In Afric’s Forest and Jungle 
all their columns just before coming out of the 
forest at Eshagga. The scouts had followed the 
ordinary routes or else the secret paths of the 
hunters and therefore had seen no sign of the 
presence of hostile forces. They succeeded in get¬ 
ting into Eshagga through a very singular cus¬ 
tom of the Yorubans. 
When soldiers are going to war, they do not 
salute any one, and it is a gross insult for any one 
to salute them. The Dahomians came out on the 
road between Eshagga and Abeokuta about dark. 
It almost took my breath away when I learned 
this; because we were then completely in their 
power if they had only known it. But the king 
of Dahomey thought it unwise to leave so strong 
an enemy in his rear and determined to destroy 
Eshagga that night and assault Abeokuta next day. 
When the people sitting at the gate of the former 
town saw a detachment of the Dahomians hurry¬ 
ing along, they supposed that it was a body of 
Egbars on their way to the war at Ejahyay; but 
their customs did not allow them to speak to the 
soldiers, and they had no way of learning any¬ 
thing about them. 
The Dahomians quietly filed into the town and 
camped in a market-place in the centre. In the 
meantime, the people of the town felt all the 
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