Handsome wife is repeatedly turned to advantage by her
husband, in alluring the unwary into heavy damages.
The state of women is upon the whole very abject in Dahomy. Wives
approach their husbands with every mark of the humblest submission.
In presenting him even with a calabash containing his food, after she
has cooked it, she kneels and offers it with an averted look, it
being deemed too bold to stare him full in the face. By their
constantly practising genuflexion upon the bare ground, their knees
become in time almost as hard as their heels.
A mutinous wife or a vixen, sometimes the treasure and delight of an
Englishman; the enlivener of his fireside, and his safeguard from
ennui, is a phenomenon utterly unknown in Dahomy - that noble spirit,
which animates the happier dames in lands of liberty, being here,
alas! extinguished and destroyed.
In most nations a numerous progeny is considered a blessing, as being
likely to prop the declining years of their parents, but in Dahomy,
children are taken from their mothers at an early age, and
distributed in villages remote from the places of their nativity,
where they remain with but little chance of being ever seen, or at
least recognized by their parents afterwards. The motive for this is,
that there may be no family connexion nor combinations; no
associations that might prove injurious to the king's unlimited
power. Hence each individual is detached and unconnected, and having
no relative for whom he is interested, is solicitous only for his own
safety, which he consults by the most abject submission. Paternal
affection, and filial love, therefore, can scarcely be said to exist.
Mothers, instead of cherishing, endeavour to suppress those
attachments for their offspring, which they know will be violated, as
soon as their children are able to undergo the fatigue of being
removed from them.
At a particular period of the year, generally in April or May, a
grand annual festival is held, which may with much propriety be
termed a carnival. On this occasion the chief magistrates or
caboceers of the different towns and districts, the governors of the
English, French, and Portuguese settlements, are expected to attend
at the capital, with their respective retinues; and the captains of
ships, and factors trading at Whidah, usually take this opportunity
of paying their respects to the king. A great part of the population,
in fact; repair to Abomey, which resembles some great fair, from the
number of booths and tents erected in it for various purposes.
It is at this time also that the revenue is collected; all the people
either bringing or sending their respective quotas to the royal
treasury. White men are received there with every mark of respect,
and even saluted by the discharge of cannon. There appears to be an
extraordinary mixture of ferocity and politeness in the character of
these people; though terrible and remorseless to their enemies,
nothing can exceed their urbanity and kindness to strangers.
Should any white person be taken ill at Abomey, the king sends the
mayhou, or some other great officer, to make daily inquiries about
the state of his malady, and desiring to know in what way he can
assist or promote his recovery.
Notwithstanding, the king exacts from his own subjects the most
humiliating and abject prostrations, on approaching his person, yet
he admits Europeans to his presence without the least scruple,
requiring only from them those marks of respect which they may think
fit to perform, in the style of salutation they have been accustomed
to in their own countries. They are allowed to be seated in his
company, and he personally pays them great attention. Cooks are
procured, who understand the mode of preparing European dishes; even
table cloths, with knives and forks, although never used by
themselves, are furnished, and in short every thing which can
contribute to their comfort, is provided with eastern hospitality.
They are likewise entertained with feasts, music, public dances,
processions of the king's women, and the exhibition of sports and
games.
But amidst this general enjoyment of festivity and mirth, deeds are
done from which the civilized mind recoils with horror, and which it
cannot contemplate without feeling an ardent desire, to see mankind
raised from that state of savage ignorance and superstition, which
leads to acts so monstrous and unnatural.
In order to water with their blood the graves of the king's
ancestors, and to supply them with servants of various descriptions
in the other world, a number of human victims are annually sacrificed
in solemn form, and this carnival is the period at which these
shocking rites are publicly performed.
Scaffolds are erected outside the palace wall, and a large space
fenced in round them. On these the king, with the white strangers who
think proper to attend, are seated, and the ministers of state are
also present in the space beneath. Into this field of blood the
victims are brought in succession, with their arms pinioned, and a
fetisheer, laying his hand on the devoted head, pronounces a few
mystical words, when another man, standing behind, with a large
scymitar severs the sufferer's head from his body, generally at a
single blow, and each repetition of this savage act is proclaimed by
loud shouts of applause from the surrounding multitude, who affect to
be highly delighted with the power and magnificence of their
sovereign.
His bards, or laureats, join also at this time in bawling out his
strong names, (their term for titles of honour,) and sing songs in
his praise. These scenes are likewise enlivened by a number of people
engaged in a savage dance round the scaffolds; should the foot of one
of these performers slip, it is considered an ill omen; the
unfortunate figurante is taken out of the ring, and his head
instantly struck off, whilst the dance continues without
interruption, as if nothing unusual had occurred.
