THE KING OF DAHOMEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 621, 24 October 1863, Page 3

THE KING OF DAHOMEY.

The following letter has been received by the Duke of Wellington from the celebrated lion-hunter, M. Juies Gerard : —

Monsieur le Duo— Y-ur Grace is well aware that few men pain by being seen close, unles they are men of intelligence and merit. The King of Dahomey, despit9 his cognomen, which signifies the '.Eternal' or the 'Infinite,' fully ji^tifias that rule, to which he is no exception. Physically he is similar to the other blacks of his couutry— tall, well biii!r,_ a head like a bull-dog. The most usual expression of his countenance 19 that of eunuing" and: cruelry. His moral qualities are in perfect keeping with his physical conformation ; he is more gracious than tho kings who have preceded him, fanatical for oM traditions and customs. The traditions of that microscopic court are to turn the whites to the best possible account {exploiter lea blancs), bub especially to induce them to make presents. It is the custom to excite the people with sanguinary spectacles, so as to be able to carry off the neighboring population when a slave dealer makes an offer to the Kincr, and also at the annual custom of human sasiiflces.

' I have just spent 20 days at Kam, where the Ki.ifr, wrs staying for the celebration of 'the lesser ceremonies. On the day of my pre3enlation I was conducted across the market place, wt>ere 12 corpses were expoEed to view on separate sites. Six were hangup by the feet, the six others were upright like men ab >nt to wlk. Tho^e whom I saw close wore horribly mutilated and not beheaded. An enormous poo! of Woid covered the ground beneath tiie scaffold, giving unmistakable evilence of previous sacrifice.* and of the tortures which accompanied, them. Our reception by the King was brilliant —very cordinl for myself as well a3 for the Fieueh Comul ; but we were soon able to convince ourselves that this was but a comedy always performed by this poor Palsvlin to get the presents brought by the whites. Bora and brought up in the mi-lst of thse spectacles, which would be ridiculous if they were not horrible, the present King is actually more iond of them thau his subjects. I saw him on that day admiring with the delight of a child the grotesque danc;a and ridiculous jantomine of his Ministers, and then of the Princes, and then of all present, for our amusement. A most infernal mu>ic, which nearly dea/ened us, deJi/jhted the King, who seemed to be in a state of ecetacy ; and this, M. le Duo, lasted for six hours. On the following day his Majesty invited U3 to witness a procession of the King's riches. Oa reaching the square of the Palaoe (reed huts) an agreeable surprise had been prepared for us. The entrance gate waa flooded by a pool of blood two yards in width, and on each aide a column of recently decapitated hernia formed two immense chapleta. It is true that on this day the King wore the emblem of Christ on his'breast. It must be presumed that it was the cross of execution that ha meant to imply by thb ornament. As regards the procession of his wealth, it consisted of a few old carriages, bath chairs, carried by men with figures like FolichineHo. One thousand women carried each. abJttle of liquor on herhead'j a brass basin in the shape of a foot-bath to receive the. blood of the human, victim* on the day of the King's banquet ; au image of the Virgin • vaiious baskets full of human skulls ; and image of !>t Lawrencp, large as life, carried by blacks ; finally, the drum of Heath. " At another festival the King commanded on foot h's Amazons, who manoeuvred with the precision of a flock of sheep. Oa the market-place already mentioned each step was ornamented by a dead hody; and the King came and went in the mi^st of pools of blood and fragments of human flesh in a state of putrefaction. Ou this occasion he daubed his face with coal. The ceremony terminated by a mad dance, ia which the King took part, dancing vis-a-vis to drunken soldiers and musicians. Such are, M, le Due, the man, the government and the people whom we have hitherto hoped to turn into a path less contrary to the laws of humanity. I regret that Captain Burton should have arrived at Kana at the moment of the King's departure, as ho might hava been enabled to see and judge of all t 1 ese 'things.— I am, M. le Due, your most obedient servant,

''Jults Geeabd.

# ''P.S.— Oa the day of his departure the King invi'ed us to a review of his army prepared for war. Ifc was from 12,000 to 14,000 strong, comprising 12,000 Amazons, 1,000 men of the body guard, and 2,000 archers.