That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is
carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and
includes a variety of kingdoms. Of these the most considerable is the k
ingdom of
Benen, both as to extent and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power
of its king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants. It is situated nearly
under the line, and extends along the coast about 170 miles, bu
t runs back into the
interior part of Africa to a distance hitherto I believe unexplored by any traveller; and
seems only terminated at length by the empire of Abyssinia, near 1500 miles from its
beginning. This kingdom is divided into many provinces or di
stricts: in one of the most
remote and fertile of which, called Eboe, I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming
fruitful vale, named Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and
the sea coast must be very considerable; for I had ne
ver heard of white men or
Europeans, nor of the sea: and our subjection to the king of Benin was little more than
nominal; for every transaction of the government, as far as my slender observation
extended, was conducted by the chiefs or elders of the plac
e. The manners and
government of a people who have little commerce with other countries are generally