ca to be used in
the constant wars that are waged there, and to enable rich and powerful
tribes to enslave and destroy their weaker neighbors. The Africans use
very much heavier charges of powder than those in used in civilized
nations, ramming down a handful of slugs, of half a dozen small bullets,
upon the powder. This does not conduce to good shooting, but the noise
made is prodigious. The Abeokutans, on the other hand, were principally
armed with bows and arrows, as, having no direct access to the sea
coast, it was difficult for them to procure guns.

The Dahomans poured up in a mass to the foot of the wall, and then a
score of rough ladders, constructed of bamboo, and each four feet wide,
were placed against the walls. Directly the point to be attacked was
indicated, Mr. Goodenough had distributed his cauldrons of boiling oil
along the walls, and had set men to work to pierce holes through the
parapet at distances of a couple of feet apart, and at a height of six
inches from the ground. A line of men with long spears wore told to lie
down upon the ground, and to thrust through the holes at those climbing
the ladders. Another line of holes was pierced two feet higher, through
which those armed with muskets and bows were to fire, for when the
enemy reached the foot of the walls their fire was so heavy that it was
impossible to return it over the top of the parapet.

Immediately the ladders were placed, men with ladles began to throw
the boiling oil over the parapet. Shrieks and yells from below at once
testified to its effect, but it was only just where the cauldrons were
placed that the besiegers were prevented by this means from mounting
the ladders, and even here many, in spite of the agony of their burns,
climbed desperately upward.

When they neared the top the fight began in earnest. Those without were
now obliged to cease firing, and the besieged were able to stand up and
with sword and spear defend their position. The breech loaders of Mr.
Goodenough and the Houssas and Frank's repeating carbine now came into
play. The Dahomans fought with extraordinary bravery, hundreds fell shot
or cut down from above or pierced by the spears and arrows through the
holes in the parapet. Fresh swarms of assailants took their places on
the ladders. The drums kept up a ceaseless rattle, and the yells of
the mass of negroes standing inactive were deafening. Their efforts,
however, were in vain. Never did the Amazons fight wit