n the
Dahomian army are distinguished by large umbrellas, and when any of
that class are killed in action, they say figuratively, that, on such
an occasion, we lost so many umbrellas.

In delivering what is termed the king's word, the messenger, as well
as all those around him, fall prostrate on the ground, and cover
their heads with dust, or with mud, if it rains; so that they often
display very hideous figures, with their black bodies and the wool
of their heads thus bedaubed with red puddle.

The ministers of state, in communicating with the king, approach
within a certain distance of him, crawling on their hands and knees,
at last they prostrate themselves, kiss the ground, cover their heads
with dust, then make their speech, and receive his reply. His majesty
usually sits on public occasions, as he is represented in our
engraving, under a rich canopy, on a finely carved stool or throne,
surrounded by his women, some with whisks driving away the flies, one
with a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and another on her knees,
holding a gold cup to spit in, as he smokes.

Their marriages, like those of most barbarous nations, are settled by
the bridegroom paying a certain sum for the woman, which is
calculated at the rate of one or more slaves, or moveable property in
shells, cloth, or other articles, to the amount of the specified
number of slaves. Polygamy is allowed to any extent, and it is
generally carried as far as the means of the gentlemen will admit,
as, after a short period, or honeymoon, the women are employee in the
fields and plantations, and usually are no better situated than the
common servants of their husbands.

Adultery is punished by slavery, or the value of a slave, by the
offender, and the lady likewise subjects herself to be sold, but it
is remarked that this measure is seldom resorted to, and it sometimes
happens that a handsome wife is repeatedly turned to advantage by her
husband, in alluring the unwary into heavy damages.

The state of women is upon the whole very abject in Dahomy. Wives
approach their husbands with every mark of the humblest submission.
In presenting him even with a calabash containing his food, after she
has cooked it, she kneels and offers it with an averted look, it
being deemed too bold to stare him full in the face. By their
constantly practising genuflexion upon the bare ground, their knees
become in time almost as hard as their heels.

A mutinous wife or a vixen,