INTRODUCTORY.

Women who were no longer attractive were, in accordance with the usual practice, sold to slave traders. Lagos was the most convenient port, and they were therefore marched there in gangs to await shipment. This slave traffic, which brought Lagos some notoriety, began around 1815 and soon reached very large dimensions.

In 1836, a struggle for the succession broke out in Lagos, resulting in the expulsion of the legitimate claimant, Kosoko, by his rival Oluwole, who seized the throne for himself. Oluwole died in 1841 and was succeeded by Akitoye, who was foolish enough to invite Kosoko—who was still alive and in exile—to return and live in Lagos. Kosoko readily accepted the invitation, soon began conspiring, and before long found himself sufficiently supported to rebel. In the ensuing struggle, the town of Lagos was burned, and Akitoye was driven into exile. He found refuge at Badagry and, to induce the British to support his cause, promised that if he were reinstated at Lagos, he would help suppress the slave trade. When this negotiation came to the attention of Kosoko, he dispatched a force to Badagry to attack Akitoye. The force burned the town, killed an English trader named Gee, and destroyed a great deal of property belonging to British subjects. The senior naval officer at the station subsequently decided to support Akitoye against Kosoko. The British sloops Philomel, Harlequin, Niger, and Waterwitch, along with the gun vessels Bloodhound and Volcano, assembled off the Lagos bar in November 1851, and on the 25th, all...