The whole of the following day, August 14th, was spent in rejoicing, drinking peto, and dancing; and early on the following morning arrangements were made for marching on our return to Abomey. My excellent old friend Kpatchie, the caboceer of Zoglogbo, who had spent the evening with us, was again at Baffo by day-break, with a guard of one hundred men to accompany me on the first part of my journey. The caboceer of Baffo, Agassadoo, had also one hundred men ready to accompany me, making in all, with my own people, three hundred armed men. My men, who accompanied me on my journey to Adofoodia, through the excessive fatigue which they had undergone and too freely indulging on the previous night, were so completely worn out and feverish, that it was arranged to leave them to their own discretion to return to Abomey by the nearest route; but with orders not to be later than ourselves in arriving in the capital.
With great satisfaction to myself and the Dahoman soldiers, we now commenced our march for the town of Logazohy, bearing N.N.W. Our march was across a fine plain, partly cultivated, with a crescent of mountains, called the Dassa Mountains, to the south and west. This valley, or plain, is well watered by small streams and springs of various qualities, and the surface of the soil is of a sandy clay. In crossing it I observed many different species of bulbous plants, of the flag tribe, which I had not noticed previously in any part of Africa I had yet visited; some of their blossoms or flowers appeared very much like the breast of a partridge in colour, and resembled in shape and texture the wing of the dragon-fly. A certain distance from Baffo, after emerging into the plain, is considered neutral ground between the Annagoos and Mahees, the former occupying the whole of the chain of the Dassa Mountains, and denouncing all intercourse with their neighbours on either side of the mountains. They are consequently deficient in every article of European manufacture, possessed by their trading neighbours. They are contented, however, with their own resources, and, according to the old adage, that necessity is the mother of invention, they are considered much more ingenious than their rival neighbours. They are also good farmers, and like the Mahees and Dahomans, in the vicinity of their own towns, they hold farms by hereditary right, a method which does not exist in any part of the West Coast. There, generally, after one man has obtained a single crop from any piece of land, he is too indolent to follow up cultivation for a second, and consequently the ground is either left to be overrun with spontaneous vegetation, or to be taken possession of by another party.
The Annagoos of the Dassa mountains are considered dangerous enemies, although by no means distinguished for their valour or gallantry, but on account of their superior skill in the manufacture of different poisons. Perhaps the opinion entertained of these people may arise from superstition, but it is certain that a plant from which the strongest poison is extracted grows in abundance at the base of these mountains, and that with this the poison for their arrows is prepared. This plant grows about eight feet high, has a round stem about the thickness of a man’s thigh, and is of a greenish grey colour. Its stems are fluted triangularly, and shoot from the main trunk at regular intervals. The stems or major branches also send forth minor ones bearing a resemblance and proportion to the horns of a species of deer or antelope abundant in this country. It is of the cactus tribe, and the whole is of a fleshy nature, but quite smooth and without prickles, growing almost without soil on the bare surface of the granite rock, and receiving nourishment from its long fleshy roots, which run in different directions, till they find some narrow fracture or crevice, into which they insert themselves. Their growth is very rapid.
I had been cautioned by my Dahoman caboceer, early in the morning previous to our marching, not to touch either a flower or a shrub of any description, or even pick up a pebble, as I had been in the habit of doing when I observed any thing new on my journey. I took little heed of this wholesome injunction, supposing that his motives were merely to prevent any delay on the road, as the day was likely to be rainy. Upon observing a succession of this plant, as I rode along, I carelessly laid hold of and broke off a portion of the stem of one, which was extremely brittle. A yell was instantly raised amongst my soldiers, and in a moment it was snatched out of my hand, and thrown a considerable distance from the path, while another soldier seized my horse’s head and pulled it on one side from the plant.
Upon inquiring the cause of such an unceremonious proceeding, I was assured, that I had run into extreme danger myself, as well as all those near my person, as this plant was the most deadly poison to be found in that country, and that even the vapour from a fracture or wound in the stem or any other part of it, from which a milky liquid almost in a stream exudes, which comes in contact with the eye, invariably causes total blindness, and death immediately any particle of the juice comes in contact with the blood. Be this as it may, I certainly observed in Logazohy and some neighbouring krooms an extraordinary number of blind persons, as well as blind dogs, which naturally excited my curiosity. I thought that this was occasioned by the ravages of the small-pox, but I observed that many were totally blind where no signs of small-pox were visible, (though this disease is very prevalent here as well as in all the neighbouring kingdoms to the north and east of these mountains,) but upon inquiry, I found that the blindness was attributed to coming in contact with this plant.[17]
None but the inhabitants of the Dassa mountains, it is said, can safely make use of this plant. It was also stated to me, that three years ago, when an attempt was made upon a certain large town, on one of these mountains, the inhabitants poisoned the waters which ran near the Dahoman camp, from which the besiegers obtained their supplies, and in consequence, that some thousands of the Dahoman army perished in the most excruciating agony. On this account the siege was abandoned. No other attempt has ever since been made to take this town, though wells might be dug and water obtained with very little trouble, for springs are numerous and copious in this neighbourhood.
Previous to our arrival at the mountain-pass which divides the crescent, through which we marched in crossing this range of mountains, we passed many singularly formed spiral rocks, upon some of which were resting immense blocks of the same material, placed horizontally. Upon several of these apparently dangerous precipices, men were perched, and even dogs with them, each man armed with bow and arrow, watching us as we passed. At the moment I was quite unaware of their motive for watching us so narrowly, and concluded that it was merely the curiosity of seeing us as we passed, but we had not gone more than a very short distance before I found out their motive. These selfish people, besides shunning all intercourse with other tribes, will not allow even a pebble, or any thing dead or alive, not even a serpent, to be carried into another country. Not being made acquainted with this circumstance, (though I had been cautioned without any reason being assigned by my caboceer,) I asked one of my private servants to pick up a piece of stone of an unusual appearance. As soon as this was observed by them, a Dassa bowman ran up nearly alongside of me, raising several hideous yells, accompanied with menacing gestures. I did not know their language, and the Dahomans only understood what was meant by the bowman’s motions directing me to give up the stone. His yell brought in less than five minutes many hundreds of men and boys, all armed with bows and arrows, many of whom had their arrows already resting on the string. My caboceer, who had now placed himself alongside of my horse, reminded me of the caution he had given me.
The Dassa people were still advancing alongside of us, continuing their hideous yells. Observing this, I asked the meaning of their following us, and was told that they were singing the stranger’s praise, but their gestures and menacing attitudes convinced me that it was not so, though to drown the noise, my own people began a song in praise of the “king’s stranger,” as they called me. At last one of the Dahomans admitted, that, although he was unacquainted with their language, he was certain the Dassa people were cursing us. Upon this I remonstrated with the caboceer upon his suffering them to follow us in such a menacing manner, and begged him to order the additional guard to load their pieces, and give our pursuers a volley. He assured me that their pieces had been loaded previous to our leaving Baffo, and that each man had three bullets in his musket. He declared that he should like to give them a volley, which he knew would soon disperse them, but that the King had given him orders not on any account to commence hostilities, except in the event of an attack, and then to retaliate immediately with all his force.
This was doubtless a more prudent course than I could at that moment reconcile myself to, having already experienced the advantage of taking the first step in an affray with Africans, but afterwards the King of Dahomey argued the injustice of a first attack, as we were only intruders in the Dassa territory, and had not come there to make war. I had my carbine and both pistols heavily charged with slugs, and could willingly have made the Dassa bowmen a present of a few when they first came up alongside of me, had the caboceer allowed me.
After accompanying us two miles in the manner I have described, that is, till we reached the neutral ground on the N. W. side of the mountains, they suddenly turned back towards their homes. My fine old friend Kpatchie, and also the caboceer of Baffo, soon afterwards left us to return to their respective abodes. It now came on to rain heavily, rendering the path, which is of a light clay, extremely slippery.