THE COAST OF GUINEA.

AMONG the inhabitants of WHYDAH, on the Gold Coast, there is the most unlimited indulgence given to polygamy; a poor man having frequently forty or fifty wives, and a prince sometimes four or five hundred, and a king as many thousands. These women, however, can only be considered as so many slaves, the chief part belonging to great people, being such captives as they choose rather to keep than sell to Europeans. Their marriage ceremonies are very trifling: when a man fancies a young woman, he applies to her father, and desires her for his wife, which is seldom refused ;~ he then presents the bride with a fine pagne, or garment, and with necklaces and bracelets; he next provides a grand entertainment, which concludes the ceremony. When a slave wishes to marry, he asks the consent of the girl's master, without applying to her parents: the children of this marriage belong to the master of the wife. Indeed, the women in general are little better than slaves. They till the ground, and do many other laborious kinds of work; nor are the favourite wives, who stay at home, by any means exempt from work, being always obliged to attend upon

their husbands, and behave towards them with the greatest submission. It is little to be wondered at, there being such great numbers of slaves; for, from the multiplicity of wives which every man has, a great number of children must reasonably be expected.

It is no uncommon thing for a father to have two hundred children living at the same time; and it often happens that a man has five or six born to him in one day. They never cohabit with their wives during pregnancy, which is the principle reason given for their taking so many. A man's principal

wealth consists in the number of his children, all of whom he can dispose of at pleasure, except his eldest son, who at his death takes possession of every thing, and the wives and children, except his mother.

The punishment for adultery is no less severe than for murder, especially if committed with the wife of a prince or grandee. If the guilty party. be surprised, the king immediately pronounces sentence of death, which is executed in the following manner:-They dig two graves, in one of which they plant a stake, and the woman is tied thereto; on the top of the other grave they lay iron bars, across which the man is fastened, and a fire kindled under; he is then literally roasted alive in the- presence of the woman, and the punishment would be dreadfully lingering were it not that they generally

lay the criminal with the face downward. When the man is dead, they fling his body into the grave. -After which there is a number of women, perhaps forty or fifty, come from the palace richly dressed, as if for a feast or merry-making; they are guarded by the king's musqueteers, each carrying a pot of scalding water, which they pour upon the adultress, and also throw the pot on her head. This done, they loosen the body, take up the stake, and cast all together into the grave.

When the wife of a grandce is guilty of adultery, he may either put her to death immediately, or sell her as a slave to the Europeans. If he determine on the former, the king is sufficiently satisfied with being made acquainted with the circumstance of the fact. The injured husband, however, has not the power of inflicting immediate punishment, unless he detect the guilty party in the fact. Otherwise he must bring them to trial, when they are usually punished with death. The king, in a case of this kind, adjudged death to the offender, without burial, and gave his property to the injured

husband.

The mother of the king of Whydah has more power, and is less under controul, than any other subject in his dominions, even superior to the queen herself; but she is under the necessity of continuing a widow the rest of her life. So jealous is the king of his wives, that, if a man should meet one

of them in the street. and by the merest chance touch her, she would not be permitted to enter the seraglio again, and both she and the man would be sold for slaves. If it should appear there was any premeditation in their coming in contact, the woman would be sold, the man put to death, and all his effects confiscated to the king; for which reason, those, who have occasion to go to the palace, on their entrance call out ago, which signifies make way, or retire; the women then range themselves on one side, and the men pass on the other.

İn like manner, when any of the king's wives go to work in the fields, whoever meets them must immediately fall on their knees, and remain in that position until they have passed. Although the people are obliged to pay such respect to them, the king himself shews them very little; they attend him on all occasions like servants; and, instead of shewing any affection for them, he treats them with the greatest disdain, haughtiness, and contempt.

As he considers them only in the light of slaves, so, on the most trifling occasion, he will sell them for slaves to the Europeans; and sometimes, when vessels are waiting on the coast to complete their cargo, he will supply them with whatever number they are in want of, from his seraglio; which deficiencies are soon made up by the assiduity of his captains, or governors of the seraglio, who go about the streets, and seize such girls as they think

will be pleasing to the king, nor dare any of his subjects make the least objection or resistance. The officers immediately present them to the king, and as they are the handsomest girls they could meet with, his Majesty is sometimes particularly attracted by their beauty; when this happens to be the case, the object that most takes his fancy is honoured with his company for two or three nights, after which she is discarded, and must pass the remainder of her life in obscurity; for which reason the women are so little desirous of becoming the king's wife, that they would rather lead a life of celibacy.

About CABO DE MONTE the gallant invites the young negress to his house, and if she accept his offer, she will grant him possession of her for ten or twelve nights together, before she demands the present which is to bind their marriage; if she prove pregnant, and they do not marry, the father takes the boy, and the mother the girl. Every village among the negroes maintains two or three common women, who are at any body's service for a very trifling sum. They are installed into their post; some one is admitted to their embraces, and, after undergoing ablution, each is carried by two young fellows over the town, in triumph, and then seated on a mat for eight days, to recommend themselves to their gallants.

Some of the inhabitants of GUINEA use the fol