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by a former King of that once powerful town and kingdom, some eighty years since, to subdue the inhabitants of the Island of Eshalli, situated opposite to Lagos. Failing in accomplishing that object, and not daring to return, the army settled on the island on which the town of Lagos is built; the Captain, or leader of the army, constituting himself King. The barbarous practice of destroying twins has, therefore, its origin from Benin, where this and other frightful and barbarous customs, such as human sacrifices on the full and change of the moon, exist, and will continue so to do, until civi lization and Christianity have made some progress in that town and country.

Although this barbarous custom may be an infraction of that Article of the Treaty concluded with the late King Akitoye, abolishing human sacrifices, it will, I fear, be very difficult to get the Chiefs of Lagos, men whose minds are sunk in the grossest superstition, to admit of it. I, therefore, respectfully suggest to your Lordship, that the abolition for the future of the cruel custom of destroying twin children in Lagos (it appears that here the custom extends to the mother, and even to the father of the twins) should, in a formal and special manner, be abolished by a supplemental Treaty with the King and chiefs of Lagos.

I was quite taken by surprise when I heard of the circumstance above reported to your Lordship, and I can only attribute to its rare occurrence that the missionaries in Lagos were ignorant of the frightful custom existing in this town, in which so great a change has taken place within the last few years, that it may be safely said, that here at least the groans of the unchained slave have been exchanged for the cheerful song of the free and unshackled labourer as he proceeds on the river, bearing to or from market the fruit of man's innocent and lawful labour, not the victims of his avarice and oppression; that the large buildings still called barracoons (a name unpleasing to English ears) are now filled with an article of legitimate commerce, instead of unhappy captives, the clank of whose chains have happily been superseded by "the sound of the churchgoing bell." I have, &c.

The Earl of Clarendon.

B. CAMPBELL

No. 18.-The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Campbell. SIR, Foreign Office, July 7, 1856. I HAVE received your despatch of the 1st of May last, stating that it is the wish of King Kosoko that the amount of the annual allowance due to him under the Treaty engagement of the 28th of September, 1854,* should be paid to him in articles of ornament and utility, instead of in specie or cowries; and I have to acquaint you

* Vol. XLV. Page 913.

in reply, that I approve of your disbursing the amount of the allowance due to Kosoko in accordance with his request.

B. Campbell, Esq.

SIR,

I am, &c.

CLARENDON.

No. 21.-The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Campbell. Foreign Office, July 15, 1856. I HAVE received your despatch of 27th of May last, reporting that you have recently ascertained that the practice of destroying twin children and their parents exists in the town of Lagos, and in reply have to instruct you to endeavour to negotiate with the King and Chiefs of that town the Treaty which you suggest for the abolition of this inhuman custom. I am, &c.

B. Campbell, Esq.

CLARENDON.

No. 22.-Consul Campbell to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. July 31.)
MY LORD,
Lagos, June 14, 1856.

It will, I feel sure, be satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government to learn that its energetic and successful interference on behalf of the late King Akitoye, which led to the complete breaking up of this once great Slave Trade mart, is now, I may say, fast fulfilling the hopes and expectations which were anticipated would follow so decisive a measure.

From Cape Formosa to Porto Novo the Slave Trade may confidently be said to be extinct; at Whydah, and the small ports east and west of it, nearly so; and if the Chiefs of those small ports, Aghwey, Great and Little Popoe, &c., who are all under Treaty engagements with Her Majesty's Government, were threatened with its severe displeasure if they again permitted the embarkation of slaves from their districts, they would, I am well informed, use that as an excuse for refusing permission to the slave-dealers to embark slaves from within their jurisdictions. Whydah would then be the only point from which the embarkation of slaves could take place.

The trade in palm oil is increasing at all the ports in the Bight of Benin, and, if the revenues derived from it do not satisfy all the old slave-trading Chiefs, the profits of the lawful traffic amply compensate the masses of the populations who are now engaged in it; moreover, this legitimate and peaceful trade is working its beneficial influence in gradually ameliorating the condition of that large proportion of the population held in a state of bondage which is gradually becoming nominal. It is also making it the interest of the large bodies of people to whom it affords employment and profit, that the roads from and to the interior should be free from the brigandage which infested them in the days of the Slave Trade,

and, happily, they can now be traversed in safety by small parties, and to a distance which has surprised me.

I have, in a previous despatch, in reporting to your Lordship the great improvement that has taken place of late in the internal communications of this part of Africa, mentioned that my passports ensured the safety of the bearers of them as far the town of Illorin. I now learn that some Houssa and Nuffi people (self-emancipated emigrants from the Brazils), who some months since applied to me for passports, stating that they were proceeding to Illorin, have actually reached their homes in those countries in safety, and have sent word to their countrymen living here, and who have been waiting some years for an opportunity to return to their homes, to obtain passports from me, and to venture to reach those countries. I accordingly complied with the request of a native of Houssa and a native of the Nuffi country, and gave them each a passport, with which they appeared confident of being able to reach those countries, and they have promised, on their safe arrival, to return the passports to me, with a notification in Arabic to that effect.

On mentioning this circumstance in the course of conversation with the Rev. Mr. Crowther, he informed me that Dr. Barth, the traveller, had taken with him to England two natives of Houssa, who are now in the care of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, but that great anxiety was felt as to the possibility of these two men being got back in safety to their country. I entertain no doubt, my Lord, that, if sent here and provided with passports, and put under the especial safeguard of the Chiefs of the large towns, to be passed from one to the other without molestation, the two Houssa men would reach their country in safety.

The Earl of Clarendon.

I have, &c.

B. CAMPBELL.

No. 26.-The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Campbell. SIR, Foreign Office, August 30, 1856. HER Majesty's Government learn with much satisfaction, from your despatch of the 14th of June last, the great improvement that has taken place at Lagos and in the neighbouring countries, consequent upon the expulsion of Kosoko, and the measues adopted by Her Majesty's Government to put an end to the Slave Trade which was carried on from Lagos and the adjacent coasts; and with reference to that part of your despatch in which you state that if the Chiefs of the small ports of Aghwey, Great and Little Popoe, &c., who are all under Treaty engagements with Her Majesty's Government, were threatened with its severe displeasure if they again permitted the embarkation of slaves from their districts, I have

to instruct you to make a communication to the Chiefs in question to the effect suggested by you, in such a manner as you may think best calculated to carry with it most weight.

B. Campbell, Esq.

I am, &c.

CLARENDON.

No. 27.-The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Campbell.

SIR, Foreign Office, August 30, 1856. I TRANSMIT to you herewith a copy of a letter addressed by Major Ord, who has lately been employed as Commissioner on the Gold Coast, to Mr Labouchere, the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, suggesting that a small annual stipend in the shape of presents should be granted to the King of Dahomey, in consideration of the losses which he has sustained by the Agreement which he concluded with Lieutenant Forbes in March, 1852, for the abolition of the Slave Trade from the ports of his dominions.

I also inclose a copy of the answer which I have caused to be returned to a letter from the Colonial Department, in which Mr. Labouchere requests to be made acquainted with my opinion regarding Major Ord's suggestion; and in conformity with what is stated in the letter to the Colonial Office, I have to instruct you, if you should think it useful and expedient to do so, to found upon Major Ord's letter a communication to the King of Dahomey, stating that when he concludes a satisfactory Treaty with Her Majesty's Government, and faithfully observes its stipulations, his claim to an annuity from Her Majesty's Government will be favourably considered. I am, &c.

B. Campbell, Esq.

CLARENDON.

No. 33.-Consul Campbell to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. Oct. 9.)
MY LORD,
Lagos, August 30, 1856.

I BEG to transmit to your Lordship a letter which the Supreme Civil Chief and the Supreme Military Chief of Abbeokuta have addressed to Her Majesty, and requested me to forward, together with the articles mentioned therein as presents.

I wrote to the Chiefs to ask them in what light the war-drum sent by them as a present, was to be considered; that if they sent it to Her Majesty as a sign or assurance they had abandoned their aggressive attacks on their neighbours, I could, in that case, forward it to England, sure of its being graciously received; that without such assurance, a war-drum could not be accepted with pleasure by Her Majesty, who, anxious for the welfare of the Abbeokutans, above all things wished them to abandon predatory warfare, and to turn their attention to innocent commerce and the cultivation of the fruitful soil of their country.

To my letter no satisfactory answer has been received; I shall therefore forward by the first of Her Majesty's vessels leaving this part of the coast for England, the two leather cushions, which are most ingeniously worked, and the cloth, a specimen of the cotton manufacture of the country, but of average quality.

The rumoured attack of the King of Dahomey on their town early next dry season has, no doubt, called forth this letter from the Chiefs of Abbeokuta to Her Majesty, with the hope of obtaining aid; and there is no doubt that the King of Dahomey has (taking advantage of the ill feeling existing among the Chiefs of the other large and populous towns of Yoruba towards the Egbas, for having introduced the anti-Slave Trade English into the country, and for the assumption of superiority by the Egbas over the other tribes, the position of their town at the head of the navigable portion of the River Ogun commanding the trade from the interior to Lagos) been tampering with the Chiefs of Ijaye, Ibadda, Illorin, and Jaboo, to obtain their co-operation; as, without being assisted by the people of some of these populous places, the King of Dahomey is aware his attack on Abbeokuta will be attended with defeat. It is believed he has met with no great encouragement from the Chiefs of the above towns; indeed, the Chiefs of Illorin, a town greatly under Felatah influence, at once sent to apprise the Chiefs of Abbeokuta of the King of Dahomey's proposals.

As the rainy season draws to a close, the King of Dahomey's movements will be closely watched by the Egbas, and his intentions become better known. I have, &c.

The Earl of Clarendon.

B. CAMPBELL.

(Inclosure.)-The Alake and the Basherun of Abbeokuta to Her Majesty the Queen of England.

MADAM,

Abbeokuta, July 4, 1856. THE Alake, or King, and the Basherun, or Field-Marshal, of the Egba nation and next in rank to the King, present their compli ments to Her Majesty:

They congratulate the Queen of England and her Government for the conquest of Sebastopol, as well as for the Treaty which the Russian had signed with England; they hope and trust that it will be a lasting one to many generations.

Their object in writing to the Queen is to thank Her Majesty for many a past favour done to them; for the emancipation of their children and countrymen from the bitterest bondage of slavery, and put them in Sierra Leone; and not only so, but for allowing them to return to their native land; most of the fathers and mothers who had been deprived of their children, and who never

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