A spacious and comfortable hut was placed at the disposal of the white
men, with a small one adjoining for the Houssas. That evening Frank
asked Mr. Goodenough to tell him what he knew concerning the people of
Dahomey.
“The word Dahomey, or more properly Da-omi, means Da's belly. Da was,
two hundred and fifty years ago, the king of the city of Abomey. It was
attacked by Tacudona the chief of the Fois. It resisted bravely, and
Tacudona made a vow that if he took it he would sacrifice the king to
the gods. 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. If a cock crow it is forfeited, and, as it is the nature of
cocks to crow, every bird in the kingdom is muzzled. The property of
every one who dies goes to the king; and at the Annual Custom, a grand
religious festival, every man has to bring a present in proportion to
his rank and wealth. The royal pomp is kept up by receiving strangers
who visit the country with much state, and by regaling the populace with
spectacles of human sacrifices. The women stand high in Dahomey.
Among other negro nations they till the soil. In Dahomey they fight as
soldiers, and perform all the offices of men. Dahomey is principally
celebrated for its army of women, and its human sacrifices. These last
take place annually, or even more often. 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.
“Assuredly we are,” Mr. Goodenough answered. “The Amazons, as white men
have christened the force, are the flower of the Dahomey army, and fight
with extraordinary bravery and ferocity.”
“But it will seem dreadful to fire at women!” Frank said.
“That is merely an idea of civilization, Frank. In countries where women
are dependent upon men, leaving to them the work of providing for the
family and home, while they employ themselves in domestic duties and in
brightening the lives of the men, they are treated with respect. But as
their work becomes rougher, so does the position which they occupy in
men's esteem fall. Among the middle and upper classes throughout Europe
a man is considered a brute and a coward who lifts his hand against a
woman. Among the lower classes wife and woman beating is by no means
uncommon, nor is such an assault regarded with much more reprobation
than an attack upon a man. When women leave their proper sphere and put
themselves forward to do man's work they must expect man's treatment;
and the foolish women at home who clamor for women's rights, that is
to say, for an equality of work, would, if they had their way, inflict
enormous damage upon their sex.”
“Still,” Frank said, “I shan't like having to fire at women.”
“You won't see much difference between women and men when the fight
begins, Frank. These female furies will slay all who fall into their
hands, and therefore in self defense you will have to assist in slaying
them.”
The following day the sound of beating of drums and firing of guns was
heard, and soon afterwards the head of the army of Dahomey was seen
approaching. It moved with considerable order and regularity.
“Those must be the Amazons,” Mr. Goodenough said. “They are proud of
their drill and discipline. I do not think that any other African troops
could march so regularly and solidly.”
The main body of the army now came in view, marching as a loose and
scattered mob. Then twelve objects were seen dragged by oxen. These were
the cannon of the besiegers.
“How many do you think there are?” Frank asked.
“It is very difficult to judge accurately,” Mr. Goodenough said. “But
Dahomey is said to be able to put fifty thousand fighting men and women
in the field, that is to say her whole adult population, except
those too old to bear arms. I should think that there are twenty or
twenty-five thousand now in sight.”
The enemy approached within musket shot of the walls, and numbers of
them running up, discharged their muskets. The Abeokuta people fired
back; but Mr. Goodenough ordered the Houssas on no account to fire, as
he did not wish the enemy to know the power of their rifles.
The first step of the besiegers was to cut down all the plantations
round the town and to erect great numbers of little huts. A large
central hut with several smaller ones surrounding it was erected for the
king and his principal nobles. The Dahomans spread round the town and
by the gesticulation and pointing at the gates it was clear that the
defenses raised to cover these excited great surprise.
The wall was thick enough for men to walk along on the top, but being
built of clay it would withstand but little battering. Mr. Goodenough
set a large number of people to work, making sacks from the rough cloth,
of which there was an abundance in the place. These were filled with
earth and piled in the center of the town ready for conveyance to
any point threatened. He likewise had a number of beams, used in
construction of houses, sharpened at one end; stakes of five or six feet
long were also prepared and sharpened at both ends. That day the enemy
attempted nothing against the town. The next morning the twelve cannon
were planted at a distance of about five hundred yards and opened fire
on the walls. The shooting was wild in the extreme; many of the balls
went over the place altogether; others topped the wall and fell in the
town; some hit the wall and buried themselves in the clay.
“We will give them a lesson,” Mr. Goodenough said, “in the modern rifle.
Frank, you take my double barrel rifle and I will take the heavy, large
bored one. Your Winchester will scarcely make accurate firing at five
hundred yards.”
The Houssas were already on the wall, anxious to open fire. Mr.
Goodenough saw that their rifles were sighted to five hundred yards.
The cannon offered an easy mark. They were ranged along side by side,
surrounded by a crowd of negroes, who yelled and danced each time a shot
struck the wall.
“Now,” Mr. Goodenough said to the Houssas, “fire steadily, and, above
all, fire straight. I want every shot to tell.”
Mr. Goodenough gave the signal, and at once Frank and the Houssas
opened fire. The triumphant yells of the Dahomans at once changed their
character, and a cry of wrath and astonishment broke from them. Steadily
Mr. Goodenough and his party kept up their fire. They could see that
great execution was being done, a large proportion of the shots telling.
Many wounded were carried to the rear, and black forms could be seen
stretched everywhere on the ground. Still the enemy's fire continued
with unabated vigor.
“They fight very pluckily,” Frank said.
“They are plucky,” Mr. Goodenough answered; “and as cowardice is
punished with death, and human life has scarcely any value among them,
they will be killed where they stand rather than retreat.”
For three or four hours the fight continued. Several officers, evidently
of authority, surrounded by groups of attendants, came down to the guns;
but as Frank and Mr. Goodenough always selected these for their mark,
and--firing with their guns resting on the parapet--were able to make
very accurate shooting, most of them were killed within a few minutes of
their arriving on the spot.
At the end of four hours the firing ceased, and the Dahomans retired
from their guns. The Abeokuta people raised a cry of triumph.
“I imagine they have only fallen back,” Mr. Goodenough said, “to give
the guns time to cool.”
While the cannonade had been going on a brisk attack had been kept up on
several other points of the wall, the enemy advancing within fifty yards
of this and firing their muskets, loaded with heavy charges of slugs, at
the defenders, who replied vigorously to them. Their cannonade was
not resumed that afternoon, the Dahomans contenting themselves with
skirmishing round the walls.
“They are disappointed with the result of their fire,” Mr. Goodenough
said. “No doubt they anticipated they should knock the wall down without
difficulty. You will see some change in their tactics tomorrow.”
That night Mr. Goodenough had a number of barrels of palm oil carried on
to the wall, with some of the great iron pots used for boiling down the
oil, and a supply of fuel.
“If they try to storm,” he said, “it will most likely be at the point
which they have been firing at. The parapet is knocked down in several
places, and the defenders there would be more exposed to their fire.”
It was at this point, therefore, that the provision of oil was placed.
Mr. Goodenough ordered fires to be lighted under the boilers an hour
before daybreak, in order that all should be in readiness in case an
attack should be made the first thing in the morning. The Abeokutans
were in high spirits at the effect of the fire of their white allies,
and at the comparative failure of the cannon, at whose power they had
before been greatly alarmed. Soon after daylight the Dahomans were seen
gathering near the guns. Their drums beat furiously, and presently they
advanced in a solid mass against the wall.
“They have got ladders,” Mr. Goodenough said. “I can see numbers of them
carrying something.”
The Houssas at once opened fire, and as the enemy approached closer,
first the Abeokutans who had muskets, then the great mass with bows and
arrows, began to fire upon the enemy, while these answered with their
musketry. The central body, however, advanced without firing a shot,
moving like the rest at a quick run.
Mr. Goodenough and Frank were not firing now, as they were devoting
themselves to superintending the defence. Ostik kept close to them,
carrying Frank's Winchester carbine and a double barreled shotgun.
“This is hot,” Mr. Goodenough said, as the enemy's slugs and bullets
whizzed in a storm over the edge of the parapet, killing many of the
defenders, and rendering it difficult for the others to take accurate
aim. This, however, the Abeokutans did not try to do. Stooping below
the parapet, they fitted their arrows to the string, or loaded their
muskets, and then, standing up, fired hastily at the approaching throng.
The walls were about twenty-five feet high inside, but the parapet gave
an additional height of some four feet outside. They were about three
feet thick at the top, and but a limited number of men could take post
there to oppose the storming party. Strong bodies were placed farther
along on the wall to make a rush to sweep the enemy off should they gain
a footing. Others were posted below to attack them should they leap down
into the town, while men with muskets were on the roofs of the houses
near the walls, in readiness to open fire should the enemy get a footing
on the wall. The din was prodigious.
The Dahomans, having access to the sea coast, were armed entirely with
muskets, these being either cheap Birmingham trade guns or old converted
muskets, bought by traders for a song at the sale of disused government
stores. It is much to be regretted that the various governments of
Europe do not insist that their old guns shall be used only as old iron.
The price obtained for them is so trifling as to be immaterial, and
the great proportion of them find their way to Africa to be used in
the constant wars that are waged there, and to enable rich and powerful
tribes to enslave and destroy their weaker neighbors. The Africans use
very much heavier charges of powder than those in used in civilized
nations, ramming down a handful of slugs, of half a dozen small bullets,
upon the powder. This does not conduce to good shooting, but the noise
made is prodigious. The Abeokutans, on the other hand, were principally
armed with bows and arrows, as, having no direct access to the sea
coast, it was difficult for them to procure guns.
The Dahomans poured up in a mass to the foot of the wall, and then a
score of rough ladders, constructed of bamboo, and each four feet wide,
were placed against the walls. Directly the point to be attacked was
indicated, Mr. Goodenough had distributed his cauldrons of boiling oil
along the walls, and had set men to work to pierce holes through the
parapet at distances of a couple of feet apart, and at a height of six
inches from the ground. A line of men with long spears were told to lie
down upon the ground, and to thrust through the holes at those climbing
the ladders. Another line of holes was pierced two feet higher, through
which those armed with muskets and bows were to fire, for when the
enemy reached the foot of the walls their fire was so heavy that it was
impossible to return it over the top of the parapet.
Immediately the ladders were placed, men with ladles began to throw
the boiling oil over the parapet. Shrieks and yells from below at once
testified to its effect, but it was only just where the cauldrons were
placed that the besiegers were prevented by this means from mounting
the ladders, and even here many, in spite of the agony of their burns,
climbed desperately upward.
When they neared the top the fight began in earnest. Those without were
now obliged to cease firing, and the besieged were able to stand up and
with sword and spear defend their position. The breech loaders of Mr.
Goodenough and the Houssas and Frank's repeating carbine now came into
play. The Dahomans fought with extraordinary bravery, hundreds fell shot
or cut down from above or pierced by the spears and arrows through the
holes in the parapet. Fresh swarms of assailants took their places on
the ladders. The drums kept up a ceaseless rattle, and the yells of
the mass of negroes standing inactive were deafening. Their efforts,
however, were in vain. Never did the Amazons fight with more reckless
bravery; but the position was too strong for them, and at last, after
upwards of a thousand of the assailants had fallen, the attack was given
up, and the Dahomans retired from the wall followed by the exulting
shouts of the men of Abeokuta.
The loss of the defenders was small. Some ten or twelve had been killed
with slugs. Three or four times that number were more or less severely
wounded about the head or shoulders with the same missiles. Frank had a
nasty cut on the cheek, and Firewater and Bacon were both streaming with
blood.
There was no chance of a renewal of the attack that day. Sentries were
placed on the walls, and a grand thanksgiving service was held in the
open space in the center of the town which the whole populace attended.
“What will be their next move, do you think?” Frank asked Mr.
Goodenough.
“I cannot say,” Mr. Goodenough said; “but these people know something
of warfare, and finding that they cannot carry the place by assault,
I think you will find that they will try some more cautious move next
time.”
For two days there was no renewal of the attack. At Mr. Goodenough's
suggestion the Abeokutans on the wall shouted out that the Dahomans
might come and carry off their dead, as he feared that a pestilence
might arise from so great a number of decomposing bodies at the foot
of the wall. The Dahomans paid no attention to the request, and, at Mr.
Goodenough's suggestion, on the second day the whole populace set to
work carrying earth in baskets to the top of the wall, and throwing this
over so as to cover the mass of bodies at its foot. As to those lying
farther off nothing could be done. On the third morning it was seen that
during the night a large number of sacks had been piled in a line upon
the ground, two hundred yards away from the wall. The pile was eight
feet in height and some fifty yards long.
“I thought they were up to something,” Mr. Goodenough said. “They have
been sending back to Dahomey for sacks.”
In a short time the enemy brought up their cannon, behind the shelter
of the sacks, regardless of the execution done by the rifles of Mr.
Goodenough's party during the movement. The place chosen was two or
three hundred yards to the left of that on which the former attack had
been made. Then a swarm of men set to work removing some of the sacks,
and in a short time twelve rough embrasures were made just wide enough
for the muzzles of the guns, the sacks removed being piled on the
others, raising them to the height of ten feet and sheltering the men
behind completely from the fire from the walls.
“They will make a breach now,” Mr. Goodenough said. “We must prepare to
receive them inside.”
The populace were at once set to work digging holes and securely
planting the beams already prepared in a semicircle a hundred feet
across, behind the wall facing the battery. The beams when fixed
projected eight feet above the ground, the spaces between being filled
with bamboos twisted in and out between them. Earth was thrown up behind
to the height of four foot for the defenders to stand upon. The space
between the stockade and the wall was filled with sharp pointed bamboos
and stakes stuck firmly in the ground with their points projecting
outwards. All day the townspeople labored at these defenses, while the
wall crumbled fast under the fire of the Dahomey artillery, every shot
of which, at so short a distance, struck it heavily. By five in the
afternoon a great gap, fifty feet wide, was made in the walls, and the
army of Dahomey again gathered for the assault. Mr. Goodenough with two
of the Houssas took his place on the wall on one side of the gap, Frank
with the other two faced him across the chasm. A large number of the
Abeokuta warriors also lined the walls, while the rest gathered on the
stockade.
With the usual tumult of drumming and yells the Dahomans rushed to
the assault. The fire from the walls did not check the onset in the
slightest, and with yells of anticipated victory they swarmed over the
breach. A cry of astonishment broke from them as they saw the formidable
defense within, the fire of whose defenders was concentrated upon them.
Then, with scarce a pause, they leaped down and strove to remove the
obstructions. Regardless of the fire poured upon them they hewed away
at the sharp stakes, or strove to pull them up with their hands. The
riflemen on the walls directed their fire now exclusively upon the
leaders of the column, the breech loaders doing immense execution, and
soon the Dahomans in their efforts to advance had to climb over lines of
dead in their front. For half an hour the struggle continued, and then
the Dahomans lost heart and retired, leaving fifteen hundred of their
number piled deep in the space between the breach and the stockade.
“This is horrible work,” Frank said when he rejoined Mr. Goodenough.
“Horrible, Frank; but there is at least the consolation that by this
fearful slaughter of their bravest warriors we are crippling the
power of Dahomey as a curse and a scourge to its neighbors. After this
crushing repulse the Abeokutans may hope that many years will elapse
before they are again attacked by their savage neighbors, and the
lessons which they have now learned in defense will enable them to make
as good a stand on another occasion as they have done now.”
“Do you think the attack will be renewed?”
“I should hardly think so. The flower of their army must have fallen,
and the Amazon guard must have almost ceased to exist. I told you,
Frank, you would soon get over your repugnance to firing at women.”
“I did not think anything about women,” Frank said. “We seemed to be
fighting a body of demons with their wild screams and yells. Indeed, I
could scarce distinguish the men from the women.”
A strong guard was placed at night at the stockade, and Mr. Goodenough
and Frank lay down close at hand in case the assault should be renewed.
At daybreak the sound of a cannon caused them to start to their feet.
“They are not satisfied yet,” Mr. Goodenough exclaimed, hurrying to the
wall. In the night the Dahomans had either with sacks or earth raised
their cannon some six feet, so that they were able to fire over the
mound caused by the fallen wall at the stockade behind it, at which they
were now directing their fire.
“Now for the sacks,” Mr. Goodenough said. Running down, he directed the
sacks laden with earth, to whose necks ropes had been attached, to
be brought up. Five hundred willing hands seized them, and they were
lowered in front of the center of the stockade, which was alone exposed
to the enemy's fire, until they hung two deep over the whole face.
As fast as one bag was injured by a shot it was drawn up and another
lowered to its place. In the meantime the rifles from the walls had
again opened fire, and as the gunners were now more exposed their shots
did considerable execution. Seeing the uselessness of their efforts the
Dahomans gradually slackened their fire.
When night came Mr. Goodenough gathered two hundred of the best troops
of Abeokuta. He caused plugs to be made corresponding to the size of
the various cannonballs which were picked up within the stockade, which
varied from six to eighteen pounders.
About midnight the gate nearest to the breach was thrown open, and the
party sallied out and made their way towards the enemy's battery.
The Dahomans had placed sentries in front facing the breach, but
anticipating no attack in any other direction had left the flanks
unguarded. Mr. Goodenough had enjoined the strictest silence on his
followers, and their approach was unobserved until they swept round
into the battery. Large numbers of the enemy were lying asleep here, but
these, taken by surprise, could offer no resistance, and were cut down
or driven away instantly by the assailants.
Mr. Goodenough and Frank, with a party who had been told off specially
for the purpose, at once set to work at the cannon. These were filled
nearly to the muzzle with powder, and the plugs were driven with mallets
tight into the muzzles. Slow matches, composed of strips of calico
dipped in saltpetre, were placed in the touch holes. Then the word was
given, and the whole party fell back to the gate just as the Dahomans in
great numbers came running up. In less than a minute after leaving the
battery twelve tremendous reports, following closely one upon another
were heard. The cannon were blown into fragments, killing numbers of the
Dahomey men who had just crowded into the battery.