Dahomey

“ The chief source of revenue is the customs, while the capitation tax contributes most to the local budget.
History.—The kingdom of Dahomey, like those of Benin and Ashanti, is an instance of a purely negro and pagan state, endowed with a highly organized government, and possessing a certain amount of indigenous civilization and culture. Its history begins about the commencement of the 17th century. At that period the country now known as Dahomey was included in the extensive kingdom of Allada or Ardrah, of which the capital was the present town of Allada, on the road from Whydah 736 to Abomey. ”

“ And how amiable the professors were to this bullet-headed boy, who, in spite of his natural amiability, so sturdily refused to profit by their instructions! Every one of the teachers had his own private idea of what could be done in the future under the patronage of this embryo king. It was the refrain of all their conversations. As soon as Mâdou was crowned, they would all go to Dahomey. ”

“ The natives of Dahomey, a Negro kingdom extending along the shores of the Gulf of Guinea, distinguish themselves among all other blacks by their callous and revolting inhumanity. To kill and slay is to them a pleasure, which anyone who can indulge in it rarely denies himself, and the post of executioner is sought for by the richest and most powerful in the land as affording an opportunity for the most coveted enjoyments. ”

“ The slaves who made up the cargo of the Clotilde were captured by Dahomey’s warriors and women warriors (perhaps Amazons) , Cudjo, or more accurately, Kujjo Lewis says in this manner. In the early part of the nineteenth century one of the Dahomey kings organized a battalion of women warriors.
For a long time the King of Dahomey and his tribe had been raiding the weaker and more peaceful tribes that lay within striking distance of his empire. They lived by war and slavery. The King of Dahomey’s house was built of skulls. They made war upon Togo. ”

“ MRS. WILTON. "Whidah on this coast must be noticed, as it is so connected with Dahomey. It was once an independent kingdom; but in the year 1727 was conquered by Guadja Irudo, King of Dahomey. Its capital contains about 20,000 inhabitants. In Whidah the religion is pagan; but for some unaccountable reason they worship their divinity under the form of a particular species of snake, called daboa, which is not sufficiently large to be terrible to man, and is otherwise tamable and inoffensive. ”

“ The customs of Dahomey have not yet shown themselves in the English West Indies and never can while the English authority is maintained; but no custom of any kind will be found in a negro hut or village from which his most sanguine friend can derive a hope that he is on the way to mending himself.
Roses do not grow on thorn trees, nor figs on thistles. A healthy human civilisation was not perhaps to be looked for in countries which have been alternately the prey of avarice, ambition, and sentimentalism. ”

“ Porto Novo at the beginning of the 19th century became tributary to Dahomey.
Such was the state of affairs at the accession of King Gezo about the year 1818. This monarch, who reigned forty years, raised the power of Dahomey to its highest pitch, extending greatly the border of his kingdom to the north. He boasted of having first organized the Amazons, a force of women to whom he attributed his successes. The Amazons, however, were state soldiery long before Gezo’s reign, and what that monarch really did was to reorganize and strengthen the force. ”

“ In consequence of the thousands of orange and citron trees which adorn it, Whydah is called “the garden of Dahomey.” West of Whydah, on the coast and near the frontier of Togoland, is the trading town of Grand Popo. Inland in Dahomey proper are Abomey (q.v.) , the ancient capital, Allada, Kana (formerly the country residence and burial-place of the kings of Dahomey) and Dogba. In the hinterland are Carnotville (a town of French creation) , Nikki and Paraku, Borgu towns, and Garu, on the right bank of the Niger near the British frontier, the terminus of the railway from the coast. ”

“ He was the first European to make the complete journey over the route he followed, and it was nearly two years from the time he started from Tunis till he arrived at the Gulf of Guinea.
"After leaving the Niger he traversed a part of the kingdom of Dahomey, but did not visit its capital. Do you know for what Dahomey is famous?"
"Yes," replied Fred; "at least, I know one thing which travellers have mentioned—it has an army of women instead of men."
AN AMAZON OF DAHOMEY.
"Not exactly an army of women instead of men," said Doctor Bronson, "but an army of both. ”

“ The vessel was captured by a British man-of-war and taken to Sierra Leone. Here he received a good education, was converted, and became a minister of the Gospel, after which he returned to his native place.
Mr. Crowther is a man of superior ability, and his attainments in learning furnish a happy illustration of the capacity of the Negro for improvements. Dahomey is one of the largest and most powerful of all the governments on the west coast. The King is the most absolute tyrant in the world, owning all the land, the people, and everything that pertains to his domain. ”

“ The Dahomey people have every advantage, being supplied with firearms, and even cannon, by the rascally white traders at Whydah, the port of Dahomey. Nevertheless, the Abeokuta people have opposed an heroic resistance, and so far successfully. Of course they know that every soul would be put to death did they fall into the hands of the King of Dahomey; but negroes do not always fight well, even under such circumstances, and every credit must be given to the people of Abeokuta. ”

“ Sometimes as many as a thousand captives are slain on these occasions. In almost all the pagan nations of Africa human sacrifices are perpetrated, just as they were by the Druids and Egyptians of old. Nowhere, however, are they carried to such a terrible extent as in Dahomey. Even Ashanti, where matters are bad enough, is inferior in this respect. The victims are mostly captives taken in war, and it is to keep up the supply necessary for these wholesale sacrifices that Dahomey is constantly at war with her neighbors.”
“But are we going to fight against women, then?” Frank asked horrified. ”

“ The King of Dahomey suffered a rather severe repulse at his attack on this town in 1851. For some months he had been threatening to destroy Abbeokuta, being only restrained by the remonstrances of the British consul; and, though at last diplomacy was found to be of no avail, the Egbas had benefited by the respite which had been obtained for them, and had been enabled to prepare for a vigorous defence. The van of the Dahoman army, consisting of Amazons, arrived at the ford on the river Ogu on the morning of March 3rd, 1851. ”

“ The people of Ashantee and Dahomey are considerably in advance of those on the coast. They cultivate the soil extensively, manufacture cotton cloth, and build comparatively good houses. They have musical instruments, which, if rude, are loud enough. Their drums and horns add to the stateliness of their ceremonies. Of such exhibitions they are very fond, and consider it a national honor if they can render them impressive to strangers. The Dahomeans are about one hundred miles in the interior, west of the Niger. ”

“ This has been probably more particularly cruel on account of all the surrounding kings and chiefs having declared an alliance with each other, and a determination to make a distaff of the King of Dahomey’s head. Such a declaration is always sufficient for the Dahomans to go to war against any country; and, as the King is very powerful, he is always successful; and consequently, possesses a great number of slaves. About six years ago the Annagoos made an attack on one of the Dahoman frontier towns, committing every species of cruelty. ”

“ The king was proud of his son, the heir to his throne. But, alas! it seemed that it was not enough, even for a negro prince, to know how to shoot an elephant through the eye; he must also learn to read books and writing, for, said the wise king to his son, “White man always has paper in his pocket to cheat black man with.” Of course some European might have been found in Dahomey who could instruct the prince,—for French and English flags floated over the ships in the harbors. But the king had himself been sent by his father to a town called Marseilles, very far at the end of the world ”

“ Each leg of the article rests on the skull of some native king or chief, and such is the fanatical respect for the brutal usages of antiquity, that every three years the people of Dahomey are obliged to renew the steadiness of the stool by the fresh skulls of some noted princes!
I was not long enough at Ayudah to observe the manners and customs of the natives with much care, still, as well as I now remember, there was great similarity to the habits of other tribes. The male lords it over the weaker sex, and as a man is valued according to the quantity of his wives ”

“ The number of men sacrificed in public is about fourteen, of whom the first three or four only are thrown down by the king; but, in addition to the public sacrifices, a certain number of victims are allotted to the Amazons, and are put to death by them within the precincts of the palace, where no man may be present to inquire too inquisitively into their peculiar rites.
In Dahomey we have none of those wholesale [Pg 64] massacres in which hundreds of human beings are sacrificed, such as occur from time to time in Ashanti. ”

“ When he captured the town he carried out his vow by ripping open the king, and then called the place Daomi. Gradually the conquerors extended their power until the kingdom reached to the very foot of the Atlas range, obtaining a port by the conquest of Whydah. The King of Dahomey is a despot, and even his nobility crawl on the ground in his presence. The taxes are heavy, every article sold in the market paying about one eighteenth to the royal exchequer. There are besides many other taxes. Every slave is taxed, every article that enters the kingdom. ”

“ DAHOMEY (Fr. Dahomé) , a country of West Africa, formerly an independent kingdom, now a French colony. Dahomey is bounded S. by the Gulf of Guinea, E. by Nigeria (British) , N. and N.W. by the French possessions on the middle Niger, and W. by the German colony of Togoland. The French colony extends far north of the limits of the ancient kingdom of the same name. With a coast-line of only 75 m. (1° 38′ E. to 2° 46′ 55′′ E.) , the area of the colony is about 40,000 sq. m., and the population over 1,000,000. As far as 9° N. the width of the colony is no greater than the coast-line. ”

“ My guide informed me that the whole of the population were either killed or taken as slaves, and the town set on fire. The inhabitants are said to have fought desperately, preferring death to defeat. The King and all his caboceers or headmen were killed, and their heads are still preserved at Dahomey as trophies of victory.
At twenty-seven miles, bearing N. 10° W. the country again became level, and presented cultivated patches at intervals along the path, with small krooms at short distances. ”

“ This imposition being too heavy, caused the poor natives to establish a system of smuggling, and, with a view to abolish smuggling, strict orders were issued to burn every tree in the kingdom of Dahomey, as well as those of the Mahee country subject to the King of Dahomey. Still, with all the burning, vegetation is so rapid and powerful, that much of the above article is still produced. ”

“ The commander-in-chief, he says, was "vast in breadth." Beauty is scarce in Dahomey, and what little there is, has not fallen to the lot of the Amazons. Captain Burton, who "expected to see Penthesileas, Thalestrises, Dianas," was sadly disappointed when he beheld "old, ugly, and square-built frows, trudging 'grumpily' along, with the face of 'cook' after being much 'nagged' by the 'missus'." They do not, however, as was once supposed, condemn themselves to single-blessedness; on the contrary, many have husbands and children. ”

“ When we approach the Slave Coast itself, strong contrasts in appearance and culture are observable among the inhabitants; they are all negroes, but in different social conditions, more or less liable to injury from the presence of the slaver, and yielding different temperaments and qualities to colonial life. The beautiful and fertile amphitheatre called Whidah, in North latitude 6°, with Dahomey just behind it, is populous with a superior race. ”

“ He seemed very desirous to acquaint me with his wealth and power, explaining that he held, under the King of Dahomey, a discretionary power superior to any other caboceer, and also the government of several neighbouring towns in the Mahee country, as well as several large towns in his own country (Annagoo) , [Pg 230] which he assisted the Dahomans in subduing. Savalu is the frontier town of the Annagoo country, the natives of which are always considered a lawless, marauding people, and habituated to acts of extreme cruelty. ”

“ A French mission sent to Abomey failed to come to an agreement with the Dahomeyans, who attributed the misunderstandings to the fact that there was no longer a king in France! Gléglé died on the 28th of December 1889, two days after the French mission had left his capital. He was succeeded by his son Behanzin. A French force was landed at Kotonu, and severe fighting followed in which the Amazons played a conspicuous part. In October 1890 a treaty was signed which secured to France Porto Novo and Kotonu, and to the king of Dahomey an annual pension of £800. ”