ng
the ability of his people to take such a desperate step as that of
attacking the enemy outside their walls, he yielded to Mr. Goodenough's
opinion.

CHAPTER XV: THE AMAZONS OF DAHOMET

A spacious and comfortable hut was placed at the disposal of the white
men, with a small one adjoining for the Houssas. That evening Frank
asked Mr. Goodenough to tell him what he knew concerning the people of
Dahomey.

"The word Dahomey, or more properly Da-omi, means Da's belly. Da was,
two hundred and fifty years ago, the king of the city of Abomey. It was
attacked by Tacudona the chief of the Fois. It resisted bravely, and
Tacudona made a vow that if he took it he would sacrifice the king to
the gods. When he captured the town he carried out his vow by ripping
open the king, and then called the place Daomi. Gradually the conquerors
extended their power until the kingdom reached to the very foot of the
Atlas range, obtaining a port by the conquest of Whydah. The King of
Dahomey is a despot, and even his nobility crawl on the ground in his
presence. The taxes are heavy, every article sold in the market paying
about one eighteenth to the royal exchequer. There are besides many
other taxes. Every slave is taxed, every article that enters the
kingdom. If a cock crow it is forfeited, and, as it is the nature of
cocks to crow, every bird in the kingdom is muzzled. The property of
every one who dies goes to the king; and at the Annual Custom, a grand
religious festival, every man has to bring a present in proportion to
his rank and wealth. The royal pomp is kept up by receiving strangers
who visit the country with much state, and by regaling the populace with
spectacles of human sacrifices. The women stand high in Dahomey.
Among other negro nations they till the soil. In Dahomey they fight as
soldiers, and perform all the offices of men. Dahomey is principally
celebrated for its army of women, and its human sacrifices. These last
take place annually, or even more often. Sometimes as many as a thousand
captives are slain on these occasions. In almost all the pagan nations
of Africa human sacrifices are perpetrated, just as they were by the
Druids and Egyptians of old. Nowhere, however, are they carried to such
a terrible extent as in Dahomey. Even Ashanti, where matters are bad
enough, is inferior in this respect. The victims are mostly captives
taken in war, and it is to keep up the supply necessary for these
wholesale sacrifices