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 papav and African plum grow wild, ancl excellent tobacco can be raised. Many parts of the country are covered with almost im penetrable 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 wor shipped 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 Bduko or kilt. The capital of, the kingdom, or city of Benin, is situated about 73^ 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 popula tion. 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 Jaku by the 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 popu lation 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 import ance 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 im
ported. 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 influ ence 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 Oywhere; and it lasted till 1792, when it was destroyed by the English. See Bosnian 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 Ren>Mrks on the West Coast of Africa, 1823; Clapperton s Second Expedition, 1829; Lander s Travels, 1832 ; Burton s My Wanderings in West Africa, 1863.
BENJAMIN ([ Hebrew ], Sept. [ Greek ]), the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob, by Rachel. His mother, dying in childbed, gave him the name Benoni, " Son of my pain," which was changed by his father to Benjamin, meaning probably " Son of the right hand," that is, " Son of pros perity" (Gen. xxxv. 16-18). Of his personal history little is recorded. He was the favourite of his father and brothers, and seems to have been of an amiable though somewhat weak character. In this respect he strikingly contrasts with the tribe, whose history was foretold in the dying prophecy of Jacob, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf" (Gen. xlix. 27). The tribe of Benjamin, though the least numerous of Israel, became nevertheless a consider able race. In the desert it counted 35,400 warriors (Num. i. 37), and at the entrance of Israel into Canaan even as many as 45,600 (Num. xxvi. 41). The portion allotted to this tribe was encompassed by the districts of Ephraim, Dan, and Judah. In the time of the judges the tribe of Benjamin became involved in a civil war with the other eleven tribes, which terminated in its almost utter ex tinction, 600 men alone escaping (Judges xix., xx.) The tribe speedily revived, however ; in the time of David it numbered 59,434 able warriors, and in that of Asa, 280,000. This tribe had the honour of giving the first king to the Jews, Saul being a Benjamite. After the death of Saul, the Benjamites declared themselves for his son Ishbosheth, until, after the assassination of that prince, David became king of all Israel. David having expelled the Jebusites from Zion, and made it his own residence, the close alliance that previously existed between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah was cemented by the cir cumstance that, while Jerusalem belonged to the district of Benjamin, that of Judah was immediately contiguous to it. At the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon, Benjamin espoused the cause of Judah, and they formed a kingdom by themselves. Indeed, the two tribes stood always in such a close connection as often to be included under the single name Judah.
BENJAMIN, of Tudela, in Navarre, a celebrated Jewish rabbi of the 12th century, whose Itinerary is a literary curiosity. He visited Constantinople, Egypt, Assyria, and Persia, penetrating to the frontiers of China. He was credulous, but his work contains some curious notices of the countries he visited. It was translated from the Hebrew into Latin by Arias Montanus in 1575, and appeared in a French version by Baratier in 1734, and again in 1830. The latest English translation is that by Asher, 1840.
statesman in the reign of Charles II., was borr of an ancient family in Middlesex, in the year 1618. In the beginning of the civil war he was appointed under secretary to Lord Digby, secretary of state. He afterwards entered himself as a volunteer for the royal cause, and did the king good service, especially at Andover in Hampshire, where he was severely wounded. He was made secretary to the Duke of York, received the honour of knighthood
from Charles II. at Bruges in 1658, and was sent as envoy