812 
THE WESTERN COAST. 
Snelgrave, " that God may be yours, who has 
" communicated so many extraordinary things to 
" white men ; but as that God has not been pleas- 
" ed to make himself known to us, we must be 
*' satisfied with this w^e worship." The Daho- 
mans manufacture and dye cotton cloth, and form 
a species of cloth of palm-leaves. They are tole- 
rably skilful in working in metals. The bards, 
who celebrate the exploits of the king and his 
generals, are likewise the historians of the coun- 
try. Their historical poems, which are rehearsed 
on solemn occasions, occupy several days in th^ 
recital. These may probably compare" with the 
legends of Ossian, and of the Irish, Gaelic, and 
Welsh bards. It is probable that the legends of 
Dahomy are equally authentic with these ; for, 
in every rude age, it is the interest of the bards 
not to touch upon subjects too strong for their 
respective chiefs. The Persian Hafez w^ould 
have been put to death by Tamerlane, merely for 
preferring, like a true inamorato, the charms of 
his mistress to the gold of Bokhara, and the gems 
of Samarcand, had he not saved himself by an 
ingenious quibble, to prove a various reading. 
How much authentic history may we then derive 
from oral and poetical legends ! The Dahomans, 
though they do not use human flesh as an article 
of food, yet devour the flesh of human victims as 
a religious ceremony, at their solemn feasts ; and 
