It seems but too probable that the British Government will
be forced to declare war on Dahomey. The King absolutely refuses to pay the fine inflicted on him, and has become wild with rage at the blockade of Whydah, now strictly enforced. He threatens to invade the settlement of Lagos, in revenge for the blockade, and to murder every white man within his reach. He has already arrested all white men found in Whydah, who are chiefly Frenchmen, against whom he is specially enraged, as they informed him, as he alleges, that France would stop the blockade. The invasion of Lagos would make war inevitable, but fortunately the distance from the coast to Abomey is not great, and the Government would have the experience of the Ashantee war to guide it. We only trust we shall not repeat the Ashantee blunder of leaving the " King " upon his throne.
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