"Whidah on this coast must be noticed, as it is so connected with Dahomey.

In Whidah the religion is pagan; but for some unaccountable reason they worship their divinity under the form of a particular species of snake, called daboa, which is not sufficiently large to be terrible to man, and is otherwise tamable and inoffensive.

The kingdom of Whidah.

The kingdom of Whidah has been particularly noted by travellers.[A] William Smith and Bosman agree, "That it is one of the most delightful countries in the world.

" [Footnote A: Collection, vol. 2, page 651.] Bosman[A] speaks in commendation of the civility, kindness, and great industry of the natives of Whidah; this is confirmed by Smith,[B] who says, "The natives here seem to be the most gentleman-like Negroes in Guinea, abounding with good manners and ceremony to each other.

The income of some of the Kings is large, Bosman says, "That the King of Whidah's revenues and duties on things bought and sold are considerable; he having the tithe of all things sold in the market, or imported in the country.

Bosman tells us, "The Whidah Negroes have a faint idea of a true God, ascribing to him the attributes of almighty power and omnipresence; but God, they say, is too high to condescend to think of mankind; wherefore he commits the government of the world to those inferior deities which they worship."

Adjoining to the kingdom of Whidah, are several small governments, as Coto, great and small Popo, Ardrah, &c. all situate on the Slave Coast, where the chief trade for slaves is carried on.

These are governed by their respective Kings, and follow much the same customs with those of Whidah, except that their principal living is on plunder, and the slave trade.

And he says,[C] "The blacks of Fida, or Whidah, are so expeditious in trading for slaves, that they can deliver a thousand every month.

So far Barbot's account; that given by William Bosman is as follows:[E] "When the slaves which are brought from the inland countries come to Whidah, they are put in prison together; when we treat concerning buying them, they are all brought out together in a large plain, where, by our surgeons, they are thoroughly examined, and that naked, both men and women, without the least distinction or modesty.[F]

Which is near half as much more as at Whidah; nor can the Europeans, concerned in the trade, with any degree of propriety, blame the African Kings for countenancing it, while they continue to send vessels, on purpose to take in the slaves which are thus stolen, and that they are permitted, under the sanction of national laws, to sell them to the colonies.]

At Whidah, 115.

Whidah (kingdom of) agreeable and fruitful, 27.

Not often did such great wars occur as the Dahomey invasion of the Whidah country in 1726 and the general fighting of the Gambia peoples in 1733-1734 to glut the outward bound ships with slave cargoes.