On the following morning at an early hour another bountiful supply of provisions arrived, and after an early breakfast I was fully equipped, and rode, attended by some of the King’s principal men, to the market-place or parade-ground in front of his palace or house. On our march to the market-place we passed along part of the walls of the palace, which covers an immense space. The walls as well as houses are made of red sandy clay, and on top of the walls, at intervals of thirty feet, human skulls were placed along their whole extent. On approaching nearer the market-place we beheld, on an elevated pole, a man fixed in an upright position, with a basket on his head, apparently holding it with both his hands. A little farther on we saw two more men, now in a state of decomposition, hung by the feet from a thick pole, placed horizontally on two upright poles about twenty feet high. Passing close to them the smell was intolerable. The arms hung extended downwards, and at a little distance a stranger would (from their shrivelled and contracted condition) suppose them to be large sheep or goats; the skin from exposure had turned nearly to the colour of that of a white man. I found upon inquiry the bodies had been in this position about two and a half moons. All reckoning here is by the moon. The vulture was industriously endeavouring to satisfy his appetite, but the heat of the sun had dried the skin so as to render it impenetrable to his efforts. On the opposite side of the market were two more human bodies in the same position as those I have just mentioned with the exception that the bodies had been mutilated. This excited my curiosity, for decapitation is the favourite mode of execution in Abomey. I was informed that these men had been guilty of adulterous intercourse with one of the King’s wives, in consequence of which, they were sentenced to be put to death by being beaten with clubs, and after death mutilated. The King had not yet arrived at the appointed place, where a high stool and footstool were placed for him under a huge umbrella, surrounded by about twenty more of nearly the same dimensions, forming a crescent--his own being in the centre. He had requested, through Mayho, that I would salute him as I would the Queen of England, for he was anxious to become acquainted with European manners and customs. Accordingly, upon a nearer approach I saluted his Majesty according to military regulation, with which he seemed much pleased, and returned the compliment in a much more graceful manner than I expected. He then requested me to dismount and come to him. Upon which, his prime minister and four others next in rank, who were conducting me to his Majesty’s presence, desired me to halt till they paid their compliment to his Majesty, forming line in front of me. They completely prostrated themselves at full length, rubbing both sides of their faces on the ground, and kissing it. They then raised themselves on