76 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
might be two hundred and fifty leagues to the 
east of the kingdom, there was a powerful king 
called Ogane, who was held, by the Pagan chiefs 
around Benin, in the same veneration that the 
sovereign Pontiff was held in Europe. Accord- 
ing to a long established custom, at the death of 
any king of Benin, the successor sent ambassa- 
dors to him with a large present, entreating to be 
confirmed in the territory of which he was now 
the rightful heir. The Prince Ogane then gave 
them a staff, and a covering for the head, similar 
to a Spanish helmet, all of glittering brass, to re- 
present a sceptre and a crown. He sent also a 
cross of the same brass to be worn on the neck, 
similar to those used by the commanders of the 
order of St John. Without these ensigns, the 
people did not conceive they had a rightful king, 
or one that was properly a king at all. During 
the whole stay of the ambassador, the Ogane 
himself was kept up as a holy thing, and was 
never seen by any one, having constantly a silk 
curtain drawn before him ; — only, at the time the 
ambassador took leave, a foot appeared from be- 
hind the curtain, *' to which foot they did ho- 
mage as to a holy thing." The ambassador was 
then presented with a small cross, similar to that 
which was sent for the use of the king. On re- 
ceiving these details, the Portuguese monarch 
sent for all his cosmographers, who having spread 
