2: Anonymous Portuguese Pilot, ca. 1535

To understand the Negro traffic, one must know that over all the African coast facing west there are countries and provinces, such as Guinea, the coast of Melegete, the kingdom of Benin, the kingdom of Kongo, six degrees from the equator and towards the south pole. There are many tribes Negro kings here, and also communities which are partly Muslim and partly heathen. These are constantly making war themselves . 

The kings are worshiped by their subjects, who believe they come from heaven, and speak of them always with great reverence, at a distance and on bended knees. Great ceremony surrounds them, and many of these kings never allow themselves to be seen eating, so as not to the belief of their subjects that they can live without food. They worship the sun, and believe that spirits are immortal and that after death they go to the sun. Among others, there is in the kingdom of Benin an ancient custom, observed to the present day, that when the king dies, the people all assemble in a huge field, in the center of which is a very deep welt wider at the bottom than at the mouth. They cast the body of the dead king into this well, and all his friends and servants gather round, and those who are judged to have been most dear to and favored by the king (this includes not a few, as all are anxious for the honor) voluntarily go down to keep him company. When they have done so, the people place a great stone over the mouth of the well, and remain by it day and night. 

On the second day, a few deputies remove the stone, and ask those below what they know, and if any of them have already gone to serve the king; the reply is, No. 

On the third day, the same question is asked; and someone then replies that mentioning a name, has been the first to go, and so-and-so the second. It is considered highly praiseworthy, to be the first, and he is spoken of with the greatest admiration by all the people, and considered happy and blessed. 

After four or five days all these people die. When this is apparant to those above, since none reply to their questions, they inform their new king; who causes a great fire to be lit near the well, where numerous animals are roasted. These are given to the people to eat, and he with great ceremony is declared to be the true king, and takes the oath to govern well.

The Negroes of Guinea and Benin are very haphazard in their habits of eating. They have no set times for meals, and eat and drink four or five times a day, drinking water, or a wine which they distill from palms. They have no hair except for a few bristly strands on top of the head, and none grows; and the rest of the bodies are completely beardless . They live for the best part of 100 years, and are always vigorous, except at certain times of the year when they become very weak, as if they had fever. They are then bled, and recover, having a great deal of blood in their system. Some of the Negroes in this country superstitious that they worship the first object they see on the day of recovery. A kind of plant called melegete, very like the sorgum of Italy, but in flavor like pepper, grows on this coast ... .