He added, that when we should have obtained possession of Whydah, we should have power to use our own discretion respecting the Slave-Trade; and that, as Whydah was the principal residence of the greatest slave-dealers on this part of the coast, we could with much more propriety exert our authority to prevent slave traffic than he himself, particularly as he was under great obligations to a certain large slave-merchant in that settlement. He said, moreover, that he had always entertained a hope that some day or other the English would again establish themselves in Whydah, in consequence of which he had always kept a temporary governor in the English fort since our abandonment of the place.
He declared that he would build us a new fort, either on the old site, or on any other spot, upon our own plan, and at his own expense. He had, he said, refused possession of Whydah to the Prince de Joinville, stating his determination to treat with none but the Queen of England, who was the greatest of all white sovereigns; that he had for a length of time been endeavouring to establish, as far as he was able, a code of laws similar to those of England; for he considered them to be more just in most cases than the old Dahoman laws, which he confessed to be very absurd. But, though he thought so, still as many of the old, absurd customs, which still existed, were of a comparatively harmless nature, he had hitherto permitted them to remain, as he considered it dangerous amongst a people so long accustomed to these usages to revolutionize the whole at once; but he approved of commencing with the most unreasonable and injurious, and gradually progressing, as in fact he had done. He also assured me that the good effects of his new laws were manifest even in the Mahee country, for within the last two years several petty kingdoms in that and the Annagoo country had voluntarily been ceded to his government.
He dictated to me a letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in which he formally ceded Whydah to the English Government. After this letter was concluded, he requested me to read it over, lest any mistake should have occurred; and when he found it satisfactory, he held the upper end of the pen while I signed his name. We then drank to the health of her Britannic Majesty, during which a constant fire of musketry was kept up. I next proposed the King of Dahomey’s health, which was followed by his drinking my own health. He then ordered an immense quantity of variegated umbrellas, or rather canopies, to be brought out for my inspection, and requested me to make a memorandum of several of their patterns, desiring me to order a number of them to be sent from England.
He afterwards showed me about forty tobes of the most costly embroidery in gold and silver, on a ground of silk velvet of various colours. I was also shown a piece of patch-work, which I believe I have previously alluded to, which the King boasted was composed of remnants or specimens of cloth from every country of the civilized world, as well as every country in Africa. This piece of patch-work, I was informed, measures one thousand yards in length, and eight yards in breadth. I was next desired to take a drawing of the King’s throne or chair of state. This is a very handsome and ingenious piece of carving, from one solid piece of wood. It has three seats, one elevated about two feet above the other, the first and second forming steps to the highest; on the highest the King never sits except on state occasions. Three skulls form a foot-stool to the first seat being those of three kings killed in battle.
CHAPTER XII.
Conversation with the King of Dahomey continued—Visit Coomassie, another Palace of the King—Great Number of Human Skulls—Skulls of Kings taken in Battle—Death-drums—Peculiarity of Skulls—Craniums of the Fellattahs—Skulls of Rival Kings—Criminal Case heard by the King, and his Award—Death of my Servant Maurice—Regret of the King—Christian Burial of my Servant—The King’s Kindness to me—My increasing Illness and Depression of Spirits—Method of Procuring Food in the Bush by the Dahoman Soldiers—My Alarm at the Dangerous State of my Wound—Make Preparations to amputate my Limb—My Recovery—My last Conversation with the King—The King’s Presents to the Queen of England—Present from him to her Majesty of a Native Girl—Escorted out of Abomey, and Departure for Whydah—Absurd Custom—Canamina—Ahgrimah—My Pigeons from the Kong Mountains—Non-Arrival of some of my Carriers—Punishment awarded them for their Roguery on their Arrival.
August 26th.—The King again sent for me to visit him at the palace. He met me in his usual familiar manner, with a hearty shake of the hand, and a familiar slap on my back with his open hand. A table had been already spread with the necessary viands. He proposed the Queen of England’s health; after which he wished me to proceed to a large palace, about a mile distant, called Coomassie, (after the capital of Ashantee), there to take the plan and dimensions of a number of different sized war tents. These displayed ingenuity and taste, superior to many European nations. The King ordered a number similar to them to be made in England, and sent to him as soon as possible. This palace was built and named about the time when the present King threw off his allegiance to the kingdom of Ashantee, the King of which formerly boasted that he could hold Dahomey in vassalage.
After the building of this palace, the King of Dahomey declared himself capable of holding Ashantee in vassalage. The palace is considered memorable on this account. In this as well in several other palaces we visited on this day, we were entertained with every variety of luxuries used at the King’s table. Upon my return to his Majesty, I found a number of people busily employed in carrying out of the stores a number of human skulls, taken in various countries during the wars. Previous to my journey into the mountains, I had made a request to the King for leave to inspect a few skulls of natives of the different countries he had conquered, with the view of comparing them, and also to make drawings of some of them.
When between two and three thousand skulls had been carried out and placed in the parade-ground in front of the palace, I begged the King not to send for any more. His state chair was placed in the centre of a circle, formed by arranging the large calabashes or gourds containing the skulls, in that form. The heads of the kings were placed in large brass pans, about two feet in diameter. The heads of caboceers and head-men were in calabashes about the same size as the former; and to my great astonishment, when curiosity prompted me to make inquiry respecting any one of these skulls, a long detail was immediately given me of all the circumstances connected with the parties when alive.