of one

started for the Danish fort, where we were to dine at five o'clock. The road narrows considerably when it enters the Danish territory ; the town seems to be tolerably populous, although small; and on our arrival at the fort, the governor was received by a salute and guard of honour. The apartments of the governor are extensive, but they, as well as the whole fort, are in a sadly neglected state. The dinner was good, and much enlivened by the presence of two French officers from a sloop of war in the roads ; but one slight circumstance distinctly marked it from an English dinner ; an old woman sat at the door-way, in full view of all the company, washing plates and dishes with commendable industry; and although I could not help admiring the old woman's assiduity, yet I think I would rather have seen it at another time and place.

After dinner, we passed a gay hour or two with some Lucy Neal complexioned demoiselles, the country wives of the Danish officers, who, having to remain several years on the coast, are nearly all married in what is called country fashion, and although the tie is but temporary, it is strictly observed during the time it binds, that is to say, until they return to Europe, or, as is more frequently the case, until they die.

The Frenchmen were particularly charmed with the bright eyes young creature, who was really very pretty. We took our leave at an early hour, and I am still amused at the rapidity with which our fellows, having the “ running a muck” story in their heads, rattled the carriage through the narrow streets of Dutch Town.

Saturday, March 20.-We called at the Dutch Fort this morning : there is

very

little fort-like about it at present ; it is merely a tradingplace, containing one house. There are not usually more than five or six soldiers stationed in it, but just now a reinforcement of six men has been sent from Elimira, the Dutch head-quarters, in consequence of the disturbances that have lately taken place.

On our way back, I noticed some black women, dressed in European clothing, with gaily-coloured handkerchiefs on their heads. On inquiry, I was told that they were liberated Brazilian slaves, and that there were several of them in the town, and that they occupied themselves principally in the slave-trade. After an early dinner at Mr. Bannermann's, at which Mr. Freeman rejoined us, we came on board again at five o'clock; and here we are, waiting for the weighing of the anchor.

Sunday, March 21. - We did not get the anchor up until late last night, and, owing to light winds, have made little progress. The coast is devoid of interest, and generally low; the high land of Ningpo is the only relief to the eye. A French steamer passed a little outside of us, but without taking any notice, for which the captain accounted, by saying that he had been boarded by her some few days before, and she probably recognised him : the boarding-officer had very naïvely asked him whether or not he really meant to take slaves, to which delicate inquiry Captain Sims had replied “that he guessed he didn't know yet.” The day has been very sultry, and the wind unusually light, so that, notwithstanding the reading of two or three late magazines, and some amusing anecdotes told by our worthy captain, time has hung rather heavily on our hands, and we shall turn in very early to-night.

Monday, March 22.-As the wind was somewhat brisker this morning, we slipped quietly through the water, and in the afternoon passed close under the stern of H. M. B. Pantaloon, lying at anchor off Little Popo, our band playing up “God save the Queen” and “Rule Britannia ;" having backed the yards, we were boarded by two officers, who, after the usual questions and a few minutes' chat, during which the fifes of the Pantaloon returned our musical compliment by playing “Yankee Doodle,” which, by the way, our band also struck up, took their leave.

Our yards were again squared, and away we rattled, with a fine steady breeze, towards Ahguay, but before our arrival at the anchorage, the “shades of evening" (which are particularly obstinate in the tropics) had closed around us, notwithstanding our earnest wishes that they would “ leave our lonely bark a while,” and as the shore is level, the eyes of all were anxiously straining through the gloom, to try to catch a glimpse of the town. Our old friend the gun was also fired twice, as a signal to the people on shore to light a fire at the landing-place. While waiting for the beacon, the captain asked an old native boatswain, who was on board, if he knew where the town was. “Oh! yes ; when um light fire, me can tell you,” was his satisfactory answer. The cheering blaze of a large fire soon afterwards settled the point, and in a few minutes more we were at anchor. As the natives do not in general at all like passing through the surf after dark, we were a good deal surprised by seeing a large canoe come alongside ; the natives in her had evidently imagined that we were a slaver, and the Portuguese language spoken by them, strongly recalled to our minds that we were on the notorious slave coast.

Tuesday, March 23.-As soon after daybreak as possible, for the surf is better then than at any other period of the day, we landed without difficulty or inconvenience, and immediately proceeded over a sandy quarter of a mile of road, to the factory of Mr. Hutton, under the charge of Mr. Akhurst, where a delightful bath refreshed us after the inconveniences of shipboard, for although the greatest kindness and attention had been shown us by Captain Sims, shipboard will ever be shipboard, more particularly in small vessel. The natives soon assembled in the courtyard, and fired away, in honour of his excellency's arrival, but with far less energy than our worthy friends at Tantum ; and after breakfast the chiefs came to pay their respects, and drank rum, porter, &c., with great gusto.

Our canoe-men were engaged, during the whole of the morning, in dragging the canoe from the sea-beach to the lake; the distance is not more than half a mile, but it is rendered exceedingly toilsome by heavy loose sand.

This lake, or lagoon, is an extraordinary feature in the country, and merits a few words of description. I have already mentioned that several ponds, separated from the ocean by small and narrow strips of sand, exist at various places along the coast ; but this lake is a large extent of water, running parallel with, and at a distance of, from a quarter of a mile to a mile or two from the sea, extending a hundred and fifty miles from the River Volta to the Lagos. Its breadth and depth both vary considerably ; the former, from a few feet to fifteen miles, and the latter from an inch to twenty feet. It was on this lake we intended to proceed to Whydah, which is about forty miles from Ahguay, and the point at which we were to leave the coast.

All our preparations being completed for the voyage, at five o'clock we passed through the town, which is large and very closely built, and in a few minutes arrived on the margin of the lake, which is not more than

forty yards wide at this part. The placid appearance of the water, the pretty scenery on the banks, and a ferry boat busily engaged in carrying passengers from one shore to the other, were different to any thing I had seen on the coast ; but I had little time to admire any thing, we had to distribute our luggage and attendants among seven large canoes, and as half the population had come to see us off, the noise and confusion were beyond description; and delighted, indeed, were we when we at last, after an hour's hard work, found ourselves fairly started and out of hearing of the sweet voices of the Ahguayites. The canoes are not paddled, but pushed along by bamboo poles, used with much dexterity by one or two men placed at each end ; they go steadily along at the rate of about three miles an hour. The governor, Mr. Freeman,

and myself, travelled in Mr. Hutton's canoe, which is nicely housed in, and very comfortable. As the darkness of the night prevented my making any observations, I unrolled my mattress, and, notwithstanding the canoe-men's song, was soon fast asleep.

Wednesday, March 24.—I was up at the first dawn of day, and was well recompensed for my early rising by seeing a tree covered with small white birds, so as to very much resemble a white rose-bush, on a somewhat large scale certainly. The lake was still of the same width as at Ahguay, and its borders were thickly grown with mangrove, which, however, gradually disappeared as we approached Whydah.

We passed through numerous very neatly made weirs, with openings sometimes scarcely as broad as the canoe, which was larger than the generality of canoes used on the lagoon. Besides their proper use in catching fish, these weirs serve another purpose, for when slaves are being shipped the openings are closed, and all communication with Whydah stopped, but for what particular reason this is done I could never make out. At seven o'clock, the lake narrowed very considerably for three or four hundred yards, and then opened again to its former width ; half-an-hour's more travelling brought us to the landing-place, from which Whydah is a couple of miles inland.

Owing to some little mistake our hammocks had been sent to the sea instead of the lake beach ; we therefore despatched a messenger to bring them back, and while waiting for their arrival sat down under the shade of a tree, and being very thirsty, heartily enjoyed some sweet Brazilian rum-and-water given to us by an old Portuguese. Mr. Roberts (Mr. Hutton's agent at Whydah) soon came with the hammocks, and, getting into them, off we started for the factory.

The hammock is the common mode of conveyance in this part of the world, and is tolerably convenient ; a hammock of the usual form is slung from a long stout bamboo pole, each extremity of which is supported on the head of a man, and fastened to the top of the pole, but moving on it, as on an axis, is a light framework, seven feet long by three broad, covered with canvass, and provided with strings, by means of which the person

in the hammock can so turn it as to protect himself most completely from the sun. The hammocks and coverings are sometimes extreniely gay, but they are usually plain and made of country cloth. The bearers, like the palanquin bearers of India, are bred to the calling, and the rapidity with which they move, and their extraordinary endurance of fatigue, can hardly be imagined by those who have not experienced them.

The path leading to the town is narrow, and in some parts two or three

him as

feet under water. Notwithstanding a little fear on my part of a tumble, the hammock-men carried me safely over all dangers, and I arrived at the factory, in about half-an-hour after leaving the beach, with a large handful of some magnificent ferns that grew in great abundance on both sides of the road, and were the only ones I had seen on the coast.

The factory is very extensive, and is built in the fort formerly occupied by the English ; we had not been many minutes in it, before a messenger came from the caboeire of Whydah, or Taboga, * as he is called, with his compliments to the governor, and to say that he would call

upon soon as he had rested a little.

All messages in this country are sent by means of gold and silverheaded canes, which the person to whom the message is sent holds in his hand while it is being delivered ; in compliance with this custom, the governor returned his compliments and thanks, by sending back the stick with which he had provided himself for such occasions.

At one o'clock, the taboga, attended by a numerous suite, waited upon the governor to welcome him to Dahomey; he is a fine powerfully-made man, and seems to be of a peculiarly jolly temperament. The invariable ceremony of drinking and touching glasses, with two or three other compliments, having been gone through, a messenger was despatched to announce our arrival to the king. In delivering the message, the taboga, messenger, and other natives, knelt down, and it being a wood floor, were obliged to content themselves with making believe, as children say, to throw dust over themselves, after which they touched the ground with their foreheads three times, and at the conclusion of the message went through the same ceremonies as at the commencement, and these are ever most rigidly observed in either sending or receiving a message from the king.

The band had created a good deal of sensation by marching into the town playing away at a great rate, and the taboga was very anxious to see the big drum; the band was accordingly called out and played two or three tunes before him. As I happened to be beating time with my foot, he asked me to dance, and I offered to do so if he would stand

ир

with me ; he laughed heartily, and said that he was too fat to dance.

He examined all the instruments, gave the band a case of rum, and went away highly gratified.

Shortly after the taboga's departure, we went to call upon a man of some considerable notoriety, the veteran slave-dealer, De Lonza, whose premises are extensive, and at a very short distance from the English fort. After passing through two or three courts we were ushered into a small room where he was seated on a couch; he rose on our entrance, pleading illness as his apology for receiving us without ceremony; his right hand was completely crippled by gout; and it was with no slight curiosity I looked

upon a man about whom I had heard and read so much; he is below the average height, of an olive complexion, with long hair, a little touched by time, divided in the middle and falling to his shoulders ; he was wrapped in a loose morning-gown, and had a quick, intelligent look. He made himself exceedingly agreeable, and although our conversation was hampered by his not speaking much English, and our speaking but little Portuguese, he told us that he was seventy-one years old, that he had first arrived on the slave coast in 1793, and that he had never left since 1800. When the governor asked him how many children he had, the old man astonished his excellency by answering " sixty-two." We drank some champagne, and on taking leave he presented the governor and myself with a couple of boxes of excellent cigars.

Thursday, March 25.-While Mr. Freeman has been occupied in getting bearers to carry our luggage, and making other arrangements for our journey to-morrow, I have been amusing myself by wandering about the town, which is both extensive and well populated. The houses are generally gathered together in groups, surrounded by walls, which, as well as the houses themselves, are built of mud, that becomes, under the influence of the sun, as hard as brick.

There are three European forts in the town, the English, French, and Portuguese, but having been long deserted as military stations they are now occupied as warehouses for palm oil. The moats are filled with trees, the walls overgrown with vegetation, and the guns dismounted and laying on the ground scarcely visible in the long grass ; but we can hardly regret this melancholy appearance when we remember that they were the great slave depôts of former days.

A fine feature in the town is the great number of magnificent trees that are met with in all parts of it ; a noble group stands behind the English Fort and overshadows a celebrated Fetish snake temple ; this temple is a small circular building thatched with grass and having three entrances to it, the snakes are seen inside coiled up on the top of the wall under the thatch. They are large and non-venomous ; one particular kind of snake only is venerated, and heavy penalties are attached throughout the whole kingdom of Dahomey (the very name Dahomey, by the way, signifies snake country: da, snake, and homey, country) to the killing even accidentally a sacred snake.

One of the natives in the service of the French Fort having, a month or two

ago, killed a snake while clearing away some thick grass, underwent the usual penalty inflicted for this offence. The culprit is surrounded by logs of wood built all round him to a height of six or seven feet, and the interstices being filled with damp grass, the whole is set on fire, and when the unfortunate victim is nearly smothered an opening is made and he rushes out to be assailed on all sides by the blows of heavy sticks ; if he can manage to reach water, if but up to his ankles, he is saved from further violence, otherwise the poor devil is nearly, if not altogether, killed.

While talking about water, I may as well mention the common superstition by which the Dahomans are not permitted to cross any water to attack an enemy; it took its origin from a severe defeat sustained some years ago by the Dahomans, when they had crossed the Volta to attack the Ashantees.

Besides the snake temple, there are numerous other fetish houses all over the town, and usually, if not always, a small one outside each door. These small ones look very much like cottage beehives both in size and shape ; there is one in the back yard of the English Fort, dignified by the name of God's own house ; they all contain small mounds of earth, on which all kinds of things are placed as fetish: one man trusts to the saving and protecting influence of the bone of a fowl ; another gives the preference