(Note H.)
Most of them labour under a fixed melancholy, which now and then seeks a temporary relief in lamentation, and the most plaintive airs, expressive of the loss of their relations, friends, and country; and so powerfully does it operate, as to urge many to self-destruction, or obstinately to refuse nourishment.
(Note I.)
They are not unfrequently threatened with a flogging, because the mournfulness of their songs gives pain to the feelings of their oppressors.
(Note K.)
This description of the palace applies to its state previously to the conquest of Whidáh by the Dahomans, 1727. It is less superb now, but still worthy of attention as a royal residence.