BEN 



iv.other are put to death. I'he inhabitants of Benin arc Irfs 

 afraiJ of death than the other natives of the fame coaft. 

 tiuch is their attiichmeiit to their own countiy, that thofe 

 who die in other provinces are pref::rved for years, till they 

 can be conveyed for burial to their native foil- On occafions 

 of mo'irniiijT, wliich is ufuaily limited to 14 or 15 davs, 

 fome lliave their hair, others their beard, a^d others but 

 half of either. The laft obfcquies of their kings are per- 

 formed with fome verye>:traordinai-)- ceremonies. When the 

 lonib-ftone is bid, they crown it with a banquet of the mod 

 delicRte wines and (weetmeats, of which a!i are allowed to 

 part:ike ; and the mob, intoxicated with liqno'-, are guilty 

 of the wildcft excefies and dots. Th.ofe who obftrufl them, 

 as men, women, children, and even b'ute animals, are piit 

 to death ; and having cut off their heads, they carry them to 

 the royal Icpulchre, and throv/ thtm in as otfering-s to the 

 deceafcd king, together with all the deaths and effects of 

 thofe whom they have facriliced to his manes. Neverthe- 

 lefs, amidft thefe barbarous euiloms, the kingdom of Benin 

 is governed by laws, which breathe nothing but humanity, 

 and fympathy for uiisfortune and diflrefs. 



As t'j the religion of this country-, it is a ftrange mixture 

 of good ftnfe and ablurdity. With fome jnit notions of a 

 Supreme Being they blend many abliird and idolatrous cere- 

 tiK nies. The " I'ctiiTo" is worfhipped here, as well as in 

 all the other countries on the wellern coail: of Africa. To 

 every evil they give the name of devil, and v.'ori-!-,ip him from 

 fear, and to prevent his doing them injury ; and thev honour 

 both God the Creator, and the evil fpirit, bvfacrifices and 

 olTerings. They are believers in apparitio'.:s ; and they con- 

 ceive that the gholls of their deceafed anceftors walk on the 

 earth, and occationally appear to them in their deep to warn 

 them of their danger, which they endeavour to elude by fa- 

 crifices. All their houfes are full of idols, and they have 

 particular huts or temples for the refidence of their gods. 

 Their priefts alfo are numerous ; and the grand, or high 

 priefl: of Loebo, a town feated at the month of the river 

 Formofa, is particularly famous for his flcill in magic, and is 

 never approached without the moft profound veneration and 

 awe. Befidcs their fabbath, a day of rtpofe which occurs 

 every fifth day, they have many other days appropiiated to 

 religious purpofcs. At fome of their fellivals, they facrifice 

 not only a great variety of brutes, but likewife a number of 

 human viftims, who are ufuaily condemned criminal?, re- 

 ferved for this purpofe. They have one annual feail in com- 

 memoration of their aticeftors; but their greate:' feltival is 

 that called the coral feall, on which day ?.lone the king ap- 

 pears to his people in great pomp, attended by 6co of liis 

 women. Wine and provillons are diftributtd on this occa- 

 fion among the people, and the day ends in gluttony, drukcn- 

 nefs, and riot. 



The government of Benin is defpotic. The empire is 

 divided into a great number of petty roralties, all of which 

 are fubjeft to the king of Benin, whofe authority is abfolute, 

 and commands the moil blind and lervile obedience. The 

 reigning monarch,- when he apprehends his diifolution to 

 be approaching, commands one of his fons to fill the throne, 

 with an injunction, under pain of death, not to reveal the 

 fecret till after his death. When this happens, the de.lined 

 fovereign is removed to the town of Olcebo, a few miles 

 from Benin, the capital, where he remains for fome time to 

 be inllrufted in the art of government, and the duties of a 

 king. Upon his return, his firll care, for feciiring liis fu- 

 ture tranquillity, is to murder his brother?, and thus to re- 

 move every rival to the crown. The royal revenues are very 

 confiderable ; to thefe every governor contributes a large 

 fum ; and the inferior officers pay their taxes in cattle, fowls. 



Vol. IV. 



BEN 



cloth, and other commodities. Certain duties art alfo laid 

 upon foreign trade ; befidcs the annual taxes paid to the go- 

 vernor for the privilege of commerce, a fi^cthof which be- 

 longs to the king. It is faid that the fovereign of Benin is 

 fo powerful a prince, that, in one day, he can afiemble an 

 army of 20,cco m.en, and in a few dajs more 100,000. His 

 troop?, however, are dc/titute of courage and conduft, and 

 ohfcrve neither order nor difcipline ; and, indeed, are merely 

 a cowardly tumultuous rabble, which leave him expofcd M 

 I lie incurfions of pirates and robbers, that are fuffered to 

 pillage and deftroy, and fomctimes to advance even to the 

 cap:tal. The arms ufed by them are fvvords, poiiiards, ja- 

 velins, bows, and poifoned arrows. 



The capital of this kingdom is Benin. The other princi- 

 pal tawns, or rather villages, are Bododo, Arcbo, Agatton, 

 Awerri, and Meiberg. 



All the llavts purchafed on this part of the African coaft, 

 except a tribe dillinguifhed by the name of " Mocoes," are 

 called in the Weft Indies " Eboes," probably from Arebo, 

 on the river Benin, 'in language they differ both from the 

 Gold coaft Negroes, and thofe of Whydah, and m fome re- 

 Ipeils from each other ; and in complexion they are muck 

 more yellow than the others ; but their colour is a fickly hue, 

 and tlieir eyes appear as if fuffufed with bile, even when they 

 are in perfect health. Thefe Eboes appear, in general, to be 

 the loweft and the moft wretched of all the nations of Africa. 

 The rreat objection to them as (laves is, their conftitutional 

 timidity, and defpondency of mind ; which lead them very 

 frequently to feek, in a voluntar)- death, a refuge from their 

 own me!ancl;o!y reflections. They require, therefore, the 

 g:entleft and mildeft treatment to reconcile them to their fitna- 

 tion ; but if their confidence be once gained, they manifell 

 as great fidelity, affection, and gratitude, as can reafonablr 

 be expected from men in a ftate of fiavery. The females tif 

 this nation are better labourers than the men, probably froni 

 having been more hardly treated in Africa. Thefe Eboes, 

 notwithftanding the dcprefilon and timidity which they ma- 

 nifcft, on their lirft arrival in tlie Weft Indies, and which 

 give them an air of foftnefs and fubmifnjr, forming a link- 

 ing contrail to the frank and fearlel's temper of the Koroman- 

 tyn Negroes, are in reahty more favage than the people of 

 the Gold coaft ; infomuch, that many tribes among them, 

 and efpecia'dy the Mocos tribe, have been accuftomed to the 

 ftiGcking practice of feeding on human flefti. In their religi- 

 ous worfn!p,they adore certain reptiles, of which the guana, 

 a fpecics of l:/ard, is in the liigheft eftimation, and in the wor- 

 lliip of this animal, it is faid, thst th.cy offer human facrifices. 

 Mod. Un.Hift.vol. xiii. p. 272, &c. Edwards' Hift. Weft 

 lad. vol. ii. p. 75. 



BtNiN,acity oi Airica.and capitalof the kingdom above 

 defcrlbed. It is pleafmtly feated on the river Benin, or For- 

 mofa, about 69 miles fro.m Agaiton, at the mouth of the river, 

 and is faid to be 4 n'.ilcs in circumference, aud to contain ^o 

 long, broad, ar.d ftraight ftreets of low houfes. The ilrccts are 

 adorned with a variety of '.hops filled w-ith European wares, 

 as well as the commodities ot the countiy, fuch as cattle, 

 cotton, and elephants' teeth. In their markets they expofe 

 to fale, for food, dog«, of which the Negroes are fond ; and 

 alfo roaH ed monkies, apes, and baboons. Bats, rats, lizards 

 dried in tlie fun, palm-wine, and fruit, form the moll luxu- 

 rious entertainment, and lland always expofed to fale in tlie 

 ftreets. As the country affords no ilone, the houfes arc built 

 with mud and clay, covered with reeds or ftraw ; and they 

 are feparated from one another by chafms and ruins, that 

 indicate its decay. Tiie entrance into the city io bv a ^ate 

 of wood, which is defended by a bailion of mud and earth : 

 apd it is furrounded by a deep ditch 40 feet wide. A guard 



C c is 



