The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-24 00:00:00

THE KING OF DAHOMEY.

Two despatches from Commodore Wilmot respect.
ing 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 dirt

before thee !"

The king is a very fine looking man, upwards of
six feet high, broad shouldered, and a pleasant coun-
tenance when he likes. His eyes are bloodshot,
which may arise from want of rest or other causes.
He is a great smoker; tut does not indulge much in
the bottle. His skin is much lighter than most of
his people, resembling the copper colour 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 43 years old.
The commodore, who was accompanied by Capt.
Luce and Dr. Haran, of the Brisk, were in Abomey

upwards of five weeks, and daily witnessed scenes
of a very extraordinary character, such as the danc-
ing of the amazons, their warlike songs, the dancing
and songs of the soldiers, the distribution of pre-
sents 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, esch carried in
a basket by one man on 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 in attendance. They then
passed through the gates to the platform half a mile
off. The procession lasted two days, and human
sacrifices passed round both days ; on the first eight
went round, and on the second day six ; half of
these were killed, and half spared—so we were told.
Probably they are only spared till the next cus-
toms. 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 was about
to be slaughtered. With regard to the slave trade
the king said that the trade had been carried on in
his country for centuries, and that it was his great
means of living and paying his people. He 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 ; that this could not be done by
selling palm oil alone. If people came for palm oil
he would sell it; he could not carry on his govern-
ment upon trade alone. If he gave up the slave
trade where was he to get money ? It was not his
fault that he sold slaves, but those who made his
fathers do it, and hence it became an institution of
his country. He 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 money he would
take to give it up. He replied, No money will in-
duce me to do so ; I am not like the Kings 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 argued 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 done ?
I found it useless to go any further on this subject."
In reference to human sacrifices 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-
morrow if I stopped it suddenly." 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 sa-
crifices." The commodore also says—" A few have
an idea of a Supreme Being, but still a very imper-
fect one. The king knows more of these 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 in •
cessant drain on the male population, and there are
nearly 5,000 women in the Dahomian army. Com-
modore Wilmot says of these Amazons—" They are
far superior to men in everything—in appearance,
iu dress, in figure, in snalvity, in their pertormance
as soldiers, and iu bravery. Their numbers ale kept
up by young girls of 13 or 14 years of age being at-
tached to each company, who learn their dutica front
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 ages and Can handle a
musket. These women seem to be fully aware of the
authority they possess, which is seen in their bo.ld
and free manner, as well as by a certain
swagger in
wagger in
walk. Most of them are young, vs ell-
ing, and have not that ferocity in their expres-
sion of countenance which might be expected from
their peculiar vocation ; but many have passed that,
time of life when all passions have ceased to 1.1111-
mat P, and make their mode of life at least worth re-
taining. They are supposed to lead a life of chas-
tity, and there is no doubt that they do so, because
it is impossible for them to do ariything wrong