302 f HE WESTERN COAST. 
house wants thatch. In this palace, or large house, 
as it is termed by the Dahomans, above 3000 fe- 
males are commonly immured, and about 500 are 
appropriated by each of the principal officers. 
From this injurious and detestable practice, origi- 
nates many flagrant abuses ; the population is di- 
minished, the sources of private happiness destroy- 
ed, and the best feelings of human nature being 
outraged, the energies of passion are converted in- 
to bitterness and ferocity. The first of these evils 
is the establishment of a legal system of prostitu- 
tion, as a considerable proportion of the inferior 
classes are unable to procure wives. As children, 
whether male or female, are considered the ex- 
clusive property of the king, they are separated 
from their parents at an early period, and receive 
a species of public education, by which means fa- 
mily connections are annihilated, and the insulated 
individual becomes a passive instrument of tyranni- 
cal power. When an individual is able to procure 
SO, 000 cowries, he prostrates himself at the gate 
of the king, or his vicegerent, presents the mon£y, 
and begs to be favoured with a wife, when, instead 
of having the opportunity of selecting a natural 
friend, suited to his taste, and adapted to gratify 
the affections of his heart, he must take the fe- 
male assigned him, whether she be old or young, 
handsome or deformed. Sometimes, out of ma- 
licious sport, a man's own mother is handed out 
