Archibald Dalzel (1740-1811) was a British adventurer and Governor of the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Flag of Gold Coast Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa. ...

He went to Africa as a surgeon in 1763 and returned to England in 1770. During this time he served four years as governor of Whydah (now Ouidah, Benin). He observed that the people at Whydah "pay a kind of veneration to a particular species of large snake, which is very gentle." 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Ouidah is a city on the Atlantic coast of Benin. ...

Appointed by the Committee of Merchants that was in charge of the Gold Coast at the time, he served as governor in two periods: 31 March 1792 - 16 December 1798, and 28 April 1800 - 30 September 1802. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... -1... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 92 days remaining. ... --69. ...

In 1793 he published The history of Dahomy, an inland kingdom of Africa; comp. from authentic memoirs; with an introduction and notes where he argued that the raiding of Dahomean villages for slaves was saving them from the greater evil of being human sacrifices. Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ...

External links and references

• Grinker, Roy Richard & Steiner, Christopher B. (1997). Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History and Representation, pp. xvii-xxxi. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 1-55786-686-4.
• Rulers