great deal of water but
slightly brackish.

March Uli__There is one terrible draw-
back to Popoe, it is the most filthy of
towns. The stench is fearfully strong, and
must render it unhealthy. The houses are
badly built; that in which I am living forms
the four sides of a square-, and for some
quot; wise quot; reason, doubtless, all the apertures
open on the inside, so that the air breathed
is close and confined. One side is so old
they are unroofing it, rendering the habi-
tation of the other dangerous from the
unhoused snakes, centipedes, scorpions,
and all other delightful tropical household
companions; another side is occupied by
Mr. George Lawson, who, as agent for

I believe the dirtiest of all trades—and the
aroma from his side is not the most pre-
ferable ; while the fourth is a stable and

March hth. — The shallowness of the
water in these lagoons precludes the proba-
bilility of any boat being constructed light
enough to navigate them during the dry
season. During the rainy period the pre-
valence of fevers and small-pox materially
lessens the probability of any constitution
enduring these pestilential lakes.

March — Yisited Mr. Lawson, who
was got up for the occasion. He is a little
old black, with a most astonishing me-
mory, suffering under a severe hernia.
He was a native of Popoe, but educated in
England, and became steward of a slaver
in the time of its legal trade. Besides his
pay, he had a shilling a head for each
slave, as interpreter to the doctor. Seven
months made the voyage to and from the
port of Liverpool, landing the slaves at
Jamaica.

The captain died. The mate, on the re-
turn, married the widow, with a fortune of
forty thousand pounds and two daughters.

In those days the same care was taken
of the slaves on the passage as of any other
cargo, at least in Mr. Lawson\'s ship, and
there was no delay. In 1812 he returned
to Popoe. He has a large family, some
living as Portuguese, others as Enghshmen.
On the eighth of February last a schooner
shipped here.

Up to noon the pinnace of her Majesty\'s
ship Ranger had been in sight, when she
ran down to Argwei. At four, the schooner
anchored close into the surf, laid out a
kedge, and by a rope to the shore hauled the
canoes to and fro: all was excitement and
drinking. As her cargo was not the pro-
perty of one merchant, the slaves had to be
branded, and a Dutch tobacco-pipe was
called in and ingeniously used in branding
them with different marks, intended to re-
present the letters 0, 0, E, and X (the
whole, the half, or the two halves of the
bowl of the pipe). In one hour and a half
she was on her return voyage.

Excursion March 1th.—Went by lagoon in Mr,
to Argwei. L^^g^^^jg canoc to Argwei. At this slave-

port, almost a monopoly of José Almeida,
a vessel was expected, and the natives nn-
disguisedly exposed their uneasiness at our
appearance. Argwei is a republic, and as
far as I could ascertain, ruled by a senate,

most civil, and kindly lent me a covered
canoe to proceed in to Whydah.
A^arTin. ^^ extraordinary instance of the power
?owers°rf ^^^^ pertinacity of the fetish people was
the fetish illustrated here last month. In a heavv

tornado, the flag-staff of the English factory
was struck by lightning, in a curved line,
nearly to the ground. In the immediate
vicinity was a store of powder, to remove
which was the first care. In the mean
time, the fetish people assembled round
the factory and loudly demanded admit-
tance, which being refused, they paraded
the streets of the town, declaring that
they had caused the fetish to destroy the
flagstaff as they were quot;hungry;quot; meaning
that the agent did not fee them ; and that

The first warning was when the present
agent landed at Badagry for provisions,
and while on shore his ship blew up ; the
second, the loss of the Medora, lately
wrecked on the Yolta river. With regard
to the latter, the fetish people of Yolta and
Accra had had some dispute, when the
former warned the other, and told them
that in revenge they would have an Accra
trade-ship.

If it can be believed, one of the agents
to the oldest established house on the gold
coast is initiated into the mysteries, and is
a fetish man ! This man was formerly
master of a trader; and on the master of the
Medora taking leave of him at Accra, speak-
ing with regard to the change of tide con-
sequent on the Harmattous, that were then
blowing, he remarked, quot; you must hang to
the southward or you will chance to be on
shore on the Yolta.quot; His words were pro-
phetic, and as such claimed by the devils
incarnate, his brother fetish men.

The next day they resumed their threats,
and demanded the injured mast. Having
entered the factory-yard, one of the party
ascended to strike the heel of the topmast;
which he did by the run. The quot; holy quot; men
now became afraid, and left, declaring that
if they were not fed, they would certainly
destroy the factory. By the advice of the
chiefs, the agent compromised the matter
at a loss of about 200 dollars\' worth of
goods. Argwei is a small, not over clean
town, although an extensive trading port.
It has one peculiarity—the streets, like those
of Passages, in Biscay, are passages under
the houses, or rather through them.

Left at 5 p. m., and poled down the
lagoon all night.
De^scrip.nbsp;— At 9 a. m. arrived at Why-

Whydah. dah. Since daylight to 7 I walked along
the lagoon without shoes or stockings, the
water just above the ancles; and although
we poled in the middle and in the deepest
water, the canoe, which drew about a foot
and a half water, was constantly aground
in the night. My kroomen whom I left be-

Whydah is a most extensive city, con-
sisting of seven or eight separately governed
tomis, although the viceroy of Whydah is
the chief of all cabooceers.

Besides these, there are free towns for the
liberated Africans, and a new town lately
built to the eastward.

One of the benefits of these divisions is
that, for instance, all the people in English
town are servants quot; to hire,quot; but out of
respect to English visitors any number that
is required is sent, and the head men of
the town procure the labour.

The principal building is the cha-cha\'s The house
house, a large ill-built erection of no par- cha.
ticular form, occupying one side of the

principal square; and, as nothing can be
cleanly in Africa, opposite, occupying a
side of the square, is a corral for cattle, sel-
dom cleaned, except by the anirnalcula of
the exuvias that decay breeds. The cha-
cha\'s house I had imagined was a palace, in
which a prince in wealth rolled in luxury,
such it has been represented; and if dirt
and filth constitute luxury, it is an ely-
sium. Every article of table or bed-room
furniture was of solid silver; but the state
of the finances at his death proved the
exaggerations of his flatterers, as he died
Jha!chf enormously in debt. Isidore Da Souza, the
Da Souza. present cha-cha, is ordered by his royal
master to pay the quot; legalquot; debts of his
father, but not his debts to slave-dealers.
Strange command from the king of Da-
homey ! illustrative of the cunning of the
king, who foresaw in the payment of exten-
sive debts a probable decrease of tribute.

The late Da Souza arrived a poor man.
He left Rio from some political crime, in
which he had the choice of incarceration

or desertion of his fatherland. Although
an extensive slave-dealer, he was not with-
out good points; and one was, his excessive
kindness to all English visitors, either go-
vernment officers or others. He intro-
duced Dr. Dickson to the king, and gave
Mr. Duncan the wherewithal to purchase
a welcome (being at the time too ill to ac-
company him), and was attentive to Mr.
Cruikshanks.

The best trait in his character was in
his discountenancing human sacrifice, which
he is said never to have witnessed, and in
abolishing death as the punishment for
killing (by accident or otherwise) a fetish
snake. ISTow, the unfortunate criminal has
to enter a house of straw covered with
palm oil, to which a light is set, and thence
to run the gauntlet through the fetish
priests, who belabour him without mercy;
and he is not free until he reaches water
in which he washes out the sin. On these
occasions the late cha-cha is said to have
attended with his personal slaves, who, with

pretended zeal, mixed with the crowd and
hustled round the offender, and saved him
many blows.

The best building in the town is the
residence of Domingo José Martins, a well
furnished house, standing in an orange-
grove, Antonio Da Souza has a Chinese-
built house, more ornamental than useful,
in which he receives visitors. The forts,
three in number, are all old and dilapi-
dated. In the British fort is a fetish
house of some antiquity,—strangely placed !
About the forts are cleared areas, and, if
in repair, they would be well capable of
defence from an African army. So long as
they remain in merchants\' hands they are
virtually a disgrace to the flags that fly from
their walls. The viceroy\'s house is a mere
enclosure of huts and one spacious court,
shaded by several giant cotton-trees, in
which his Excellency receives visitors when
not immediately on business, lying at full
length on the damp ground.

IS a temple built round a liuge cotton tree,
in which are at all times many snakes of
the boa species. These are allowed to roam
about at pleasure; but if found in a house
or at a distance, a fetish man or woman is
sought, whose duty it is to induce the rep-
tile to return, and to reconduct it to its
sacred abode, whilst all that meet it must
bow down and kiss the dust. Morning and
evening, many are to be seen prostrated
before the door, whether worshipping the
snakes directly, or an invisible god, which is
known under the name of quot; Seh,quot; through
these, his representatives, I am not learned
enough to determine. In different parts
are smaller temples covering deities, in
shape, rude clay figures of men.

Africa; well supplied with every luxury
and many useful articles. As there are
no shops, all trade is carried on here; and
the market is divided into appropriate pro-
portions for each description of article. The
meat, fish, corn, flour, vegetable, fruit, and
foreign goods have all separate markets.

The cha-cha is the principal agent to The cha-
tUe king in all matters of trade ; and to him king\'s agent
must be subjected all commerce, whether
in slaves or palm-oil, that he may have
the refusal. The price is laid down by
law, subject to his alteration if concurred
in by the viceroy and six traders or super-
intendants of trade appointed by the king.
These are : 1. Ah-boo-veh-mah, 2. Goo-vah-
inoh, 3. Oh-klah-foh-toh, 4. Toh-poo, 5.
Ah-ha-doo-moo-toh, and 6. Boh-ee-ah. One
or the other of these must be present at
all sales to take the royal duty, which in
palm-oil is about a gallon in a measure of
eighteen. These men are not paid, but
have the advantage of trading at the royal
price, or ten per cent, under the market.
They are besides political spies on the
viceroy, and attend all conferences, report-
ing directly to the king any infringement
on the royal prerogative. These are not
the only spies of the viceroy; his hours of
recreation are supervised by ladies of the

blood royal, presented by tbe king, whose
reception is obligatory, and who also
make private reports to the king or his
ministers.

Fetish. had a long conversation with him about
trade. Coming events cast their shadows
before them. The viceroy of Whydah is
not likely to be a friend at court, although
he very politely asked me to be his fellow
traveller when I went to Abomey. On
leaving, a fetish man was passing the gate,
with two large snakes. State officers in
most barbarous countries find it more con-
venient to remain at home, except when
duty calls them abroad. The burly officer
was, according to custom, seeing me beyond
his gate — and this was an opportunity not
to be lost, — the fetish man addressed him
at great length, in praise of his extraor-
dinary liberality to the fetish, for which
he had no doubt to pay handsomely.
sS mer- ^^ Whydah there are five native mer-
chants. chants, who may be termed very rich.

Alijohvee, 2. Narwhey, 3. Quenung, and
two others, whose names I have lost.
Keither in their dress, nor in any outward
appearance could they be judged wealthy.
Such show would expose them to the cu-
pidity of the government. They own
thousands of slaves, and have to supply
whole regiments to the annual hunt. Ah-
johvee has a large fetish house east of
Whydah, situated in a pretty bosquet, in-
tersected by pleasant walks, and fragrant
in the dry season with the flowers of the
cashew-nut tree, ^— by far the most pleasant
place to walk in near Whydah.

March lltli. — All the town was gay. Return of
and all were firing off muskets, dancing, and amp;om\\h®
shouting. A messenger has arrived to re-
port that his Majesty has reached Cannah
in safety. Narwhey came with the royal
stick, to inform me, and with a message
from the viceroy, that I might now send to
his Majesty for information. I, therefore,
despatched a messenger with a present of
two brass musketoons to the king, reporting

Don J osé Dos Santos, who, although a slave-
dealer, is also a palm-oil purchaser to a
great extent. He arrived here without a
shilling, and now has an immense esta-
blishment, though I believe little capital ;
indeed, he is said to be in debt, owing to the
uncertainty of his trade. Having once
embarked in the slave trade, he is still a
gambler, and his speculations often bring
him in a loser. Don José has a plantation
on which he manufactures oil His yard
was filled with traders, — some with only
a gallon, others having slaves loaded with
large calabashes of oil; while dozens of
his own slaves were counting out cowries
to pay for the produce.

March IZth. — Arrived her Majesty\'s
Ship Bonetta. Went on board for a few
hours. This was market-day at the four-
day market at Forree ; and all Whydah was
on the road, carrying foreign cloths, salt,
saltfish, rum, and tobacco, to exchange for

much confined. The slave trade consists in
gin, rum, tobacco, romauls and other
cloths, muskets, powder, flints, cowries,
handkerchiefs, hardware, and glass, in
large quantities; a less quantity of wine,
sugar, and iron-bars ; and a few silks and
superior articles. The oil trade comprises
many of the above-named articles, besides
smaller articles, such as perfumery, inferior
jewellery, and ornaments. The exports from
Whydah are slaves and palm-oil. Coun-
try cloths, peppers, corn, ivory, and shea-
butter can be procured in small quantities.

Visited a very extensive palm-oil plant- Manufac-
ation belonging to Ahjohvee. It lies to palm-oil.
the eastward of Whydah; and very little
labour is added to the gifts of God in pro-
curing this valuable and lucrative article
of trade. On the estate are many establish-
nients, slave villages, for the manufacture,
winch is very simple. The nut is first
boiled, then, thrown into a large recess, and

trodden out: then boiled again, and the
oil is collected. The nut within is a very-
nutritious article of food, tasting like the
cocoa-nut.

March Ihth.—Visited the viceroy, and
found him reclining at full length in his
shaded court-yard. In the course of con-
versation I endeavoured to impress upon
his mind the advantage that would accrue
to the king, if, instead of sacrificing or
selling his prisoners of war, he retained the
labour in his own country, and he would
soon see his advantage in this, and the
folly of enriching a foreign and distant
land at the expense of his own natural
resources. I explained to the ee-a-voo-gan
that each had the interest of his own
sovereign doubtless at heart, and that we
had better leave the question open until
we appeared in the royal presence.

and was brought to me by the viceroy in
state, whose retainers saluted me by keep-
ing up a continued fire of musketry in the
yard. After the iisual prostration, he gave

quot; That I had better take a walk and
come back, i. e. go to sea. \' This moon must
die, next moon die, then five days come on
shore,\' or on the 15th of May.quot;

This morning, in my walk in the street
called quot; Zoh-mahee,quot; quot; Fire^cannot-enter,quot;
I met a chain-gang belonging to José Al-
meida, ready for marching to Popoe. I un-
derstood, as soon as they saw me coming,
the drivers marched them in.

attire of the liberated Africans, who, as a
mark of civilisation, keep the sabbath day
hy dressing out in all their finery. It is
the great pride of a black to be of the white
man\'s religion; and all, either from Bahia
or Sierra Leone, call themselves Christians,
and, no doubt, in the common acceptation
of the term, are so. If one might so decide,
they, at least, are in a happier position than
when following the religion of the land,
worshipping the snake, or the leopard, the

fetish of Abomey. Though but nominal
Christians, we will not insult them by call-
ing them pagans. The safety of their
souls demands immediate and strenuous
exertions on the part of true Christians.
A very trifling sum from the general stock
would support a chapel; and then the
derision of the Bahias would not fall on
their Sierra Leone neighbours, who, having
a Roman Catholic church in the Portuguese
fort, deride the soi-disant Protestants as
being without the pale of their church. Nor
is this the worst part of their position. The
half-educated black returns in pride to his
country, a savant, a monkey that has seen
the world, to be a useful or a mischievous
one as fate may decide. Those landing at
Badagry meet pastors and masters, and, in
all the pride of quot; the title of white men,quot;
would not miss the chance of attendance
on prayers: those landing at Whydah —quot; it
is but one step from the sublime to the
ridiculous quot; — have no head, no church. A
Sierra Leone African is always looked upon
as a spy; and _ « the last state of that man

is worse than the firstquot; —he cohabits with
women of the country, and returns in time
to their and his natal idolatry.

tions where the slave trade rules, there labour,
is no missionary labour. Such places
ought to be the points of honour. The
quot; Blackquot; priests from the island of St. Tho-
mas preach to large flocks, and converts are
frequently made. The slave trade does not
interfere with them, nor do I think it
would materially with a Protestant mis-
sion ; and the more quot;Blackquot; priests are
ordained and employed in Africa, the
further religion will extend. Whydah
never, even in the palmy days of trade,
had a Protestant place of worship. Besides
the Roman church in the Portuguese fort,
there are the ruins of a chapel in the
French fort, now converted into a powder-
magazine. I trust ere long those Africans,
whom the amor patriw leads to return to
Whydah, may not have to give up the fruits
of the labour of the good pastors of Sierra

son with his quot; friend\'s stick,quot; and a present
of some palm-oil and beans-cake, a sort of
compliment cake only cooked for the official
people. These little compliments are never
properly understood until they are ten
times paid for. In Dahomey all prelimi-
naries are settled by presents, and no mat-
ter can be arranged unless commenced by
a gift. It is the worst country a poor man
ever travelled in, for the sprat is baited so
often that the mackerel is dearly purchased
— if obtained. In all semi-barbarous coun-
tries it is the same, and, in other words,
visitors cheat themselves to rob the riilers
of the land, who otherwise would impose
upon them. quot; Poverty is no crime:quot; ~ a
Dahoman would soon give that the lie, if
applied to a foreigner.

Whydah. despotic tyrant, and holds a divided sway,
at one time tyrannising over the whites,

at anotlier over the blacks. Just now
he is chastening the blacks, among whom
much sickness prevails, while, except from
a bilious fever, not dangerous, the whites
are free. In June and July, he changes
colour, and the whites stagger under the
effects of the power of the sun or the
miasma from stagnant pools of recently
fallen rain. The atmosphere is pregnant
with foul smells, and the very air is tainted.

March mh. — I have been clearing my whyXh/quot;
yard, and payinglabourers and servants. Talk
of India ! the Indian is a happy man with his
servants. Here not only will one not clean
your shoes that cleans your knives, but the
master, if he would have his work done,
must keep on the watch and see that his
orders are executed. Yet when the rates
of pay are considered. Reader, you will
^ot be astonished that they do so little.
As I cannot suppose in any endroit in the
known world labour is cheaper, I give the
following list as much as a curiosity as a
guide to future visitors.

House builder, ditto
Hammock-man
Carrier of goods, if not per job
Slaves are subsisted by their masters, and receive
no pay ; their subsistence costs, at a liberal al-
lowance comparatively -nbsp;.nbsp;20 = ^d.

Canoe-men are of a different class, being
Accras. If hired by Portuguese, and enter
for two years\' service, —

Cowries, the currency of Dahomey, are
passed in fifty strings of forty each to the
head or nominal dollar. It is remarkable
that in all barbarous nations where money
is known, the currency is decimal! Iron

Heads. Cowries.

- 6 or 12,000		22s.	i
n.			a 0)
- 4 or 8,000	=	13s.
280	=	7d.
280	=	7d.	1
100	=	2\\d.	a
120	=	Zd.	-a c
120	=	Sd. .	lt;1

bars four to the head, rum half-a-head a
gallon, and cloth form a currency depen-
dent on the market. All gold and silver
is current at a valuation, but scarce.

March 21st. — The Souza family having Hc-nic^
invited me to a pic-nic, and promised to Da Souzas.
show me a European plantation, started
at noon in hammocks, and, at a distance
of three miles to the westward, found they
had not exaggerated their description. A
splendid palm-oil plantation was before me,
thickly set with palm trees, intermixed
with corn, cotton, yams, and cassada, ac-
cording to the soil; the ground being
undulating, — sometimes high and dry, at
other places oozing and low. The pro-
prietor was a liberated African from Bahia,
originally a Mahee; and the plantation in
the highest order. Arrived on the ground,
we smoked a cigar under the shade of a
cluster of palm trees, while the lord of the
soil brought specimens of the palm nuts
for our inspection. In about an hour the
I^a Souzas were all fast asleep on mats;
presently awaking, a canteen was produced.

and I was asked to partake of some Bra-
zilian rum (casash), which good breeding
even would not allow me to accept. Un-
derstanding but slightly Portuguese, I
began to think I must have mistaken the
invitation, and felt satisfied there was
some misunderstanding when the contents
of another box were exhibited — some meat
cooked in rancid oil, biscuit, and yams. I,
with pretended goût., joined in the repast,
and, after another cigar, gladly took a
walk round the grounds, not in the best
of humours, imagining that I had rather
grievously mistaken the meaning of the
invitation, or been well paid for accepting
one from a slave-dealer. By a circuitous
path, we again came to the palm copse, now
like the oasis of the desert, a welcome spot.
The charm of Aladdin\'s lamp could not
have wrought a greater change : a milk-
white cloth was spread on mats, and was
now covered with every delicacy—wines of
France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany ;
whilst every article, even to the coffee cups
and saucers, was of solid silver.

arrived to-day, to summon the Da Souza cha.
family to Abomey. The ee-a-voo-gan goes
also. Domingo Martins declines the invit-
ation. The object is to choose a cha-cha
from among them. Isidore has the money;
Ignatio is backed by Domingo Martins,
who has great power with the king; and
Antonio is the king\'s favourite: thus the
king has to choose between wealth, power,
and friendship. What will the black Na-
poleon, the destroyer and maker of king-
doms, do in this emergency ?

March 23 c/. — Having become ac-
quainted with, I was going to say, every
stone—but there are none!—in the Whydah

by the by, is a noble structure of nature,
the fetish tree, a huge cotton giant of the
forest, on the Abomey road), — I threw my-
self into my hammock, and, falling asleep,
awoke at Savee, from whence I took a long
walk, and returned in the evening.

to the extremes; but the quot;Whydah people
are justly famed for their agricultural pur-
suits. Just now all the country is in a
blaze — the dried, high, grass is burned,
and the ashes left for manure; while, at
the same time, the burning element destroys
the overgrown animal and reptile king-
doms, and rarefies the atmosphere. When
the land is under cultivation, it has the
garden appearance of Chinese agriculture.

March ^hth. — Why I know not, but it
is a fact, that all appear ashamed of the
custom duties they pay his Majesty of
Dahomey. Ask the British agent! —as well
have asked Ananias for truth. Ask a Por-
tuguese, and you touch his risible faculties
— you fairly make him laugh. A return,
therefore, it would be impossible to give.
I do not think the duties on legal trade
sufiicient.

looked upon with a jealous eye. At this
time, to embark my present for the king
would be suspicious. There was only one
course. Feeling certain in my own mind

that I ought to return, I resolved to leave
the quot; presentquot; with the viceroy. Accord-
ingly I received a receipt from Dagbah,
the viceroy {Anglice Calabash, the most
useful of vegetable African productions),
and prepared for embarkation.

March 27th. — Even Whydah has its at-
traction. I am almost imagining myself
sorry to leave it. The English town-people
are my sworn admirers, and yet I have
employed only a few of them. \'Tis pleasant
to live beloved, even in outward show;
and there appears a good deal of that with
these Whydah people. I tell them I am
going: they only hope some government
officer (could it not be yourself?) would
he sent to govern the fort. They have re-
membrances of happier days when they
had a definite master: now they are every-
body\'s servant. Well, be it as it may,
liking or disliking, I shall be sadly disap-
pointed if I do not return.

trade in Whydah is the frequent inacces-
sible state of the beach, at all times unap-

proachable except in the Accra canoe for
trade goods, or the Kroo canoe for messages.
Sometimes for weeks the beach is closed.
All goods shipped for Whydah should be
hermetically sealed, if possible. The other
difficulty is the distance of the town from
the beach and the intervening lagoon.

I experienced much difficulty in the
want of a canoe, and generally overcame
it, when I wanted to forward a letter, by
one of the boats of Her Majesty\'s ships
coming to the edge of the surf, and a
Krooman swimming to and fro with the
despatch,

begged I would not be far away, in case the
king should send for me. Told him that I
intended going to the Island of Ascension,
and would be back at the time appointed;
which he begged I would, as the king might
imagine some mistake had arisen, and hold
him responsible for my reappearance.

lord. fowls and goats, amp;c., from a number of
blacks who had become acquainted, and

had been in the habit of calling on me.
Sent all my traps to the beach. My house
deserves a remark. As usual, Madiki,
Considering himself a rich man, has a
large enclosure, while, on the other hand,
as an quot; ee-ah-voo,quot; he could not do less than
have a white man\'s house. He owns ten
slaves, and has a large plantation. From
the estate he cut timber, and the slaves
fashioned it; they next dug the clay, and
made what is called the quot; swish,quot; which
is mixing the red clay \\vith water and
straw to make it more adhesive: and of
this all houses are built in Whydah. Then
fhey set to work and built a house, thirty
feet high, eighty long, and forty broad;
having in it three principal and four small
rooms, besides two verandahs. They next
cut the dry grass, and thatched it; then
procured the oysters from the lagoon (pro-
bably subsisted themselves on the natives),
and with the shells whitewashed the build-
ing. The whole was done in a year, and is
well worth the value of the slaves (who all
the time were subsisted from the plantation);

not costing the proprietor a halfpenny. My
argument with him was (and as my in-
terpreter he might have made good use of
it), Do you not see the value of labour?
Had you sold those slaves the money would
probably now be gone ; now you have the
slaves and the money too — all in one year,
and every year you might so increase them
in value. He saw it, but did not think
the king could, as, how was he to com-
mence ? It is the commencement that is
wanted. This house is of no personal use to
the owner, so he is glad to have a tenant.

Sarturl Majcsty\'s Ship Bonetta, and proceeded to
the Island of Ascension, to join the com-
mander-in-chief, and receive instructions
for my future guidance.

Sir John Malcolm, in his Embassy to
Persia, comments with approval on a re-
mark by an old naval master, when speak-
ing of the subjects of the Imaun of Muscat.
quot; Manners,quot; said the master, quot; they have
none, and their habits were disgusting.quot;
The reader will already have been able to
judge, would this not form a concise ac-
count of the manners and customs of the
Dahomans. I account myself as fortunate
in not being the pioneer in depicting the
extraordinary court of the most warlike of
•African slave-hunters, — a monarch whose

whole existence depends upon the slave
trade, whose every exertion is to supply a
larger number to the market of the pre-
ceding year, — a monarch whose power is
almost absolute, directly and yet indirectly
so extraordinarily balanced that, to use a
common expression, his head is not safe
for a twenty-four hours\' insurance.

2ons. upon to believe in the existence of amazons,
— fighting women prepared to do battle
on all around, the terror of the neighbour-
ing tribes, dressed in the attire of male
soldiers, armed with muskets and swords.
These sable ladies perform prodigies of
valour, and not unfrequently, by a for-
tunate charge, save the honour of the male
soldiers, by bearing down all before them,
discovering themselves to the astonished
and abashed prisoners to be women, ex-
ceeding their male coadjutors in cruelty
and all the stronger passions.

Excited by the hopes of reward, the evil
passions of man are fearfully developed in
Dahomey. Blood-money is the sure reward

of valour, the price of blood the only fee;
and it matters not if the prisoner is brought
alive to the monarch, as his reeking head is
almost equally valuable. Without a trophy,
such as a prisoner or a head, the soldier
had better have been killed ; disgrace, and
often condign punishment, follow to the
defaulters of either sex.

There is not a more extraordinary army
in the known world than that of the mili-
tary nation of Dahomey. The nucleus of
the national power, the throne, is occupied
at the pleasure of the militant people, who
claim an annual war as a birthright. If,
from want of courage, or any other in-
sufficient reason, the monarch dares to dis-
pute the will of his people, he, who could
by serving the vitiated appetites of his
soldiers have taken the lives of any, high
or low, is as surely dethroned and mur-
dered.

In speaking of the two armies, let not the
sensualist imagine that a Dahoman cam-
paign is disgraced by a freedom it would

almost be natural to suppose to belong to
so curiously disposed an army, half male
half female. On the contrary, the latter
are m charge of eunuchs, officered by their
own sex, and scorn the softer allurements
of their nature. To use their own words,
^ they are men, not women! their nature
IS changed! they will conquer or die\'quot;
Such expressions could not be openly used
even as mere boasts, by women standing
in a jealous position, emulating the most
daring acts and achievements of man, un-
less fundamentally true; and with the
certainty of being openly contradicted, and
brought to shame, by their fellow-soldiers
ot the opposite sex. Such then are the
amazons, in whose chastity we may believe
when we bear in mind that the extremj
exercise of one passion will generally ob-
hterate the very sense of the others. The
amazons, while indulging in the excite-
ment of the most fearful cruelties, forget
the other desires of our fallen nature.

Superstition assists in the preservation
of the chastity of this most singular army

The amazons are accommodated within the
precincts of the harem walls, and when
abroad share the honour of royal wives.
The bell announces to the traveller that
he must not gaze on them; and thus they
have not much opportunity of joining in
conversation with the opposite sex. On
the thresholds of the royal portals a charm
is set of so determined a nature as to render
encdnte the offender religiously believing
its existence. The frail amazon not infre-
quently sickens, and confesses the seducer\'s
name, though fully aware that the decapi-
tation of herself and her lover is the im-
mediate result.

Rank, to a certain height, in the army,
is obtainable by merit; but beyond that
there is no means of rising except as a
speculation, keeping a regiment and volun-
teering their services at the annual hunt;
all the higher ranks being hereditary.

The great bearing aimed at in giving
these Journals publicity, is to offer to the
reader an opportunity of judging for him-
self of the fearful state to which the slave

trade has arrived in that portion of Africa
of which Dahomey is a kingdom, and of the
extraordinary innate civilisation which ex-
ists among the blacks, and which, if worked
upon, would considerably ameliorate the
condition of the African. It is a country
of remarkable contrasts in its customs and
manners. For the price of one dollar the
grand vizier will decapitate an unoffending
prisoner of war, whilst the more civilised
viceroy of Whydah, who from commercial
intercourse proves the power of example,
will pay one fourth of that sum to public
functionaries to undertake the fearful office.
And yet the same high officer studies and
understands an etiquette that would do
honour to the most civilised courts in
Europe, and renders the courtier himself
(if divested of the disgusting ancestral
habits) a gentleman of nature\'s mould. It
may seem singular to the general reader,
that - the prime minister\'s office should be
that of headsman, but such is only con-
sistent with the early histories of many
European nations, and, together with many

of tlie appointments about the court, proves
that the court of Dahomey is much upon
the same standing that those of northern
Europe were before the light of civilisa-
tion shone upon them, and discovered their
evils and nakedness.

How many schemes are and have been The^ave
offered as infallible destroyers of this fear- the means

ful evil, many in the main correct, yet dit- struction.
fering sufficiently as to render them ap-
parently opposed! All men of education
must be moral haters of the iniquitous
traffic ; but it is not always that education
can carry a man\'s ideas above the advan-
tage of his own interest; and no doubt
the interests of this country—I mean the
monied interest of the manufacturing por-
tion—are for the time better answered by
the existence of the slave trade than they
would be by its repression. Such, how-
ever, would not be the case on the con-
sequence of its failure, and the rise of
legal trade, the extension of commercial in-
tercourse, the civilization of Africa. The
multiplicity of wives enjoyed by the king

and his officers, and the selection and
separation of thousands of virgins as ama-
zons, leave but few females wherewith to
increase the population ; whilst the hun-
dreds of thousands of skulls that ornament
the palaces, the annual introduction of
60,000 slaves into Brazil, at an exportation
of at least 180,000 from Africa, unite in
tending to decrease the numbers of the
people rapidly, and thus render the de-
mand for manufactured goods, or, in other
words, for trade, less than it would other-
wise be. Look at the method employed to
feed this traffic. A war of extermination
is decided on by a giant army on an un-
oiFending town. We all know by histories
of recent wars with civilised troops what
are the horrors of a protracted siege, or of
the excitement incidental to a mortal con-
flict. How can we wonder then at the fear-
ful tragedies constantly enacted by the
Dahoman armies, when the price is honour
or disgrace; a head or a prisoner, or to be
pubhcly spat upon by some self-lauding
amazon in the ensuing council ?

These wars are directly and instru-
mentally the acts of the slave-merchants of
Whydah and its neighbouring parts; but
have they no higher parties on whom to
lay the blame of their actions ? are these,
the agents of larger houses, the instru-
ments in the hands of parties who have
other means of disposing of their goods, to
bear the whole blame ? Truth is strange
but a trutli it is, that the slave trade is
carried on in Dahomey and the neigh-
bouring kingdoms with British merchandize,
and, at Porto Novo, the residence of the
monarch of slave dealers, by British shipping
direct. I do not mean to say that if British
aoods were not obtainable, the traffic would
cease to exist; but the taste for British
goods runs high, and if these could not
be purchased with slaves, palm-oil would
be manufactured to obtain them.

Thus the discontinuance of trading with Di--; ^^
the slave ports would afford most important legal trade,
aid in the reduction of the horrors of the
slave trade. Except with the natives for
palm-oil oi^ other native produce, the system

of trading with the interior kingdoms is
in pawns, or domestic slaves, saleable on
the sea-coast to the highest bidder. But
with these pawns a dawning of civilisation
has illustrated that the African is not even
by nature the brute be is generally believed
to be. Should the pawn become a parent,
neither the parent nor the child can be
forcibly expatriated.

The block- It is by no means impossible to stop
the slave trade, but the means to be em-
ployed must be unceasingly applied.
Blockade is one of the means, a portion
of one system; and, by its increase and the
adoption of steam, a mighty one. Under
the term blockade, I include the whole co-
ercive actions of the British fleet against
the Brazilian slave trade, whether on the
coast of Africa or Brazils. But the block-
ade, as it was two years ago, with one
third more extent of coast, and more than
a third less in number of vessels, only
a small portion of which (in comparison
the opposite) were steamers, was a very
inefficient organ of an unconnected system,

that left it obvious to those most interested,
that it would be almost impossible to check
even a contraband traffic open to so exten-
sive a demand.

The blockade is a great, though only a
portion of the system that might and would
overthrow the slave-trade. As now worked,
with increased efficacy, the blockade ren-
ders the price of slaves high and the market
precarious. But the slaves, already so dear
in the Brazils, might be rendered consider-
ably more expensive by the withdrawal of
trade from the slave dealers, and the pre.
vention of the sale of slave-grown produce
in this country, and by enacting treaties
of commerce with the chiefs themselves ;
thus bringing into the market desirable
articles of trade, requiring the extension of
labour to produce, and consequently point-
ing out to the naturally cunning African
monarch, that in order to be rich he must
increase the number of his subjects, and
not sell the source of his wealth, the labour
of his people.

slave coast has been already conquered by
civilisation and legal traffic, and it requires
perseverance alone to reduce the remainder
All the high roads to Central Africa, the
Delta of the Niger, of which I count the
Benin, the Camaroons, the Calabars, amp;c
have submitted to the laws of civilisation,\'
and the inhabitants scout with disgust the
idea of selling their fellow-men. Nor is
this all; the heathen superstitions of the
land are fast receding before the steps of
Christianity. Between this Delta and the
other portions of reclaimed Africa, Liberia
and Gallinas, is the extent of coast of
which Dahomey is the central and all-
powerful kingdom, open to social and moral
or coercive conquest, or both. The former
would effect its object by intercourse and
trade together, aided by the morals and
example of the settlers and traders; the
latter would exact treaties requiring the
expulsion of an evil at once disgraceful in
the sight of God and man. The to means
of conquest, if combined, would first de-
stroy the evil, and then set up such a de-

niand for the produce of the land as would,
as It has in the rivers above quoted, render
It impossible that the slave trade should
ever again oifer its present powerful tempt-
ations. The lovers of peace may quarrel
with the term coercion, but in its African
sense there is no display of military dis-
cipline. Those portions of Africa whose
inhabitants have seceded from the slave
traffic have done it partly from coercive
measures, and partly from moral effect; but
the former measures have been simply used
to the foreign slave-dealer, and the latter
to the native, whose benefit has been ma-
terially studied, although perhaps not satis-
factorily so to his grasping nature as at
once to be developed.

The material argument against such co-
ercion as was lately enacted on Gallinas is,
that life is unsafe. I do not look upon
■Africa as the deadly continent it is the
fashion to describe it. Men enter Africa
determined to have fevers; and, like the
phantom\'s story in the Persian fable of
Cholera, fear kills them. Less cant on the

subject of African diseases would materially
assist to stop the slave trade, and render
African enterprise more genial.
The moral That the Stoppage of trade (all trade)
would in a very short time put an end to
the slave trade, the following journals will
illustrate. Even the proud king of Daho-
mey succumbed to a threat, and, while his
sycophants cried night and day, quot; Oh, king
of kings ! quot; gave up three prisoners, in fear
of the consequences, when I threatened to
stop his trade. The crusade against the
slave trade is a holy one, and should not be
abated one iota. Differences of opinion as to
the best methods to be pursued, there must
be, but undoubtedly the one most true will
be that which calls for additional sacrifice
on our part, and increases the difficulties
to the Brazilians, by raising the price of
their favourite commodities. Coercion alone
cannot stop the slave trade ; indeed, I much
doubt that, if unassisted, coercion be not
a mere blind, a phantom, a shadow, want-
ing the substance to make it tangible, in-
creasing horrors without alleviating in

any way the condition of the African ; and
such, up to a very late period, has been
tbe extent of operations actually brought
against the slave trade, not, as now, when
the system is strengthened by treaty, trade,
and the advancement of civilisation. These
three constitute the moral course whereby
to check this great evil, which, with its
physical auxiliary (assisted by treaties as
Well with the Africans as with the Chris-
tian powers), will in time crown with suc-
cess the most philanthropic undertaking
ever entered into in this world.

The Africans are by nature great traders, African
and require this habit to be encouraged.
If not supplied by legal trade, the mer-
cantile traffic in slaves occupies their at-
tention. Of this trade there are several
classes, the highest of which is that of
Dahomey, which, in a warlike view, has an
approach of honor in it. In the ancient
feudal times the prisoners were detained
nntil ransomed, the conqueror deeming he
had a right to enrich himself by his pri-
soners ; but in Dahomey there are no na-

lives to ransom, and the Dahoman war
becomes a war of extermination, and with
the conquest falls the very name of the
kingdom, never more to be revived. The
more degenerate are those that have been
easiest uprooted, and probably less lucrative
to the gamblers —the sale of relations.
Strength ever predominated, and the father
either sold his son in his boyhood, or ran
the risk of age changing the positions,
v/hen the son, now the strongest, bound
the father and sold him to foreign slavery.
Such scenes are even now at times enacted
in South-western Africa, but the laws of
Dahomey forbid such an unnatural sale of
human beings.

Of all the nations of Africa, the greatest
traders are those lying east and west of
Dahomey; the Akoos on the one side, and
the Kroos on the other. The Akoos are the
Jews of Africa, and have several very rich
representatives in Sierra Leone. The Kroos
are the Gallegos, and prosper in parts
where the natives starve, by undertaking
any kind of labour, and performing it well.

There is no reason why labour should not
he introduced into the central position, or
that the neighbours of the Akoos should not
learn the value of accumulating wealth.

east, and Ashantee on the west, Dahomey with free
maybe said to lie between the two grand Se?quot;\'\'
pillars of the dethroned slave traffic. While
in Dahomey silks are seldom imported, and
nothing but the refuse of the market,
greatly increased in price by the additional
duties and freights of a voyage and landing
\'f^id Brazils, is found in trade, it is far
different with her neighbours. The most
choice articles are selected, silks of India
and China, corals of immense value, cham-
pagne and all the higher wines, silver and
gold ornaments ; in short, all the higher
order of trade in its perfection is to be
found on board some of the largest trading
ships in the world, in the Bonny and its
neighbouring rivers, in order to be ex-
changed for palm-oil.

of the African, but I prefer not instancing
that state further than to prove I have
not overlooked it. For in Liberia there is
as much, if not more, domestic slavery —
that is the buying and selling of God\'s
image — as in the parent states of America,
over v^^hich flaunts the flag of Liberty (?)
It is difficult to see the necessity or the
justice of the negro who escapes from
slavery on one side, crossing the Atlan-
tic to enslave his sable prototype on the
other, yet such is the case: and so long
as it lasts, notwithstanding the attractive
reports that emanate from this new re-
public, it cannot be held as an example of
future good, but, if possible, should be
remodelled, even if at the expense of inter-
nal revolution, or even total annihilation. I
doubt if many benevolent Christians in
this country are aware, that the model
republic is, in reality, a new name and
form for slavery in enslaved Africa, and,
until the system be altered, totally unde-
serving of the high support and liberal
charity it receives from the benevolence of
Englishmen.

The system of domestic slavery is by The system
no means confined to the Liberian portion
of civilised Africa. Pawns (as the fashion
terms the slaves on the Gold Coast) are
received and held by Englishmen indirectly,
and are to all intents and purposes their
slaves. The plan adopted is this : the mer-
chant takes unto himself a femme du
pays, and she manages his establishment,
^^or does he inquire how she hires his ser-
vants. Her mode is to accept pawns, i. e.
purchase slaves, by receiving man, woman,
and child in liquidation of debt; in other
Words, selling goods to native merchants,
who, for convenience, leave slaves in pay-
nient. These pawns are as directly slaves to
their master as any slaves in the United
States, but cannot be sold out of the coun-
try. I myself am aware of one femme du
pays of a British merchant being the
owner of forty pawns, who perform the
liousehold and other services of the master,
and are, except in name, his slaves. His
money purchased them, and they obey his
commands on pain of corporal punishment,

and draw him to and fro in his carriage
when taking exercise. How far is this
removed from actual slavery ?

The general reader may be astonished to
find introduced in these pages a discovery
of a written African language, of the
Phonetic order, arranged entirely by a few
natives of Vahie, by no means perfect, and
extremely extensive, having upwards of
200 characters; it is no less a matter of
wonder emanating from enslaved Africa.
Education is a favourite pride of the
African, and there are few in Sierra Leone,
who have been brought there young, but
can read and write. Men of eminence are
now expounding the Gospel in their native
languages, as ordained clergymen of the
Episcopal Church, whose early sojourn and
troubled life was passed in the lottery of
foreign slavery. The most distinguished of
these, the Rev. Mr. Crowther, chief of the
Church Mission Society of Abeahkeutah,
has translated the Gospel into several
African languages. The return of such men,
in the advanced state of education neces-

sary for an ordained clergyman must tend
materially to civilise their relatives and
fellow-countrymen.

Instances are constantly occuring, illus- Capacities
trating the extraordinary capacity of the ^n mitir\'
African mind. The island of St. Thomas
sends forth hundreds of black Roman Ca-
tholic priests to many parts of Africa, and
these sable fathers assist materially towards
the great object, the civilisation of Africa.
Acting, however, under the protection of
the Portuguese government; the known con-
nection of that people with the slave trade
prevents the fathers from being often
heard of out of the scene of their labours.
The richest slave-merchant resident in
Whydah, Don Jose Almedia, is an ex-slave,
sold from the very port of Popoe, in
which he now commands a monopoly.
This remarkably clever shrewd man was
educated in the Brazils, during the period
of his slavery in that country.

If from each great slave state a selec-
tion of youths were made, educated in
professional rule as clergymen, doctors, agri-

culturists, and artizans, these, returning
to their countries, would soon assist civili-
sation and generate a contempt for sacrifice
and slavery. The extraordinary contempt
an educated black has for his unpolished
neighbour is inconceivable, and it is the pride
of all to attend Church-meetings to prove
their education (not to mention a weaker
pride of exhibiting their finery). These
foibles, worked upon, studied, and humoured,
might be rendered eminently serviceable.
What the African particularly requires is
example ; for, be it good or bad, he will
follow it if set by quot; The white man ;quot; by
which he means men of any colour, but
educated. To such an extent is this idea
carried, that the candidates for the police
lists of Sierra Leone were very extensive ;
and on inquiry it appeared, that to be a
policeman was at once to be a white man,
i. e. to be removed from the epithet of
quot; Nigger,quot; associated with that state of semi-
barbarism in which the black looks upon
his neighbour. Such is their taste for
finery and improvement, that I do not

suppose a finer-looking, or better-dressed
body of militia exists tban tliat of Sierra
Leone. On a Sunday, in Sierra Leone, tbe
churches innumerable are filled with well
dressed, and even handsomely dressed, con-
gregations, listening to discourses of sable
ministers, I merely instance this to show
what may be done by introducing education
generally, and not to recommend the pre-
sent system of negro preaching, which most
assuredly/ requires supervision. So far does
education interfere with the slave trade,
that if a man spoke only a few words of
English, he would be gladly turned out of a
barracoon, being deemed by his unlawful
master an educated and dangerous man.

There is one last and strong reason why Necessity
a conquest of slavery should be elFected by tim bXre
moral, rather than physical force, and
tending to prove, that civilisation must
precede any decided check unassisted by
education. The slave-hunting monarchs
claim an equal position with Great Britain
as the greatest of white nations. How
often have I been told in Dahomey, quot; You

make war on tbe Portuguese and beat
them, we on the Attapahms and others with
equal success. quot; These,quot; said the mayo,
pointing to two tumblers on the table, quot;are
alike in size, in make, in shape ; this is Da-
homey, that England See, I turn round,
and looking again I cannot distinguish;
they are coequal, the greatest white and
the greatest black nations. Your queen can
conquer all white nations, Gézo can take
all blacks.quot; Such is their idea, gathered
from the reports of the slave-dealers, who
cause them to believe that we are a nation of
pirates,—water-gods, in short. But, though
feared for our power, we leave no moral im-
pression upon the natives, by plundering, as
they imagine, our Portuguese and Brazilian
neighbours. All that we arrive at is, that
the highest nation of Africa owns a re-
spect, which may be also termed a fear, for
the nations that can do to the whites what
they can do to the blacks. What is wanted
is education, 1st, to give the African an
idea of the great moral force intended, at
an enormous expense, to free him from the

chains of foreign slavery, and to cause him
to believe (what in his uneducated state he
has no conception of) that Great Britain
dispenses an enormous sum to effect that
object. 2nd. To enable him to under-
stand the sacrifice he is making in selling
labour from a country capable of providing
for four times its population. 3rd. To put
a stop to the fearful sacrifices of human
life, and the devastating wars consequent
on the slave trade.

Having prepared the African mind, the
slave trade could not exist, even on demand
from the Brazils, as, if the kings of Africa
forbid the embarkation of slaves in their
territories, the slaver could not trade, the
slightest delay on the coast would be fatal,
and the slave trade at an end. The measures
recommended here may appear to require
much time to develope, but such would not
prove the case if once set in force. That
the slave trade will be put a stop to with-
out educational assistance, may be possible.
Experience, however, seems to combine in
proving the improbability of such a result.

The animal kingd oni of Dahomey is very
extensive, not only in variety, but in the
dimensions of the animals themselves. The
elephant,- lion, leopard, range the forests in
company with lesser brutes, while the hippo-
potamus and alhgator render the approach
to rivers and lagoons at least dangerous to
the unarmed wayfarer.

I cannot, like my contemporary in South
Africa, enter on a sportsman-like descrip-
tion of the quot; wild sports of Dahomey,quot; yet
it will perhaps appear novel, as I believe it
has not before been published, that in this
extraordinary kingdom the softer sex, be-
sides being warriors, are also the enemies
of the fiercest and wildest animals of the
vast forests.

In most semi-barbarous states, tlie
fiercest animal of the forest is by no means
so dangerous as the idle and wilful man,
who, fearing no law, ranges the jungle at
War with his fellow man. Against such
desperadoes the king of Dahomey guards
his subjects, by decapitating on the spot
the murderer or thief, and ornamenting the
nearest tree with the ghastly skull — a
Warning to his fellow ruffians. As in
India, a white flag marks the spot where
a human being has been destroyed or at-
tacked by a tiger. These remembrancers
cause a momentary shudder, but give
promise of protection to the traveller.

The elephant of Dahomey is of immense The Eie-
size, and is held, like all the large animals,
in religious awe. On certain occasions, or
the grand festival, the flesh of the elephant
is eaten by the king, and distributed by his
niajesty to the highest of his subjects.

Two regiments of amazons are styled
I\'angers of the forest, and one part of their
duty is to supply the elephant-flesh for
these feasts, and the bones and skulls for

the fetish houses, while the tusks and teeth
are sold to the merchants at Whydah.

The elephants are never far distant from
water, which in the dry seasons is only to
be found in the extensive marsh before
described ; and here the amazons generally
succeed is shooting them. So scarce is
water in the dry season in Africa, that, in
parts of the Mosambique, the tusks of the
elephants are obtained at the price of
human life. When the large swamps be-
come partially dry, with the remains of
moisture towards the centre, to endeavour
to alleviate the painful torture of thirst,
the elephant strays so deeply into the
morass that his strength fails, and, unable
to return, he dies. Well aware of this, at
certain seasons the Portuguese merchants
oblige their slaves to dig for ivory in the
swamps, and thus not unfrequently the
diggers are destroyed by the gas of the
marsh, and fall victims to the avarice of
their masters.

officer, a party sallies forth, arraed with
muskets and bush knives. Arrived at the
marsh, they succeed in herding a number
of elephants, and, having selected the
youngest, they surround and shoot them,
seldom missing their aim, nor shewing the
slightest dread of their formidable oppo-
nents. The selection having been made for
the festival, the meat is cut up and sent
to Abomey, while the amazon chasseurs
employ themselves in killing for their
royal master\'s emolument. They have no
idea of entrapping the elephant, nor will
they be taught.

The late Mr. Duncan having a commis-
sion from the Royal Zoological Society,
endeavoured to interest the king of Da-
homey to obtain him a live elephant. Such
a thing was impossible. He could under-
stand the elephant falling into a pit, but
to get him out and lead him he could or
Would not believe possible.

The lion is oftener heard than seen in The Lion,
Dahomey. Now and then, in the neighbour- ifd Patâ-
liood of large fetish houses, and in the entrées

of the palaces, the skulls and jaw-bones of
these royal beasts are found. In conse-
quence of the number of wild beasts, aU cattle
are housed at night; and, unless on very
especial business, no man travels after dark.
Uninterrupted they prowl about even within
the streets and yards of the towns and
villages, sometimes, although very seldom,
enticed by the odour of a dead carcass into
a trap. The carcass is divided among the
friends of the lucky owner ; the skin sold at
Whydah; the teeth become the most valu-
able of ornaments to both sexes; while the
skull and bones are a well-received offering
to the fetish, and gain for the donor no
slight privileges. Of higher value are the
portions of the leopard, the fetish of Da-
homey. The law does not forbid the killing
of these sacred animals, but ceremonies have
to be gone through with the fetish people,
that render it an inconvenience to the ma-
tador, which he will not incur a second
time if possible; nor is the leopard often
\' killed, except when he falls into the trap
intended for the more noble wanderer, the

bon. Should man fall a victim to the leo-
Pard, in the belief of the Dahoman he is
gone to the land of good spirits ; and, far
from endeavouring to revenge his death,
bis relations will if possible feed his dé-
tourer. The only other carnivorous ani-
mal of any size is the African wolf, the
patakoo. These animals are very bold,
entering the very squares of Whydah, and
often attacking children, I have seen them
nnder my hammock, eating the bones left
from supper, while sleeping in the veran-
dah of a house at Torree. They have a
fearful howl, and are generally in flocks,
snarling and fighting after their prey.
No wall is high enough to deter them,
although to a certain degree they are
cowardly. The native boy, if within hear-
ing of the patakoo, will, to insure safety
bold an article of clothing or piece of
Wood over his head to make him appear
larger. These animals are often trapped,
and their teeth used as ornaments, but
seldom shot except by the amazon bush-
rangers, Wild cats are numerous and de-

structive to poultry, amp;c. Monkeys of all
sizes dispute the more lofty and thickly
wooded portions of the forest with birds of
the most beautiful plumage; while snakes
of every size and various formation dispute
the lower with every description of rep-
tile. A tropical forest is all life, animation,
and strife; and no sooner is life departed
from one of the larger inhabitants, than
the lion, the leopard, and the wolf may
be seen feasting side by side, while the
turkey buzzard and the monkey now and
again steal smaller portions from the feast
of their dread enemies.

Locusts. things met with in an African forest are
the ant-hills, standing sometimes eight and
ten feet high, in which are miles of pas-
sages and millions of cells, stores of food
and heaps of eggs; nothing can be more
ingenious, nothing more curious. One fa-
mily of ants, the bug-a-bug, is of the most
destructive order: there is nothing they
will not enter and destroy that is left on
a ground floor; but as they never reach

above, casks and furniture are placed on
raised platforms. Of all tlie animal crea-
tions in Africa the most destructive are the
ants. Swarms of the white ants migrate
in more terrible form than the locusts,
which are also a curse of Dahomey; for
while the locust is graminivorous, and
I\'emains without the doors of dwellings,
the ant defies all hinderance, and, enterino-

even the key-holes, is omnivorous. As in
most tropical countries, the very air is
alive. Butterflies of the most beautiful
hues form the most pleasing of the insect
kingdom; while, in the wet season, the
European is almost maddened by the effect
of the poisonous bite of the mosquito,
scarcely more annoying than the unhar-
monious buzz of these amphibious gnats.
That the bite of a mosquito is poisonous
to certain constitutions not a doubt can
exist. I myself have known two instances
m each of which a limb has been lost
hy irritating the bite of these obnoxious
mites.

Snakes. fhe boa constrictor does not grow to a
large size in Dahomey, nor are they of a
dangerous description. Among the many
species of reptiles the cobra capella is the
most dangerous. Yet although we consider
the bite of the cobra deadly, the native has
an infallible cure for it, but those who are
initiated are jealous of their knowledge.
One of my hammock-men had been bitten
three times, and his father was a doctor.
Walking one day through some long grass,
I pointed to his bare legs, and hinted at
his danger. quot; None,quot; said he; quot; my father
picks some grass, and if, on the same day
as the bite, his decoction is applied, the
wound heals at once.quot; Strange as this
may appear, it did not seem so to me,
having witnessed the fights in India be-
tween the cobra and the mongoose. The
cobra has always the advantage at first;
and the mongoose, apparently vanquished
by the deadly poison, is no sooner bitten
than he retreats as far from his enemy as
possible, but on devouring some small
herb which grows wild, and is easily

The bite of the whip-snake is here deadly
as elsewhere. Centipedes, millepedes, scor-
pions, tarantulas, amp;c., fill up the host of
reptiles, and from the constant communion
one is surprised that he escapes.

The parrot is by far the most extensive Birds,
of the feathered tribe, from the grey parrot
to the beautiful green love-bird. In plum-
age the variety is most extraordinary, and,
as they flit in the noon-day, the gaudy beau-
tiful colours add to the grandeur of the
scene. By the margins of the lakes and
swamps are seen the stately storks, the
cranes, the curlew, the pelican, and the
prince of African birds, the crown bird.
On the broad calm waters are wild ducks,
teal, and widgeons; soaring aloft in the
neighbourhood of towns, the turkey buz-
zard and members of the eagle tribe, to
both of which a superstition is attached by
the natives—a certain dread of consequences
if destroyed —enforced by the government
order to retain these useful scavengers.

The waters are by no means less inha-
bited than the land ; and while the inacces-
sibility of the sea renders the productions
thereof of difficulty to the Dahoman, the
inland waters are prolific in the extreme.
The hippopotami and the alligator are to be
seen basking on the banks of the large la-
goons, instinct leading them to the deeper
parts, in which they ever hide from the
sight of their common enemy man. But in
Central Africa the wanton destruction of
the works of God is happily no part of the
nature of the native: that enigma, the
fetish, appears a patron to all Avilder ani-
mals and forbids their destruction, while
the African is a friend to all the weaker
kinds, and fond of domesticating all kinds
of birds and animals. Thus it is perhaps
that but little fear is entertained for the
wilder beasts, and perhaps from not appear-
ing in opposition, accidents are of rare oc-
currence. I remember seeing a huge brute
lying on one side the lagoon at Popoe, and
inquired of the Kroo of my canoe if there
was any danger to a party of black urchins

who were bathing on the opposite side,
Kone he told me: once, indeed, but a long
time ago, a boy\'s leg was bit off! The hippo-
potamus will never attack a man, and re-
mains a harmless inhabitant of the lagoon so
long as he keeps away from the cultivated
portion, which, for his own safety, taught
hy instinct, he rarely visits. The lagoons
swarm with fish, shrimps, oysters, and add
considerably to the delicacies of the Why-
dah market. The Dahomans are good
fishermen, and not bad shots, yet they
could teach the more enlightened Christians
a lesson in sporting. Few, if any, of the
denizens of the field, the forest, or the water,
are safe from their guns and their fishing-
tackle ; but, when they take the lives of the
hrute creation, it is not for the miserable
satisfaction of destroying numbers or merely
proving their prowess, but solely to satisfy
the imperious demands of nature or custom.

The civilised state of a nation may be
judged of by its religion — from the sim-
plicity of its doctrines and the absence of
all enslavery of its communicants. The
reformed Catholic religion is the faith of
the most enlightened nations (portions of
every quarter) of the globe. Compare
these with the followers of Confucius, the
believers of the incarnations of Buddh,
or the more numerous worshippers of the
prophet Mohammed; it is the comparison
of light and darkness. Yet in all religions
there are some familiar forms which render
them not so absolutely distinct to the semi-
civilised, as to be observed without a long
course of teaching.

arise in tlie West, and tlie Chinese hearing and mo-
that a holy religion had been established daS^.quot;
in the neighbouring continent of India,
sent ambassadors, who brought back the
I^uddhist rubric, and many priests of the
quot; San Foo,quot; or trinity of the incarnations
of Buddh. The Jesuits, on entering China,
to propagate their faith, met this religion.
The trinity in unity, the presence of the
Virgin, the form of worship, with bell and
candle, by shorn and sandalled priests (in
priestly robes), who practised celibacy and
kept fasts and vigils, called forth the re-
niarks recorded by Father Eipa, that the
I^uddhist religion must have been invented
by the devil to puzzle the Jesuits. Such
an observation, emanating from an eminent
Jesuit father, needs no comment, but
proves the similarity, in outward show,
between the Romish and Buddhist religions
in those days ; and although the Buddhist
religion is not even understood by the
priests themselves, who mutter prayers in
the Sanscrit, yet it rendered it difficult for
the Propagandists to prove to the Chinese

that m their search for the prophet in the
West they had stumbled on the false
Christ, and that the prophecy of their
cherished and revered founder of the moral
and civil code of divine law was by a mis-
take perverted. The Mohammedan religion,
spreading over the vast continent of Africa,
is gaining millions of converts, and, agree-
ing with the wild and fearful fetish belief
of the remainder of the inhabitants of the
whole of Central Africa, in the plurality
of wives and the right of retaining slaves,
is welcomed far before the home truths
and self-denial to be enforced by the mis-
sionaries of the Catholic faith. What the
Eoman Catholics may do in Africa in esta-
blishing an hierarchy there is yet to be
proved; but in the land of the Buddhists
and followers of Confucius, they left them
a portion of their primitive belief, and
admitted, in the prayers allowed for the
dead, the direct worship of ancestors. The
Africans practise in a ruder form a worship
for the dead, attended with human sacri-
fices. They believe their relatives to be in

the same rank of life in the land of spirits
they held in this, and as such to require
wives, servants, and slaves; and to insure
their comfort, numbers are immolated on
the tombs, and often willingly sacrifice
themselves to join their lords in the other
World. In common with most barbarous
nations, such is the belief of the world to
come in Dahomey, and it is one reason for
the continual fearful sacrifices.

As has been stated in the accompanying The Fetish
Journals, the fetish or imaginary god of cdw®^\'
I^ahomey is the leopard; and the skin and
head of this fetish are the king\'s by right,
should one be killed, but woe betide the
killer, better had he murdered a fellow-
heing, as in punishment he is sacrificed to
the offended deity. This animal (under the
name of paugh leopard), the quot; voo doong,quot;
fetish, represents upon earth the su-
preme or invisible god quot; Seh,quot; and, in com-
mon with thunder and lightning, quot; Soh,quot;
^nd sundry wooden images, is worshipped
hy the ignorant Dahomans.

it is thus performed. The priests and
priestesses (the highest of the land, for the
Dahoman proverb has it that the poor are
never priests) assemble within a ring, in a
public square; a band of discordant music
attends; and after arranging the emblems
of their religion, and the articles carried
in religious processions, such as banners,
spears, tripods, and vessels holding bones,
skulls, congealed blood, and other barba-
rous trophies, they dance, sing, and drink
until sufficiently excited. The animals
are next produced, and decapitated by the
male priests, with large chopper-knives.
The altars are washed with the blood
caught in basins; the rest is taken round
by the priests and priestesses, who, as
Moses commanded the elders of Israel
(B.C. 1491), quot; strike the lintel and two side
posts quot; of all the houses of the devotees,
quot; with the blood that is in the basin.quot; ¹ The
turkey buzzards swarm in the neighbour-
hood, and with the familiarity of their na-

ture gorge on the mangled carcass as it is
cut in pieces. The meat is next cooked,
and distributed among the priests; por-
tions being set aside to feed the spirits of
the departed and the fetishes. After the
sacrifice the priesthood again commence,
dancing, singing, and drinking; men.
Women, and children, grovelling in the
lt;iirt, every now and then receiving the
touch and blessing of these enthusiasts.
Among the priesthood are members of the
royal wives and children. The mysteries
are secret, and the revelation of them is
punished with death. Although different
fetishes are as common as the changes of lan-
guage in Central Africa, there is a perfect
understanding between all fetish people.
The priests of the worship of the leopard,
the snake, and the shark, are all initiated into
the same obscure forms. Private sacrifices
of fowls, ducks, and even goats, are very
common, and performed in a similar man-
ner : the heads are taken off by the priests,
and the altars washed with the blood;
the lintels and sides of the door-posts are

sprinkled ; tlie body of the animal or bird
is eaten or exposed for the sacred turkey
buzzards to devour. The temples are ex-
tremely numerous, each having one altar
of clay. There is no worship within these
temples, but small offerings are daily given
by devotees, and removed by the priests.

Diseases. Sickness is prevalent among the blacks,
smallpox and fever being unattended by
but bad practitioners in medicine. And here
let me remark, that, after teachers of the
Gospel and promoters of education, there
is no study that would so well ensure a
good reception in Africa as that of me-
dicine. The doctor is always welcome,
and, as in most barbarous countries all
white men are supposed to be doctors, I
worked some miraculous cures with James\'s
powder, diarrhoea powder, and quinine, but
am convinced bread pills would have an-
swered as well: the patients believed and
were cured.

If an African sickens he makes a sacri-
fice— first a small one of some palm-oil
food. Dozens of plates of this mixture are

to be seen outside tlie towns, and the turkey
buzzards, horribly gorged, scarcely able to fly
from them. If the gods are not propitiated,
owls, ducks, goats, and bullocks are sacri-
ficed ; and if the invahd be a man of rank,
fie prays the king to permit him to sacrifice
one or more slaves, paying a fee for each.
Should he recover, he, in his grateful joy,
liberates one or more slaves, bullocks,
goats, fowls, amp;c., giving them for ever to
the fetish, and henceforward they are fed
hy the fetishmen. But should he die, he in-
^\'ites with his last breath his principal wives
to join him in the next world; and, accord-
ing to his rank, his majesty permits a por-
tion of his slaves to be sacrificed on the

The observance of circumcision is as
m the covenant between God and Abra-
ham quot; that every man child among you
shall be circumcised.quot; quot; He that is born

quot; and the uncircumcised man child, whose
flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that
soul shall be cut off from his people.quot; No
maiden in Dahomey will take to her bed a
husband who has not been circumcised.

The king tolerates all religions; but in a
negative manner the Mohammedan form of
worship is the only strange one practised
in Dahomey. But in Whydah the Roman
Catholic religion is exercised by some black
priests from St. Thomas; and the Reformed
Church might be represented in any or all
her sects. As yet there are no missionaries
except the Romish. Mr. Freeman, of the
Wesleyan church, visited Abomey some
years since, and had more than one inter-
view with the king, but has not since
returned, nor have any other Protestant mis-
sionaries visited Dahomey. The present
increased state of the legal trade in Da-
homey has rendered that country open for
the reception of religion and education,
which combined would necessarily tend to
the decrease of the slave trade. The Moham-
medan religion has also a church at Why-

dah. Although there are many mallams
in Dahomey, and they are to be seen in
all the processions about royalty, yet,
owing to the jealousy of innovation and the
ignorance of the mallams, who are mostly
Dahomans, and but ill-instructed priests,
the Mohammedan religion has made but
little inroad among this extraordinary
people, who are, in rehgious matters, in a
state of the most barbarous idolatry.

From the great King Trudo Audati\'s Palace of
Ahorney, in the kingdom of Dahomey.

Sir, —About five days ago, the king of this
country gave me yours of the 1st instant, and im-
mediately required me to answer it in his presence,
which I did, though in a very indifferent manner :
so that if I do not recall it, I hope you will excuse
that as well as this.

As to the late conference I had with his ma-
jesty on receiving your letter, I think he does
Jiot want to make a price to let me go ; for w^hen
I pressed him much to tell me on what terms he
Would send me away, his answer was, he did not
Want to sell me, I was not a black man; but,
^Pon my again pressing him, he made a sort of
jesting demand to the sum of I think 700 slaves,
fbout 10,000Z. or a head. Which strange
ironical way of talking, as I told him, made my

blood run cold in my veins; and upon recovering
myself, I asked him if he thouglit the king of my
country, and that you and the company, would
think both he and I had lost our senses, should I
have writ any thing like what he said. Upon
which he laughed and told me not to put any
thing of that in the letter; for that he would
order his head captain of trade to treat with you
upon that subject, and that if yoLi had not some-
thing very fine for him at Whydah, you must
write to the company. Upon which I told him
I found I must die in his country, and that I
would only send for a few clothes and necessaries,
which I desired he would let his people bring for
me; and he agreed to it: so that I don\'t find there
is any other way of redeeming me than hy the
company\'s sending him a present of a crown and
sceptre, which must be paid for out of what
remains due to the late king of Ardah. I know
nothing else but what he will think mean, being
stocked with great quantities of plate, wrought
gold, and other rich things; and also all sorts of
rich gowns, clothes, hats, caps, amp;c. He has
likewise all sorts of common goods beyond mea-
sure, and gives away booges like dirt, and brandy
like water; for he is prodigious vain and proud,
hut he is withal, I believe, the richest king and
greatest warrior in this part of the world; and

you may depend upon it, in time will subdue
most of the countries round him. He has already
set his two chief palaces round with men\'s skulls,
as thick as they can lie on the walls, one by
another, and are such as he has killed in war;
each of which palaces are in circumference larger
than St. James\'s Park, about a mile and a half
round.

He talks much of settling a correspondence
with the company, and of having white men
come here, which you must encourage him in,
and tell him the way to do it, which will be to
send me away; for he says he wants ships to
come to some place only for slaves, and bring
such things as are only fit for such a king as he.
To all v^hich I gave him the hearing, and which,
if you humour, may be a great means to help
me out of this wretched state. I hope my royal
master will take my case into consideration, and
think of the long and many sufferings I have had
in their service, and what a miserable condition I
am still in, as it were, banished all the pleasures
of this life, not only from my wife and other
friends, but all conversation in general; so that I
am like one burled alive from the world, and think
nothing can come near my unhappy fate, to lose
my time, and spend my youth as it were for
nothing In such a cursed place as this, and not
N 4

see a likelihood of getting out of it, but that
I must end my days here. To prevent all which,
I hope that they and you in their behalf will use
your utnaost endeavours by such means as are
requisite for my deliverance, which I shall very
impatiently pray to God to bi\'ing to pass.

Governor Baldwin promised me in his last,
upon his arrival in London, he would lay my
case before our royal masters. Therefore, when
you write, I beg you will remind him and them
thereof, and note the contents of what I now
write. If any letters come from England for me,
I believe either them or any thing else will, come
safe to my hands by this king\'s people. He is
very willing I should have letters come to me, or
any thing else. Nor will he be guilty of any
mean action in keeping any thing from me, if it
were twenty slaves. Neither do I believe he would
detain any white man that should come here, but
me whom he deems a captive taken in his wars.
He sets a great value upon me, he never having
had a white man here before, only an old mu-
latto Portuguese, which he bought of the Popoe
people, at the rate of about 500/. as near as I
could compute. And though this white man is
his slave, yet he keeps him like a great caboceroe,
and has given him two houses, and a heap of
wives and servants. It may be that, once in two

or three months, he mends (he being a tailor by
trade) some trifle or other for his majesty, but
after the devil of a manner. So that if any tailor,
carpenter, smith, or any sort of white man
that is free, be wilHng to come here, he will find
very good encouragement, and- be much caressed,
and get money if be can be contented with this
life for a time, his majesty paying every body
extravagantly that works for him. And then it
might be one means of letting me go with a
promise of returning to trade with him; but he
now says, if I go, he does not know whether he
shall see any more white men, thinking they add
to his grandeur; so that if any fellow whatsoever
comes up and goes down again, it will possess him
with a notion, that more white men will comej
and so let me go in order to encourage their
coming. Or, if my httle servant, Henry Tench,
he at Whydah, and is willing to come to me, it
may in time be much for his interest, as now,
heing a boy, the king will be entirely fond of him;
for though I do nothing for him, he has put me
into a house and given me half-a-dozen men and
Women servants; also a constant supply to main-
tain myself and them. If I loved brandy, I might
soon kill myself, having enough of that; also of
sugar, flower, and the like. And when he kills oxen,
which is often, I am sure of a quarter, and some-

times a live hog, sheep, or goat; so that I shall
not starve (but this is nothing, I still want con-
tent. And when he comes out in public, the Por-
tuguese and I are called to sit all day in the sun,
only our boys are permitted to hold our kidey-
solls or umbrellas over our heads; but then he
pays us pretty well for it, sometimes giving us
two, sometimes three or four, grand cabess ¹ a
piece, and a huge flask of brandy to drink there,
besides one or two more for each to carry
home; so that the Portuguese and I endeavour
to live as well as we can; and think it enough
if we can keep up our hearts and ourselves in
health. But being w-eary of this wretched life,
sometime ago requested his majesty to put m.e into
the hands of his great captain of war or general,
give me a horse, and let me go to war. To
which he would by no means agree, saying he
did not want me to be killed, for that he should
anon find other business for me; wherefore, he
would have me be easy, and sit and see what he
does: the meaning of which, I do not at present
understand. My going to war was, likewise,
much opposed by the aforesaid general, who al-

1nbsp; Forty boges make one tokey; five tokeys one
gallina; and twenty gallinas one grand cabess, equal
in value to one pound sterling.

leged that, if I should be killed, it might bring a
pallaver upon his head, and make the king angry
with him, as thinking him to be the occasion
of it. However, his majesty ordered me a horse,
and told me, whenever he went out, I should
go with him, which he often does for his plea-
sure, in a fine hammock with gilded awning and
curtains. He likewise very often adjourns to
some other of his palaces, which are some miles
distant hence; and I am told in number eleven.
In this labyrinth, I am willing to make life as
comfortable as possible; but as it is very uneasy
to ride a bare horse, I pray you will not fall
to send me an. old furniture with spurs and
whip. The king has likewise desired me to
Write to you for the best horse furniture that
is to be got at Whydah, and he will pay what
you shall demand for it; likewise, a little English
dog, and a pair of shoe buckles, and if you
think well of it, you may charge them to me
with the following things, both for the king and
tnyself, being assured that even a trifling present
will not only be acceptable from me, but very
much increase my interest, whether I stay or go,
which at the shortest must be very long. I
therefore beg you will not fail to send me what is
to be got of them, which may not only make my
unhappy state a little tlie better, but make his

majesty conclude there is no thought of ransom-
ing me, and so send me home in some of his
majesty\'s whims.

If my two chests, left at Jacquin, are yet
come to Whydah, I pray they may be sent to me
with everything in them, good and had : also the
following things, if to be got on any reasonable
terms, viz., amp;c. amp;c. [of no use to the reader, and
too tedious to be inserted].

I hope you will not scruple sending anything
I write for, as not having received any salary or
diet-money, since I have been in Guinea. J^or
■would I have you admire at my sending for so
many things, seeing his majesty has ordered
another house to be built for me at a town he
mostly resorts to when he is preparing for war,
which fills me Avith melancholy thoughts, and
looks no way like my going out of this captivity
speedily.

If you think well of my agreeing for any
slaves with the king, you must talk with his
servants thereon, and send me a mark ¹, for
while I am here I am willing to do the Company
some service, if possible, their interest being
always what I shall study to promote to the ut-
most of my power; but then I must have a

specie of all sorts of goods, marked and numbered
with the rates, to prevent mistakes. Most of the
ink you sent me being unfortunately spilt, I beg
you will send me a paper of ink-powder. His
majesty has likewise got from me the greatest
part of the paper, having a notion in his head of
a kite, which, though I told him was only fit for
boys to play with, yet he says I must make one
for him and I to play with; so I beg you will
send me two quires of ordinary paper and some
twine for that use, and a score of match, his
majesty requiring me sometimes to fire his great
guns, and I am much in fear of having my
eyes put out with the splinters. He has twenty-
five cannons, some of which are upwards of a
thousand weight, so that a man would think the
devil helped to bring them here, this place being
about 200 miles distant from Whydah, and at
least 160 from Ardah, His majesty takes great
delight in firing them twice round every market
day, only now that his people are making car-
riages for them; and, though he seems to be a
man of great natural parts and sense as any of
his colour, yet he takes great delight in trifling
toys and whims ; so that if you have anything of
that kind, 1 pray you will send them to me, or
any prints or pictures, he much loving to look In
a book, and commonly carries a Latin mass-book

in his pocketj which he had from the mulatto;
and when he has a mind to banter any body out
of their requests, lie looks in bis book as studi-
ously as if he understood it, and could employ
his thought on no other subject; and much af-
fects scrawling on paper, often sending me his
letters; but then he sends an interpreter with a
good flask of brandy and a grand cabess or two.

If there is any cast-olF woman, either white or
mulatto, that can be persuaded to come to this
country, either to be his wife or else practise her
old trade, I should gain his majesty\'s heart en-
tirely by it, and he would believe anything I say
about my going and returning again with more
white men from the company. I pray you will
comply with as much of this letter as possible,
which may be much for my interest. As to any
one\'s coming, they need not fear his using any
compulsion, having at least 2,000 wives, which
he maintains beyond any black king, and suffers
them to do nothing but for his own use. In his own
house or palace, which Is as big as a small town ;
and when 160 or 200 of them go with small pots
for water, they one day wear rich silk waist-cloths,
called * * * * ; another day they all wear scarlet
clothes, with three or four large strings of coral
about their necks, and their leaders sometimes in
crimson, sometimes in green, and sometimes blue

When I camd- here first, the Portuguese had a
mulatto * * who his majesty used with abund-
ance of good manners, continually giving her
presents. He gave her two women and a girl
to wait on her. But she dying of the smallpox,
he wants mightily more to come, and says that
no white body shall ever want anything he can
purchase for gold. He hkewise gives great en-
couragement to all black strangers, and is ex-
tremely kind to some Malay people who are now
here.

This country is mighty healthful, lying so very
high, and is daily refreshed with fine cool breezes.
It is hkewise extremely pleasant, having all Great
Popo in view, though at a vast distance; neither
are we pestered with mosketoes.

I hope I shall have a better opportunity to
describe the power and grandeur of this con-
quering king, which has often surprised me, not
thinking ever to see any thing like it in this part
of the world. I shall therefore conclude my letter
■^ith a short account of that war, whereto I was
an unfortunate eye-witness, and from whence I
saved nothing in the world, but what I had on
back, and narrowly escaped perishing in the
flames, being the fate of many hundreds; which I

had shared, had not a man hauled me over the
wall of old Blanco\'s house, in which I was sud-
denly shut up as soon as the cry of war came.
And were it not for that misfortune, I might
had a chance to make my escape, which I sup-
pose the king and old Blanco were afraid of;
for which reason they sent to secure me. How-
ever, that house being the first they set fire to in
the town, I got soon enough out to be a melan-
choly spectator of the ensuing desolation and de-
struction. Some time after I was hauled out,
they carried me through the town to the king\'s
house, where this king\'s general was, and though
he was in a great hurry and flushed with victory,
he took me very kindly by the hand, and gave
me a dram, which was some comfort to me,
though I knew not who he was : at first, I took
him to be the king of Ardah\'s brother, but then
I admired at his face being cut¹, and the house
being in flames ; but I soon understood w^ho he
was. When we went out, there was scarce any
stirring for bodies without heads, and had it
rained blood, it could not have lain thicker on the
ground. Night being come, I walked among
crowds of people, with the general, to the camp,

who after giving me two or three drams, gave me
in charge to one of the petty captains of war, who
was extremely kind to and careful of me. The next
day they brought one of my boys to me, who
was Captain Blanco\'s son, but he being mortally
wounded in the head, so that his brains might
be seen, was not able to let me know what they
said. Two days after, the general called me to
come and sit with him and the petty captains of
war, while they counted the captive slaves, which
they did, by giving a booge to every one : the
whole amounted to upwards of two grand ca-
bess, or above 8000 in number, among whom
i saw two more of my boys; one of which was
wounded in the thigh, and the other in the knee.
Ihis accident gave me an opportunity of a little
juore talk with the general, who endeavoured to
^arten me up, calling for a flask of brandy.
He drank to me, and bid me keep the rest: he
hkewise offered me some pieces of chintz sletlas,
^c., which having no use for, refused, telling them
quot; they found among their plunder any shirts or
clothes, I should be thankful for them, being, as
you may suppose, very dirty.

The people to whom my servants were cap-
ites, would never permit them to come to me
^vithout coming with them : however, the general
^fl me not be uneasy at that in the least, for
vol. lnbsp;o

nothing should hurt me till I saw the king his
master, who would receive me extremely well and
kindly, which, indeed, he afterwards did. The
general gave me a kidey-soll and hammock to
carry me up in the country, which I gladly ac-
cepted of.

Having seen so many cruelties committed on
the bodies of old men and women, also on such as
were not able to travel by reason of their wounds
and burns, amp;c., I could not choose but labour
under dismal apprehensions, particularly the first
morning, when they led me out, as I imagined,
to sacrifice me, with a drum beating a sort of
dead march before me, and many hundreds
gathered about me, jumping and tearing, enough
«nbsp;to rend the very skies with such a noise as would

fright the devil himself. Many had drawn swords
and knives in their hands, which they flourished
about me, as if ready for execution. While I was
calling upon God to have mercy upon me, the
general sent orders to the petty captain of war
to bring me to him, being retired about two miles
out of the camp. His orders were quickly
obeyed, and I brought to him, which put an end
to my fears.

I should have given you an account of my in-
troduction to the king, had not his majesty sent
this minute in a liurry to me for this letter, which

I cannot have time either to copj or correct, as I
intended, I therefore beg you wiU pardon tau-
tology and all other faults. Being, with hearty
service to all the gentlemen.
Sir,

There is no greater difficulty not only to the
traveller and the merchant, but also to the ad-
vance of civilisation and the destruction of that
infamous traffic the slave trade, than the variety
of African langiiages ; and there can be nothing
»lore desirable than to form one phonetic written
language to command all or as many of the Afri-
can dialects as possible.

It will appear strange that the Africans them-
selves are beginning to feel the want of a written
character, and in the following instance it may

surprise the reader to find that negro enterprise
supplied for their own peculiar dialect the Vei
Phonetic. The following is a copy of the despatch
reporting the discovery.

It has fallen to my lot to make a discovery
of such importance to the civilisation of Africa,
that I am anxious my own profession should
bear the honour that it may deserve.

On my arrival at Sierra Leone I did myself
the honour to report the discovery to his Excel-
lency the Acting Governor; and, at his request,
furnished him with a copy of the characters,
alphabetically arranged, which his Excellency
purposed sending to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies. In a service letter upon the sub-
ject I made use of the following expression: —
quot; To the Admiralty, the head of the profession
to which I have the honour to belong, I deem
it my duty to forward a vocabulary I have ar-
ranged.quot;

By his Excellency I was strongly recommended
to send the vocabulary to England as early as

quot; I have inspected your alphabet and vocabulary
of the Vahie language, and I have no hesitation
m saying that you have made a most important
discovery; it being up to this time asserted on
all hands that there exists no native African
written language. I advise you not to lose a
moment in making your discovery known to the
learned in Europe; otherwise, as you have men-
tioned the subject to several persons on this coast,
you will run the risk of sharing the fate of many
other contributors to the stock of hum.an know-
ledge, by being deprived of the honour of your
discovery bj some unscrupulous plagiarist.quot;

The curiosity of the discovery brought people
of all classes in Sierra Leone to witness it; and
among others the missionaries — to these men the
more astonishing, one of their Society being a
man of sound philological learning. The follow-
mg is the copy of a letter I received from the
senior Missionary of the Church of England, the
Rev. Ed. Jones, M. A.: —

quot; I am unwilling that you should leave our
shores without expressing to you how deeply I
feel your kindness in favouring me with a sight
of your African vocabulary. I trust your most
praiseworthy exertions amid the arduous duties
o 3

of your profession will lead to ulterior measures,
and that steps will be immediately taken to pur-
sue what you have so spiritedly begun, and thus
satisfy all that the interests of philology and the
cause of African improvement may demand. It
does seem a strange thing (for truth is strange)
that at a point of land within a few days\' sail of
us, and immediately bordering upon an American
colony, it should be left to a naval officer, ac-
tively engaged in the suppression of the slave
trade, to bring to light the existence of a written
language previously, so far as I have any means
of judging, altogether unknown. This is your
just merit, and I cheerfully acknowledge it,quot;

I have had the pleasure of receiving from Mr.
Roberts, the President of Liberia, an assurance
that the language is a novelty to him, and he did
me the honour to request I would furnish him
with a copy of the characters.

Hoping this communication may meet your
approbation, as well as the good opinion of their
Lordships,

To Commodore Sir Charles Hotham, K.C.B.,
Commander-in-Chief, West Coast of Africa,
amp;c.nbsp;amp;c.

At Cape Mount, on the house of one of the
Liberian settlers, I chanced to meet the follow-
ing characters — quot; ko i si a wa ke mu.quot; ¹ Never
having heard of an African language of the kind,
I inquired, and discovered them to be of a native
language of late introduction or invention. For
some time I failed in getting them explained,
or in obtaining any further information on the
subject.

A lucky chance took me to a town called
quot; Bohmar,quot; about eight miles E. of Cape Mount,
and there I met a man by the name of Mormorro
Dualoo Wohgnae, a nephew of the king of Su-
gury, who possessed a manuscript and understood
the language.

On this man consenting to live on board her
Majesty\'s ship, I undertook to arrange the inclosed
vocabulary, having collected and classed all the
characters his book contained.

It will be observed that the language is of the
Phonetic order; that the characters are not sym-
bolical ; and, according to my teacher, it was in-
vented ten or twenty years ago by the following
eight men: —

quot; Mormorro Dualoo Wohgnae quot; thus writes his
name: — Mo mo du dua du wo jL

He informs me that at first the language was
studied by many, and that schools were esta-
blished: but that such extraordinary signs of
civilisation aroused the jealousy of their Spanish
neighbours at Gallinas, who, by intrigue and pre-
sents, soon laid the whole country into such a
state of anarchy as overthrew the progress of
learning.

If the language be one of such recent origin,
or even an introduction, how far we must have
mistaken the African\'s constitution !

The present vocabulary has been a work of
upwards of three months\' constant study, and has
been revised four times.

I cannot think I am possessed of all the cha-
racters. However, my teacher assures me there
are no more.

Fobest — continmd.
Phonetic Character. Pronunciation,
kd fd lunbsp;koang fo loo

Bull

Bullock

Cow

Goat

Sheep

Pig

Leopard

Deer

Elephant

Dog

Cat

Rat

Mouse

Musk-rat

Bush-cat

Lion

Tiger

Clothes
Cap
Shirt
Trowsers
dong fing
gbo lo
dong ma
ké ko la
doung fing
boh loh
doung mar
kain kon lah

sang
galo
sa ma
te le lo
te le ku te
su te
sa ro ro
si na
a ba he
a ku du mi
sa ma lo
ko ri ma
u la lo fi la
ko i lo fi la
sang
kar loh
sar mar
teh lee loh
teh lee kun teh
su tih
sor don do
se nah
ah bang he
ah ko ro mee
sar mar ro
ko le mar
woo la loh fee lah
qua ee loh fee loh

English.
Able
Acid
Aged
Agreeable
Alike
Alive
Bad
Barren
Bend
Boiling
Broken
Careful
Cheap
Clean
Clever
Cloudy
Complete
Drunk
Dry
Empty
Enough
Equal
Female
Pew
First
Pit

Phonetic Character,
ku la
a dong la
ka ki la
kó ni
nyo gbi
a ke ra
a ma na
a gbé ma le mu
i du
a u ri
i ga ri

i ku ma fé ra gbk gba
a sa woh ma gbè ra
a ko le
i ko sa
ba la gbi la
a ku be le mu
gbè bi la
a ghk la
a fo lu mu
a ku la
ng ko ta
su

English.
Short
Sick
Slow
Soft
Strong
Sweet
Thirsty-
Timid
True
Unequal
Unwilling
Useful
Useless

Phonetic Character,
a i ku du
a ki la wa
i ma ta ri a
a ma gbe la
a nge na
a hi nya ghi
ng kd ji ni a mi
a mi ni nya
tan nya mu
a ma ga ng
ma da lu
na i ri a
ma lu lu a la

Pronunciation,
ah ee kung doo
ee kee la oar
ee mar tar de ah
ah mar peh lae
ah gar nah
ah kee na pah
hhung ko gee nee ah mee
ah mee nee na
tau iia moo
ah mar kang
mar da roo
nah ee dee ah
mar oo loo a lah

a gbe ra ja u
i gbi la je
a ta ko se ri na
i wi kd le
ak^
i to sa
i ba sa la
a sa wd na
ng be bu a
fu ra ke
i ku du bi
i sa la
i ki ri a kd
i ki ng
i na la
i a sa
ik^ le
i ta la
i bi la
i ro
ah peh lae ja oo
ee beh la enjae
ah ta ko seh di nah
ee vee qua lee
ah kay
ee to sar
ee bar sar la
ah sor woh gnee
hhum beh boo ah
foo lae kae
ee koo roo bee
ee sar la
ee kee lee ah ko
ee kee ng
ee nah lah
ee ah sang
ee kain lee
ee ta la
ee bee la
ee dong

Abuse

Accuse

Answer

Arrive

Ask

Assist

Bargain

Beat

Beg

Begin

Believe

Bind

Boil

Bring

Buy

Call

Carry

Catch

Chew

English.
Pay
Please
Prepare
Promise
Protect
Quarrel
Receive
Recollect
Eob
Run
Sail
Say
Sell
See
Sing
Speak
Stab
Stop
Swear
Take
Talk
Tell
Tear
Think
Touch
Tremble
Trust

a ma ni sa ng hi
i sa la
na s^
ea ku ye
i ti ea
i ma ki ke
ng lu lo a la
i mu su ma
i wd lo
s^ ke
paugh oar ke
ko gnee
ee mar dee ah
ku lae bih la
kung mar feh lae
qua dee

ah bong boo loh
ah song kung dong
ah kar gar
boo lee keh
woo fee lah seh lae
fing dong
ee kar
ah enjae
dong hhum boh
ee for

ah mar gnee sam bah
ee sar rah
nah sor
ea kung nay
ee ta eah
ee mar kee keh
hhum woo loh a lah
ee mu su mar
ee woh loh
sor keh

The foregoing vocabulary is ■ of the quot; Vahie quot;
or Yei language, which extends over the follow-
ing countries : — Cape Mount, Soungrie, Marma,
and Gallinas, on the sea coast, and several interior
countries. Varieties of African languages are
so frequently met with, that they may be more

Thus the above characters of the Yahie Pho-
netic, might be arranged into a general African
written language.

In concluding, I hope the missionaries or
others may follow up what has been thus com-
menced, as, from the opposite nature of the duties
of a naval officer, I could neither spare time, nor
hope for the opportunity of faithfully arranging a
grammar or making translations.

From the Admiralty my discovery was trans-
mitted officially to the Kojal Geographical Society.

Mr. Norris studied the language and published
notes with a full alphabet, enlarging considerably
on Mr. Koelle\'s and my researches. They will
be found in the 20th Number of the Report of
the Eoyal Geographical Society.

I was somewhat surprised, on my return to
England, having given a vocabulary of the lan-
guage and the characters alphabetically arranged
to a German missionary and philologist at Sierra
Leone, in finding that gentleman, after most
spiritedly following up the discovery, had pub-
lished a pamphlet, entitled quot; Narrative of an
Expedition into the Yy Country of West Africa,
and the Discovery of a System of Syllabic Writ-
ing, amp;c. By the Eev.. J. W. Koelle, missionary,quot;
amp;c.; almost entirely forgetting the pioneer, leav-
ing it a matter of doubt to the reader, to whom
the credit of the discovery belonged.

is purely an invention of late date, and one en-
tirely of African enterprise. What the African
intellect is capable of developing, may not be al-
together known in this country. Education is
doing much towards civilising Africa, and if used
as a material organ will be a very strong one
against the slave trade.

Among a people who, for convenience, can
frame and establish a Phonetic language, and teach
p 4

from it unassisted (although in the neighbourhood
of colonies of nations known to be patrons of
literature), an extension of education must be of
most material service.

There are several extraordinary instances of
blacks becoming highly educated, and of the
most eminent service to their fellow men: of
these one of the most enterprising may be con-
sidered the Rev. Mr. C---, the senior mis-
sionary at Abeahkeutah, who has translated the
Scriptures Into the Yoribah language. This
gentleman was originally a slave, and liberated
from the slave-yard at Sierra Leone.

In the new presidency of Liberia are several
Instances of the capacity of the blacks\' Intellect.

Among the emigrants, or liberated Africans at
Sierra Leone, the Akoos, natives from the Bight
of Benin (so termed from the general salute, or
quot; good morning,quot; common to all the kingdoms of
that portion, quot; Akoo Akooquot;), are said to be the
most apt at learning. They become. In love of
money and ingenuity and tact at bargains, the
Jews of Africa, when removed from their own
country; though some (as, for Instance, Don José
Almeida, instanced in the foregoing Journals)
take advantage of their education on their return
to cheat their own people.

that education will be extended; and wherever
a black becomes distinguished for talent, such re-
wards should be open to him, in his own con-
tinent, as have lately been given to a reverend
and learned black gentleman, the new consul of
the negro republic of Liberia.

If the offices of the colony of Sierra Leone
were more open to black enterprise, there would
be a greater extension of competition; and al-
though the missionaries have many large schools,
and the course of education is exceedingly good,
the scholars would considerably Increase In num-
bers, and no doubt many of them become also
excellent missionaries and schoolmasters to re-
turn to their native country.

Slavery Is the offspring of ignorance, and in no
part of Africa where the light of civilisation has
shone does slavery exist. In Dahomey the mis-
sionaries have not yet planted the tree of know-
ledge, although In each of the large neighbouring
countries, Ashantee and Abeahkeutah (Yoribah),
education is fast advancing, and the slave trade
receding.

Trade and education generally In Africa ad-
vance with equal strides, treading down the slave
traffic, and carrying with them all the advantages
of civilisation over barbarism. In all the large
rivers of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, the

slave trade has been almost entirely uprooted by
the extension of palm-oil trade and increase of
education, the kings of those rivers keeping their
own ledgers, and attending materially to their
trade affairs to such an extent as to have abolished
the religious superstitions that in former years
ruled the kings themselves: among these the
quot; Egboh of the Camaroons quot; (a wild superstition
that ruled all classes to such an extent that British
captains of merchant vessels have bought Egboh,
L e. become votaries of this degrading, disgusting
superstition, in order, In their position as priests,
to command a monopoly over their more ignorant,
but less to be pitied customers) has been entirely
done away with.

The language is of the poorest order of any I
have met even in Africa, although in the vicinity
of the most complete of African languages, the
Haussa, in wliich the Arabic cipher is applied to

its intonation. This may be considered extra-
ordinary to those unacquainted with the obscure
origin of the Dahomans. I can make but the
following few observations of the Dahoman man-
ner of expression.

Many of the words are compounded, while
other words are (altered in sound) pronounced
with or without emphasis, according to the (or
otherwise) superlative meaning required: thus,
dag bee, good; dag bee, dag bee, means beautiful,
sublime, purity, excellence, amp;c., according to its
emphatic sound and the number of the repeti-
tions.

The addition of the word quot; vooquot; to the name of
an animal, signifies the offspring of that animal:
thus, soh, a horse; soh voo, a colt;—koh kroo, a
fowl; koh kroo voo, a chicken.

The addition of quot;pee vee,quot; or small, is sufficient
to express almost an entirely different meaning in
our idiom : thus, toh, a city; toh pee vee, a vil-
lage ; — hoh, a house; hoh pee vee, a hut.

All foreign introductions are termed quot; ee a voo,quot;
or the white man\'s: thus, zah, a mat; ee a voo zah,
a mattress ;—zing poo, a stool; ee a voo zing poo,
a chair. Any native who leaves his country, even
as a slave, and returns, if he wears the dress of a
foreigner, is termed ee a voo, a white man: thus,
in Whydah, to distinguish two men named Das-

After ten to fifteen the translation would be ten one
two amp;c.: sixteen is a compound of ten, five, and one
added, and so on to 20.

40. A contraction of twice twenty.
50. Twice twenty and ten added.
60. Twice twenty and twenty.
70. Twice twenty and thirty added.
80. Twice forty.
90. Twice forty and ten added.
100. Twice forty and twenty added.

aee kung bangh
ah hoo
hoo soo voh
sung
sung TOO
a ee hoo
sang koo
hoo ae tong
hoo ae haugh
ee ah
usu

too peh vee
ah kor doh
gee vee doh hoh
hoo waugh
gee vee peh vee
hoong poo noo
noo puengh
ah bah leah

Box

Basket

Watch

Clock

Hour-glass

Musket

Pistol

Gun

Sword

Spear

Dagger

Spy-glass

Looking-glass

Blunderbuss

Tablecloth

Dish

Plate

Cup

Basin

Jug

Spoon

Knife

Fork

Bottle

Pan

Pot

Lamp

Candlestick

Candle

Tub

Broom

vol. i.

Hammer

Anvil

Bellows

Saw

Axe

Hoe

Saddle

Bridle

Paper

Ink

Pen

a tengh ee doo
ha veh
ha lah
ak boh
a tugh
zee o
toh kra
dong
a loh toh
glargh zee
a jah kah

soh ahsee
soh assoo
soh voo
gnee boo
gnee boo soo
gnee see
gnee boo voo
huagh gnee
soh

ah ting dah ho
ah ting peh vee
ah ting kang
ah ting velah me
ah ling doh
ah ling seh
zoons doh ho

ah ling seh se
ee a voo slh
ee a voo seh klee
ah gong dee
koh kwei doh ho
koh kwei peh vee
king

Fruit

Orange

Lime

Pine-apple

Plantain

Banana

Guava

Pau-pau

Cocoa-nut

Kasliew

Hat
Cap
Coat

Trowsers

Waistcoat

Robe or Gown

Handkerchief

Shoes

Sandals ¹

Button

Needle

Thread

Comb

Stick

Ear-ring

Finger-ring

Bracelet

Thimble

Scissors

Ribbon

1nbsp; Mah-lae, or Mallatn\'s shoes, introduced into Dahomey by
Haussa Mallams, who have a mosque in Abomey, and one in
Whydah.

na soh gan
ee beh
hoo tah
hoh hoh
dagbee dagbee
ee demee tra la
gne na gne na
noo bah tong

Able
Acid
Acute

Agreeable
Alike
Austere
Awkward

Bad

Barren

Beautiful

Bent

Blazing

Careful

Cheap

Clean

Clever

Cloudy-

Coarse

Cold

Courteous

Counterfeit

Criminal

Crooked

Cruel

Dead

Deaf

Dear

Deep

Difficult

Dilatory

Diligent

Disobedient

Distant

Drunk

Dry

Dumb

eh koo
eh koo toh
eh veh trala
ah doo beh
nah bloo ah
foh lee moh
ee yahon trala
ah ma na blu
ee nee trala
ah noo moo noo
ee hoo trala
deh koo koo noo

East

Fat

Feeble

Female

Ferocious

First

Fit

Foolish

Foreign

Fortunate

Foul

Free

Full

Glass

Glorious

Good

Great

Grateful

Green

Guilty

Handsome

Hard

Heavy

High

Hoarse

Hollow

Hot

Hungry

Large

Last

Lazy

Less

Level

Little

Living

Long

Lost

Loose

Low

Past

Perfect

Pleasant

Poisonous

Poor

Pregnant

Proper

Proud

Putrid

Sick

Silent

Slow

Soft

Sorry

Square

Strong

Sweet

Useful
Useless

Warm

Weak

Wet

White

Wild

Yellow
Young

Bake

Bargain

Bathe

Bawl

Bear fruit

Beat

Beckon

tuloh
dah hee
lae hoo

sua noee loh mae

na wa

ting see seh

na doo

oh ah

sah voo

gae gee

na pong

na see

sah mee

bleh

doui

boo hoo nee

Begin

Behold

Believe

Besmear

Bind

Bite

Bleed

Dance

Defame

Delay

Deliver

Desire

Destroy

Devour

Die

Dig

Disguise

Dive

Divide

Double

Dream

Dress

Drunk

Drown

Eat

End

Enter

Expect

Explain

Extinguish

Make

Measure

Meet

Mend

Milk

Mix

Move

Sail

Salute

Saw

Say

Scrape

Scratch

Scream

See

Sell

CHINA during- the WAR aiKl\'quot;siiice the PEACE. Bv Sir J. F.
Bart. F.R S. late H.M. Plenipotentiary in China; Governor and\'Commander-
m-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong-. With Wood Engravings. 2 vols, post 8vo. 18s.

STRAY LEAVES from an ARCTIC JOURNAL. By Lieut.
Sherakd Osborn, R.N. Commanding her Majesty\'s Steam-Vessel Pioneer, in the
late Expedition, I8.i0-1851, under Capt. Austin, to rescue Sir John Franklin With
Map and Four coloured Plates. Post 8vo. 12s.

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Expedition. Map, coloured Plates, and Woodcuts. 2 vols. 8vo. 31s. 6d.

Mr, J. A. SHARP\'s NEW and COMPLETE BRITISH GAZET-
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Comprising 60,010 Names of Places. 2 vols. 8vo. 56s.

PHY, or Complete General Gazetteer of THE WORLD. Comprising nearlv 50,000
Names of Places. 8vo. 36s.; half-russia, 41s.nbsp;s . , quot;

under the EMPIRE. Vols. I. and II. 8vo. 28s.; Vol. III. completing the History to
the Establishment of the Monarchy by Augustus, Svo. 14s.

Hon. Sir James Stephen, K.C.B. LL.D. Professor of Modern History in quot;the
University of Cambridge. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s.

from the Earliest Period to the Norman Conquest. 7th Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. 36s.\'

LOYOLA and JESUITISM. By Isaac Taylor. Post Svo.
with medallion Portrait, 10s. 6d.

The ECLIPSE of FAITH; or^ a Visit to a Religious Sceptic.
Post Svo. 9s. 6d.nbsp;\'

English.	Phonetic Character.	Pronunciation.
World	du nya	doo iiah
Sea	koi	qua ie
Sun	te le	tai lee
Moon	ga lo	kar loh
Star	to ma la	to ro mar la
Light	du ma ga	doo mar ka
Dark	du ma fi	doo mar fee ng
Sunrise	te ga du ma	tai lee ka doo mao
Sunset	te bi la	tai lee bih la
Heat	gba ni	pann dee
Cold	ki ma	kee mar
Night	su dong	su loh
Day	te dong	tai lee loh
	Ei-bments.
Fire	ta	tah
Air	a i fi la gbd a	ah ee fee lah bo ah
Earth	du ma	doo mar
Smoke	ji _	gee
Water	si si	se se
Wind	fila	fee lah
Calm	fi la be le	fee lah bih lee
	Senses»
See	jaja	eah jay
Hear	jala	eah lah
Smell	ku e	ko na
Feel	bu s^ dong	boh sor dong

	Symmetet.
English.	Phonetic Character.	Pronunciation.
Body	mo fi ma	moh fee mar
Head	ku	kung
Haïr	ku ri	kung de
Eye	ja	ja
Ear	to ro	to roh
Face	ja dong	tar roh
Mouth	jo (?)	la
Nose	sung	sung
Chin	gbâ ko ro	pah ko loh
Arm	bo	boo
Hand	bo lu va lo	boo loo far loh
Finger	bo lu ddng le	boo loo dong le
Leg	ké ne	kai nee
Foot	ké ne ja lo	kai iiee jar loh
Toes	ké dong le	kain dong lee
Back	kd	koh
Belly	biî	boo
	Maladies.
Deaf	\' a we le ko lo la	ah wee ly ko loh da
. a to lo gbo ti mu	ah to loh poo tee le moo
Dumb	mu mu	moo moo
Blind	a bî le mo jâ	ah bil lee mo jay
Idiot	a ku ra nya	ah ku lae ïïa
Mad	a bu lo wa	ah bo loh oar
Lame	a ma gbâ	ah man pah
Wound	gbâ a	pa ah
Fever	a ma ni gbâ di a	ah ma nee pan dee ar
Sick	a ki la	a hi kee lah

English.	Phonetic Character.	Pronunciation.
Wife	na mus i	nah moo su
Man	gai	kai ee
Woman	mu su ma	mu su mar
Brotlier	nyo mo	gno moh
Sister	nyo mo mu su ma	gno moh mu su mar
Son	na deng	nah ding
Daughter	na deng mu su ma	nah ding mu su mar
Boy	deng ga i ma	ding kai ee mar
Girl	deng mu su ma	ding mu su mar

House		kain
Door	ke la lo	kain dar roh
Window-	ja le la lo	jayn dee lah loh
Thatch	ja la	jan dah
Wood	sS,	so ro
Room	so ri lo	zoh de loh
Table	ma sa	mar sar
Bed	gbe gbe	ping pih
Seat	gbe ye	big ngae
Mat	wa la	our lah
Pipe	ta wa la	ta oar lah
Tobacco	td wa	ta oar
	Forest.
Forest	amp; la hk wo la	fee la bah woh la
Tree	ko ng	koang
Bush	wa gbo	jaum boh
Bough	a bo dong	ah boo loon
Trunk	ko ng te	koang tih
Leaf	ja ng ba	ja hhum bah
Flowers	ko fu	kon foo
Fruit	kd pong	kon pong
Shade	si le kd lo	su elee a kor loh

ni ga 1 ma	gnee kaie mar
ni	gnee
ni mu su ma	gnee mu su mar
ba	bah
ba wa la	bah oar la
kd nya	ko nah
ko ri	ko de
ké la	kain la
ga ma	kar mar
u du	woo doo
ma nya le	mar gnah elee
to la	to la
ding ri	ding de
do du	doo loo
ko le gbé le	ko lee pih lee
ja la	I\'a la
su du gbo	su loo poo

	£	s.	d.		Cowries,
Turkey	0	7	0	=	4,000
Guinea-fowl	0	1	9	=	1,000
Fowl	0	0	7	=	280
Pigeon	0	0	5	=	200
Chicken	0	0	5	=	200
Duck	0	1	3		600
Bullock	2	0	0	==	25,000
Sheep	0	8	0	=	5,000
Goat	0	6	0	=	2,500
Beef, a pound	0	0	3	—	120
Pork, ditto	0	0	2	=	80
Mutton, ditto	0	0	H	=	100
Egg	0	0	oi	=	10
Orange	0	0	OtV	=	3
Yam	0	0	2	=	80
Crabs	0	0	oi	=	10
Fish, a pound	0	0	5	=	200
Vegetables, green, a pound -	0	0	OA	=	2
Drinkables.
Rum, a bottle	0	0	6		240
Pitto (country beer), a gallon	0	0	1	=	40

Gold	ga ni ja le
Silver	ga ni gbè ma
Copper	ta ni
Brass	bang bang té ra
Iron	ku du
Tin	gä gä
Charcoal	ké hu

	I	ng nya	hhum gar
	Thou	i wa	ee oar
\\	He	ga i me	ka ie meh
I	We	mu gbe	mun bih
1	You	i wa	ee oar
	They	mo me nu	moh meh noo
	Who	wa mu	jauh mitn
	Which	a me na	ah me nah
	My	t4 mu	tah mun
	His	a ti mu	ah tah mun
1 i	Ours	mu tk mu he	mun tah mun he
	Yours	i wa ta mu	ee oar ta mun

	Phonetic Character.	Pronunciation.
1	ro ro	don do
2	fi la	fee lah
3	sa gha	sarc pah
4	na ni	nah nee
S	sä du	sor doo
6	sä du ro ro	sor don do
7	sä du fi la	sorn fee la
8	sä du sa gbä	sorn sarc pah
9	sa du na ni	sorn na nee
10	tä ng	tang
H	tä ng ro ro	tang don do
20	mo bä le	mo ban dee
21	mo bä le a kó ro ro	mo ban dee ako don do
30	mo bä le a kó täng	mo ban dee ako tang
31	mo bä le a kó täng ro ro	mo ban dee ako tang don do
40	mo fl la bä le	moh fee lah ban dee
41	mo fi la ba le akó ro ro	möh fee lah ban dee ako don do
50	mo fi la bä le akó täng	moh fee lah ban dee ako tang
51	mo fl la bä le akó tang ro ro	moh fee lah ban dee ako tang
		don do
60	mo sa gbä bä le	moh sack pah ban dee
61	mo sa gbä bä le a kó ro ro	moh sack pah ban dee ako don do
70	mo sa gbä bä le a kó täng	moh sarc pah ban dee ako tang
71	mo sa gbä bä le a kó tang	moh sarc pah ban dee ako tang
	ro ro	don do

as the following may
Kroo.	Fish.
doo	doo
song	song
tah	tah
neah	eh
moo	d\'moo
moomadoo	neeroo
moomasong	mesoong
mumatah	biah biah
munia sussahdoo chieeroo
pouah	poh

	Symmetry, amp;c.
race	noo koo meh
Dumb	deh koo koo noo
Deaf	toh koo noo
Blind	eh toh noo koo
Squinting	noo koo mee me ah
Stammer	deh koo koo noh
Humpback	boh toh noh
Silly	lae loo noo
Mad	noo loo noo
Cougk	ee jek pegh
Small-pox	a poh tee peh vee ¹
Itch	eh jah zeh
Fever	ah vee voh zoung
Wound	zeh noo noo mee
Sneeze	eh gnee zing
Bald	eh soon tab
Toothache	ee soo ah doo
A cold	meek pong
	Rbiations of Life.
Man	soo noo
Woman	gno noo
Husband	ah soo kee
Wife	ah see kee
Father	toh kee
Mother	noh kee
Brother	noh ee vee
Son	vee kee
Daughter	mee noh kee
Slave	kah noh mohj or ah kroo

	APPENDIX C.
	Buildings — continued.
Lime	adak peh
Sand	neah keh
Beam	zah ting
Board	hoh lae
Thatch	seh
Spars	a seh a tengh
Nails	hoon jeh
House	hoh ee
Church	voh dong jee vee
Fort	sing boh mee
Storehouse	zah hoh
Hut	hoh peh vee
Market	ah hee meh
Shed	dee hoh
Fowl-house	hoh koh kroo
Door	hoong
Lock	gloh goh
Key	chah vee
Window	noo voo koo
Room	hoh mee
Stairs	a lee a gee
Floor	hoo leh
Cook-room	adoh haw
Partition	doh
Housetop	zah gee
	Furniture.
Table	tah ooh
Chair	ee a voo zing pol
Stool	zing poo
Mat	zah
Mattrass	ee a voo zah
Hammock	pong
Pillow	kor do noo
Curtains	a noo dong

Rice	moh lee kung
Fish	hueh vee
Crabs	ah gar sar
Flour	ee a voo hee fee
Bread	ee a voo augh
Beer	ee a voo hah voh
Pitto	hah voh
Tea	ee a voo see zing no bloo noo
Beef	gnee boh lab
Mutton	bah lah
Meat	lah
Egg, fowl\'s	koh kroo zee
	Times and Seasons.
Time	ek beh
Year	hueh
Month	sung
Week	voo dong bee
Day	peh dag bee
Fight	zan koo
Moon	hah ee hing flah doo wee
Midnight	zan flah doo wee
Yesterday	sor
Last night	sor see sang koo
To-morrow	ah hee hung sor
	Domestic Animals.
Ram	lain boh assoo
Lamb	lain boh voo
Goat	bah
Pig	agroo zar
Kid	boh voo
Dog	ah voo
Cat	ah whee
Kitten	ah whee voo

Body	woo too
Head	ta kung
Hair	dah
Beard	tahn
Face	noo kung meh
Nose	a oung lee
Eyes	woo kung
Mouth	noo beh
Tongue	deh
Lips	noo beh
Tooth	ah doo
Ear	toh
	O 4

	appendix c.
	Op a Man — continued.
Neck	ee kah
Shoulder	ah boh tah
Arm	ah wä
Hand	ah loh pah
Elbow	oh ah goh lee
Back	gnee bee
Stomach	hoon jee
Leg	ah foh
Knee	go go lee
Thigh	ah sah
Foot	ah fo
Bone	hoo
Flesh	kaug
Veins.	kau da ho
Pulse	ee nook doh
Blood	hoong
Heart	a dahjah meh

	APPENDIX C.
	F.
. Fade	eh meah soo
Force	na bloo
Free	oui
	G.
Go	ee
	H.
Hinder	doh meh teh
Help	bah mae de
Hope	joh loh
	L
Itch	hih hee mee
Judge	nah doh
	K.
Keep	soh doo
Kick	sar fau mee
Kill	nah 00
Kiss	oui gnon
Knock	hoo noo
Know	nah gnon
	L.
Laugh	koo noo
Lay-	me lain
Ditto eggs	doo ah zee
Leak	doo doo
Leave	ou ar zee
Lend	nar mee
Lie	na doo noo voo
Live	na koo ah
Lock	soo
Look	pong

	DAHOMAN LANGUAGE.
Co Send	eh no zo
Set	no boh
Sew	foir
Shake	dah
Shave	koo lae
Sing	gee ah
Sit	gee za ee
Sleep	mee lah ee
Smell	hui
Smoke	noo
Snore	noo oua
Sow	do
Speak	da ho
Spin	begh
Stand	tee dagbee
Starve	mar tee
Steal	nah sah
Stop	no tee
Sweep	zah ee
Swim	nee loh
	T.
Take	na soh
Talk	boo doh
Taste	doo noo
Tear	leh nee
Teach	na poo leh
Tear	teh nee
Tell	doo noo ee
Thank	doh peh
Think	nah doh poo ee
Tickle	noo ko noo ko
Tie	blah \'
Touch	dah loo
Tremble	see soh
Turn	lae