inguished adversaries, captured at different times, and
placed in that situation that he might nightly enjoy the savage
gratification of trampling on the heads of his enemies. The top of
the little wall, which surrounded this detached apartment, was
adorned likewise with their jaw-bones. In some more civilized minds
there is an instinctive dread on viewing the remains of a human
being; but it cannot be laid to the charge of these savages, that the
fear of ghosts and hobgoblins forms any part of their character.

The immolation of victims is, however, not confined to this
particular period; for at any time, should it be necessary to send an
account to his forefathers of any remarkable event, the king
despatches a courier to the shades, by delivering his message to
whomsoever may happen to be near him, and then ordering his head to
be chopped off immediately; and it has not unfrequently happened,
that as something new has occurred to the king's mind, another
messenger, as Mr. Canning very justly observed of the postscript of a
letter, has instantly followed on the same errand, perhaps in itself
of the most trivial kind.

It is considered a high honour where his majesty personally
condescends to become the executioner in these feats of decapitation,
an office in which the king, at the time of the visit of Lander to
Abomey, considered himself as a most expert proficient. The Europeans
were present on one occasion, when a poor fellow, whose fear of death
outweighing the sense of the honour conferred on him, on being
desired by the king to carry some message to his father, who was in
the shades below, humbly declared on his knees that he was ignorant
of the way, on which the tyrant vociferated, "I'll show you the way,"
and with one blow made his head fly many yards from his body, highly
indignant that there should have been the least expression of
reluctance.

The performance of the annual sacrifice is considered a duty so
sacred, that no allurement in the way of gain, no additional price
which the white traders can offer for slaves, will induce the king to
spare even a single victim of the established number; and he is
equally inexorable with respect to the chiefs of his enemies, who are
never, on any account, permitted to live if they fall into his hands.

In illustration of the above, the following narrative is highly
characteristic, and serves at once to a clear exposition of the
savage and relentless feelings of the