Then twelve objects were seen dragged by oxen.
These were the cannon of the besiegers.
"How many do you think there are?" Frank asked.
"It is very difficult to judge accurately," Mr. Goodenough said.
"But Dahomey is said to be able to put fifty thousand fighting men
and women in the field, that is to say her whole adult population,
except those too old to bear arms. I 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.
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