A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome; With Notices of the So Called Amazons, the Grand Customs, the Yearly Customs, the Human Sacrifices, the Prese

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1864 edition. Excerpt: ...being accepted. The price is now, including the Custom man wonderful and a good man." Probably, the royal cynic meant this compliment much as the "good young man " signifies in the mouth of a fast young "party." Mr. Duncan, however, rightly says of Gezo, as compared with the mob, " The King possesses talent far beyond the generality of his subjects; in fact, his noble mind seems to have been formed to govern.." YO L. 1 I. 1' House fee, -16 16s., and the chattel is not so sound, The annual number exported from Dahome cannot be higher than 15,000, which represents a paltry sum of 250,000. Were it not for the southward progress of El Islam, the slow and silent, but sure advance of the Perfect Cure, the future of negro Africa would not be bright. The experience of three centuries teaches us, that as a rule the tropical continent cannot be colonised by Europeans. We have also learned that hitherto maritime intercourse with its aqua mortis and bouches 42 feu has done nothing but degenerate the native, and that until the-long day when the Guinea Con1manders--of whom bluff old Phillips wrote, "their words and promises are the last to be depended upon of any I know use the sea; for they would deceive their fathers in their trade if they could "--shall become " virtuous," such will continue to be the result. The much talked of "reflux of the West upon the East" has yet to begin doing good: hitherto, as a rule, the semi-civilized negroes, like the S'a Leone people at Abeokuta, when restored to old influences have proved themselves worse than the heathenry. They have almost to a man displayed the blackest and most odious form of ingratitude, that...