Again: “But of the fourteen now brought on the platform, we the unworthy instruments of the Divine will, succeeded in saving the lives of three. Lashed as we have described before, these sturdy men met the gaze of their persecutors, with a firmness perfectly astonishing. Not a sigh was breathed. In all my life I never saw such coolness before, so near death.... The victims were held high above the heads of their bearers, and the naked ruffians thus acknowledged the munificence of their prince.... Having called their names, the nearest one was divested of his clothes; the foot of the basket placed on the parapet, when the king gave its upper part an impetus, and the victim fell at once into the pit beneath. A fall upwards of twelve feet may have stunned him, and before sense could return, his head was cut off, and the body thrown to the mob; who, now armed with clubs and branches, brutally mutilated it and dragged it to a distant pit.” Forbes and his companion had retired to their seats away from the sight. Two sons of Da Souza, the notorious slayer, remained to look on. [Illustration: _F.E. Forbes, delt._ _Lith. of Sarony & Co. N. Y._ THE PLATFORM OF THE AH-TOH.] The circumstance most likely to have effect in restraining these barbarities, is the value which slaves will now bear as the means of cultivating the ground, and raising exportable produce, to which alone the monarch and people must look, in the diminished state of the slave-trade, to furnish means for their expenses. Victims and slaves will also be more difficult to be procured by warfare, inasmuch as civilized people have more general access to the country, and will introduce a better policy, and more powerful defensive means among the people. Christianity also is adventuring there, and carrying its peaceful influence and nobler motives with it. Lagos plundered recaptured slaves returning to their homes. The authorities deserved no favor. A better man--perhaps a more legitimate claimant for the royal dignity--was found, and after a severe fight, in which the British cruisers warmly participated, he was seated on the throne. A severe blow was given to the slave-trade. Affairs seemed to be going on smoothly until early in the autumn of 1853, when a revolution broke out, amidst which the king died, and the country, as far as is known, remains in confusion.