THE KING OF DAHOMEY.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 99, 9 October 1863, Page 3

THE KING OF DAHOMEY.

Two despatches from Commodore Wilmot respecting his visits to the King of Dahomey in December, 1862, and January, 1863, have been published. The Commodore was received with great ceremony. Every one kneels down while delivering a message, and the men touch the ground with their head and. lips before the King. The women do not kiss the ground, nor sprinkle themselves with dust as the men do. When a man appears before the King he is obliged to perform the ceremony of covering his head and upper part of his body with dust before he rises, as much as to say, " I am nothing but dust before thee !" The King is a very fine looking man, upwards of six feet high, broad-shoul-dored, and a pleasant countenauee when he likes. His eyes are blood-shot, which may arise from want of rest or other causes. He is a great smoker, and does not indulge much in the bottle. His skin is much lighter than most of his people, resembling the copper color of the American Indians. He is very active and fond of dancing and singing, which he practises in public during the "customs.'* He is much addicted to the fair sex, of whom he possesses as many as he likes. He is about forty- three years old. The Commodore, who was accompanied by Captain Luce and Dr. H-ran, of the Brisk, were in Abomey upwards of five wesks, and daily witnessed scenes of an extraordinary character, such as the dancing of the amazons, their warlike songs, the dancing and songs of the soldiers, the distribution of presents to the princes, chiefs, captains, and head men of the troops, the " passing " of the King's drummers, of the captains of the amazons, of the King's jesters, and a variety of other people which appear before the King during the " customs." On some of the'days, when "customs'" were going on, there was a procession of the King's "treasures" including the human sacrifices, which consisted of men with their hands and feet tied, each carried in a basket ty oue man ou the top of his head. " The men were carried three times round the' square, the first time stopping opposite to where the King was sitting, where the bearers received a glass of rum each from an amazon iv attendance. They then passed through the gates to a platform half a mile off. The procession lasted, two days, and human sacrifices passed round both days ; on the first day eight went round, and on the second six ; halfofthese were killed and half spared — so we were told. Probably they were

only spared uutil the next customs. The unfortunate men looked at us as they passed ; but it was not in our power to help them in any way.'' The Commodore would not witness the slaying of. the men which took place,' and the King on one occasion gave "him; one of the victims who wass about to be: slaughtered. With regard to the slave; trade, the King said the trade had been; carried on in his country for centuries,; and that it was his great means of living and paying his people. His did not send slaves away in his own ships, but "white men came to him for them, and was there any harm in his selling ? We ought to prevent the " white men '' from coming to him ; if they did not come he would not sell. We had seen what a great deal he had to give away every year to his people, who were dependent on him ; and this could not be done by selling palm oil alone. If, people came for palm oil he would sell 1 it to them, he could not carry on his government upon trade alone. If he gave up the slave trade where was he. to get money from ? It was not his fault that he sold slaves, but those who made his father do it, and hence it became an institution of his country. Fie said, I cannot stop it all at once; what will my people do ? and besides this, I should be in danger of losing my life." The Commodore says: — " I asked him how much he would take to give it up. He replied, *no money will induce me to do do so; lam not like the King of Lagos, Porto Novo, Benin, &c. There are only two kings in Africa, Ashantee, and Dahomey; I am the King of all the blacks. Nothing will recompense me for the slave trade.' I augued that it must be stopped in time ; that even now very few ships came for them : and what would he do when it was all gone ? I found it useless to argue any funher on this subject.' 1 In reference to human sacrifice, the King said it was impossible for him to give them up at once. His words were, " Softly, softly ; it shall be done in time, but not yet; my head would be cut off to-moi*row if I stopped it sud denly." Commodore Wilmot says if we can only prove to the King that we are really sincere in our wishes to be friendly with him, he is quite certain that potentate will think very seriously of our proposals to him, for giving up the slave trade as well as the human sacrifices." The commodore also says: — "A few have an idea of a Supreme Being, but still a very imperfect one. The King knows more of those important truths than any of his subjects, and we shall see the good effects of this knowledge by and-bye.'' As war is so constant in Dahomey, there is an incessant drain on the male populatiou, and there are nearly five thousand women in the Dahomian army. Commodore Wilmot says of these Amazons: — "They are far superior to the men in everything — in appearance, in dress, in figure, in activity, in their performance as soldiers, and in bravery. Their numbers are kept up by young girls of fourteen years of age being attached to each company, who learn their duties from them ; they dance with them, sing with them, and live with them, but do not go to war with them until they have arrived at a certain age, and can handle a musket. These women would seem to be fully aware of the authority they possess, which is seen in their bold and free manner, as well as by a certain swagger in their walk. Most of them are young, well-looking, and have not that ferocity in their expression of countenance which might be expected from their vocation ; but many have passed that time of life when all passions have ceased to animate, and make their mode of life at least worthy of retaining. They are supposed to lead a life of chastity, and there is no doubt they do so, because it is impossible for them to do anything wrong without being discovered, and such discovery would lead to certain death. The King for one has the privilege of selec ing any of these women for his wives, which is rarely the case. As soldiers in an African kingdom and engaged solely in African warfare, they are very formidable enemies. They fully understand the use of the musket, and load and fire with remarkable rapidity. Their rapidity is surprising — they would run with some of our best performers in England. The captains carry the skulls of their enemies in their girdles, and an occasional jaw is also seen. . The number of the army, including Amazons, is set down by the Commodore at 10,000, and the population of all the Dahomian territory, at 180,000, of whom three-fourths are women and children.