DAGUPAN DANDY
DAHABEAH DANEGELD
DAHL, HANS DANELAGH
DAHL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN DANGERFIELD, THOMAS
DAHL, MICHAEL DANIEL (biblical figure)
DAHL, VLADIMIR IVANOVICH DANIEL (Russian travel-writer)
DAHLBERG, ERIK JOHANSEN, COUNT DANIEL, GABRIEL
DAHLGREN, JOHN ADOLF DANIEL, SAMUEL
DAHLGREN, KARL FREDRIK DANIELL, JOHN FREDERIC
DAHLIA DANIELL, THOMAS
DAHLMANN, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPH DANNAT, WILLIAM T.
DAHLSTJERNA, GUNNO DANNECKER, JOHANN HEINRICH VON
DAHN, JULIUS SOPHUS FELIX DANNEWERK
DAHOMEY DANSVILLE
DAILLE, JEAN DANTE
DAIRY and DAIRY-FARMING DANTON, GEORGE JACQUES
DAIS DANUBE
DAISY DANVERS
DAKAR DANVILLE (Illinois, U.S.A.)
DALAGUETE DANVILLE (Kentucky, U.S.A.)
DALBEATTIE DANVILLE (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)
DALBERG DANVILLE (Virginia, U.S.A.)
DALE, ROBERT WILLIAM DANZIG
DALE, SIR THOMAS DAPHLA HILLS
DALECARLIA DAPHNAE
DALGAIRNS, JOHN DOBREE DAPHNE (Greek mythology)
DALGARNO, GEORGE DAPHNE (genus of shrubs)
DALHOUSIE, JAMES ANDREW RAMSAY DAPHNEPHORIA
DALHOUSIE, FOX MAULE RAMSAY DAPHNIS
DALIN, OLOF VON DARAB
DALKEITH DARBHANGA
DALKEY D'ARBLAY, FRANCES
DALLAS, ALEXANDER JAMES DARBOY, GEORGES
DALLAS, GEORGE MIFFLIN DARCY, THOMAS DARCY
DALLAS DARDANELLES (strait)
DALLE DARDANELLES (town)
DALLIN, CYRUS EDWIN DARDANUS
DALLING AND BULWER, EARLE BULWER DARDISTAN
DALLMEYER, JOHN HENRY DARES PHRYGIUS
DALL' ONGARO, FRANCESCO DAR-ES-SALAAM
DALMATIA DARESTE DE LA CHAVANNE, ANTOINE
DALMATIC DARESTE DE LA CHAVANNE, RODOLPHE
DALMELLINGTON DARFUR
DALOU, JULES DARGAI
DALRADIAN DARGOMIJSKY, ALEXANDER SERGEIVICH
DALRIADA DARIAL
DALRY DARIEN
DALTON, JOHN DARIUS
DALTON DARJEELING
DALTON-IN-FURNESS DARLEY, GEORGE
DALY, AUGUSTIN DARLING, GRACE HORSLEY
DALYELL, THOMAS DARLING
DAM DARLINGTON
DAMAGES DARLINGTONIA
DAMANHUR DARLY, MATTHIAS
DAMARALAND DARMESTETER, JAMES
DAMASCENING DARMSTADT
DAMASCIUS DARNLEY, HENRY STEWART
DAMASCUS DARRANG
DAMASK DARTFORD
DAMASK STEEL DARTMOOR
DAMASUS DARTMOUTH (town of Canada)
DAMAUN DARTMOUTH (town of England)
DAME DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
DAME'S VIOLET DARTMOUTH, EARL OF
DAMGHAN DARU, PIERRE ANTOINE NOEL BRUNO
DAMIANI, PIETRO DARWEN
DAMIEN, FATHER DARWIN, CHARLES ROBERT
DAMIENS, ROBERT FRANCOIS DARWIN, ERASMUS
DAMIETTA DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE
DAMIRI DASHKOV, CATHERINA ROMANOVNA VORONTSOV
DAMIRON, JEAN PHILIBERT DASS, PETTER
DAMJANICH, JANOS DASYURE
DAMMAR DATE PALM
DAMMARTIN DATIA
DAMME DATIVE
DAMOCLES DATOLITE
DAMOH DAUB, KARL
DAMON DAUBENTON, LOUIS-JEAN-MARIE
DAMOPHON DAUBENY, CHARLES GILES BRIDLE
DAMP DAUBIGNY, CHARLES FRANCOIS
DAMPIER, WILLIAM DAUBREE, GABRIEL AUGUSTE
DAN (tribe of Israel) DAUDET, ALPHONSE
DAN (town of ancient Israel) DAULATABAD
DANA, CHARLES ANDERSON DAUMIER, HONORE
DANA, FRANCIS DAUN (DHAUN), LEOPOLD JOSEF
DANA, JAMES DWIGHT DAUNOU, PIERRE CLAUDE FRANCOIS
DANAE DAUPHIN
DANAO DAUPHINE
DANAUS DAURAT, JEAN
DANBURITE DAVENANT, CHARLES
DANBURY DAVENANT, SIR WILLIAM
DANBY, FRANCIS DAVENPORT, EDWARD LOOMIS
DANCE (English family) DAVENPORT, ROBERT
DANCE (dancing) DAVENPORT
DANCOURT, FLORENT CARTON DAVENTRY
DANDELION DAVEY OF FERNHURST, HORACE DAVEY
DANDOLO DAVID
DANDOLO, VINCENZO
DAGUPAN, a town and the most important commercial centre of the province
of Pangasinan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on a branch of the Agno river
near its entrance into the Gulf of Lingayen, 120 m. by rail N.N.W. of
Manila. Pop. (1903), 20,357. It is served by the Manila & Dagupan
railway. Dagupan has a healthy climate. It is the chief point of
exportation for a very rich province, which produces sugar, indigo,
Indian corn, copra, and especially rice. There are several rice mills
here. Salt is an important export, being manufactured in salt water
swamps and marshes throughout the province of Pangasinan (whose name,
from _asin_, "salt," means "the place where salt is produced"). In
these, marshes grows the nipa palm, from which a liquor is
distilled--there are a number of small distilleries here. Dagupan has a
small shipyard in which sailing vessels and steam launches are
constructed. The principal language is Pangasinan.
DAHABEAH (also spelt dahabiya, dahabiyeh, dahabeeyah, &c.), an Arabic
word (variously derived from _dahab_, gold, and _dahab_, one of the
forms of the verb to go) for a native passenger boat used on the Nile.
The typical form is that of a barge-like house-boat provided with sails,
resembling the painted galleys represented on the tombs of the Pharaohs.
Similar state barges were used by the Mahommedan rulers of Egypt, and
from the circumstance that these vessels were ornamented with gilding is
attributed the usual derivation of the name from gold. Before the
introduction of steamers dahabeahs were generally used by travellers
ascending the Nile, and they are still the favourite means of travelling
for the leisured and wealthy classes. The modern dahabeah is often made
of iron, draws about 2 ft. of water, and is provided with one very large
and one small sail. According to size it provides accommodation for from
two to a dozen passengers. Steam dahabeahs are also built to meet the
requirements of tourists.
DAHL, HANS (1840- ), Norwegian painter, was born at Hardanger. After
being in the Swedish army he studied art at Karlsruhe and at Dusseldorf,
being a notable painter of landscape and _genre_. His work has
considerable humour, but his colouring is hard and rather crude. In 1889
he settled in Berlin. His pictures are very popular in Norway.
DAHL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (1778-1857), Norwegian landscape painter, was
born in Bergen. He formed his style without much tuition, remaining at
Bergen till he was twenty-four, when he left for the better field of
Copenhagen, and ultimately settled in Dresden in 1818. He is usually
included in the German school, although he was thus close on forty years
of age when he finally took up his abode in Dresden, where he was
quickly received into the Academy and became professor. German
landscape-painting was not greatly advanced at that time, and Dahl
contributed to improve it. He continued to reside in Dresden, though he
travelled into Tirol and in Italy, painting many pictures, one of his
best being that of the "Outbreak of Vesuvius, 1820." He was fond of
extraordinary effects, as seen in his "Winter at Munich," and his
"Dresden by Moonlight;" also the "Haven of Copenhagen," and the "Schloss
of Friedrichsburg," under the same condition. At Dresden may be seen
many of his works, notably a large picture called "Norway," and a "Storm
at Sea." He was received into several academic bodies, and had the
orders of Wasa and St Olaf sent him by the king of Norway and Sweden.
DAHL, MICHAEL (1656-1743), Swedish portrait painter, was born at
Stockholm. He received his first professional education from Ernst
Klocke, who had a respectable position in that northern town, which,
however, Dahl left in his twenty-second year. His first destination was
England, where he did not long remain, but crossed over to Paris, and
made his way at last to Rome, there taking up his abode for a
considerable time, painting the portraits of Queen Christina and other
celebrities. In 1688 he returned to England, and became for some years a
dangerous rival to Kneller. He died in London. His portraits still exist
in many houses, but his name is not always preserved with them. Nagler
(_Kunstler-Lexicon_) says those at Hampton Court and at Petworth contest
the palm with those of the better known and vastly more employed
painter.
DAHL (or DALE), VLADIMIR IVANOVICH (1802-1872), Russian author and
philologist, was born of Scandinavian parentage in 1802, and received
his education at the naval cadets' institution at St Petersburg. He
joined the Black Sea fleet in 1819; but at a later date he entered the
military service, and was thus engaged in the Polish campaign of 1831,
and in the expedition against Khiva. He was afterwards appointed to a
medical post in one of the government hospitals at St Petersburg, and
was ultimately transferred to a situation in the civil service. The
latter years of his life were spent at Moscow, and he died there on
November 3 (October 22), 1872. Under the name of Kossack Lugansky he
obtained considerable fame by his stories of Russian life:--_The Dream
and the Waking_, _A Story of Misery_, _Happiness, and Truth_, _The
Door-Keeper_ (Dvernik), _The Officer's Valet_ (Denshchik). His greatest
work, however, was a _Dictionary of the Living Russian Tongue_ (Tolkovyi
Slovar Zhivago Velikorusskago Yasika), which appeared in four volumes
between 1861 and 1866, and is of the most essential service to the
student of the popular literature and folk-lore of Russia. It was based
on the results of his own investigations throughout the various
provinces of Russia,--investigations which had furnished him with no
fewer than 4000 popular tales and upwards of 30,000 proverbs. Among his
other publications may be mentioned _Bemerkungen zu Zimmermann's Entwurf
des Kriegstheaters Russlands gegen Khiwa_, published in German at
Orenburg, and a _Handbook of Botany_ (Moscow, 1849).
A collected edition of his works appeared at St Petersburg in 8
volumes, 1860-1861.
DAHLBERG (DAHLBERGH), ERIK JOHANSEN, COUNT (1625-1703), Swedish soldier
and engineer, was born at Stockholm. His early studies took the
direction of the science of fortification, and as an engineer officer he
saw service in the latter years of the Thirty Years' War, and in Poland.
As adjutant-general and engineer adviser to Charles X. (Gustavus), he
had a great share in the famous crossing of the frozen Belts, and at the
sieges of Copenhagen and Kronborg he directed the engineers. In spite of
these distinguished services, Dahlberg remained an obscure
lieutenant-colonel for many years. His patriotism, however, proved
superior to the tempting offers Charles II. of England made to induce
him to enter the British service, though, in that age of professional
soldiering, there was nothing in the offer that a man of honour could
not accept. At last his talents were recognized, and in 1676 he became
director-general of fortifications. In the wars of the next twenty-five
years Dahlberg again rendered distinguished service, alike in attack (as
at Helsingborg in 1677, and Dunamunde in 1700) and defence (as in the
two sieges of Riga in 1700): and his work in repairing the fortresses of
his own country, not less important, earned for him the title of the
"Vauban of Sweden." He was also the founder of the Swedish engineer
corps. He retired as field-marshal in 1702, and died the following year.
Erik Dahlberg was responsible for the fine collection of drawings called
_Suecia antiqua et hodierna_ (Stockholm, 1660-1716; 2nd edition, 1856;
3rd edition, 1864-1865), and assisted Pufendorf in his _Histoire de
Charles X Gustave_. He wrote a memoir of his life (to be found in
Svenska Bibliotek, 1757) and an account of the campaigns of Charles X.
(ed. Lundblad, Stockholm, 1823).
DAHLGREN, JOHN ADOLF (1809-1870), admiral in the U.S. navy, was the son
of the Swedish consul at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born in
that city on the 13th of November 1809. He entered the United States
navy in 1826, and saw some service in the Civil War in command of the
South Atlantic blockading squadron. But he was chiefly notable as a
scientific officer. His knowledge of mathematics caused him to be
employed on the coast survey in 1834. In 1837 his eyesight threatened to
fail, he retired in 1838-1842, and in 1847 he was transferred to the
ordnance department. In this post he applied himself to the improvement
of the guns of the U.S. navy. He was the inventor of the smooth bore gun
which bore his name, but was from its shape familiarly known as "the
soda water bottle." It was used in the Civil War, and for several years
afterwards in the United States navy. Dahlgren's guns were first mounted
in a vessel named the "Experiment," which cruised under his command from
1857 till 1859. They were "the first practical application of results
obtained by experimental determinations of pressure at different points
along the bore, by Colonel Bomford's tests--that is by boring holes in
the walls of the gun, through which the pressure acts upon other bodies,
such as pistol balls, pistons, &c." (Cf. article by J. M. Brooke in
Hamersley's _Naval Encyclopaedia_.) When the Civil War broke out, he was
on ordnance duty in the Washington navy yard, and he was one of the
three officers who did not resign from confederate sympathies. His rank
at the time was commander, and the command could only by held by a
captain. President Lincoln insisted on retaining Commander Dahlgren, and
he was qualified to keep the post by special act of Congress. He became
post-captain in 1862 and rear-admiral in 1863. He commanded the
Washington navy yard when he died on the 12th of July 1870.
A memoir of Admiral Dahlgren by his widow was published at Boston in
1882. (D. H.)
DAHLGREN, KARL FREDRIK (1791-1844), Swedish poet, was born at Stensbruk
in Ostergotland on the 20th of June 1791. At a time when literary
partisanship ran high in Sweden, and the writers divided themselves into
"Goths" and "Phosphorists," Dahlgren made himself indispensable to the
Phosphorists by his polemical activity. In the mock-heroic poem of
_Markalls somnlosa natter_ (Markall's Sleepless Nights), in which the
Phosphorists ridiculed the academician Per Adam Wallmark and others,
Dahlgren, who was a genuine humorist, took a prominent part. In 1825 he
published _Babels Torn_ (The Tower of Babel), a satire, and a comedy,
_Argus in Olympen_; and in 1828 two volumes of poems. In 1829 he was
appointed to an ecclesiastical post in Stockholm, which he held until
his death. In a series of odes and dithyrambic pieces, entitled
_Mollbergs Epistlar_ (1819, 1820), he strove to emulate the wonderful
lyric genius of K. M. Bellman, of whom he was a student and follower.
From 1825 to 1827 he edited a critical journal entitled _Kometen_ (The
Comet), and in company with Almqvist he founded the _Manhemsforbund_, a
short-lived society of agricultural socialists. In 1834 he collected his
poems in one volume; and in 1837 appeared his last book,
_Angbats-Sanger_ (Steamboat Songs). On the 1st of May 1844 he died at
Stockholm. Dahlgren is one of the best humorous writers that Sweden has
produced; but he was perhaps at his best in realistic and idyllic
description. His little poem of _Zephyr and the Girl_, which is to be
found in every selection from Swedish poetry, is a good example of his
sensuous and ornamented style.
His works were collected and published after his death by A. J.
Arwidsson (5 vols., Stockholm, 1847-1852).
DAHLIA, a genus of herbaceous plants of the natural order Compositae, so
called after Dr Dahl, a pupil of Linnaeus. The genus contains about nine
species indigenous in the high sandy plains of Mexico. The dahlia was
first introduced into Britain from Spain in 1789 by the marchioness of
Bute. The species was probably _D. variabilis_, whence by far the
majority of the forms now common have originated. The flowers, at the
time of the first introduction of the plant, were single, with a yellow
disk and dull scarlet rays; under cultivation since the beginning of the
19th century in France and England, flowers of numerous brilliant hues
have been produced. The flower has been modified also from a flat to a
globular shape, and the arrangement of the florets has been rendered
quite distinct in the ranunculus and anemone-like kinds. The ordinary
natural height of the dahlia is about 7 or 8 ft., but one of the dwarf
races grows to only 18 in. With changes in the flower, changes in the
shape of the seed have been brought about by cultivation; varieties of
the plant have been produced which require more moisture than others;
and the period of flowering has been made considerably earlier. In 1808
dahlias were described as flowering from September to November, but some
of the dwarf varieties at present grown are in full blossom in the
middle of June.
The large number of varieties may be classed as under the following
heads: (1) _Single dahlias_. These have been derived from _D. coccinea_;
they have a disk of tubular florets surrounded by the large showy ray
florets. (2) _Show dahlias_, large and double with flowers self-coloured
or pale-coloured and edged or tipped with a darker colour. (3) _Fancy
dahlias_, resembling the show but having the florets striped or tipped
with a second tint. (4) _Bouquet_ or _Pompon dahlias_, with much smaller
double flowers of various colours. (5) _Cactus dahlias_, derived from D.
Juarezi, a form which has given rise to a beautiful race with pointed
starry flowers. (6) _Paeony-flowered dahlias_, a new but not pretty
race, with large floppy heads, broad florets and several disk florets in
centre.
New varieties are procured from seed, which should be sown in pots or
pans towards the end of March, and placed in a hotbed or propagating
pit, the young plants being pricked off into pots or boxes, and
gradually hardened off for planting out in June; they will flower the
same season if the summer is a genial one. The older varieties are
propagated by dividing the large tuberous roots, in doing which care
must be taken to leave an eye to each portion of tuber, otherwise it
will not grow. Rare varieties are sometimes grafted on the roots of
others. The best and most general mode of propagation is by cuttings, to
obtain which, the old tubers are placed in heat in February, and as the
young shoots, which rise freely from them, attain the height of 3 in.,
they are taken off with a heel, and planted singly in small pots filled
with fine sandy soil, and plunged in a moderate heat. They root
speedily, and are then transferred to larger pots in light rich soil,
and their growth encouraged until the planting-out season arrives, about
the middle of June north of the Thames.
Dahlias succeed best in an open situation, and in rich deep loam, but
there is scarcely any garden soil in which they will not thrive, if it
is manured. For the production of fine show flowers the ground must be
deeply trenched, and well manured annually. The branches as well as the
blossoms require a considerable but judicious amount of thinning; they
also need shading in some cases. The plants should be protected from
cold winds, and when watered the whole of the foliage should be wetted.
They may stand singly like common border flowers, but have the most
imposing appearance when seen in masses arranged according to their
height. Florists usually devote a plot of ground to them, and plant them
in lines 5 to 10 ft. apart. This is done about the beginning of June,
sheltering them if necessary from late frosts by inverted pots or in
some other convenient way. Old roots often throw up a multitude of
stems, which render thinning necessary. As the plants increase in
height, they are furnished with strong stakes, to secure them from high
winds. Dahlias flower on till they are interrupted by frost in autumn.
The roots are then taken up, dried, and stored in a cellar, or some
other place where they may be secure from frost and moisture. Earwigs
are very destructive, eating out the young buds and florets. Small
flower-pots half filled with dry moss and inverted on stakes placed
among the branches, form a useful trap.
DAHLMANN, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPH (1785-1860), German historian and
politician, was born on the 13th of May 1785; he came of an old
Hanseatic family of Wismar, which then belonged to Sweden. His father,
who was the burgomaster of the town, intended him to study theology, but
his bent was towards classical philology, and this he studied from 1802
to 1806 at the universities of Copenhagen and Halle, and again at
Copenhagen. After finishing his studies, he translated some of the Greek
tragic poets, and the _Clouds_ of Aristophanes. But he was also
interested in modern literature and philosophy; and the troubles of the
times, of which he had personal experience, aroused in him, as in so
many of his contemporaries, a strong feeling of German patriotism,
though throughout his life he was always proud of his connexion with
Scandinavia, and Gustavus Adolphus was his particular hero. In 1809, on
the news of the outbreak of war in Austria, Dahlmann, together with the
poet Heinrich von Kleist, whom he had met in Dresden, went to Bohemia,
and was afterwards with the Imperial army, up till the battle of Aspern,
with the somewhat vague object of trying to convert the Austrian war
into a German one. This hope was shattered by the defeat of Wagram. He
now decided to try his fortunes in Denmark, where he had influential
relations. After taking his doctor's degree at Wittenberg (1810) he
qualified at Copenhagen in 1811, with an essay on the origins of the
ancient theatre, as a lecturer on ancient literature and history, on
which he delivered lectures in Latin. His influential friends soon
brought him further advancement. As early as 1812 he was summoned to
Kiel, as successor to the historian Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch
(1746-1812). This appointment was in two respects a decisive moment in
his career; on the one hand it made him give his whole attention to a
subject for which he was admirably suited, but to which he had so far
given only a secondary interest; and on the other hand, it threw him
into politics.
In 1815 he obtained, in addition to his professorate, the position of
secretary to the perpetual deputation of the estates of
Schleswig-Holstein. In this capacity he began, by means of memoirs or of
articles in the _Kieler Blatter_, which he founded himself, to appear as
an able and zealous champion of the half-forgotten rights of the Elbe
duchies, as against Denmark, and of their close connexion with Germany.
It was he upon whom the Danes afterwards threw the blame of having
invented the Schleswig-Holstein question; certainly his activities form
an important link in the chain of events which eventually led to the
solution of 1864. So far as this interest affected himself, the chief
profit lay in the fact that it deepened his conception of the state, and
directed it to more practical ends. Whereas at that time mere
speculation dominated both the French Liberalism of the school of
Rotteck, and Karl Ludwig von Haller's Romanticist doctrine of the
Christian state, Dahlmann took as his premisses the circumstances as he
found them, and evolved the new out of the old by a quiet process of
development. Moreover, in the inevitable conflict with the Danish crown
his upright point of view and his German patriotism were further
confirmed. After his transference to Gottingen in 1829 he had the
opportunity of working in the same spirit. As confidant of the duke of
Cambridge, he was allowed to take a share in framing the Hanoverian
constitution of 1833, which remodelled the old aristocratic government
in a direction which had become inevitable since the July revolution in
Paris; and when in 1837 the new king Ernest Augustus declared the
constitution invalid, it was Dahlmann who inspired the famous protest of
the seven professors of Gottingen. He was deprived of his position and
banished, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that German national
feeling received a mighty impulse from his courageous action, while
public subscriptions prevented him from material cares.
After he had lived for several years in Leipzig and Jena, King Frederick
William IV. appointed him in October 1842 to a professorship at Bonn.
The years that followed were those of his highest celebrity. His
_Politik_ (1835) had already made him a great name as a writer; he now
published his _Danische Geschichte_ (1840-1843), a historical work of
the first rank; and this was soon followed by histories of the English
and French revolutions, which, though of less scientific value,
exercised a decisive influence upon public opinion by their open
advocacy of the system of constitutional monarchy. As a teacher too he
was much beloved. Though no orator, and in spite of a personality not
particularly amiable or winning, he produced a profound impression upon
young men by the pregnancy of his expression, a consistent logical
method of thought based on Kant and by the manliness of his character.
When the revolution of 1848 broke out, the "father of German
nationality," as the provisional government at Milan called him, found
himself the centre of universal interest. Both Mecklenburg and Prussia
offered him in vain the post of envoy to the diet of the confederation.
Naturally, too, he was elected to the national assembly at Frankfort,
and took a leading part in the constitutional committees appointed first
by the diet, then by the parliament. His object was to make Germany as
far as possible a united constitutional monarchy, with the exclusion of
the whole of Austria, or at least, of its non-German parts. Prussia was
to provide the emperor, but at the same time--and in this lay the
doctrinaire weakness of the system--was to give up its separate
existence, consecrated by history, in the same way as the other states.
When, therefore, Frederick William IV., without showing any anxiety to
bind himself by the conditions laid down at Frankfort, concluded with
Denmark the seven months' truce of Malmo (26th August 1848), Dahlmann
proposed that the national parliament should refuse to recognize the
truce, with the express intention of clearing up once for all the
relations of the parliament with the court of Berlin. The motion was
passed by a small majority (September 5th); but the members of
Dahlmann's party were just those who voted against it, and it was they
who on the 17th of September reversed the previous vote and passed a
resolution accepting the truce, after Dahlmann had failed to form a
ministry on the basis of the resolution of the 5th, owing to his
objection to the Radicals. Dahlmann afterwards described this as the
decisive turning-point in the fate of the parliament. He did not,
however, at once give up all hope. Though he took but little active part
in parliamentary debates, he was very active on commissions and in party
conferences, and it was largely owing to him that a German constitution
was at last evolved, and that Frederick William IV. was elected
hereditary emperor (28th of March 1849). He was accordingly one of the
deputation which offered the crown to the king in Berlin. The king's
refusal was less of a surprise to him than to most of his colleagues. He
counted on being able to compel recognition of the constitution by the
moral pressure of the consent of the people. It was only when the
attitude of the Radicals made it clear to him that this course would
lead to a revolution, that he decided, after a long struggle, to retire
from the national parliament (21st May). He was still, however, one of
the chief promoters of the well-known conference of the imperial party
at Gotha, the proceedings of which were not, however, satisfactory to
him; and he took part in the sessions of the first Prussian chamber
(1849-1850) and of the parliament of Erfurt (1850). But finally,
convinced that for the moment all efforts towards the unity of Germany
were unavailing, he retired from political life, though often pressed to
stand for election, and again took up his work of teaching at Bonn. His
last years were, however, saddened by illness, bereavement and continual
friction with his colleagues. His death took place on the 5th of
December 1860, following on an apoplectic fit. He was a man whose
personality had contributed to the progress of the world, and whose
teaching was to continue to exercise a far-reaching influence on the
development of German affairs.
His chief works were:--_Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte nach der
Folge der Begebenheiten geordnet_ (1830, 7th edition of Dahlmann-Waitz,
_Quellenkunde_, Leipzig, 1906); _Politik, auf den Grund und das Mass der
gegebenen Zustande zuruckgefuhrt_ (1 vol., 1835); _Geschichte Danemarks_
(3 vols., 1840-1843); _Geschichte der englischen Revolution_ (1844);
_Geschichte der franzosischen Revolution_ (1845).
See A. Springer, _Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann_ (2 vols., 1870-1872);
and H. v. Treitschke, _Histor. und polit. Aufsatze_, i. 365 et seq.
(F. Lu.)
DAHLSTJERNA, GUNNO (1661-1709), Swedish poet, whose original surname was
Eurelius, was born on the 7th of September 1661 in the parish of Ohr in
Dalsland, where his father was rector. He entered the university of
Upsala in 1677, and after gaining his degree entered the government
office of land-surveying. He was sent in 1681 on professional business
to Livonia, then under Swedish rule. A dissertation read at Leipzig in
1687 brought him the offer of a professorial chair in the university,
which he refused. Returning to Sweden he executed commissions in
land-surveying directed by King Charles XI., and in 1699 he became head
of the whole department. In 1702 he was ennobled under the name of
Dahlstjerna. He wandered over the whole of the coast of the Baltic,
Livonia, Rugen and Pomerania, preparing maps which still exist in the
office of public land-surveying in Stockholm. His death, which took
place in Pomerania on his forty-eighth birthday, 7th of September 1709,
is said to have been hastened by the disastrous news of the battle of
Poltava. Dahlstjerna's patriotism was touching in its pathos and
intensity, and during his long periods of professional exile he
comforted himself by the composition of songs to his beloved Sweden. His
genius was most irregular, but at his best he easily surpasses all the
Swedish poets of his time. His best-known original work is _Kungaskald_
(Stettin, 1697), an elegy on the death of Charles XI. It is written in
alexandrines, arranged in _ottava rima_. The poem is pompous and
allegorical, but there are passages full of melody and high thoughts.
Dahlstjerna was a reformer in language, and it has been well said by
Atterbom that in this poem "he treats the Swedish speech just as
dictatorially as Charles XI. and Charles XII. treated the Swedish
nation." In 1690 was printed at Stettin his paraphrase of the _Pastor
Fido_ of Guarini. His most popular work is his _Gotha kampavisa om
Konungen och Herr Peder_ (The Goth's Battle Song, concerning the King
and Master Peter; Stockholm, 1701). The King is Charles XII. and Master
Peter is the tsar of Russia. This spirited ballad lived almost until our
own days on the lips of the people as a folk-song.
The works of Dahlstjerna have been collected by P. Hanselli, in the
_Samlade Vitterhetsarbeten af svenska Forfattare fran Stjernhjelm till
Dalin_ (Upsala, 1856, &c.).
DAHN, JULIUS SOPHUS FELIX (1834- ), German historian, jurist and poet,
was born on the 9th of February 1834 in Hamburg, where his father,
Friedrich Dahn (1811-1889), was a leading actor at the city theatre. His
mother, Constance Dahn, nee Le Gay, was a noted actress. In 1834 the
family moved to Munich, where the parents took leading roles in the
classical German drama, until they retired from the stage: the mother in
1865 and the father in 1878. Felix Dahn studied law and philosophy in
Munich and Berlin from 1849 to 1853. His first works were in
jurisprudence, _Uber die Wirkung der Klagverjahrung bei Obligationen_
(Munich, 1855), and _Studien zur Geschichte der germanischen
Gottesurteile_ (Munich, 1857). In 1857 he became docent in German law at
Munich university, and in 1862 professor-extraordinary, but in 1863 was
called to Wurzburg to a full professorship. In 1872 he removed to the
university of Konigsberg, and in 1888 settled at Breslau, becoming
rector of the university in 1895. Meanwhile in addition to many legal
works of high standing, he had begun the publication of that long series
of histories and historical romances which has made his name a household
word in Germany. The great history of the German migrations, _Die Konige
der Germanen_, Bande i.-vi. (Munich and Wurzburg, 1861-1870), Bande
vii.-xi. (Leipzig, 1894-1908), was a masterly study in constitutional
history as well as a literary work of high merit, which carries the
narrative down to the dissolution of the Carolingian empire. In his
_Urgeschichte der germanischen und romanischen Volker_ (Berlin,
1881-1890), Dahn went a step farther back still, but here as in his
_Geschichte der deutschen Urzeit_ (Gotha, 1883-1888), a wealth of
picturesque detail has been worked over and resolved into history with
such imaginative insight and critical skill as to make real and present
the indistinct beginnings of German society. Together with these larger
works Dahn wrote many monographs and studies upon primitive German
society. Many of his essays were collected in a series of six volumes
entitled _Bausteine_ (Berlin, 1879-1884). Not less important than his
histories are the historical romances, the best-known of which, _Ein
Kampf um Rom_, in four volumes (Leipzig, 1876), which has gone through
many later editions, was also the first of the series. Others are
_Odhins Trost_ (Leipzig, 1880); _Die Kreuzfahrer_ (Leipzig, 1884);
_Odhins Rache_ (Leipzig, 1891); _Julian der Abtrunnige_ (Leipzig, 1894),
and one of the most popular, _Bis zum Tode getreu_ (Leipzig, 1887). The
list is too long to be given in full, yet almost all are well-known.
Parallel with this great production of learned and imaginative works,
Dahn published some twenty small volumes of poetry. The most notable of
these are the epics of the early German period. His wife Therese, _nee_
Freiin von Droste-Hulshoff, was joint-author with him of _Walhall,
Germanische Gotter und Heldensagen_ (Leipzig, 1898).
A collected edition of his works of fiction, both in prose and verse,
has reached twenty-one volumes (Leipzig, 1898), and a new edition was
published in 1901. Dahn also published four volumes of memoirs,
_Erinnerungen_ (Leipzig, 1890-1895).
DAHOMEY (Fr. _Dahome_), a country of West Africa, formerly an
independent kingdom, now a French colony. Dahomey is bounded S. by the
Gulf of Guinea, E. by Nigeria (British), N. and N.W. by the French
possessions on the middle Niger, and W. by the German colony of
Togoland. The French colony extends far north of the limits of the
ancient kingdom of the same name. With a coast-line of only 75 m. (1
deg. 38' E. to 2 deg. 46' 55" E.), the area of the colony is about
40,000 sq. m., and the population over 1,000,000. As far as 9 deg. N.
the width of the colony is no greater than the coast-line. From this
point, the colony broadens out both eastward and westward, attaining a
maximum width of 200 m. It includes the western part of Borgu (q.v.),
and reaches the Niger at a spot a little above Illo. Its greatest length
N. to S. is 430 m.
_Physical Features._--The littoral, part of the old Slave Coast (see
GUINEA,), is very low, sandy and obstructed by a bar. Behind the
seashore is a line of lagoons, where small steamers can ply; east to
west they are those of Porto Novo (or Lake Nokue), Whydah and Grand
Popo. The Weme (300 m. long), known in its upper course as the Ofe, the
most important river running south, drains the colony from the Bariba
country to Porto Novo, entering the lagoon so named. The Zu is a western
affluent of the Weme. Farther west is the Kuffu (150 m. long), which,
before entering the Whydah lagoon, broadens out into a lake or lagoon
called Aheme, 20 m. long by 5 m. broad. The Makru and Kergigoto, each of
which has various affluents, flow north-east to the Niger, which in the
part of its course forming the north-east frontier of the colony is only
navigable for small vessels and that with great difficulty (see NIGER).
For some 50 m. inland the country is flat, and, after the first mile or
two of sandy waste is passed, covered with dense vegetation. At this
distance (50 m.) from the coast is a great swamp known as the Lama
Marsh. It extends east to west some 25 m. and north to south 6 to 9 m.
North of the swamp the land rises by regular stages to about 1650 ft.,
the high plateau falling again to the basin of the Niger. In the
north-west a range of hills known as the Atacora forms a watershed
between the basins of the Weme, the Niger and the Volta. A large part of
the interior consists of undulating country, rather barren, with
occasional patches of forest. The forests contain the baobab, the
coco-nut palm and the oil palm. The fauna resembles that of other parts
of the West Coast, but the larger wild animals, such as the elephant and
hippopotamus, are rare. The lion is found in the regions bordering the
Niger. Some kinds of antelopes are common; the buffalo has disappeared.
_Climate._--The climate of the coast regions is very hot and moist. Four
seasons are well marked: the harmattan or long dry season, from the 1st
December to the 15th March; the season of the great rains, from the 15th
March to the 15th July; the short dry season, from the 15th July to the
15th September; and the "little rains," from the 15th September to the
1st December. Near the sea the average temperature is about 80 deg. F.
The harmattan prevails for several days in succession, and alternates
with winds from the south and south-west. During its continuance the
thermometer falls about 10 deg., there is not the slightest moisture in
the atmosphere, vegetation dries up or droops, the skin parches and
peels, and all woodwork is liable to warp and crack with a loud report.
Tornadoes occur occasionally. During nine months of the year the climate
is tempered by a sea-breeze, which is felt as far inland as Abomey (60
m.). It generally begins in the morning, and in the summer it often
increases to a stiff gale at sundown. In the interior there are but two
seasons: the dry season (November to May) and the rainy season (June to
October). The rains are more scanty and diminish considerably in the
northern regions.
_Inhabitants._--The inhabitants of the coast region are of pure negro
stock. The Dahomeyans (Dahomi), who inhabit the central part of the
colony, form one of eighteen closely-allied clans occupying the country
between the Volta and Porto Novo, and from their common tongue known as
the Ewe-speaking tribes. In their own tongue Dahomeyans are called Fon
or Fawin. They are tall and well-formed, proud, reserved in demeanour,
polite in their intercourse with strangers, war-like and keen traders.
The Mina, who occupy the district of the Popos, are noted for their
skill as surf-men, which has gained for them the title of the Krumen of
Dahomey. Porto Novo is inhabited by a tribe called Nago, which has an
admixture of Yoruba blood and speaks a Yoruba dialect. The Nago are a
peaceful tribe and even keener traders than the Dahomi. In Whydah and
other coast towns are many mulattos, speaking Portuguese and bearing
high-sounding Portuguese names. In the north the inhabitants--Mahi,
Bariba, Gurmai,--are also of Negro stock, but scarcely so civilized as
the coast tribes. Settled among them are communities of Fula and Hausas.
There are many converts to Islam in the northern districts, but the Mahi
and Dahomeyans proper are nearly all fetish worshippers.
_Chief Towns._--The chief port and the seat of government is Kotonu, the
starting-point of a railway to the Niger. An iron pier, which extends
well beyond the surf, affords facilities for shipping. Kotonu was
originally a small village which served as the seaport of Porto Novo and
was burnt to the ground in 1890. It has consequently the advantage of
being a town laid out by Europeans on a definite plan. Situated on the
beach between the sea and the lagoon of Porto Novo, the soil consists of
heavy sand. Good hard roads have been made. Owing to an almost
continuous, cool, westerly sea-breeze, Kotonu is, in comparison with the
other coast towns, decidedly healthy for white men. Porto Novo (pop.
about 50,000), the former French headquarters and chief business centre,
is on the northern side of the lagoon of the same name and 20 m.
north-east of Kotonu by water. The town has had many names, and that by
which it is known to Europeans was given by the Portuguese in the 17th
century. It contains numerous churches and mosques, public buildings and
merchants' residences. Whydah, 23 m. west of Kotonu, is an old and
formerly thickly-populated town. Its population is now about 15,000. It
is built on the north bank of the coast lagoon about 2 m. from the sea.
There is no harbour at the beach, and landing is effected in boats made
expressly to pass through the surf, here particularly heavy. Whydah,
during the period of the slave-trade, was divided into five quarters:
the English, French, Portuguese, Brazilian and native. The three first
quarters once had formidable forts, of which the French fort alone
survives. In consequence of the thousands of orange and citron trees
which adorn it, Whydah is called "the garden of Dahomey." West of
Whydah, on the coast and near the frontier of Togoland, is the trading
town of Grand Popo. Inland in Dahomey proper are Abomey (q.v.), the
ancient capital, Allada, Kana (formerly the country residence and
burial-place of the kings of Dahomey) and Dogba. In the hinterland are
Carnotville (a town of French creation), Nikki and Paraku, Borgu towns,
and Garu, on the right bank of the Niger near the British frontier, the
terminus of the railway from the coast.
_Agriculture and Trade._--The agriculture, trade and commerce of Dahomey
proper are essentially different from that of the hinterland (_Haut
Dahome_). The soil of Dahomey proper is naturally fertile and is capable
of being highly cultivated. It consists of a rich clay of a deep red
colour. Finely-powdered quartz and yellow mica are met with, denoting
the deposit of disintegrated granite from the interior. The principal
product is palm-oil, which is made in large quantities throughout the
country. The district of Toffo is particularly noted for its oil-palm
orchards. Palm-wine is also made, but the manufacture is discouraged as
the process destroys the tree. Next to palm-oil the principal vegetable
products are maize, guinea-corn, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes,
plantains, coco-nuts, oranges, limes and the African apple, which grows
almost wild. The country also produces ground-nuts, kola-nuts,
pine-apples, guavas, spices of all kinds, ginger, okros (_Hibiscus_),
sugar-cane, onions, tomatoes and papaws. Plantations of rubber trees and
vines have been made. Cattle, sheep, goats and fowls are scarce. There
is a large fishing industry in the lagoons. Round the villages, and here
and there in the forest, clearings are met with, cultivated in places,
but agriculture is in a backward condition. In the grassy uplands of the
interior cattle and horses thrive, and cotton of a fairly good quality
is grown by the inhabitants for their own use. The prosperity of the
country depends chiefly on the export of palm-oil and palm-kernels.
Copra, kola-nuts, rubber and dried fish are also exported, the fish
going to Lagos. The adulteration of the palm-kernels by the natives,
which became a serious menace to trade, was partially checked
(1900-1903) by measures taken to ensure the inspection of the kernels
before shipment. Trade is mainly with Germany and Great Britain, a large
proportion of the cargo passing through the British port of Lagos. Only
some 25% of the commerce is with France. Cotton goods (chiefly from
Great Britain), machinery and metals, alcohol (from Germany) and tobacco
are the chief imports. The volume of trade, which had increased from
L701,000 in 1898 to L1,230,000 in 1902, declined in 1903 to L826,000 in
consequence of the failure of rain, this causing a decrease in the
production of palm-oil and kernels. In 1904 the total rose to L873,399.
In 1905 the figure was L734,667, and in 1907 L853,051. By the
Anglo-French Convention of 1898 the imposition of differential duties on
goods of British origin was forbidden for a period of thirty years from
that date.
_Communications._--The Dahomey railway from Kotonu to the Niger is of
metre gauge (3.28 ft.). Work was begun in 1900, and in 1902 the main
line was completed to Toffo, a distance of 55 m. Some difficulty was
then encountered in crossing the Lama Marsh, but by the end of 1905 the
railway had been carried through Abomey to Pauignan, 120 m. from Kotonu.
In 1907 the rails had reached Paraku, 150 m. farther north. A branch
railway from the main line serves the western part of the colony. It
goes via Whydah to Segborue on Lake Aheme. Besides the railways, tramway
lines exist in various parts of Dahomey. One, 28 m. long, runs from
Porto Novo through the market-town of Adjara to Sakete, close to the
British frontier in the direction of Lagos. This line serves a belt of
country rich in oil-palms. Kotonu is a regular port of call for steamers
from Europe to the West Coast, and there is also regular steamship
communication along the lagoons between Porto Novo and Lagos. There is a
steamboat service between Porto Novo and Kotonu. A telegraph line
connects Kotonu with Abomey, the Niger and Senegal.
_Administration._--The colony is administered by a lieutenant-governor,
assisted by a council composed of official and unofficial members. The
colony is divided into territories annexed, territories protected, and
"territories of political action," but for administrative purposes the
division is into "circles" or provinces. Over each circle is an
administrator with extensive powers. Except in the annexed territories
the native states are maintained under French supervision, and native
laws and customs, as far as possible, retained. Natives, however, may
place themselves under the jurisdiction of the French law. Such natives
are known as "Assimiles." In general the administrative system is the
same as that for all the colonies of French West Africa (q.v.). The
chief source of revenue is the customs, while the capitation tax
contributes most to the local budget.
_History._--The kingdom of Dahomey, like those of Benin and Ashanti, is
an instance of a purely negro and pagan state, endowed with a highly
organized government, and possessing a certain amount of indigenous
civilization and culture. Its history begins about the commencement of
the 17th century. At that period the country now known as Dahomey was
included in the extensive kingdom of Allada or Ardrah, of which the
capital was the present town of Allada, on the road from Whydah to
Abomey. Allada became dismembered on the death of a reigning sovereign,
and three separate kingdoms were constituted under his three sons. One
state was formed by one brother round the old capital of Allada, and
retained the name of Allada or Ardrah; another brother migrated to the
east and formed a state known under the name of Porto Novo; while the
third brother, Takudonu, travelled northwards, and after some
vicissitudes established the kingdom of Dahomey. The word Dahomey means
"in Danh's belly," and is explained by the following legend which, says
Sir Richard Burton, "is known (1864) to everybody in the kingdom."
Takudonu having settled in a town called Uhwawe encroached on the land
of a neighbouring chief named Danh (the snake). Takudonu wearied Danh by
perpetual demands for land, and the chief one day exclaimed in anger
"soon thou wilt build in my belly." So it came to pass. Takudonu slew
Danh and over his grave built himself a palace which was called Dahomey,
a name thenceforth adopted by the new king's followers. About 1724-1728
Dahomey, having become a powerful state, invaded and conquered
successively Allada and Whydah. The Whydahs made several attempts to
recover their freedom, but without success; while on the other hand the
Dahomeyans failed in all their expeditions against Grand Popo, a town
founded by refugee Whydahs on a lagoon to the west. It is related that
the repulses they met with in that quarter led to the order that no
Dahomeyan warrior was to enter a canoe. Porto Novo at the beginning of
the 19th century became tributary to Dahomey.
Such was the state of affairs at the accession of King Gezo about the
year 1818. This monarch, who reigned forty years, raised the power of
Dahomey to its highest pitch, extending greatly the border of his
kingdom to the north. He boasted of having first organized the Amazons,
a force of women to whom he attributed his successes. The Amazons,
however, were state soldiery long before Gezo's reign, and what that
monarch really did was to reorganize and strengthen the force.
In 1851 Gezo attacked Abeokuta in the Yoruba country and the centre of
the Egba power, but was beaten back. In the same year the king signed a
commercial treaty with France, in which Gezo also undertook to preserve
"the integrity of the territory belonging to the French fort" at Whydah.
The fort referred to was one built in the 17th century, and in 1842 made
over to a French mercantile house. England, Portugal and Brazil also had
"forts" at Whydah--all in a ruinous condition and ungarrisoned. But when
in 1852 England, to prevent the slave-trade, blockaded the Dahomeyan
coast, energetic protests were made by Portugal and France, based on the
existence of these "forts." In 1858 Gezo died. He had greatly reduced
the custom of human sacrifice, and left instructions that after his
death there was to be no general sacrifice of the palace women.
Gezo was succeeded by his son Glegle (or Gelele), whose attacks on
neighbouring states, persecution of native Christians, and encouragement
of the slave-trade involved him in difficulties with Great Britain and
with France. It was, said Earl Russell, foreign secretary, to check "the
aggressive spirit of the king of Dahomey" that England in 1861 annexed
the island of Lagos. Nevertheless in the following year Glegle captured
Ishagga and in 1864 unsuccessfully attacked Abeokuta, both towns in the
Lagos hinterland. In 1863 Commander Wilmot, R.N., and in 1864 Sir
Richard Burton (the explorer and orientalist) were sent on missions to
the king, but their efforts to induce the Dahomeyans to give up human
sacrifices, slave-trading, &c. met with no success. In 1863, however, a
step was taken by France which was the counterpart of the British
annexation of Lagos. In that year the kingdom of Porto Novo accepted a
French protectorate, and an Anglo-French agreement of 1864 fixed its
boundaries. This protectorate was soon afterwards abandoned by Napoleon
III., but was re-established in 1882. At this period the rivalry of
European powers for possessions in Africa was becoming acute, and German
agents appeared on the Dahomeyan coast. However, by an arrangement
concluded in 1885, the German protectorate in Guinea was confined to
Togo, save for the town of Little Popo at the western end of the lagoon
of Grand Popo. In January 1886 Portugal--in virtue of her ancient rights
at Whydah--announced that she had assumed a protectorate over the
Dahomeyan coast, but she was induced by France to withdraw her
protectorate in December 1887. Finally, the last international
difficulty in the way of France was removed by the Anglo-French
agreement of 1889, whereby Kotonu was surrendered by Great Britain.
France claimed rights at Kotonu in virtue of treaties concluded with
Glegle in 1868 and 1878, but the chiefs of the town had placed
themselves under the protection of the British at Lagos.
With the arrangements between the European powers the Dahomeyans had
little to do, and in 1889, the year in which the Anglo-French agreement
was signed, trouble arose between Glegle and the French. The Dahomeyans
were the more confident, as through German and other merchants at Whydah
they were well supplied with modern arms and ammunition. Glegle claimed
the right to collect the customs at Kotonu, and to depose the king of
Porto Novo, and proceeded to raid the territory of that potentate (his
brother). A French mission sent to Abomey failed to come to an agreement
with the Dahomeyans, who attributed the misunderstandings to the fact
that there was no longer a king in France! Glegle died on the 28th of
December 1889, two days after the French mission had left his capital.
He was succeeded by his son Behanzin. A French force was landed at
Kotonu, and severe fighting followed in which the Amazons played a
conspicuous part. In October 1890 a treaty was signed which secured to
France Porto Novo and Kotonu, and to the king of Dahomey an annual
pension of L800. It was unlikely that peace on such terms would prove
lasting, and Behanzin's slave-raiding expeditions led in 1892 to a new
war with France. General A. A. Dodds was placed in command of a strong
force of Europeans and Senegalese, and after a sharp campaign during
September and October completely defeated the Dahomeyan troops. Behanzin
set fire to Abomey (entered by the French troops on the 17th of
November) and fled north. Pursued by the enemy, abandoned by his people,
he surrendered unconditionally on the 25th of January 1894, and was
deported to Martinique, being transferred in 1906 to Algeria, where he
died on the 10th of December of the same year.
Thus ended the independent existence of Dahomey. The French divided the
kingdom in two--Abomey and Allada--placing on the throne of Abomey a
brother of the exiled monarch. Chief among the causes which led to the
collapse of the Dahomeyan kingdom was the system which devoted the
flower of its womanhood to the profession of arms.
Whydah and the adjacent territory was annexed to France by General Dodds
on the 3rd of December 1892, and the rest of Dahomey placed under a
French protectorate at the same time. The prince who had been made king
of Abomey was found intriguing against the French, and in 1900 was
exiled by them to the Congo, and with him disappeared the last vestige
of Dahomeyan sovereignty.
Dahomey conquered, the French at once set to work to secure as much of
the hinterland as possible. On the north they penetrated to the Niger,
on the east they entered Borgu (a country claimed by the Royal Niger
Company for Great Britain), on the west they overlapped the territory
claimed by Germany as the hinterland of Togo. The struggle with Great
Britain and Germany for supremacy in this region forms one of the most
interesting chapters in the story of the partition of Africa. In the
result France succeeded in securing a junction between Dahomey and her
other possessions in West Africa, but failed to secure any part of the
Niger navigable from the sea (see AFRICA: _History_, and NIGERIA). A
Franco-German convention of 1897 settled the boundary on the west, and
the Anglo-French convention of the 14th of June 1898 defined the
frontier on the east. In 1899, on the disintegration of the French
Sudan, the districts of Fada N'Gurma and Say, lying north of Borgu, were
added to Dahomey, but in 1907 they were transferred to Upper
Senegal-Niger, with which colony they are closely connected both
geographically and ethnographically. From 1894 onward the French devoted
great attention to the development of the material resources of the
country.
_The "Customs."_--Reference has already been made to the Dahomey
"Customs," which gave the country an infamous notoriety. The "Customs"
appear to date from the middle of the 17th century, and were of two
kinds: the grand Customs performed on the death of a king; and the minor
Customs, held twice a year. The horrors of these saturnalia of bloodshed
were attributable not to a love of cruelty but to filial piety. Upon the
death of a king human victims were sacrificed at his grave to supply him
with wives, attendants, &c. in the spirit world. The grand Customs
surpassed the annual rites in splendour and bloodshed. At those held in
1791 during January, February and March, it is stated that no fewer than
500 men, women and children were put to death. The minor Customs were
first heard of in Europe in the early years of the 18th century. They
formed continuations of the grand Customs, and "periodically supplied
the departed monarch with fresh attendants in the shadowy world." The
actual slaughter was preluded by dancing, feasting, speechmaking and
elaborate ceremonial. The victims, chiefly prisoners of war, were
dressed in calico shirts decorated round the neck and down the sleeves
with red bindings, and with a crimson patch on the left breast, and wore
long white night-caps with spirals of blue ribbon sewn on. Some of them,
tied in baskets, were at one stage of the proceedings taken to the top
of a high platform, together with an alligator, a cat and a hawk in
similar baskets, and paraded on the heads of the Amazons. The king then
made a speech explaining that the victims were sent to testify to his
greatness in spirit-land, the men and the animals each to their kind.
They were then hurled down into the middle of a surging crowd of
natives, and butchered. At another stage of the festival human
sacrifices were offered at the shrine of the king's ancestors, and the
blood was sprinkled on their graves. This was known as _Zan Nyanyana_ or
"evil night," the king going in procession with his wives and officials
and himself executing the doomed. These semi-public massacres formed
only a part of the slaughter, for many women, eunuchs and others within
the palace were done to death privately. The skulls were used to adorn
the palace walls, and the king's sleeping-chamber was paved with the
heads of his enemies. The skulls of the conquered kings were turned into
royal drinking cups, their conversion to this use being esteemed an
honour. Sir Richard Burton insists (_A Mission to Gelele, King of
Dahome_) that the horrors of these rites were greatly exaggerated. For
instance, the story that the king floated a canoe in a tank of human
blood was, he writes, quite untrue. He denies, too, that the victims
were tortured, and affirms that on the contrary they were treated
humanely, and, in many cases, even acquiesced in their fate. It seems
that cannibalism was a sequel of the Customs, the bodies of the
slaughtered being roasted and devoured smoking hot. On the death of the
king the wives, after the most extravagant demonstrations of grief,
broke and destroyed everything within their reach, and attacked and
murdered each other, the uproar continuing until order was restored by
the new sovereign.
_Amazonian Army._--The training of women as soldiers was the most
singular Dahomeyan institution. About one-fourth of the whole female
population were said to be "married to the fetich," many even before
their birth, and the remainder were entirely at the disposal of the
king. The most favoured were selected as his own wives or enlisted into
the regiments of Amazons, and then the chief men were liberally
supplied. Of the female captives the most promising were drafted into
the ranks as soldiers, and the rest became Amazonian camp followers and
slaves in the royal households. These female levies formed the flower of
the Dahomeyan army. They were marshalled in regiments, each with its
distinctive uniform and badges, and they took the post of honour in all
battles. Their number has been variously stated. Sir R. F. Burton, in
1862, who saw the army marching out of Kana on an expedition, computed
the whole force of female troops at 2500, of whom one-third were unarmed
or only half-armed. Their weapons were blunderbusses, flint muskets, and
bows and arrows. A later writer estimated the number of Amazons at 1000,
and the male soldiers at 10,000. The system of warfare was one of
surprise. The army marched out, and, when within a few days' journey of
the town to be attacked, silence was enjoined and no fires permitted.
The regular highways were avoided, and the advance was by a road
specially cut through the bush. The town was surrounded at night, and
just before daybreak a rush was made and every soul captured if
possible; none were killed except in self-defence, as the first object
was to capture, not to kill. The season usually selected for expeditions
was from January to March, or immediately after the annual "Customs."
The Amazons were carefully trained, and the king was in the habit of
holding "autumn manoeuvres" for the benefit of foreigners. Many
Europeans have witnessed a mimic assault, and agree in ascribing a
marvellous power of endurance to the women. Lines of thorny acacia were
piled up one behind the other to represent defences, and at a given
signal the Amazons, barefooted and without any special protection,
charged and disappeared from sight. Presently they emerged within the
lines torn and bleeding, but apparently insensible to pain, and the
parade closed with a march past, each warrior leading a pretended
captive bound with a rope.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Notre Colonie de Dahomey_, by G. Francois (Paris,
1906), and _Le Dahomey_ (1909), an official publication, deal with
topography, ethnography and economics; L. Brunet and L. Giethlen,
_Dahomey et dependances_ (Paris, 1900); Edouard Foa, _Le Dahomey_
(Paris, 1895). Religion, laws and language are specially dealt with in
_Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, by A. B. Ellis (London,
1890), and in _La Cote des Esclaves et le Dahomey_, by P. Bouche
(Paris, 1885). Much historical matter, with particular notices of the
Amazons and the "Customs," is contained in _A Mission to Gelele_, by
Sir R. Burton (London, 1864). The story of the French conquest is told
in _Campagne du Dahomey_, by Jules Poirier (Paris, 1895). The standard
authority on the early history is _The History of Dahomey_, by
Archibald Dalzel (sometime governor of the English fort at Whydah)
(London, 1793). The annual _Reports_ issued by the British, Foreign,
and French Colonial Offices may be consulted, and the _Bibliographie
raisonnee des ouvrages concernant le Dahomey_, by A. Pawlowski (Paris,
1895), is a useful guide to the literature of the country to that
date. A _Carte du Dahomey_, by A. Meunier, (3 sheets, scale
1:500,000), was published in Paris, 1907.
DAILLE (DALLAEUS), JEAN (1594-1670), French Protestant divine, was born
at Chatellerault and educated at Poitiers and Saumur. From 1612 to 1621
he was tutor to two of the grandsons of Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du
Plessis Marly. Ordained to the ministry in 1623, he was for some time
private chaplain to Du Plessis Mornay, whose memoirs he subsequently
wrote. In 1625 Daille was appointed minister of the church of Saumur,
and in 1626 was chosen by the Paris consistory to be minister of the
church of Charenton. Of his works, which are principally controversial,
the best known is the treatise _Du vrai emploi des Peres_ (1631),
translated into English by Thomas Smith under the title _A Treatise
concerning the right use of the Fathers_ (1651). The work attacks those
who made the authority of the Fathers conclusive on matters of faith and
practice. Daille contends that the text of the Fathers is often corrupt,
and that even when it is correct their reasoning is often illogical. In
his _Sermons_ on the Philippians and Colossians, Daille vindicated his
claim to rank as a great preacher as well as an able controversialist.
He was president of the last national synod held in France, which met at
Loudun in 1659 (H. M. Baird, _The Huguenots and the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes_, 1895, i. pp. 412 ff.), when, as in the _Apologie des
Synodes d'Alencon et de Charenton_ (1655), he defended the universalism
of Moses Amyraut. He wrote also _Apologie pour les Eglises Reformees_
and _La Foy fondee sur les Saintes Ecritures_. His life was written by
his son Adrien, who retired to Zurich at the revocation of the edict of
Nantes.
DAIRY and DAIRY-FARMING (from the Mid. Eng. _deieris_, from _dey_, a
maid-servant, particularly one about a farm; cf. Norw. _deia_, as in
_bu-deia_, a maid in charge of live-stock, and in other compounds; thus
"dairy" means that part of the farm buildings where the "dey" works).
Milk, either in its natural state, or in the form of butter and cheese,
is an article of diet so useful, wholesome and palatable, that dairy
management, which includes all that concerns its production and
treatment, constitutes a most important branch of husbandry. The
physical conditions of the different countries of the world have
determined in each case the most suitable animal for dairy purposes. The
Laplander obtains his supplies of milk from his rein-deer, the roving
Tatar from his mares, and the Bedouin of the desert from his camels. In
the temperate regions of the earth many pastoral tribes subsist mainly
upon the milk of the sheep. In some rocky regions the goat is invaluable
as a milk-yielder; and the buffalo is equally so amid the swamps and
jungles of tropical climates. The milking of ewes was once a common
practice in Great Britain; but it has fallen into disuse because of its
hurtful effects upon the flock. A few milch asses and goats are here and
there kept for the benefit of infants or invalids; but with these
exceptions the cow is the only animal now used for dairy purposes.
No branch of agriculture underwent greater changes during the closing
quarter of the 19th century than dairy-farming; within the period named,
indeed, the dairying industry may be said to have been revolutionized.
The two great factors in this modification were the introduction about
the year 1880 of the centrifugal cream-separator, whereby the old slow
system of raising cream in pans was dispensed with, and the invention
some ten years later of a quick and easy method of ascertaining the fat
content of samples of milk without having to resort to the tedious
processes of chemical analysis. About the year 1875 the agriculturists
of the United Kingdom, influenced by various economic causes, began to
turn their thoughts more intently in the direction of dairy-farming, and
to the increased production of milk and cream, butter and cheese. On the
24th of October 1876 was held the first London dairy show, under the
auspices of a committee of agriculturists, and it has been followed by a
similar show in every subsequent year. The official report of the
pioneer show stated that "there was a much larger attendance and a
greater amount of enthusiasm in the movement than even the most sanguine
of its promoters anticipated." On the day named Professor J. Prince
Sheldon read at the show a paper on the dairying industry, and proposed
the formation of a society to be called the British Dairy Farmers'
Association. This was unanimously agreed to, and thus was founded an
organization which has since been closely identified with the
development of the dairying industry of the United Kingdom. In its
earlier publications the Association was wont to reproduce from
_Household Words_ the following tribute to the cow:--
"If civilized people were ever to lapse into the worship of animals,
the Cow would certainly be their chief goddess. What a fountain of
blessings is the Cow! She is the mother of beef, the source of butter,
the original cause of cheese, to say nothing of shoe-horns, hair-combs
and upper leather. A gentle, amiable, ever-yielding creature, who has
no joy in her family affairs which she does not share with man. We rob
her of her children that we may rob her of her milk, and we only care
for her when the robbing may be perpetrated."
The association has, directly or indirectly, brought about many valuable
reforms and improvements in dairying. Its London shows have provided,
year after year, a variety of object-lessons in cheese, in butter and in
dairy equipment. In order to demonstrate to producers what is the ideal
to aim at, there is nothing more effective than a competitive exhibition
of products, and the approach to uniform excellence of character in
cheese and butter of whatever kinds is most obvious to those who
remember what these products were like at the first two or three dairy
shows. Simultaneously there has been a no less marked advance in the
mechanical aids to dairying, including, in particular, the centrifugal
cream-separator, the crude germ of which was first brought before the
public at the international dairy show held at Hamburg in the spring of
1877. The association in good time set the example, now beneficially
followed in many parts of Great Britain, of providing means for
technical instruction in the making of cheese and butter, by the
establishment of a dairy school in the Vale of Aylesbury, subsequently
removing it to new and excellent premises at Reading, where it is known
as the British Dairy Institute. The initiation of butter-making contests
at the annual dairy shows stimulated the competitive instinct of dairy
workers, and afforded the public useful object-lessons; in more recent
years milking competitions have been added. Milking trials and butter
tests of cows conducted at the dairy shows have afforded results of much
practical value. Many of the larger agricultural societies have found it
expedient to include in their annual shows a working dairy, wherein
butter-making contests are held and public demonstrations are given.
What are regarded as the dairy breeds of cattle is illustrated by the
prize schedule of the annual London dairy show, in which sections are
provided for cows and heifers of the Shorthorn, Jersey, Guernsey, Red
Polled, Ayrshire, Kerry and Dexter breeds (see CATTLE). A miscellaneous
class is also provided, the entries in which are mostly cross-breds.
There are likewise classes for Shorthorn bulls, Jersey bulls, and bulls
of any other pure breed, but it is stipulated that all bulls must be of
proved descent from dams that have won prizes in the milking trials or
butter tests of the British Dairy Farmers' Association or other
high-class agricultural society. The importance of securing dairy
characters in the sire is thus recognized, and it is notified that, as
the object of the bull classes is to encourage the breeding of bulls for
dairy purposes, the prizes are to be given solely to animals exhibited
in good stock-getting condition.