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W H I 
The genitive of which, as well as of who, is whose ; but 
whose, as derived from which, is scarcely used but in poetry. 
Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste. Milton. 
It is sometimes a demonstrative: as, take which you will. 
What is the night? 
—-Almost at odds with morning, which is which. 
Shakspeare. 
It is sometimes an interrogative; as, which is the man ? 
Two fair twins, 
The puzzled strangers which is which enquire. Tickle. 
WHICHAM, a parish of England, in Cumberland; 10 
miles south-south-east of Ravenglass. 
WHICHBURY, or Whitsbury, a parish of England, in 
Wiltshire; 8 miles south-by-west of Salisbury. 
WHICHFORD, a township of England, in Warwick¬ 
shire ; 5§ miles south-east of Shipston-upon-Stour. Popula¬ 
tion 419. 
WHICHSOE'VER, pron. Whether one or the other.— 
Whichsoever of these he takes, and how often soever he 
doubles it, he finds that he is not one jot nearer the end of 
such addition than at first setting out. Locke. 
WHICKHAM, a parish of England, in the county of 
Durham; 3 miles west-south-west of Gateshead. Popula¬ 
tion about 4000. 
WHIDAH, a considerable country of Western Africa, the 
most important of those comprehended under the general 
appellation of the Slave coast of Guinea. Till within the last 
half century, it formed an independent kingdom, and was the 
most fertile and improved of any on the African coast. Its 
seashore indeed did not extend above nine or ten leagues, and 
its breadth inland was not quite so great; but being every¬ 
where covered with towns and villages, and cultivated like a 
garden, it contained a very considerable population. The 
country is traversed by two considerable rivers, the Jakin and 
the Euphrates, which flow parallel and near to the sea, and to 
each other. By these, with the streams and canals connected 
with them, it is copiously watered. The alluvial soil gives 
birth to magnificent forests, not encumbered with the thick 
underwood which prevails throughout the rest of Africa. 
These woods became so many groves, by the cultivated fields 
with which they were everywhere intersected, and in which 
were raised two, or even three crops of rice, millet, maize, 
yams, and potatoes. The government was a hereditary mo¬ 
narchy, more absolute than in most other negro countries, 
though the grandees had still a considerable share in the ad¬ 
ministration. Superstition was carried to an extraordinary 
height in this country; and though they had some idea of a 
Supreme Deity, fetiches, or subordinate divinities, were mul¬ 
tiplied to the number of many thousands. Snake worship, 
one of the most degrading of superstitions, formed the lead¬ 
ing feature of Whidan observance. The temple of the great 
snake formed the ornament of the capital, and was propitiated 
by lavish gifts, sometimes even by human sacrifices. Every 
towu of any consequence had a similar temple, on a smaller 
scale. The people, in their manners, exhibited nothing of 
the usual negro rudeness, but were mild, tame, and polished. 
Their respect for superiors was expressed by kneeling, and 
three times kissing the earth. Their mild and placable 
character, and their habits of industry, caused them to be 
much sought after as slaves. The English, Dutch, and 
Portuguese, established factories at Griwhee, or Whidah, 
which formed the principal seaport, though the residence of 
the sovereign was at Xavier or Sabi. 
This prosperous state of Whidah was entirely subverted 
in 1727, by the invasion of Guadja Trudo, the fierce and 
warlike sovereign of Dahomey. The effeminate and unwar¬ 
like Whidahs were unable to oppose any resistance whatever 
to this chief and his band of savage warriors. They fled in 
every direction; many of them were slaughtered; the body 
of the nation reduced to slavery. A considerable propor¬ 
tion of the Whidahs, however, escaped into the neighbour¬ 
ing country of Popo, whither their enemies, from the want 
W H I 
of any naval force, were unable to pursue them. In this 
retreat, they have ever since retained their name and exist¬ 
ence as a nation ; but all their attempts have been vain, to 
regain possession of their original territory, which has con¬ 
tinued ever since a province of Dahomey. They are still 
even governed by the race of their original kings, who 
usually, by a high bribe, obtain permission to be crowned at 
Xavier. In that capital, the seat of the palace of the Whidah 
kings can still be traced, by the trench which encompassed 
it. The place is now overgrown with lofty trees, and is held 
sacred by the representatives of that unfortunate family. 
The British maintained long a fort at the seaport at Gri¬ 
whee or Whidah; but since the prohibition of the trade in 
slaves, it had ceased to be of any importance. For some 
time, however, an apprehension of the resentment of the king 
of Dahomey, deterred the African company from withdraw¬ 
ing it; but they have recently effected this object, and no 
longer carry on almost any commercial intercourse with 
Whidah. 
WHIDBEY, Point, a rocky point on the south coast of 
New Holland. Lat. 34. 36. S. long. 135. 6. W. 
WHIDBEY’S ISLES, seven small islands lying off the 
south coast of New Holland, about 7 or 8. miles from the 
point of that name. 
WHIDDY, an island on the south coast of Ireland, of a 
triangular form, about seven miles in circumference, in the 
north part of Bantry bay ; 2 miles west of Bantry. Lat. 51. 
40. N. long. 9. 25. W. 
WHIFF, s. [chwyth, Welsh.—Junius’ renders the Welsh 
word “ flatus subitus et vehemens.” Our old lexicography 
has “ weffe, x&poil' Prompt. Parv.] A blast; a puff of 
wind. 
Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide ; 
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword, 
Th’ unnerved father falls. Shakspeare. 
To WHIFF, v. a. To consume in whiffs;, to emit with 
whiffs, as in smoking.—The gourmand sacrifices whole he¬ 
catombs to his paunch, and whiffs himself in Nicotian in¬ 
cense to the idol of his vain intemperance. Bp. Hall. 
To WHI'FFLE, v. n. To move inconstantly, as if driven 
by a puff of wind.—Nothing is more familiar, than for a 
whiffling fop, that has not one grain of the sense of a man 
of honour, to play the hero. L'Estrange. 
To WHI'FFLE, v. a. To disperse as by a puff; to blow 
away; to scatter.—This is a plain and obvious sense—against 
such as would whiffle away all these truths by resolving them 
into a mere moral allegory. More. 
WHI'FFLE, s. Anciently, a fife or small flute. See 
Whiffler. Douce. 
WHI'FFLER, s. [from whiffle, a fife; for whifflers were 
originally those who preceded armies or processions as fifers 
or pipers. Douce. J—A harbinger, probably one with a horn 
or trumpet. A fifer or piper. 
The beach 
Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys. 
Whose shouts and claps outvoice the deep-mouth’d sea, 
Which, like a mighty whiffler ’fore the king, 
Seems to prepare his way.‘ Shakspeare. 
A new company of counterfeit vizards, whifflers, maskers, 
mummers. Burton. —-Now he is at the page'ants among the 
whifflers. Milton. —One of no consequence; one moved 
with a whiff or puff; a trifler. [paeplepe, blatero. Douce. ] 
—Every whiffler in a laced coat, who frequents the choco¬ 
late-house, shall talk of the constitution. Swift. 
WHIG, s. [hpceg, Sax.] A kind of sour or thin milk; 
whey. In some parts of the north of England, it means the 
watery part or whey of a baked custard.—Sweet growte, or 
whig, his bottle had. Warner. 
WHIGS, a party or faction in England, opposite to the 
Tories. 
The origin of the names of these two mighty factions is 
very obscure. If some little trivial circumstance or adven¬ 
ture, which escapes the knowledge of mankind, gives name 
to a party, which afterwards becomes famous, posterity la¬ 
bours 
