Dahomey, assisted by the notorious ‘viceroy of Ouidah’ and his female army, resisted abolition. One visitor to Ghezo’s palace in the capital Abomey passed ‘three human heads…the blood still oozing’ on each side of the doorway. ‘The slave trade has been the ruling principle of my people,’ Ghezo told British envoys. ‘It’s the source of their glory and wealth. Their songs celebrate their victories and the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slavery.’
