Gradually
the conquerors extended their power until the kingdom reached to
the very foot of the Atlas range, obtaining a port by the conquest
of Whydah. The King of Dahomey is a despot, and even his nobility
crawl on the ground in his presence. The taxes are heavy, every
article sold in the market paying about one eighteenth to the
royal exchequer. There are besides many other taxes. Every slave
is taxed, every article that enters the kingdom. If a cock crow
it is forfeited, and, as it is the nature of cocks to crow, every
bird in the kingdom is muzzled. The property of every one who
dies goes to the king; and at the Annual Custom, a grand religious
festival, every man has to bring a present in proportion to his
rank and wealth. The royal pomp is kept up by receiving strangers
who visit the country with much state, and by regaling the populace
with spectacles of human sacrifices. The women stand high in
Dahomey. Among other negro nations they till the soil. In Dahomey
they fight as soldiers, and perform all the offices of men. Dahomey
is principally celebrated for its army of women, and its human
sacrifices. These last take place annually, or even more often.
Sometimes as many as a thousand captives are slain on these occasions.
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