310 
THE WESTERN COAST. 
the female assigned him, whether she be old or 
young, handsome or deformed. Sometimes, out 
of malicious sport, a man's own mother is handed 
out to him, so that he both misses a wife and 
loses his money. In 177^ the viceroy of Whidah 
was disgraced and punished with death, for the 
following speech, extorted by indignation at a 
procession of the king's women. " Ah ! see 
what a number of charming women are devot- 
ed to the embraces of one man ! while we who 
" bore the dangers of the siege of Whidah, and 
" defeated Abavou and his army, have been pre- 
" sented with such as are hardly good enough for 
house-sweepers. It is ungenerous, but we are 
Dahoman men, and must submit.'* The king's 
female guard seems in some measure to explain 
the origin of the ancient opinion concerning the 
Amazons. Some hundreds of the king's women 
are regularly trained to the use of arms, under a 
female general, and subordinate officers appointed 
by his majesty. They are regularly exercised, 
perform their military evolutions with as great 
dexterity as any of the Dahoman troops, and 
parade in public with their standards, drums, 
trumpets, flutes, and martial music. It is crimi- 
nal for any Dahoman to assert, that the king is so 
similar to other mortals, as either ta eat or sleep. 
At his accession, he proclaims that he knows 
nobody, and is not inclined to make any new ac- 
