The path bore (true) North 50° towards East. The land is level and rich loam, and well watered from chalky or pipe-clay springs. After leaving Baffo a few miles, nothing of cultivation shows itself till within a few miles of the town of Zafoora, where the soil is well cultivated, and crops of maize and Guinea corn are abundant; yams and manioc are also plentiful. Palm-nuts and ground nuts also abound; and here the shea-butter is in common use for burning in their lamps, which are of a very simple construction, being merely a shallow earthen vessel in the shape of a saucer. Their method of trimming their lamps is as simple as the construction of the lamp itself: a piece of wick is twisted from the native cotton which is abundant here, and coiled up in the vessel, then a quantity of the shea butter, about the consistence of hog’s-lard, is pressed into the lamp, on the top of the wick. The lamp thus trimmed is placed in a small niche, several of which are left in the wall when the house is built. As the heat of the lighted wick approaches, the butter melts into a liquid like oil, and burns extremely clear, without any unpleasant smell. FOOTNOTES: [8] Commander-in-chief of the militia. [9] After proceeding some distance into the interior the cowrie increases in value. [10] Matcholee, one of the principal men of Whagba, was selected as one of the most intelligent men in the Mahee country, and summoned to Abomey to be my guide through that country. [11] Dababab is, as I have already mentioned, a sort of dumpling, made without fat, composed of the meal of the Indian corn. CHAPTER IV. Zafoora--Terror of the Natives--Cold Reception by the King--My Disappointment--Exorbitant Charge--Unpleasant Position--Palaver with the King--Scene of the Defeat of the Dahomans--Inhospitality--The Shea-butter, and other Trees--The Gwbasso--Prevalent Diseases--Soil--The Velvet Tamarind--Wearisome Journey--Akwaba--Cold Reception by the Caboceer--His Disappointment--Slave Trade--Hard Bargain--Manufacture of Indigo--Hardware--The Ziffa--King Chosee and his Cavalry--Their Hostile Attitude--Moment of Danger--Result of a Firm Demeanour--Respect shewn by the King and Natives--Enter Koma with a Band of Music--Kind Reception--Introduction to the King’s Wives--Palaver with the King--The Niger known here as the Joleeba--Presents to the King--Babakanda--Exorbitant Charges for Provisions--Manufactures--Ginger, Rice, &c.--Seka--Bustle of the Caboceer--Slave-Market--Trade Monopolized by the Caboceer--The Kolla-nut--Honey--Peto--Palaver with the Caboceer--Soil--Assofoodah--Hostile Reception--Palaver--Ridiculous Confusion--Inhospitality.