should think that there are twenty or
twenty-five thousand now in sight."

The enemy approached within musket shot of the walls, and numbers of
them running up, discharged their muskets. The Abeokuta people fired
back; but Mr. Goodenough ordered the Houssas on no account to fire, as
he did not wish the enemy to know the power of their rifles.

The first step of the besiegers was to cut down all the plantations
round the town and to erect great numbers of little huts. A large
central hut with several smaller ones surrounding it was erected for the
king and his principal nobles. The Dahomans spread round the town and
by the gesticulation and pointing at the gates it was clear that the
defenses raised to cover these excited great surprise.

The wall was thick enough for men to walk along on the top, but being
built of clay it would withstand but little battering. Mr. Goodenough
set a large number of people to work, making sacks from the rough cloth,
of which there was an abundance in the place. These were filled with
earth and piled in the center of the town ready for conveyance to
any point threatened. He likewise had a number of beams, used in
construction of houses, sharpened at one end; stakes of five or six feet
long were also prepared and sharpened at both ends. That day the enemy
attempted nothing against the town. The next morning the twelve cannon
were planted at a distance of about five hundred yards and opened fire
on the walls. The shooting was wild in the extreme; many of the balls
went over the place altogether; others topped the wall and fell in the
town; some hit the wall and buried themselves in the clay.

"We will give them a lesson," Mr. Goodenough said, "in the modern rifle.
Frank, you take my double barrel rifle and I will take the heavy, large
bored one. Your Winchester will scarcely make accurate firing at five
hundred yards."

The Houssas were already on the wall, anxious to open fire. Mr.
Goodenough saw that their rifles were sighted to five hundred yards.
The cannon offered an easy mark. They were ranged along side by side,
surrounded by a crowd of negroes, who yelled and danced each time a shot
struck the wall.

"Now," Mr. Goodenough said to the Houssas, "fire steadily, and, above
all, fire straight. I want every shot to tell."

Mr. Goodenough gave the signal, and at once Frank and the Houssas
opened fire. The triumphant yells of the Dahomans at once changed their
character, and a cry of