CHAP. XVII.--The savage considered as a child of nature--what he lives for--kings by birth--a king to be wished dead--Commander Forbes’ introduction to the King of Dahomey--formalities to be observed on approaching Dahoman royalty--the palace hedged in with human skulls--a saltatory welcome--Gezo king of kings--his majesty “stands a drain”--grand display of rum and gunpowder--the ceremony of Eh-bah-tong-ah-bah, or exhibition of the king’s wealth--the red pool at the threshold--Dahoman “half-heads”--King Gezo the “leopard” and the “hawk”--items of his majesty’s wealth--“One washing pan, seven pans of skulls, and a grandmother”--an umbrella ornamented with eighty jaw bones--the probable value of the whole lot--great cry and little wool--the ceremony of Ek-que-noo-ah-toh-meh or the throwing of presents--the king’s platform and the hungry mob below--how his majesty was dressed--rum and tobacco and cowries showered to the people--kings and ambassadors joining in the scramble--the human sacrifices and the expectant savages--feed us! “we are hungry”--the victims launched into the pit--a recent grand custom--“Little Popo, August 6th, 1862”--glad to see a Dutchman--the Dutchman’s reception by the king--exhibition of a crucified missionary--an earthquake in the midst of a “custom”--twenty-four live men thrown to the hungry ones--sixteen women, four horses, and one alligator sacrificed--Bullfinch Lamb--his evidence as to what Dahomey of old was like--£10,000 demanded by the king as Bullfinch’s ransom--he writes home describing his misery--he shows himself a fox rather than a Lamb--Bullfinch wins the king’s heart by making him a kite--the kingdom of Abó and its ruler--Mr. Baikie’s approach to the royal residence--a palace of mud and thatch--King Ishúkuma--royal robes--the king’s sister acts as “crier” to the “court”--King Ajé--his shoeless feet and his red nightcap--Ajé gives Mr. Baikie his “dash”--Baikie’s visit to the terrible Neam Nam--some of his followers flee at the mere sight of the town--the ogres surround the adventurers--prospects of a jolly feast--prospects blighted--a friend in need--“Look at the things they hold in their hands; touch them not”--wonderful effects of a gun shot--a ticklish moment--the good will of the cannibals secured--the Fernandian town of Issapoo and Browowdi the king--Mr. Hutchinson’s description of the Browowdi palace--the king’s rig: “a filthy old stool for a throne, an old bamboo-leaf hat for a crown”--a coronation at Issapo--what his newly-made majesty may eat, and what he must leave alone--royalty in Old Kalabar--King Eyamba--the State carriage _alias_ “the white man’s cowhouse”--comical use of a carriage--the Egbo drum--Aqua-el-dere or chop-day at Duketown--a royal feast--ju-ju wood and palaver sauce--interesting mode of feeding at the royal table--“King Eyo Honesty”--how he