BENIN, a country, city, and river of Western Africa, to the west of the main channel of the Niger. The name was formerly applied to the whole stretch of coast from the Volta, in 0° 40' E. long., to the Rio del Rey or Riumbi, in 8° 40' E. long., including what is now known as the Slave Coast, the whole delta of the Niger, and a small portion of the country to the eastward; and some trace of this earlier application remains in the name of Bight of Benin, still given to that part of the sea which washes the Slave Coast. The kingdom of Benin seems at one time to have been one of the most powerful of Western Africa, and was known to Europeans in the 17th century as the Great Benin. Budagry and Lagos, now British possessions, are both Beninese colonies. Benin has now been long in a state of decline, and the territory is broken up into independent states of no individual importance. Such coherence, indeed, as still exists is rather ethnographical than territorial; but it may be regarded as bounded on the E. by the Niger, N. by the Yoruba country, and W. by Egba. The soil is highly fertile and produces palms, rice, beans, maize, kokos,plantains, cotton, sugar, and Guinea pepper, in great abundance. The papaw and African plum grow wild, and excellent tobacco can be raised. Many parts of the country are covered with almost impenetrable forests and swamps, but towards the north there is fine pasture land, in which the natives rear both cattle and horses of considerable value. Of trees the cotton wood, the tamarind, and the mangrove are the most frequent. The population is pretty dense, and it is said that in the most flourishing state of the kingdom the king could collect 100,000 men. His rule is absolute, and he is revered by his subjects as a species of divinity. It is a crime ...to believe that the king either eats or sleeps; and all offences against him are punished with the utmost severity. The religion and mythology agree with the great system of Yoruba and Oro; the chief god is worshipped with human sacrifices to an appalling extent. The people, at the same time, do not indulge in wanton cruelty; they usually stupefy the victims before putting them to death. The houses, at least of the better classes, are built on a plan similar to that of the Romans, with a regular atrium and impluvium. The Beninese weave their cotton into a fine kind of muslin, which is worn in huge bulging petticoats by people of wealth, while the lower orders are content with a simple Beluko or kilt. The capital of, the kingdom, or city of Benin, is situated about 73⅜ miles inland from the mouth of the Rio Formoso or Benin River, about 5° 35' E. long, and 6° 25' N. lat. It covers a large extent of ground, but is so broken up into separate portions by intervening spaces of jungle, that no proper estimate can be formed of its population. The Obwe, or King’s quarter, alone is supposed to have upwards of 15,000 inhabitants; but at the time of Burton’s visit in 1862 many of the houses were empty and falling to ruin. The next city in importance is Wari (Owari, Awerri, or Owheyre, called Jakubythe natives), which is situated about 130 miles S.S.E. of the capital, and some 7 or 10 miles from the sea, on an island surrounded by a branch of the Niger distinguished by the same name. It was formerly described as consisting of two parts about half a mile distant from each other, but now consists of one long and straggling line along the shore. The population previously stated at 5000 is reduced by Burton to 2000. The town, however, has its own king, who has long asserted his independence of the monarch of Benin. The houses are neatly built of clay, coloured with red ochre, and frequently ornamented with rudely carved pillars. The port of Gwato (or as it is variously called, Gato, Agatho, or Agatton) lies about 30 miles N.N.E. of the mouth of the Benin River, is a place of some importance for the palm-oil trade, and has a special interest as the place where Belzoni, the traveller, died and was buried. Numerous factories are scattered along the creeks of the delta for the purposes of trade, but all the larger European settlements have disappeared. Since the abolition of the slave trade the chief export of the country is palm-oil, in return for which salt, silk stuffs, guns and gunpowder, coral (which is the official decoration of the higher dignities), beads, iron, brass, and brandy are imported. The common internal currency is the cowrie-shelL
The River Benin, called by the natives Uwo Ko Jakri, or Outlet of Jakri, is about two miles broad at its mouth; but it is crossed by a very extensive bar of mud and sand, on which there is only 12 feet of water at spring tides. Ships of 60 tons can ascend as far as Gwato.
Benin was discovered by the Portuguese about the year 1485, and they carried on for some time a brisk trade in slaves, who were carried to Elmina, and sold to the natives of the Gold Coast. John III. of Portugal, however, prohibited this traffic; and, as the situation was found very unhealthy, the settlement was ordered to be withdrawn. Many traces of the Portuguese occupation are still to be found, and one of the most striking proofs of their influence is the fact that a corrupt Lusitanian dialect is still spoken by the older natives. The Dutch afterwards established factories, and maintained them for a considerable time, chiefly with a view to the slave trade. In 1788 Captain Landolphe founded a factory called Barodo, near the native village of Obobi, for the French Compagnie d’Oywheré; and it lasted till 1792, when it was destroyed by the English. See Bosman’s Description of the Coast of Guinea in 1705 (in vol. xvi. of Pinkerton’s Voyages) ; William Smith’s New Voyage to Guinea, 1744; Adams’s Remarks on the West Coast of Africa, 1823; Clapperton’s Second Expedition, 1829; Lander’s Travels, 1832; Burton’s My Wanderings in West Africa, 1863.
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