The Bight of Benin or Bay of Benin is a
bight
The word is derived from Old English ''byht'' (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”). In modern English, bight may refer to:
* Bight (geography), recess of a coast, bay, or other curved feature
* Bight (knot), a curved section, slack part, or loo ...
in the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...
area on the western African coast that derives its name from the historical
Kingdom of Benin
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th ce ...
.
Geography
It extends eastward for about from
Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
. To the east it continues by the
Bight of Bonny
The Bight of Biafra (known as the Bight of Bonny in Nigeria) is a bight off the West African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea.
Geography
The Bight of Biafra, or Mafra (named after the town Mafra in southern Portugal), betwee ...
(formerly Bight of Biafra). The bight was named after the
Kingdom of Benin
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th ce ...
.
Historical associations with the
Atlantic slave trade led to the region becoming known as the
Slave Coast. As in many other regions across
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, powerful indigenous kingdoms along the Bight of Benin relied heavily on a long established slave trade that expanded greatly after the arrival of European powers and became a global trade with the
colonization of the Americas
During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although Norse colonization of North America, the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizin ...
. Estimates from the 1640s suggest that Benin ( Beneh ) took in 1200 slaves a year. Restrictions made it hard for slave volume to grow until new states and different routes began to make an increase in slave trade possible.
Cultural references
![Küste Benin Hafen Cotonou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/K%C3%BCste_Benin_Hafen_Cotonou.JPG)
The Bight of Benin has a long association with
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, its shore being known as the
Slave Coast. From 1807 onwards - after slave trading was made illegal for Britons - the Royal Navy created the West Africa Squadron in order to suppress and crush the slave trade. These efforts were magnified after 1833, when slave trading was made illegal throughout the British Empire. These efforts would continue until the 1890s, and cost Britain significant sums of money, and the Royal Navy hundreds, if not thousands, of sailors’ lives from tropical diseases.
The old Royal Navy rhyme says:
:''Beware, beware the Bight of the Benin, for few come out though many go in.''
A variation goes:
:''Beware beware, the Bight of Benin: one comes out, where fifty went in!''
This is said to be a
slavery jingle or
sea shanty about the risk of
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
in the Bight. A third version of the couplet is:
:''Beware and take care of the Bight of Benin. There's one comes out for forty goes in.''"
In
R. Austin Freeman’s 1927 novel ''A Certain Dr. Thorndyke'', Chapter II, "The Legatee," mention is made of this location. The scene is the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
colony in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
where the character Larkom asks, "How does the old mariners’ ditty run? You remember it. 'Oh, the Bight of Benin, the Bight of Benin, One comes out where three go in.'" Life expectancy was short in this locale due to the prevalence of
Blackwater fever.
The author
Philip McCutchan
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
has written a book titled ''Beware, beware the Bight of Benin''.
A
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
by
Elizabeth Coatsworth
Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth (May 31, 1893 – August 31, 1986) was an American writer of fiction and poetry for children and adults. She won the 1931 Newbery Medal from the American Library Association award recognizing '' The Cat Who Went to ...
, "The Forgotten Island" (1942), deals with a treasure from Benin. A variation of the rhyme is also mentioned.
Flash For Freedom!
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
,
George MacDonald Fraser's 1971
picaresque novel
The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...
of Harry Flashman's misadventures in—among other places and situations—an English stately home, the 1840s slave trade, antebellum plantation life, and meeting with then-congressman
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, quotes another variant of the couplet:
''Oh, sailor beware of the Bight o' Benin.''
''There's one as comes out for a hundred goes in.''
In
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...
's novel ''
The Commodore'' (1996), Dr. Maturin recites the rhyme when he learned of his ship's destination. Commodore Aubrey checks him, telling him it is bad luck to say that out loud on the way in.
The rhyme is also partially quoted in chapter ''Context(6)'' of
John Brunner's novel ''
Stand on Zanzibar
''Stand on Zanzibar'' is a dystopian New Wave science fiction novel written by John Brunner and first published in 1968. The book won a Hugo Award for Best Novel at the 27th World Science Fiction Convention in 1969, as well as the 1969 BSFA Awar ...
''. The Bight of Benin (as well as the fictional republic of Beninia) is mentioned throughout the novel.
David Bramhall's series of novels "The Greatest Cape" also mentions the rhyme, one of the characters in the first volume, ''The Black Joke'', having been a pirate and a slaver.
In 2007, a collection of short stories entitled The Bight of Benin: Short Fiction by Kelly J. Morris was published by AtacoraPress.com. The stories are set in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
,
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
and
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
History
On 1 February 1852 the British established the Bight of Benin British
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...
, under the authority of
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
s of the Bight of Benin: the republic of Benin and Bight of Benin were named after the
Kingdom of Benin
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th ce ...
extending eastward from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of River Niger.
On 6 August 1861 the
Bight of Biafra protectorate and Bight of Benin protectorate were joined as a united British protectorate, ultimately to be merged into Nigeria.
References and sources
;References
;Sources
WorldStatesmen- Southern Nigeria
{{Authority control
Bays of the Atlantic Ocean
Gulf of Guinea
Benin–Togo border
Ghana–Togo border
Benin–Nigeria border
Bights (geography)