THE RECEPTION.
Marshalled by “Silver Bell and Giraffe Horns,” we entered the royal
gate, first removing our swords and closing our umbrellas, which may not
appear before the King.[240] We were told to walk hurriedly across the
nearer half of the palace yard, and presently we halted at a circle of
pure loose white sand, where the ministers prostrated themselves—silex,
not mud, being Court powder for the great in Dahome. There we doffed
hats and caps, and waving them in the right hand, bowed four several
times to a figure that was sitting under the chiar’oscuro of the thatch,
and was, we were told, returning our compliments.
This preliminary over, we were made to advance very slowly—the native
officials bending almost double, and uttering in drawn out unison
“á—á—á!” to warn the Court that others besides the inmates of the palace
were approaching. A few steps placed us close to the King, who merits
especial notice.
Gelele,[241] also known as Dahome-Dadda—the grandfather of Dahome—is in
the full vigour of life, from forty to forty-five, before the days of
increasing belly and decreasing leg. He looks a king of (negro) men,
without tenderness of heart or weakness of head, and he appears in form
and complexion the κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ of this black Iliad. His person is
athletic, upwards of six feet high, lithe, agile, thin flanked and broad
shouldered, with muscular limbs, well turned wrists and neat ankles, but
a distinctly cucumber-shaped shin. The skull is rounded and well set on:
the organs of locality stand prominently out; a slight baldness appears
upon the poll, and the “regions of cautiousness” are covered by two
cockade-like tufts of hair, mostly worn in Dahome for the purpose of
attaching coral, Popo-beads, or brass and silver conelets. His hair,
generally close shaven, is of the peppercorn variety, the eyebrows are
scant, the beard is thin, and the moustachios are thinner. He has not
his father’s receding forehead, nor the vanishing chin which
distinguishes the multitude: his strong jaw renders the face indeed
“jowly” rather than oval, consequently the expression is normally hard,
though open and not ill-humoured, whilst the smile which comes out of it
is pleasant. His nails are allowed to attain mandarin-length[242]: the
African king must show that he is an eater of meat, not of “monkey’s
food”—fruits and vegetables. Moreover, talons are useful amongst
ragoûts, in lands where no man has yet been called _furcifer_. His sub-
tumid lips disclose white, strong, and sound teeth, the inner surfaces
being somewhat blackened by tobacco. His eyes are red, bleared, and
inflamed, betraying an opacity of the cornea which may end in blindness.
An ophthalmist might here thrive upon the smallest display of skill.
This complaint is not the gift of rum, for the King is a very moderate
drinker, and prefers wines and beer, of which he has an ample store, to
rum and gin. The glare of the country, the Harmattan winds, the exposure
during the long reception hours, perpetual smoking, and lastly, a
somewhat excessive devotion to Venus, are the causes. The nose is
distinctly _retroussé_, quasi-negro, anti-aquiline, looking in fact as
if all the lines had been turned the wrong way,—this mean and hideous
concave is the African substitute for the beautiful, the sympathetic,
and the noble convexity of the Caucasian,—but it is not much flattened,
nor does it wholly want bridge. The lines of wrinkle subtending the
corners of the mouth are deeply, but not viciously, marked: and the same
may be said concerning the crumpling of the forehead during momentary
excitement. According to some, he is afflicted with chronic renal
disease. He has suffered severely from the small-pox—the national
scourge—which has by no means spared his race.[243] The only vestage of
tattoo is the usual Dahoman mark, three short parallel and perpendicular
lancet cuts, situated nearer the scalp than the eyebrows, a little above
the place where the latter meet the zygomata.
M. Wallon, who probably never saw the present ruler, declares that he
exactly resembles Gezo, whereas the latter was extremely dark-
complexioned.[244] Also we read of his character: “_Rusé, tenace et très
dissimulé, il est aussi plus intéressé que son père, et passe pour très
cruel_.” But Gelele always disliked and distrusted Frenchmen—_en animam
et mentem!_ There can be no greater contrast than that between the
sovereign and the ignoble-looking lieges, who, Hindu-like, after a
certain age, either shrivel to skeletons or distend to treble bulk, and
who, though rarely resembling the typical negro of the text book,[245]
are not unfrequently black as ill-brushed boots. The pure reddish-brown
of his skin, not unlike that of the so-called copper-coloured Indian,
and several shades lighter than the lightest to be seen at his Court,
confirms the general report that his mother is a slave-girl from the
northern Makhi[246]: others whisper that she is a mulatto from the
French factory, Whydah.
Like Gezo, Gezo’s son and heir affects a dress simple to excess. His
head is often bare: on this occasion he wore a short cylindrical straw
cap, with a ribbon-band of purple velvet round the middle. A Bo-fetish
against sickness, in the shape of a human incisor, strung below the
crown, and a single blue Popo-bead, of little value, was hanging to a
thick thread about his neck. Despising the Bonugan-ton, or broad silver
armlets of his caboceers, he contented himself with a narrow armillary
iron ring, of the kind called “abagan” and “alogan,” round his right
arm. Above and below the elbow of the left he wore five similar
bracelets; these ornaments were apparently invented to save the limb
when warding off a sabre-cut from the head. The body-cloth was plain
fine white stuff, with a narrow edging of watered green silk and as it
sat loose around the middle, decorum was consulted by drawers of purple-
flowered silk hardly reaching to mid thigh. The sandals, here an emblem
of royalty, showed some splendour. They were of Moorish shape, with gold
embroidery upon a scarlet ground, two large crosses of yellow metal
being especially conspicuous. Altogether, the dress, though simple, was
effective, and it admirably set off the manly and stalwart form.
The King was sitting under the deep shade of the kind of shed-gate
before described. His throne, the “Pwe,” or earthbench, on the right of
one entering, was about three feet high, and was strewed with the red,
blue, and striped cotton cloths made in the palace. The two near posts
propping the eaves were swathed with red and white calicos, whilst the
others were chocolate stuff sprinkled blue. The left elbow of royalty
rested upon a cushion of crimson velvet, with a narrow band of bright
yellow satin and lappets, upon which appeared the royal emblem, the
Cross. The King was smoking the weed in a long-stemmed silver-mounted
article of native manufacture[247]: he manifestly thinks there is
nothing _melius quam pipe o’ tobacco_, yet this excess one must say must
somewhat militate against his success with the sex.
A throng of unarmed women, the royal spouses, sat in a semicircle behind
the King under the same thatch, the warrioresses being on stools, or at
squat outside, and through the open entrance slave-girls peeped at the
proceedings. I regret to say that not a pretty face appeared; most of
the “fair sex” had sooty skins, and the few browns showed negro
features. They atoned for this homeliness by an extreme devotion to
their lord and master: woman’s position on earth, say Easterns, is to
look up to somebody, and these certainly do, so far, their duty. It is
no wonder that the King of Dahome’s soul, like my “Lord Keeper’s,”
lodges well. If perspiration appears upon the royal brow it is instantly
removed with the softest cloth by the gentlest hands; if the royal dress
be disarranged, it is at once adjusted; if the royal lips move, a plated
spittoon, which, when Mr. Norris wrote, was gold, held by one of the
wives, is moved within convenient distance; if the King sneezes,[248]
all present touch the ground with their foreheads; if he drinks, every
lip utters an exclamation of blessing. This intense personal veneration
reminded me of the accounts of Mohammed the apostle and of his followers
left by contemporary writers. But without analyzing too far, I suspect
that in Dahome it is rather the principle than the person that is
respected, the despotism more than the despot, the turband rather than
the wearer: that were the King to be succeeded on the morrow, the same
semi-idolatry would be heaped upon his successor. However that may be,
the Dahoman King must only condescend to live,—all, save what must
necessarily be done by himself, is done for him. Such a life appears
wearisome; but kings are unlike common men, and the ways of princes are
mysteries to the multitude. To this exceeding care only can be
attributed the protracted reigns of a dynasty, whose eight members have
sat upon the throne 252 years, thus rivalling the seven Roman monarchs
whose rule extended over nearly the same period, and has caused them to
be held fabulous or typical.
We walked towards the entrance down the clear lane hedged by squatting
Amazons, and we formed up in a group close to and opposite the King. The
Meu, and his dependent the English landlord, who acted as it were our
sponsors, supported our right, the Yevo-gan and the Junior Min-gan our
left, and all reclined upon the ground in the position of Romans upon
the _triclinium_.
After the usual quadruple bowings and hand wavings, the King arose,
tucked in his toga, descended from his _estrade_, donned his
slippers—each act being aided by some dozen nimble feminine fingers—and
advancing, greeted me with sundry vigorous wrings _à la John Bull_.[249]
Still grasping my hand, he inquired after the health of the sovereign,
the ministry, and the people of England, which he and his naturally
suppose to be a little larger and a much richer Dahome surrounded by
water. He then asked more particularly concerning the To-ji-’khosu[250]
or Commodore, the Gau or Captain Luce, and the Amma-sin-blu-to or Dr.
Haran, his last year’s visitors. Gelele is said to have a right royal
recollection of faces, names, and histories. A long compliment was paid
to me upon my having kept word in returning: I had promised on a
previous occasion to apply for permission to revisit Dahome, and here to
redeem a promise is a thing unknown. The King frequently afterwards
referred to this trifle, attaching great importance to truth-telling,
and assuring me that it made me his good friend.[251] It reminded me of—
Beholde the manne! he spake the truthe,
Hee’s greater than a kynge!
He then finally snapped fingers with a will. Mr. Cruikshank wore a naval
frock, which looked dull near a scarlet uniform, having no epaulettes;
his _accueil_ was less ceremonious. Lastly, the Reverend received the
greeting of a friend, and the King, before returning to his seat, kindly
noticed the boy Tom.
Our stools were placed before the throne, and we sat whilst the
materials for health-drinking were taken from under a red calico cloth
which lay upon a ricketty table near the entrance, with legs once gilt.
It is not customary to address royalty, even though the presentee be
acquainted with the language.[252] The sovereign’s words are spoken to
the Meu, who informs the interpreter, who passes it on to the visitor,
and the answer must trickle back through the same channels. It is
evident the King will never hear anything offensive, and that he will
ignore all beyond his actual inspection. I at once saw the necessity of
attacking the dialect, and, despite the nervous terrors of the hen-
hearted Beecham, who seemed to think teaching treason, I had the
satisfaction, before departure, of understanding most conversations in
Ffon, and of being able to join in a simple dialogue.
After _Sin-diyye!_ and _Sin-ko!_ we drank in three several liquors to
the health of the Sovereign, the Commodore and my humble self. After
bowing and touching glasses, the King suddenly wheeled round, whilst two
wives stretched a white calico cloth by way of a screen before him, and
another pair opened small and gaudy parasols, so as completely to
conceal his figure from our gaze. There was a prodigious outburst of
noise. Guns were fired, “Amazons” tinkled bells, and sprang kra-kra, or
watchmen’s rattles, ministers bent to the ground clapping their palms,
and commoners bawled “Po-o-o” (_i.e._, “Bleo!”—“Take it easy!”),
cowering to avoid the dread sight, turning their backs if sitting, and
if standing they danced like bears, or they paddled their hands like the
forefeet of a swimming dog. We were not expected to move.[253]
After the “toasts,” salutes were fired,—the first for royalty; the
second, of eleven guns, for the Commodore; and the third, of nine, for
myself. I at once objected, and demanded the same number as my
predecessor, and when Mr. Beecham, who had turned blue, could be
persuaded to interpret my words, the King at once ordered two more to be
fired, and made excuses for the mistake. When this was done, we were
informed, according to custom, that another deputation was to be
received. There is no necessity here for backing out of the presence,
the dorsum indeed, when dancing, is presented to majesty more often than
the front. We, therefore, turned and moved about 100 feet outside the
King’s thatch, to the place where our stools had been ranged fronting
the north. We were thus amongst the caboceers of the Meu’s party—about a
score—on the proper left of the throne, and with us were the Po-su, or
left-hand Sub-Commander-in-Chief, the two Yevo-gans, and the English
landlord. We were separated from the Min-gan, the Gau, and the other
right-hand chiefs by a few paces, the prolongation of the clear passage
lined with sitting Amazons, and leading to the throne. Thus the King
could command an uninterrupted view of the bottom of the court.
Here, comfortably established under the gorgeous tent-canopy, called in
Ashanti and Dahome an umbrella, I produced my adversaria and sketch-
books. The King is always pleased to see this, and his father Gezo, when
visited by Mr. Duncan, sent to the palace for paper that everything
might be described by him[254]: without the aid of writing it would be
impossible to remember half the complications which occur during these
receptions. More than once in after-times the King sent to me his
compliments and thanks, telling me that no white man had ever before
taken so much trouble, and that everything should be shown to me. The
Pagan African is, in this point, a great contrast to his more civilised
Moslem brother, and to the wilder tribes of Asia, who fear the pen as
they do the fiend.
I now proceed to portray the salient features of the King’s levée. It
was to me the most interesting scene in Dahome, showing more of
picturesqueness and less of grotesqueness and tragedy than any other.
The long barn under which Gelele sat was built against the eastern wall,
which was clay; fresh palm leaves, matted and planted as a fence,
forming the other three sides of the oblong court. The regularity was
relieved by a few poor sheds, and the only objects of remark in the yard
were the familiar bundles of fetish sticks and a pollarded tree
supporting an earthenware pot, with two pennons on tall poles. Along the
shed, which was confined to the King and his wives, ran a line of four-
and-twenty umbrellas, forming an extempore verandah. Those on the flanks
were white, and mostly very ragged, sheltering the chieftainesses of the
she-soldiers: in the centre, denoting the place where the King sat, they
affected the gaudish tulip tints, dazzling hues, variegated, yet in
perfect harmonies—scarlet, tender green, purple, white, and light blue:
an especial favourite was red and yellow; it is called in England
Satan’s livery, but when massed, it excites the eye. These richly tinted
umbrella-canopies are forbidden to all save royalty, and the King takes
no little pride in them.[255]
The only difference between the outer and the inner court is this—the
former is a parade of the male, the latter of the female soldiers, and
the first glance shows that both bodies exactly correspond. Mid-ribs of
bamboo-palm (_Raphia vinifera_), in single line, lie on the ground
separating the sexes; this thin barrier no one is allowed to pass. The
instrument of communication is the Mahaikpa, a princess who has not been
seen for two years, and who consequently may be dead. Below the throne
there is always one of her retainers, the “Dakro,” a middle-aged woman,
formerly attached to Gezo’s Court, and a mighty stickler for ceremony.
The Dakro bears messages from the King to the Meu, who passes on the
words to the Min-gan, whence they find their way to the many. She walks
out of the shed holding a war stick in her right hand, places it on the
earth, kneels close behind the bamboo line, and resting elbows on
thighs, or sometimes with one hand on the ground, whispers her errand,
almost touching heads. As a rule she goes on all fours to the Meu, and
only kneels to smaller men, who become quadrupeds to her. A favourite
gesture with both sexes here is to smooth the ground before them with
one or both palms, clearing as it were the place for prostration: it is
the whittling of the Yankee, and it serves to conceal thought. The
message is received by the minister in a similar position, the feet
resting upon the toes and the heels supporting the posteriors. After
obtaining the answer the Dakro rises, returns to within the barn, makes
obeisance, and placing herself on all fours—the nearest approach to our
brethren of the field since the days of Nebuchadnezzar—either upon the
ground or upon a mat, before and close to the King, duly delivers it to
the royal ears. Nothing but the prodigious memory for trifles possessed
by this people prevents a communication that travels so far from losing
all its original sense.
Outside the bamboos, divided, as has been said, into two distinct
groups, stand the ministers. All are in their richest attire, gay with
tunics of bright silk and satin. The Min-gan wears eight necklaces, with
a silver ornament like a _fleur-de-lis_ or trefoil, hanging upon his
breast. The Meu has doffed his alpaca jacket, displays fine and valuable
pink coral in long strings, with thin thread pigtails lashed on to them,
silver armlets adorned with the British Lion, and with two quasi-human
heads which may have belonged to William and Mary; whilst the emblem of
Christianity, in gold, depends from his neck. But the crucifix is
strangely altered, the crucified being a chameleon, the venerable emblem
of the rainbow-god. This is not done _par malice_, like the ass placed
by the irreverent caricaturist upon what is, according to Dr. Rossi, the
earliest known cross—it is the simple instinct of a barbarous race. The
Adanejan, or assistant Min-gan, is more than usually gorgeous. He is a
huge Cyclops of a black, with a jetty face, at least one size larger
than his brain-pan, and a _faux air de jeune homme_, effected by close
shaving his stiff whitey-grey beard and hair. Though long past
“frightful forty,” he is much addicted to women, and he is ever
“chaffing” the Reverend about marrying a daughter to him. A great
trencherman, with a rollicking laugh that quakes his fat sides, the big
eupatrid is of somewhat offensive presence; he is moreover a professed
beggar, and what meets his touch never leaves it.
Non fuit Autolyci tam piceata manus.
The Gau is rendered conspicuous by his big brass bracelets. The surly
Po-su wears four brass rings on his left arm, and his forehead is always
ceremoniously marked with white sand or red earth. All the lesser fry
are clad like their betters, in tunics of rich native cloth, and
ornamented with horns, silver bracelets, armlets, crucifixes, trefoil-
shaped articles, and necklaces, of which some wore as many as ten; Popo-
beads, large and small; coral, red and pink; blue and white glass beads;
green, yellow, and variegated pottery; while some have neck-ropes of
black and blue seed beads disposed in patterns.
On the King’s proper right, in the ring presided over by the Khe-tun-gan
(female Gau, or Commander-in-Chief), and outside the big barn, enthroned
on a lofty chair, sat the Akutu; she is captainess of King Gezo’s life-
guards, called the ’Mman, or Madmen, the Bashi Buzuks, or _Enfans
Perdus_ of the Dahoman host. This dignitary is a huge old porpoise,
wearing a bonnet shaped like that of a French _cordon bleu_, but pink
and white below, with two crocodiles of blue cloth on the top, and the
whole confined by silver horns and their lanyard. To the left of
royalty, more in the open and under a tent-umbrella, upon as tall a seat
as the Akutu enjoyed, is the Humbagi, the corresponding veteraness on
the Meu’s side. She is also vast in breadth, and a hammer-head in silver
projecting from her forehead, gives her the semblance of a unicorn. As a
rule the warrioresses begin to fatten when their dancing days are
passed, and some of them are prodigies of obesity.
The flower of the host was the mixed company of young Amazons lately
raised by the King; this corps, standing to the north of the palace
yard, and on the right of the throne, was evidently composed of the
largest and finest women in the service. Behind it stood its band, a
Chingufu or African cymbal, two small tom-toms held under the arm, and
four kettledrums of sizes, beaten with hand or stick. The newly-chosen
company apparently contained two hundred, and the whole court certainly
did not show more than one thousand. Some Amazons, however, are now
absent, attacking, I have said, a village in the Makhi country, which
distinguished itself by grossly insulting the King, by threatening to
kill him and his army. They will have an easy victory.[256]
The gala-dress of the guardesses was decent, and not uncomely. A narrow
fillet of blue or white cotton bound the hair, and the bosom was
concealed by a sleeveless waistcoat of various colours, giving freedom
to the arms, and buttoning in front like that affected by Hausa Moslems.
The loin wrapper, of dyed stuff, mostly blue, pink, and yellow, extended
to the ancles, and was kept tight round the waist by a sash, generally
white, with long ends depending on the left. The body toilette was
rendered more compact by an outer girthing of cartridge-box and belt,
European-shaped, but home-made, of black leather, adorned with cowries;
or of bandoleers, containing in separate compartments twelve to sixteen
wooden gunpowder boxes, like cases for lucifer matches. The bullet-bag,
with a few iron balls, hung by a shoulder strap to the dexter side, and
was preserved in position by being passed under the cartridge-belt. All
had knives, or short Dahoman falchions,[257] in shape not unlike, though
smaller than, that most fatal—to the wearer—of all weapons, the old
French _briquet_. The firelock, a good solid Tower-marked article,[258]
was guarded by sundry charms, and protected from damp by a case of black
monkey-skin tightly clasping the breeching, and opening to the rear.
Many had long tassels dangling from the barrels.
The only other peculiarity in the court was a row of three large
calabashes, ranged on the ground before and a little to the left of
royalty. They contain the calvariæ of the three chiefs amongst forty
kings, or petty headmen said to have been destroyed by Gelele: and they
are rarely absent from the royal levées. A European would imagine these
relics to be treated with mockery; whereas the contrary is the case. So
the King Sinmenkpen (Adahoonzou II.), after unwrapping an enemy’s
cranium, said to Mr. Norris, “If I should fall into hostile hands, I
should wish to be treated with that decency of which I set the example.”
The first skull was that of Akia’on, chief of Attako (Taccow), near
“Porto Novo,” which was destroyed about three years ago. Beautifully
white and polished, it is mounted in a ship or galley of thin brass
about a foot long, with two masts, and jibboom, rattlings, anchor, and
four portholes on each side, one pair being in the raised quarter-deck.
When King Gezo died, his successor received a message from this chief,
that all men were now truly joyful, that the sea had dried up, and that
the world had seen the bottom of Dahome. Gelele rejoined by slaying him,
and by mounting his skull in a ship, meaning that there is still water
enough to float the kingdom, and that if the father is dead the son is
alive. The second cranium, which also was well-boiled, and which, like
the rest, wanted the lower jaw,[259] was that of Bakoko of Ishagga. It
was crossed at right angles by four bars of bright brass; a thin mask of
the same metal, rudely marked with eyes and unraised nose, gave it a
monkey-like appearance. On the poll, and where the bars met, was a brass
bowl with a tip like a calabash stalk, by which the upper half could be
raised, to serve as a drinking-cup: this, when viewed in front, looked
somewhat like a Phrygian cap, or a knightly helmet. During Gelele’s
attack upon Abeokuta, in 1851, the people of Ishagga behaved with
consummate treachery, which eleven years afterwards was terribly
punished by the present ruler. Bakoko was put to death, and as a sign
that he ought to have given water to a friend in affliction, men now
drink from his recreant head. The third calvaria, also washed, was that
of Flado, an Abeokutan general, sent to the aid of the Ishaggas. Along
the ridge crown of the head ran a broad leaf in brass, to which was
attached a thick copper wire and a chain which can raise it from its
base; the latter is an imitation in brass of a country-trap; whilst a
small white flag and cloth are wound round the stout wire. This showed
that Flado fell into the pit which he dug for another.[260]
Whilst the soldiery of picked women danced and sang, the deputation of
four Moslems was brought in by the Min-gan. The captains who had charge
of them prostrated themselves upon the clay, not the sand-ring[261]
nearer the throne, and shovelled it up by handfuls over their heads and
arms, showing that they were of lower rank than the ministers. This is
the ceremonial which every writer upon Dahoman subjects finds so
degrading, and with which the traveller meets in almost all semi-
barbarous societies, especially in negro and negroid kingdoms, since the
days of Leo Africanus. The Itte d’ai, or “lying on ground,” is a
strictly scriptural prostration,[262] and it corresponds with the
“shashtanga” of the Hindus, and with the Chinese “kow-tow.” At the court
of the Cazembe in South-Eastern Africa, and in the equatorial kingdom of
Uganda, it is practised exactly as in Dahome. In the Congo regions,
prostration is made, the earth is kissed, and dust is strewed over the
forehead and arms, before every petty Banza or village chief. According
to Barbot (1700), the interpreter of the “King of Zair,” probably Boma,
vulgarly Embomma, after rubbing his hands and face in the dust, “took
one of the royal feet in his hands, spat on the sole thereof and licked
it with his tongue.” It is doubtless the origin of “sijdah” amongst
Moslems, who hold a dusty forehead to be mubarak, or of good omen; and
the Shi’ah heresy rests the prostrated brow upon small flat cakes of the
earth of Kerbela, much renowned for martyrs. The Mohammedans of Senegal
have also learned to throw sand or earth with both hands over their own
heads. Ibn Batutah has described the wallowing and dusting of the older
Nigrotic Courts. Jobson remarked the same at Tenda, Clapperton at Oyo,
and Denham amongst the “Musgows.”
The fact is, that salutations are of three kinds over all the world,
either a movement of the saluter’s body, or touching some part of the
salutee’s person, or, lastly, adding to or taking from the dress. Here
the ceremony typifies the state of society. There is, in Dahome,
absolutely no rank between the king and the servile; so complete is the
despotism that, as in Japan,[263] unlawful wounding would be punished,
not for injuring a member of society, but for doing harm to the king’s
slave. All being equally nothing in the royal presence, they there must
behave accordingly; but when outside the palace, these high potentates
expect the commonalty to kneel, to kiss the ground, and to clap hands
before them, as if they were kings.
The full salutation of men and women, which I shall call “making
obeisance,” consists of two actions. The first is the “Itte d’ai,” or
prostration,—the Doballe of the Egbas, or Abeokutans. The saluter falls
prone with his head, if a grandee, in the white sand; he rubs the
forehead on the ground, touches earth with both cheeks, and kisses it,
taking particular care that as much as possible may adhere to his vasty
lips, and often rubbing the dust over his face with the right hand; he
now claps hands, three sets of clappings being the normal number, and if
more than one be doing it at once, the cue is given and admirable time
is kept. Then he performs ko-dide,[264] pouring the sand or earth by
handfuls over his scalp or hair, where it sticks for a long time. There
is no fixed number of shovellings; the more plentifully the fine
garments are sand-bathed the more humility is displayed. I cannot,
however, like others, consider the practice wholly uncleanly; at any
rate it promotes cleanliness, by rendering ablution necessary on return
home. After the arms have been as well dusted as the head, face, and
raiment, kneeling and lip-rubbing conclude the ceremony.
There are many minor modifications, or rather parts of obeisance, which
I shall call “saluting.” These are actions accompanying the return of
thanks for an address by the King, or when it is deemed right to address
royalty.
The highest officers lie before the King in the position of Romans upon
the _triclinium_. At times they roll over upon their bellies, or relieve
themselves by standing “on all fours.” When approaching royalty they
either crawl like snakes, or shuffle forward on their knees. During the
levée they must raise frequent cries of “_Akhosu li akhosu!_” literally,
“King all (_i.e._, of all) Kings!” and “_Akhosu te te le!_”—“Small,
small Kings!” meaning that before this mighty “Cham” all other monarchs
are boys. The messengeress, when summoning a subject to the presence,
says, “_Se iro we!_”—“The Se, or spirit,[265] requires you!” When the
King has spoken, all exclaim “_Se do Nugbo!_”—“the spirit speaketh
true!” to which some add, “_moen de!_”—“So it is!” an historical phrase
often preceded by “_nagboe!_”—“It is true!”
From these appearances a stranger, like Dr. M‘Leod, is apt to conclude
that the Dahoman king represents, like the Shahanshahs of ancient
Persia, a king of God upon earth, and that he can daily act out,
whenever he is “i’ the vein,” even with the proudest in his dominions,
Henry the Fifth’s “You are a liar!” with the speedy conclusion, “By my
head thou shalt lose thy head!” This is far from being the case, as the
more observing former travellers well knew.[266] The ministers,[267] war
captains, and fetisheers may be, and often are, individually punished by
the King: collectively they are too strong for him, and without their
cordial co-operation he would soon cease to reign. And this apparently
perfect subjection of the inferior to the superior runs through every
grade of Dahoman society. The “_Frippons_, or common scoundrel blacks,”
as the old writer calls them, kneel and clap hands before the patrician,
as if the latter were their proprietor; they listen to every order with
religious attention, and afterwards they obey it or not exactly as they
please.[268] Except in the case of serfs, slaves, and captives, there is
throughout Dahome, and I may say Africa, more of real liberty and
equality—I will not add fraternity—than in any other quarter of the
globe, and the presence of the servile renders the freemen only freer
and more equal.
The Moslems of the “Porto Novo” deputation resembled Bambarra men; one,
however, was fair as an Arab. They wore white turbands over tall red
caps, large broad trousers, and the “Guinea fowl” embroidered robe of
Yoruba. Behind them sat their band, four co-religionists, in white
calottes and meaner robes. The only instruments were tom-toms. There
were also a few Kafirs, or pagans, that seemed attached, probably as
carriers, to the party. These men had been sent by the King’s brother,
of “Porto Novo,” about which there was much excitement, to the great
disfavour of the French Protectorate.
Whilst the Min-gan who presented these men “made obeisance,” the Moslems
sat gravely on the clay-ground, at a distance from the King. Then one of
the Alufa,[269] with hands upraised in the prayer position, recited by
heart long, fluent orisons, concluded, as usual, by drawing the palms
down the face. The introducer, who sat with his back to the King,
imitated every gesture of the visitor. Although the Moslem countenance
expressed some awe at the apparatus in the palace, it well maintained
before this heathenry the dignity of the Safe Faith.
Finally the Dakro woman at the foot of the throne brought in due form a
welcome from the King to his brother’s envoys. The heathen again
powdered themselves with dust, and the Moslems bent towards the ground.
This was a signal to the female attendants, who, after a startling clash
and clang of cymbals, neckbells, and rattles, presented arms _à la
Dahome_,—the guns being raised in the air. The mixed company of beauties
performed sundry dances. Presents and drink, in sign of dismissal, were
sent to the deputation; the Moslems took the water, the Kafirs two
flasks of rum, whilst two baskets (= 20 heads, or £2) of cowries and
five baskets of food were served out to the whole party. The gift was
received by the heathenry crouching on the ground, and uttering a
curious noise, likest to feline purring, whilst the True Believers again
prayed for the King. The deputation was presently conducted to the
palace-gate by their introducers, who bent, as is customary when leaving
the presence, almost double, and went off at a hurried pace. It was then
brought back, and the royal presents were placed upon the envoy’s heads,
only the four turbands being exempt. Salutes were again exchanged and
the Porto Novians finally left the palace yard.
The mixed company danced once more, and this time it was joined by a
dozen razor women, who, defiling past the King from the she-Meu’s to the
Min-gan’s side, took their stations near the throne. These Nyekplehen-
to[270] seemed the largest and strongest women present, and they held
their weapons upwards in the air like standards, with a menacing air and
gesture. The blade is about eighteen inches long, and is shaped exactly
like a European razor; it closes into a wooden handle about two feet in
length, and though kept in position by strong springs, it must be, I
should think, quite as dangerous to the owner as to the enemy. These
portable guillotines were invented by a brother of the late King Gezo,
and the terror which they inspire may render them useful.
At the end of the dance, Ji-bi-whe-ton,[271] acting captainess of the
Beauty Company, came forwards with the usual affected military swagger,
not without a suspicion of a dance. She is, or was, a fine tall woman,
with glittering teeth, and a not unpleasant expression when her features
are at rest. She addressed a violent speech to the male Min-gan, who
repeated it aloud to the King, with whom it found favour. Ending with
cutting off the head of an imaginary corpse upon the ground, she retired
to her command. Presently, for the _cacoëthes loquendi_ was upon her,
she again advanced, and spoke with even more gesticulation than before.
“Thus they would treat Abeokuta!” The sentiment elicited immense
applause.
Followed chorus, solo, and various decapitation dancings of the mixed
company, the weapons being, as usual, grounded, the war-club seized, and
the shoulder-blades and posteriors being agitated to excess. Even the
performances of these figurantes, the cream of the royal ballet, are not
to be admired. They stand most ungracefully—the legs, which are somewhat
slight for the body, being wide apart, and the toes certainly turned in
and probably up. When the exercise ended, the razor and chopper
women[272] brandished their weapons, and all the line advancing,
“presented” with upraised muskets.
At the Dahoman Court, curious to say in Africa, women take precedence of
men; yet, with truly Hamitic contradictiousness, the warrioresses say,
“We are no longer females but males”; and a soldier disgracing himself
is called, in insult, a woman. It is clear, therefore, that they owe
their dignity to the fiction of being royal wives. Wherever a she-
soldiery is, celibacy must be one of its rules, or the troops will be in
a state of chronic functional disorder between the ages of fifteen and
thirty-five.
After the Amazons, all the male caboceers, taking choppers and peculiar
bill-hook-like blades,[273] some iron, others silver, danced
tumultuously before the King, to the general song of the women on the
right of the throne. Even the tottering Meu, who leaned upon a tomahawk
long enough to act as a staff, joined in the movement. Presently Gelele
sent a message to the Gau, declaring that this year Abeokuta must be
taken; the tall old man, standing up with a military air, swore that it
certainly should fall, and the oath was repeated by his surly-looking
junior the Po-su.
The King then addressed me through the Meu and Mr. Beecham, to the
effect that this year Abeokuta must be as a mouse before the cat; he
also invited me to accompany him to sit behind the army and to see the
sport. I replied that “Understone” had long ceased friendship with the
white man. A little pleasantry ensued touching it not being our English
habit to hang back when aught is doing; and the King taking all in
excellent part, we stood up bareheaded, and waved four salutations.
Among the remarkabilia of the scene was Adan-men-nun-kon,[274] right-
hand Commander of the Blue Guards, and a fine specimen of “Monsieur
Parolles” in black. This man of loyal appellation is a tall, lean,
sooty-faced fellow, with a large, whitish, and big-tasselled nightcap
decorating his head, a pink pagne, and a baldric adorned with cowries.
Rising like a warrior, with carbine and tomahawk, he assured me, in the
midst of loud screams and violent gesticulations, that at ’Gba[275] even
the unborn child must perish; and he strove to look as if he were doing
it to death. His “brother” Zodome, acting for Chabi, the left-hand
Commander of the Blues, confirmed the idea. The Voice from the Throne
added, as is the habit, many an illustration of the speeches, concluding
with the declaration that the Abeokutans must not only be beheaded,
their bodies must also be cut to pieces.
There appeared two silver-horned fetish chiefs, of the Blue Company, who
in the hour of battle personally attend upon the King. “Awafanfin,”
which was translated to me, “A fetish guide for Abeokuta,” drew his
knife, and declared that with the blade, not with a gun, he would attack
the cravens who lurked behind their walls. The King cordially echoed
this; and added that, even if in England, I should hear of his
destructive deeds. His right-hand, or superior colleague, a good-looking
youth, called Hnengada, a “King-Bo-fetish name” (interpreted to mean,
“When the spindle turns cotton, it must become thread”), then stood up.
He informed me, “The forest tree is strong with root and cordage, and is
heavy with trunk and branch, whilst the wind is thin, and cannot be
seen; but the gale lays low the loftiest of the green wood; and Dahome
is that wind, whilst Abeokuta is that tree.” This sentiment was also
explained by the King. The speakers kissed the ground, and rubbed earth
upon their brows: then the chorus of captains sang—
When we go to war we must slay men,
And so must Abeokuta be destroyed.
The mixed company was now greatly increased by women, who had defiled in
single line before the throne. There were bayoneteeresses, with blue
cloth tunics and a white patch on the shoulder, white fillets like those
of the men, sashes to match supporting their swords, and variously-
coloured pagnes. The blunderbuss women, who were, like the former,
sitting under the she-Min-gan, distinguished themselves by scarlet
woollen nightcaps. After they had danced and sung, their captainess, Ji-
bi-whe-ton, advanced, and said that they would fire a salute for their
old commander. With some difficulty two sides of a square were formed,
fronting the south and west. The manœuvres consisted of an individual
sallying out like the Arab “Mubariz,” delivering her fire, and retiring
to the ranks. All raised their weapons steadily, with left arms
extended, and fired from the shoulders, not from the hips as the men do
to avoid the kick; they returned with a kind of caper, and they did not
flinch after the fashion of the Dahoman soldiers. The bayonet women,
after firing, extended a single very _gauche_ thrust. The blunderbuss
soldieresses grounded the butts of their heavy weapons, and discharged
them at an angle of 45 deg. After several rounds they again chanted:
We like not to hear that Abeokuta lives;
But soon we shall see it fall.
This was followed by the usual dance and chorus, which concluded with a
“present” of uplifted weapons.
When the sun had set, a Dakro brought us directions to advance and to
bid adieu to the King, whilst sundry flasks and decanters of ’tafia and
other liquors were distributed in token of dismissal. Approaching the
throne, we made the usual “compliments.” Gelele, wrapping his robe
around him, descended from the _estrade_, donned his sandals, and,
attended by his umbrella and a large crowd of the Kan-gbo-de’s huissiers
bearing lights and links, stalked forth towards the palace-yard gate,
with a right kingly stride. Every inequality of ground was smoothed,
every stick or stone was pointed out, with finger snappings, lest it
might offend the royal toe, and a running accompaniment of “Dadda!
Dadda!” (Grandfather! Grandfather!) and of “Dedde! Dedde![276]” (Softly!
Softly!) was kept up. Passing out of the gate, we found a swarming of
negroes, whose hum during the whole audience had been heard inside the
palace. They buzzed about like excited hornets. I know not if the
manœuvre was done purposely to exaggerate the semblance of a multitude,
but I can answer that it was a success.
The King accompanied us to some distance outside the palace—a compliment
first paid to Commodore Wilmot.[277] His ministers were around him, and
the Meu placed in my hands, according to ancient custom,[278] a handful
of potsherd bits, showing the number of return guns expected at Whydah.
Preceded by the Yevogan, we made for the English house. The road was
crowded with fetish women, marching in full dress and in single file to
a queer song. Arrived at our destination, we gave liquor to the whole
tail, and we were happy when we found ourselves in comparative solitude.
From the above description it is evident that the Dahoman possesses, to
some extent, the ceremonial faculty. On such occasions the pageantry of
African Courts is to be compared with that of Europe, proportionately
with the national state of progress. But it is evidently the result of
long and studious practice. Everything goes by clockwork; the most
intricate etiquette proceeds without halt or mistake; and it ever
superadds the element Terror, whose absence in civilized countries often
converts ceremonial to a something silly. As, however, the reader has
been warned, he has seen the best. The outside displays are wretched.
Misery mixes with magnificence, ragged beggars and naked boys jostle
jewelled chiefs and velvet-clad Amazons; whilst the real negro
grotesqueness, like bad perspective, injures the whole picture.
[Footnote 240: The King’s name in Dahome must be pronounced with bated
breath. For in Dahome the King in his own person absorbs the undivided
respect of the people. In England we adhere to the princely name,
_e.g._,
Nana Sahib rest unsung,
Let none speak of Badahung,
which is as correctly applied to Gelele as would be “Duke of Clarence”
to William IV. after coronation. To utter it in his presence would, in
the case of a subject, be death: once crowned, the King must forget his
antecedents as an Adeling, and this is the common practice of African
monarchs, even to the petty chiefs of the Congo. Many child princes,
sons of the actual dynast, have been to my quarters, and have held out
the hand for bread: and such a small boy the present ruler once was. Dr.
M‘Leod, however, errs in stating that the royal relatives, such as half-
brothers and sisters, are slaves. The word Badahung, or Badahong (which
M. Wallon writes Budahou, and others Badahou and Badou), is properly Ba
(bamboo), do (pushes or poles), hun (the cause): it is, therefore, not
very dignified.]
[Footnote 241: Gelele is, as we often find amongst kingly names in the
Hwe-’gbe-’ajya dynasty of Dahome, the initial word of a phrase—Gelele
(bigness), ma nyonzi (with no way of lifting). For the strong names or
titles, the curious reader will consult Appendix iv. As regards the
dynastic name, first assumed by King Aho (Adahoonzou I.),
Hwe-’gbe-’ajya, it corresponds with Osai (Osei) of Ashanti, and may be
broadly compared with the Egyptian Pharaoh. The meaning is, Hwe (a
fish), egbe (will not enter), ajya (a weir), viz., if a fish shun the
trap it will not be caught, so no one can do anything against Dahome.]
[Footnote 242: This length of talon probably suggested to elder
travellers the idea of a poison-globule stuck under the nail of the
little finger, which was gradually protruded into the calabash or
drinking-cup, when the venom instantly dissolved. Captain Phillips was
told by a caboceer of Whydah, whom he had “well warmed with brandy and
other strong liquors (here the key of most secrets),” that it was
brought from a distant inland country, and that three to four slaves was
the price of a single fatal dose. But brandy has the power of heating
the imagination as well as the other faculties.]
[Footnote 243: We read in the History that the great Agaja was “pitted
with the small-pox, or perhaps tatooed in imitation of it, as is
customary in the country.” And we are especially informed that at Whydah
both sexes thus adorned their cheeks and foreheads—a practice now
obsolete. The old Dahoman sign was a perpendicular incision between the
eyebrows: the women marked the lower parts of the body with various
devices. The modern is described in the text. Mr. Duncan (vol. i. p.
266), wrongly asserts “the Dahomans are not marked at all, except such
marks or tatooing as the parents may choose to inflict on the lower
parts of the person by way of ornament.” The Alladas used to make an
incision in each cheek, turning up the flesh towards the ears, and
allowing it to heal in that position—a hideous device also forgotten.
The sixth king, Sinmenkpen (Adahoonzou II.) died of small-pox in 1789.
The late Gezo, after marching on Popo, is said to have fallen from the
_sequelæ_ of the same terrible disease, which has thus killed two kings
out of a total of eight.]
[Footnote 244: Mr. Duncan (vol. i. p. 224) describes Gezo, in 1845, as a
“tall athletic man about forty-three years of age (he was older), with
pleasing expression and good features, but the top of his forehead
falling back rather too much to meet the views of a phrenologist.”]
[Footnote 245: The same may be said of the typical John Bull, Johnny
Crapaud, Paddy, and Brother Jonathan: we have selected an exception, a
caricature. But such negroes do exist: I can point out a Yoruban family
at Lagos which fulfils every external condition of the link between man
and monkey.]
[Footnote 246: In Mr. Norris’s map the “Mahees” are placed west of
Agbome. Their mountain-lands are to be seen rising due north of the
capital: the tribes in the vicinity are subject to the King, the more
distant are independent, and even court his attacks. Mr. Duncan, the
only white man who explored the country, tells us (vol. i. p. 245), that
“Makee is pronounced Mahee in the Kong mountains,” and relates that the
Dahomans there took 126 towns, making greater part of the enemy
prisoners. In June, 1863, the army of Dahome, after fourteen marches,
probably short and circuitous, turned round upon a hostile clan, which
defended itself so well that but few were taken. Indeed, I heard a
report at Little Popo that the King had been killed and the army
destroyed by cannon sent up the Volta River. The Makhi are a well-made
and comparatively light-complexioned people. Their tribe mark is now a
black line raised, as amongst the Ejo of Benin, above the skin, from the
hair to the root of the nose, but not extending beyond. Formerly they
cut three long, oblique marks on one cheek, and a cross on the other.
Their women are prized for matrimony: the mother of King Sinmenkpen was
a Makhi girl.]
[Footnote 247: So Mr. Norris found King Tegbwesun “smoaking tobacco.”
The pipe is an institution in Dahome. Clays from Europe are much sold,
and iron articles are made at home. The usual bowl is of Agbome
manufacture, one of the many monopolies of the royal wives: it is of
reddish or whitish-yellow earth, as usual half-baked and very brittle.
The tube is a sappy stick, somewhat like the salt-wood of the Benin
River, from eight to eighteen inches long, whitened by peeling, and
coloured black in alternate bands. The King’s tube and bowl are adorned
with silver plates and wire: the old pictures of Dahome place a Turkish
pipe in the royal hand. Here there is nothing like the art of Ashanti,
where the pipe-bowl represents some queer animal, human or bestial, and
the long flexible reed tube, conducing to cool and clean smoking, is
tastefully adorned with silver wire. The pipe, when at rest, is placed
in a wooden case, looking like two hockey-sticks knocked into one, and
opening with a slide in the upper part. The tobacco-pouch is nearly the
size of a modern carpet-bag. It is of goat’s skin, tanned after the
Yoruban fashion, and coloured black, with dull red bindings. The
interior is divided into several compartments, and it is usually carried
wrapped round the pipe-case. The Dahomans, even the King, use Brazilian
roll and American leaf: a few prefer the worst kind of cigars.]
[Footnote 248: In Ffon, “nyin” is a sneeze; manifestly, like ours, an
imitative word. Almost throughout Africa, there is some superstition
connected with this convulsion. In Senaar, courtiers turn the back, and
slap the right thigh. Old authors tell us that when the “King of
Monomotapa” sneezed, it became a national concern. Those nearest the
royal person howled a salutation, which was taken up by the antechamber;
and when the horrid cry had run through the palace, it was re-echoed by
the whole city. In Europe the superstition is, that St. Gregory
instituted a benediction upon the sneezer, because during a certain
pestilence the unseemly act was a fatal symptom.]
[Footnote 249: His father used to affect with Englishmen a “familiar
slap on the back with his open palm.”]
[Footnote 250: To (water, especially the ocean, a pool, or a stream), ji
(upon), ’khosu, for Akhosu by Synalepha (a king). “Gau,” I have already
explained. Amma (tree, or other leaf), sin (water, the compound word
leaf-water meaning “medicine”), and blu-to (he who makes). Amma-bluto,
or Amma-sin-blu-to, is the proper name for a doctor or surgeon; Amma-
sin-kpele is the title of an officer, in whose charge is placed the
King’s medicine.]
[Footnote 251: Truth, being a peculiarly rare article, is highly valued
here. King Sinmenkpen said to Governor Abson (1803), who, being a
resident of thirty-seven years in the country, had attempted a mild
deceit, that “he wished the Englishman had not been so much of a
Dahoman-man, as to make use of any artifice.” I have myself been put to
shame by hearing a Camaroons River chief declare to a Baptist
missionary, who was palpably prevaricating, that had the truth been
told, all would have been well. It must be a curiously self-sufficient
brain that will enter into the lists of lying with an African.]
[Footnote 252: On the other hand, there is none of the ceremonial
absurdity which compels mere answers to a royal question or remark.]
[Footnote 253: Africans and some Asiatics are most subject to witchcraft
when eating and drinking; the Maldivian Islanders, for instance, eat
alone in the recesses of their houses, fearing lest some unlucky cantrip
be played with the victuals. Moreover, in most places, the King is too
great a man to eat, drink, or sleep at all. The origin of the idea is
intelligible: it could not have been imposing to see the august person
of George III. “at dinner on mutton and turnips.” Hence the old kings of
France preferred to be served by knights on horseback. The Alake of
Abeokuta must be hidden even whilst he enjoys a _prise_. It was certain
death to see the petty King of Loango eat or drink, which he did in
different houses. When the cup was handed to him, an attendant struck
together two iron rods, the thickness of a man’s finger: all who heard
it buried their faces in the sand till the sound ceased, and then
clapped hands, and uttered blessings. (Barbot: Supplement). Also, no one
might drink in the presence except by turning back upon royalty, which
is also the case for all but white men at Dahome. The negroes of
“Ardra,” we are told, used in friendship the same cup, showing that the
idea of dignity has done much towards surrounding the act with ceremony.
Mr. Ditton has quoted upon this subject from the description of Henry
VII. and Elizabeth of York’s coronation: first, “The Lady Elizabeth Grey
and Mistress Ditton went under the table and sat at the Queen’s feet,
and the Countesses of Oxford and Rivers knelt on each side, and now and
then held a kerchief before her Grace; and after the feast the Queen
departed with God’s blessing, and the rejoicing of many a true English
heart.” (Leland’s “Collectanea,” vol. iv. pp. 216-233). On the other
hand, Mr. Jas. W. Smith cites Stowe’s Chronicles: “On the right side of
her (Queen Anne Boleyn’s) chair, stood the Countess of Oxford, widow,
and on her left hand stood the Countess of Worcester, all the dinner
season, which, divers times in the dinner time, did hold a fair cloth
before the Queen’s face when she did list to spit, or do otherwise at
her pleasure; and at the Queen’s feet, all dinner time, sat two
gentlewomen under the table.” Amongst some tribes in the Congo country,
the chief’s big toes are still pulled when he drinks.]
[Footnote 254: Vol. i. p. 227.]
[Footnote 255: They are manifestly made upon a European model. Mr.
Duncan, who writes with the simplicity of a child, tells us (vol. ii. p.
271), that the King caused him to enter a memorandum of several patterns
for canopies, desiring him to order a number of them to be sent from
England. At the present moment (August, 1864), one of these umbrellas
may be seen at the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society, London.]
[Footnote 256: It seems a peculiarity of climate in those lands, and the
History can supply several instances, that compels individuals and
tribes mortally and wantonly to insult a rancorous and hateful race like
that of Dahome and then entirely to forget the injury, so as to take no
precautions against vengeance. The History tells us that the people of
“Wemey,” a petty village near “Porto Novo,” that could perhaps muster
one to every hundred Dahoman warriors, sent a challenge to one of the
greatest of the kings, threatening, if not attacked, to march on Agbome.
The king returned, as usual, an ironical answer, saying that he would
soon dispatch his Gau with guns, powder, and iron (lead being here
unknown), for the use of his brave foe; attacked the place, which he
found unprepared, and “broke” it, without the people making an effort at
self-defence. So in 1728, Governor Testesole, of Whydah, exasperated by
the insolence of the Dahoman traders, whipped one of their principal men
at the flag-post, and said that he would serve the King (Agaja) in the
same manner, if he could. That governor was, of course, murdered.]
[Footnote 257: Curious to say, whilst many of the central African tribes
are adepts at smelting iron, it is an art unknown to the rude Dahoman;
although the material abounds in the northern country, they import it
from Europe. The blade is but slightly curved, one edged, and poorly
tempered, about 16 inches long, and 1·50 inch at the broadest part,
which is the half nearer the point. The hilt or handle is only three
inches long, and, like that of Abyssinia, too short for a good grip; it
is of brass or other metal, of wood, ribbed or plain, covered with
shagreen. Sometimes there is a single bar, as in the _briquet_, to guard
the hand, and there is usually a brass knob for pommel. The scabbard is
of black leather, with ferule of brass or white metal at the tip, a
broad band at the top, and one or two round the centre; in some
scabbards almost all the leather is concealed. The price varies from 1
dol. 50 c. to 2 dols.: the silver-mounted fetch 8 dols.]
[Footnote 258: In Gezo’s time the troops had mostly “long Danes,” or
“buccaneer guns.”—Mr. Duncan, vol i. p. 240.]
[Footnote 259: The lower jawbone is coveted as an ornament for
umbrellas, sword-handles, and other such purposes. It is taken with
horrible cruelty: the muscles at each ramus are severed with a knife,
and the jaw is torn out with the left hand from the yet living victim.]
[Footnote 260: Gezo had also his three favourite skulls (Mr. Duncan,
vol. 1, p. 245). That traveller, after seeing 2000 to 3000 crania,
remarked that “several were deficient of any suture across the upper
part,” in the proportion of 1:12, whilst those without longitudinal
division were as 1:27. He also found the Makhi crania receding from the
nasal bone, or lower part of the forehead, to the top in a greater angle
than those of any other country.]
[Footnote 261: This loose white sand is brought from Diddo, a water to
the north-west of Agbome: it is quite as cleanly as the powder and other
stuff worn by our grandsires.]
[Footnote 262: See the cases of David and Abigail falling at his feet (1
Sam. xxv. 23); Mephibosheth (2 Sam. ix. 6) falls on his face and “does
reverence”; Absolom (Ibid. xiv. 33) bows himself on his face to the
ground before the king; Bath-sheba (1 Kings i. 16-31) “bowed and did
obeisance.” But Mr. Duncan (vol. i. p. 221) was “much surprised as well
as disgusted with such absurd abject humiliation.” He apparently knew
more of the bridoon than of the Bible.]
[Footnote 263: In Japan, where the moral sense of the people is more
highly developed by despotism, such cutting and maiming becomes wounding
the king, or regicide.]
[Footnote 264: Ko (earth), and dide (take up! shovel!).]
[Footnote 265: For an explanation of Se, see chapter xvii. The King is
called a spirit, as having power of life and death.]
[Footnote 266: So Captain Phillips (1694) justly remarks of the King of
Whydah: “Though his cappasheirs (caboceers) shows him so much respect,
he dare not do anything but what they please.”]
[Footnote 267: Some except the Min-gan and Meu, which, however, is not
correct.]
[Footnote 268: Barbot well hits off this trait. “Though the Whydahs,” he
observes, “tremble with awe at a word from the King, as soon as he has
turned his back they seem to forget their great fear of him; and not
much regard his commands, as very well knowing how to appease and delude
him by their lies.”]
[Footnote 269: Alŭfá, probably a corruption of Arif, is the Egba word
for a Mullah, a Moslem theologian. Imále in Egba, and Málenun in Ffon,
both probably corrupted from Muallim, means the common Moslem. Hence
some of our older authors brought the _Malays_ to Dahome.— See History,
p. 48, note signed “J.F.”]
[Footnote 270: Meaning, nyekple (the weapon itself), hen (hold), to (one
that does). French travellers call them “Les faucheuses.”]
[Footnote 271: Ji (sky), bi (all), whe (sun), ton (belonging to),
_i.e._, “all the sky belongs to the sun.” The commanding officeress is
Danh-ji-hun-to, meaning, the rainbow is the captain or governor of
(_viz._, goes round) the sky; that is to say, the King of Dahome rules
the (black) world. Mr. Duncan’s “Dagbyweka,” vol. i. p. 231, seems to be
a confusion between the two.]
[Footnote 272: The chopper is called anánun (confusion or badness), wá
(doing), and hwisu (knife-sword, or dagger); meaning, the “cutting badly
knife.” Strangers call it the blue-knife. It is a top-heavy blade four
spans long, bluff and broadening to one palm at the end like the old
Turkish falchion, and narrowing to two fingers at the hilt. The form is
by no means so exaggerated as the wonderful chopping-knives of the Gold
Coast. Down the centre runs a broad line, depressed and not polished
like the back and edge. These knives, being royal gifts, may not be
bought.]
[Footnote 273: Many of these end in a circle whose diameter is twice the
breadth of the blade; sometimes the surface is worked and pierced like
fish-slicers. The bill appears to be ornamental, not useful.]
[Footnote 274: Among the Dahomans are many mystic names, like Joshua,
Isa, and others. These are mostly of the Bo-fetish, a war-medicine which
prevents wounds (chapter xi.). The words mean, adan (brave), men (man),
nun (side, face), kon (upon). The title is explained in two ways. “I am
brave upon another man’s side,” _i.e._, to take him prisoner; or,
“however brave nations are, the king is the bravest of all.”]
[Footnote 275: This is the Yoruban word Egba; in Ffon it means “break.”
In Dahome the Egba race, from Lagos to Abeokuta, is called Anago at
Whydah, and Nago at Agbome. J. F., the annotator of the History, says,
“Of the Nago country nothing more is known than the name.” The word has
been greatly corrupted by old travellers: it is, however, extensively
used in Brazil. On the other hand, the Nago people call the Ffons, or
Dahomans, Gunu.]
[Footnote 276: De! here means “softly,” as “Bleo” is used on the Gold
Coast.]
[Footnote 277: King Gezo accompanied Mr. Duncan almost to his dwelling.]
[Footnote 278: In the History (p. 124), Mr. Norris, after being saluted,
was shown fifteen pebbles in a small calabash, which he “recollected was
the number of guns that were fired on the preceding evening.”]