an extensive kingdom of Africa, lying inland from the Guinea coast, extending from the banks of the Niger to those of the Volta, and comprehending the entire country from the coast between the mouths of these Dahomey, rivers to the bases of the Kong mountains. It is difficult to decide what is the actual extent of the kingdom, but it is probably about 180 miles from east to west, and nearly 200 from the sea-coast to its most northern boundary. The very name of the Dahomans was scarcely known to Europeans previous to the commencement of last century, but they came prominently into notice after 1724, when Guadjo Trudo or Trudo Audati, the king of Dahomey, overran the kingdom of Ardrah, that lay between his capital and the sea-coast. In this expedition Mr Bulfinch Lamb, agent of the English African Company, was taken captive and carried to Abomey; but he was treated with great kindness, and shortly after obtained his liberty. In two successive expeditions Trudo again invaded the countries of the coast, and destroyed the Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese forts at the town of Jaquin. On his death in 1732 he was succeeded by his son Bossa Ahadee. The recent struggles between the Dahomans and the neighbouring states were attended with various success. For some time the Dahomans were tributary to the Eyos, but they have latterly obtained the mastery over this people and various others, and are now rapidly extending their dominions. Lieutenant Forbes, who was there in 1849, states that the population of the kingdom, owing to its devastating wars, did not at that time exceed 200,000; that the regular army amounts to 12,000, of whom 5000 are women, and that when the king goes to war, he levies in all about 24,000 fighting men, and an equal number for the commissariat.

The country of Dahomey is said to be very beautiful and fertile. The soil is a deep rich clay of a reddish colour, with a little sand on the surface; but there was not observed in the whole country a stone as large as a walnut. Of farinaceous vegetables, the country, when duly cultivated, yields a plentiful supply; as maize, millet or Guinea corn; a kind of peas, or rather kidney beans, called callavances; and also a species of vegetable called ground beans. The Dahomans also cultivate yams, potatoes, the plantain, and the banana. Pine-apples, oranges, limes, guavas, and other tropical fruits, abound in this fertile country; nor is it destitute of productions adapted for commerce, such as indigo, cotton, the sugar cane, tobacco, palm oil, together with a variety of spices, particularly a species of pepper scarcely distinguishable from that raised in the East Indies. The greatest injury to health in the climate of Dahomey arises from the periodical rains, which are accompanied by tornadoes. These, however, are the grand source of fertility, and are immediately succeeded by the most luxuriant vegetation. The Dahomans possess a considerable knowledge of agriculture, but are extremely indolent, and have not more than a tithe of the land in cultivation. In the cultivated portions the land though rich is highly manured; corn and beans grow together; and in the palm plantations are also grown corn, yams, and ground nuts. Indeed in this branch of industry they are said to rival the Chinese. Industrial pursuits, however, are not encouraged, as the advancement of these would tend to diminish the desire for warlike expeditions, on which the prosperity of the state is supposed to depend. All the most arbitrary forms of despotism seem to be mild and liberal when compared with the tyranny established in this barbarous state. The despotism is not founded upon force and terror, nor is it connected with any timid or effeminate character in its subjects, since they are the most furious and desperate soldiers in Africa. It rests on a blind and idolatrous veneration for the person of the sovereign, as for that of a superior being. It is a crime to suppose that the king of Dahomey can eat, drink, sleep, or perform any of the functions of an ordinary mortal. Bossa Ahadee, on his accession, caused all the persons of the name of Bossa in his dominions to be put to death, conceiving it to be an unpardonable presumption that any subject should bear the same name as himself. The greatest lords are only allowed to approach the king lying flat on their faces, and rolling their heads in the dust. The attempts thus made to inspire the people with reverence for their monarch seem completely successful. The Dahoman rushes to battle with the same blind intrepidity in the cause of his king as the Spartans formerly did for their nation and laws. Norris having asked a Dahoman before battle if he did not think the enemy too numerous, the man replied, "I think of my king, and then I dare engage five of the enemy myself." He declared his indifference whether he survived or not; adding, "It is not material; my head belongs to the king, not to myself; if he pleases to send for it, I am ready to resign it; or if it be shot through in battle, it is no difference to me,—I am satisfied." Human skulls form the favourite ornament in the decoration of the palaces and temples. The king's sleeping chamber has the floor paved with skulls, and the roof ornamented with the jaw-bones of chiefs whom he has overcome in battle. Every year a grand festival is held, which lasts for several weeks, and during which the king waters the graves of his ancestors with the blood of human victims. The bodies of those unhappy men are not interred, but are suspended by the feet to the walls, and thus left hanging till they putrefy. But the most extraordinary exercise of despotism consists in the treatment of the female sex, all of whom in Dahomey are considered as the property of the king, and entirely at his disposal. After retaining an immoderate number for his own use, he distributes the rest, first among his chief men, and then among the commons. The distribution of wives takes place once a-year at the grand festival, when each individual gives in such a sum as he is able to spare for the purchase, and receives in return such a wife as the king chooses to bestow. There is no room for discussion or complaint; be she old, ugly, or deformed, she must equally be accepted. He himself has about three thousand wives, a large proportion of whom exercise functions which do not in other countries devolve upon the female sex. They are trained to arms, and compose a regiment of royal guards, divided into companies, armed with muskets and bows, and provided with drums, flags, and all the apparatus of war. At the death of the king a horrid scene commences; the wives, after the most extravagant demonstrations of grief, after breaking and destroying everything that belongs to them, attack and murder each other, till they are stopped by order of the new sovereign. The throne descends rightfully to the eldest son; but as it is judged indispensable that this fickle nation should be swayed by a vigorous hand, where there appears any deficiency in the eldest, the chiefs select one of the younger brothers. This arrangement, however, often gives rise to bloody contentions.