After gaining the top, in a sort of hollow or basin, on one side of the dome-shaped summit, were the remains apparently of a large town. This place was truly the picture of desolation, and the ravages of war and famine presented themselves on all sides. Hundreds of human skulls, of different sizes, were still to be seen; as also the skulls of sheep, goats, and oxen. No doubt the latter named animals had been used as food by the people whose remains we saw around us, the greater part of whom had been starved to death rather than surrender. Many of the soldiers of my guard had been on service during this siege, and described the scene on ascending as of the most awful description. The bodies of the dead in a putrid state were, it appears, mixed with those who were still alive, but unable to move; many were wounded with bullets, whose limbs were rotting off and covered with vermin;[1] and the air was so pestiferous, that many of the Dahomans died from its effects. The vultures tore the bodies of the poor wounded people, even while they were yet alive. In many of the small fissures I observed the remains of various domestic quadrupeds, together with human bones, very probably carried there by the vulture or eagle, also natives of this mountain, as well as the common fox, the panther, and large hyæna, or patakoo, the name given to it by the natives. This mountain is formed by horizontal beds about forty feet deep, composed of gneiss or granite, each bed differing in quality from another in the proportions of feltspar and mica. It rises at an angle of 23°. All the mountains in this neighbourhood rise abruptly, and are very steep,--in fact, on some sides, they are nearly perpendicular, the plain in most cases being truly level to the very base of the mountains. After descending, and returning to the place where I left my party refreshing themselves, I found many of them in a partial state of intoxication, from too freely indulging in the use of the peto. My poor man Maurice, induced by a high state of fever, had attempted to allay his thirst by copiously partaking of the same liquor. After giving some small presents to the caboceer and principal people, we resumed our journey. Just as we began our march, the rain descended in torrents. Fortunately, while at Whydah, I had made myself a waterproof cloak, which I now gave to my poor white man, who seemed a little revived after his rest and the stimulating effects of the peto. He proposed walking; but I knew that his revival was only temporary, and compelled him to ride.