Bight of Benin

The Bight of Benin is a bight (a type of bay) on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles (640 km) from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the Niger River. To the east it is continued by the Bight of Bonny (formerly Bight of Biafra). The bight is part of the Gulf of Guinea.

On December 25, 2003, UTA Flight 141 crashed in the Bight.

Cultural references

The Bight of Benin is known for its fearsome tidesFact|date=July 2008 and has a long association with slavery, its shore being known as the Slave coast.

An old 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 in the Bight. [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/02/scienceandnature.features|title=Bark for the bite|last=McKie|first=Robin|date=2001-12-02|publisher=guardian.co.uk|accessdate=2008-10-02] 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." [cite book|last=Fiammetta|first=Rocco|title=The Miraculous Fever-tree: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure that Changed the World|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2003|pages=156|isbn=0060199512|url=http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&sig=UxlhxgXKKk4iTAzkymLMa_ujrtI&ct=result&id=WPKzLDEHPR8C&ots=nSWDRzBt3U&output=html]

The author Philip McCutchan has written a book titled "Beware, beware the Bight of Benin."

A short story by Elizabeth Coatsworth, "The Forgotten Island" (1942), deals with a treasure from Benin. A variation of the rhyme is also mentioned. [cite book | last = Hitchcock | first = Alfred | title = Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful | publisher = Random House | location = New York | year = 1961 | isbn = 0394812247 | pages = 83]

In Patrick O'Brian'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.

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, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

History

On 1 February 1852 the British established the Bight of Benin British protectorate, under the authority of Consuls of the Bight of Benin:

On 6 August 1861 the Bight of Biafra protectorate (see there for their common further history) and Bight of Benin protectorate were joined as a united British protectorate, ultimately to be merged into Nigeria

Notes

References

* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria.htm#Southern-Nigeria WorldStatesmen- Southern Nigeria]