BENJAMIN,
JUDAH
Old Calabar, and the chiefs, six in all, were executed. The chief offender was not brought to justice until a second punitive expedition in 1899 completed the pacification of the country. After the removal of the king in September 1897, a council of chiefs was appointed. This council carries on the government of the whole Beni country, and is presided over by the Resident. Up to 1897 the only trade product allowed by the king was palm oil. Now an extensive trade is done in oil, kernels, timber, ivory, rubber, &c. In the rubber and timber industries great strides have been made. The rubber forests can only be worked under license and regulations protecting the trees and vines from damage and destruction, and a close season of six months in every year is enforced. To the considerable advantage of native owners Europeans take out timber concessions, the maximum extent of a concession being 9 square miles. A commodious Residency, built of bricks and timber procured on the spot, has been erected in the city, and a military post and prison were established there in 1897. Great attention is paid to the sanitary condition of the town. The chiefs and people are rebuilding their houses, and are generally contented with the new order of things. The roads round about are kept in good condition; rubber nurseries have been started; and Government reservations for elephants will be arranged for. The population of the city of Benin is about 5000. (h. l. g.) The British Expedition of 1897.—This expedition was a remarkable example of good organization hastily improvised. The news of the massacre of Mr Phillips’s party reached Rear-Admiral Rawson, the commander-in-chief on the Cape station, on 4th January 1897. The flagship St. George was at Simons Town. The small craft were dispersed. The Theseus and Forte at Malta had been ordered to join the Cape command. The Malacca transport was chartered in the Thames for the purposes of the expedition. In twenty-nine days a force of 1200 men, coming from three places between 3000 and 4500 miles from the Benin river, was landed, organized, equipped, and provided with transport. Five days later the city of Benin was taken, and in twelve days more the men were reembarked, and the ships coaled and ready for any further service. This feat is probably unique. The plan of operations was to move upon Benin in a single column from Warrigi, making demonstrations at Gwato and Sapobar in order to distract the attention of the Beni from the main advance. Four companies of Hausas from the force of the Niger Company Protectorate preceded the naval expedition, and were employed in making a road 7 miles long between Warrigi and Ceri on Ologbo Creek. Fifty native scouts were raised at Lagos and rendered useful service. About 800 carriers were obtained from the tribes in the neighbourhood of New Benin. On 11th February the admiral with the bluejackets and marines landed at Warrigi, and marched to Ceri. On the following day an advanced party of bluejackets and Hausas with two Maxim guns proceeded up the creek, and landing at Ologbo were soon afterwards fired on from the thick bush. On the 14th the advance guard under LieutenantColonel Hamilton moved 5 miles in the direction of Benin, being constantly under fire. Agagi, 4 miles farther, was reached on the 15th after further fighting. Here the expected water supply was not found, and as it was necessary to carry at least three days’ supply, together with five days’ rations, the expedition had to be reorganized, and to leave behind every man not absolutely necessary. On the 16 th a fresh start was made, the Beni constantly firing from the bush and being dislodged by volleys and the Maxims. On the 17 th Benin was occupied after further fighting. Some rockets fired at random in the supposed direction of the
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town fell in the Juju compound and created a panic, which caused the place to be abandoned. On the following day the much-needed water was obtained. The town, which was found to be reeking of human sacrifices, was partly burned, and on the 22nd the expedition started on its return, leaving the Hausas in possession. Meanwhile the Philomel, Barrosa, and Widgeon anchored off the entrance to Gwato Creek on the 8th, and on the 9th an advance in boats was made under Captain O’Callaghan, R.N. Gwato was found deserted on the 10th, and was burned after an hour’s engagement with the Beni. The Phoebe, Alecto, and Magpie supplied a force under Captain M'Gill, R.N., which occupied Sapobar on the 9th, and was attacked on the 20th. The total losses of the expedition were 10 killed, including 2 officers (Lieut.-Commander Pritchard and Surgeon Fyffe), and 32 wounded, including 5 officers. Staff-Surgeon Way died of sunstroke at Warrigi. The operations, though brief, threw a heavy and continuous strain upon the forces. Their marked success was due to the excellent organization devised by the naval officers and to the great care bestowed upon details. King Duboar of Benin was subsequently captured, and the country has quietly passed under British administration. The reign of wholesale murder has ended, and trade is developing in what was once the worst human shambles of Africa. (G. s. c.) Benjamin, Judah Philip (1811 - 1884), Anglo-American lawyer, of Jewish descent, was born a British subject at St Croix in the West Indies on the 11th of August 1811, and was successively an American lawyer, a leading Confederate politician, and a distinguished English barrister. He eventually died in Paris a domiciled Frenchman. After 1815 his parents lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, and he went to Yale in 1825 for his education, but left without taking a degree, and entered an attorney’s office in New Orleans. He was admitted to the New Orleans bar in 1832. He compiled with his friend Slidell a valuable digest of decisions of the Supreme Courts of New Orleans and Louisiana; and as a partner in the firm of Slidell, Benjamin, and Conrad, he enjoyed a good practice. In 1848 he was admitted a councillor of the Supreme Court, and in 1852 he was elected a senator for Louisiana, from which date he took an active part in politics, declining to accept a judgeship of the Supreme Court. In 1861 he withdrew from the Senate, left Washington, and actively espoused the Confederate cause. He joined Jefferson Davis’s provisional government as attorney-general, becoming afterwards his secretary for war (1861-62), and chief secretary of state (1862-65). Although at times subject to fierce criticism with regard to matters of administration and finance, he was recognized as one of the ablest men on the Confederate side, and he remained with Jefferson Davis to the last, sharing his flight after the surrender at Appomattox, and only leaving him shortly before his capture, because Benjamin found himself unable to go farther on horseback. He escaped from the coast of Florida in an open boat, and after many vicissitudes reached Liverpool, England, an exile. Shortly afterwards his remaining property was lost in the failure of Overend and Gurney. In London Benjamin was able to earn a little money by journalism, and on the 13th of January 1866 he entered Lincoln’s Inn. He received a hospitable welcome from the English legal profession. The influence of English judges who knew his abilities and his circumstances enabled him to be called to the bar on the 6th of June 1866, dispensing with the usual three years of studentship, and he acquired his first knowledge of the practice and methods of English courts as the pupil of Mr C. E. Pollock (after-
