Here Your Mother May Dwell In Safety, And Here Shall Your Father's Skull Be Reverenced As It Ought To Be.

Come then, lay aside your fears, and lead us on against your enemies."

These enemies were in the bush, and hovering near Badagry, when Adooley and his generous friends sallied out against them. The fighting or rather skirmishing lasted many days, and many people, it is said, were slain on both sides. But the advantage was decidedly in favour of the Badagrians, whose superior knowledge of the district and secret paths of the wood, was of considerable service to them, enabling them to lie in ambush, and attack their enemies by surprise. The Lagos people at length gave up the unequal contest in despair, and returned to their own country. Adooley was thus left in quiet possession of an important and influential town, which declared itself independent of Lagos for ever. Since then various unsuccessful attempts have been made to compel the Badagrians to return to their allegiance. The latter, however, have bravely defended their rights, and in consequence their independency has been acknowledged by the neighbouring tribes.

In the year 1829, the warlike chief of Lagos died, and Adooley considering it to be a favourable opportunity for his re-assertion of his claims to the vacant "stool," as it is called, determined to do so, and assembled his faithful Badagrians for the purpose of making an attack on his native town. He imagined that as his brother was dead, he should experience little opposition from his countrymen; but he soon discovered that he had formed an erroneous opinion, for almost at his very outset, he met with a stout resistance.

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