{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_34655/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_34655","id":"gutenberg_34655","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34655","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Nigeria, Southern","Tales -- Nigeria, Southern"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n(This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: JU-JU MASK FROM IBO COUNTRY, SOUTHERN NIGERIA]\n\n\n                             FOLK STORIES\n\n                                 FROM\n\n                           SOUTHERN NIGERIA\n\n                             WEST AFRICA\n\n\n                                  BY\n\n               ELPHINSTONE DAYRELL, F.R.G.S., F.R.A.I.\n\n               DISTRICT COMMISSIONER, SOUTHERN NIGERIA\n\n\n                       WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY\n\n                             ANDREW LANG\n\n\n\n                         _WITH FRONTISPIECE_\n\n\n\n\n                       LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.\n\n                      39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON\n\n                    NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA\n\n                                 1910\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n_Frontispiece from a Drawing in Colour by_ Major G. M. DE L. DAYRELL\n\n                                                                 PAGE\n\nIntroduction                                                      vii\n\nI. The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter                              1\n\nII. How a Hunter obtained Money from his\nFriends the Leopard, Goat, Bush Cat, and\nCock, and how he got out of repaying them                           6\n\nIII. The Woman with two Skins                                      11\n\nIV. The King's Magic Drum                                          20\n\nV. Ituen and the King's Wife                                       29\n\nVI. Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King                     33\n\nVII. Why the Bat flies by Night                                    36\n\nVIII. The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull                 38\n\nIX. The King who Married the Cock's Daughter                       42\n\nX. Concerning the Woman, the Ape, and the Child                    46\n\nXI. The Fish and The Leopard's Wife; or, Why the\nFish lives in the Water                                            49\n\nXII. Why the Bat is Ashamed to be seen in the\nDaytime                                                            51\n\nXIII. Why the Worms live Underneath the Ground                     56\n\nXIV. The Elephant and the Tortoise; or, Why the\nWorms are Blind and the Elephant has Small\nEyes                                                               58\n\nXV. Why a Hawk kills Chickens                                      62\n\nXVI. Why the Sun and the Moon live in the Sky                      64\n\nXVII. Why the Flies Bother the Cows                                66\n\nXVIII. Why the Cat kills Rats                                      68\n\nXIX. The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder                    70\n\nXX. Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant are bad\nFriends                                                            72\n\nXXI. The Cock who caused a Fight between two\nTowns                                                              76\n\nXXII. The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the\nTortoise; or, Why the Hippopotamus\nlives in the Water                                                 79\n\nXXIII. Why Dead People are Buried                                  81\n\nXXIV. Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away                             83\n\nXXV. Concerning the Leopard, the Squirrel, and\nthe Tortoise                                                       86\n\nXXVI. Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes                                 91\n\nXXVII. The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and\nthe Bush Rat                                                       93\n\nXXVIII. The King and the Ju Ju Tree                                98\n\nXXIX. How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant\nand the Hippopotamus                                              104\n\nXXX. Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous\nWomen                                                             107\n\nXXXI. How the Cannibals drove the People from\nInsofan Mountain to the Cross River\n(Ikom)                                                            115\n\nXXXII. The Lucky Fisherman                                        119\n\nXXXIII. The Orphan Boy and the Magic Stone                        121\n\nXXXIV. The Slave Girl who tried to Kill her Mistress              126\n\nXXXV. The King and the 'Nsiat Bird                                133\n\nXXXVI. Concerning the Fate of Essido and his Evil\nCompanions                                                        135\n\nXXXVII. Concerning the Hawk and the Owl                           142\n\nXXXVIII. The Story of the Drummer and the\nAlligators                                                        145\n\nXXXIX. The 'Nsasak Bird and the Odudu Bird                        153\n\nXL. The Election of the King Bird (the black-and-white\nFishing Eagle)                                                    156\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nMany years ago a book on the Folk-Tales of the Eskimo was published,\nand the editor of _The Academy_ (Dr. Appleton) told one of his minions\nto send it to me for revision. By mischance it was sent to an eminent\nexpert in Political Economy, who, never suspecting any error, took the\nbook for the text of an interesting essay on the economics of \"the\nblameless Hyperboreans.\"\n\nMr. Dayrell's \"Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria\" appeal to the\nanthropologist within me, no less than to the lover of what children\nand older people call \"Fairy Tales.\" The stories are full of mentions\nof strange institutions, as well as of rare adventures. I may be\npermitted to offer some running notes and comments on this mass of\nAfrican curiosities from the crowded lumber-room of the native mind.\n\nI. _The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter._--The story, like the tales\nof the dark native tribes of Australia, rises from that state of fancy\nby which man draws (at least for purposes of fiction) no line between\nhimself and the lower animals. Why should not the fair heroine, Adet,\ndaughter of the tortoise, be the daughter of human parents? The tale\nwould be none the less interesting, and a good deal more credible to\nthe mature intelligence. But the ancient fashion of animal parentage\nis presented. It may have originated, like the stories of the\nAustralians, at a time when men were totemists, when every person had\na bestial or vegetable \"family-name,\" and when, to account for these\nhereditary names, stories of descent from a supernatural, bestial,\nprimeval race were invented. In the fables of the world, speaking\nanimals, human in all but outward aspect, are the characters. The\nfashion is universal among savages; it descends to the Buddha's\n_jataka_, or parables, to AEsop and La Fontaine. There could be no such\nfashion if fables had originated among civilised human beings.\n\nThe polity of the people who tell this story seems to be despotic. The\nking makes a law that any girl prettier than the prince's fifty wives\nshall be put to death, with her parents. Who is to be the Paris, and\ngive the fatal apple to the most fair? Obviously the prince is the\nParis. He falls in love with Miss Tortoise, guided to her as he is by\nthe bird who is \"entranced with her beauty.\" In this tribe, as in\nHomer's time, the lover offers a bride-price to the father of the\ngirl. In Homer cattle are the current medium; in Nigeria pieces of\ncloth and brass rods are (or were) the currency. Observe the queen's\ninterest in an affair of true love. Though she knows that her son's\nlife is endangered by his honourable passion, she adds to the\nbride-price out of her privy purse. It is \"a long courting\"; four\nyears pass, while pretty Adet is \"ower young to marry yet.\" The king\nis very angry when the news of this breach of the royal marriage Act\nfirst comes to his ears. He summons the whole of his subjects, his\nthrone, a stone, is set out in the market-place, and Adet is brought\nbefore him. He sees and is conquered.\n\n    \"It is no wonder,\" said the king,\n    \"This tortoise-girl might be a queen.\"\n\nThough a despot, his Majesty, before cancelling his law, has to\nconsult the eight Egbos, or heads of secret societies, whose magical\npowers give the sacred sanction to legislation. The Egbo (see p. 4,\nnote) is a mumbo-jumbo man. He answers to the bogey who presides over\nthe rites of initiation in the Australian tribes.\n\nWhen the Egbo is about, women must hide and keep out of the way. The\nking proclaims the cancelling of the law. The Egbos might resist, for\nthey have all the knives and poisons of the secret societies behind\nthem. But the king, a master of the human heart, acts like Sir Robert\nWalpole. He buys the Egbo votes \"with palm-wine and money,\" and gives\na feast to the women at the marriage dances. But why does the king\ngive half his kingdom to the tortoise? When an adventurer in fairy\ntales wins the hand of the king's heiress, he usually gets half the\nkingdom. The tortoise is said to have been \"the wisest of all men and\nanimals.\" Why? He merely did not kill his daughter. But there is no\ntemptation to kill daughters in a country where they are valuable\nassets, and command high bride-prices. In the Australian tribes, the\nbride-price is simply another girl. A man swops his sister to another\nman for the other man's sister, or for any girl of whose hand the\nother man has the disposal.\n\nII. The second story is a very ingenious commercial parable, \"Never\nlend money, you only make a dangerous enemy.\" The story also explains\nwhy bush cats eat poultry.\n\nIII. _The Woman with Two Skins_ is a peculiar version of the story of\nthe courteous Sir Gawain with his bride, hideous by day, and a pearl\nof loveliness by night. The Ju Ju man answers to the witch in our\nfairy tales and to the mother-in-law of the prince, who, by a magical\npotion, makes him forget his own true love. She, however, is always\nvictorious, and the prince\n\n        \"Prepares another marriage,\n    Their hearts so full of love and glee,\"\n\nand ousts the false bride, like Lord Bateman in the ballad, when\nSophia came home. In this case of Lord Bateman, the scholiast\n(Thackeray, probably) suggests that his Lordship secured the consent\nof the Church as the king in the tortoise story won that of the Egbos.\nOur tale then wanders into the fairy tale of the king who is deceived\ninto drowning his children, in European folk-lore, because he is\ninformed that they are puppies. The Water Ju Ju, however, saves these\nblack princes, and brings forward the rightful heir very dramatically\nat a wrestling match, where the lad overthrows more than he thought,\nlike Orlando in _As You Like It_, and conquers the heart of the\njealous queen as well as his athletic opponents.\n\nIn the conclusion the jealous woman is handed over to the\necclesiastical arm of the Egbos; she is flogged, and, as in the case\nof Jeanne d'Arc, is burned alive, \"and her ashes were thrown into the\nriver.\" Human nature is much the same everywhere.\n\nIV. _The King's Magic Drum._--The drum is the mystic cauldron of\nancient Welsh romance, which \"always provides plenty of good food and\ndrink.\" But the drum has its drawback, the food \"goes bad\" if its\nowner steps over a stick in the road or a fallen tree, a tabu like the\n_geisas_ of ancient Irish legends. The tortoise, in this tale, has the\n_geisas_ power; he can make the king give him anything he chooses to\nask. This very queer constraint occurs constantly in the Cuchullain\ncycle of Irish romances, and in _The Black Thief_. (You can buy it for\na penny in Dublin, or read it in Thackeray's _Little Tour in\nIreland_.) The King is constrained to part with the drum, but does not\ntell the tortoise about the tabu and the drawback. The tortoise,\nthough disappointed, at least pays his score off in public, and then\nthe tale wanders into the _Hop o' my Thumb_ formula, and the trail of\nashes. Finally the story, like most stories, explains the origin of an\nanimal peculiarity, why tortoises live under prickly tie-tie palms.\nThat explanation was clearly in the author's mind from the first, but\nto reach his point he adopted the formula of the mystic object, drum\nor cauldron, which provides endless supplies, and has a counteracting\ncharm attached to it, a tabu.\n\nV. _Ituen and the King's Wife._--Some of these tales have this\npeculiarity, that the characters possess names, as Ituen, Offiong, and\nAttem. They are thus what people call _sagas_, not mere _Maerchen_. All\nthe pseudo-historic legends of the Greek states, of Thebes, Athens,\nMycenae, Pylos, and so on, are folk-tales converted into saga, and\nadapted and accepted as historical. Some of these Nigerian fairy-tales\nare in the same cast. The story of Athamas of Iolcos and the sacrifice\nof any of his descendants who went into the town hall, exactly\ncorresponds to the fate of the family of Ituen (p. 32).[1] The whole\nAthamas story, in Greece, is a tissue of popular tales found in every\npart of the world. This Ituen story, as usual, explains the habits of\nanimals, vultures, and dogs, and illustrates the awful cruelties of\nEgbo law.\n\nVI. _The Pretty Stranger_ is a native variant of _Judith and\nHolofernes_.\n\nVII. A \"Just So Story,\" a myth to explain the ways of animals. The\ncauldron of Medea, which destroyed the wrong old person, and did not\nrejuvenate him, is introduced. \"All the stories have been told,\" all\nthe world over.\n\nVIII. _The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull._--This is most\noriginal; though all our ballads and tales about the pretty girl who\nis carried to the land of the dead by her lover's ghost (Buerger's\n_Lenore_) have the same fundamental idea. Then comes in the common\nmoral, the Reward of Courtesy, as in Perrault's _Les Fees_. But the\nmachinery of the Nigerian romance leads up to the Return of Proserpine\nfrom the Dead in a truly fanciful way.\n\nIX. _The King who Married the Cock's Daughter_ is AEsop's man who\nmarried the woman that had been a cat. As Adia unen pecks at the corn,\nthe other lady caught and ate a mouse.\n\n[Footnote 1: See the Platonic dialogue, Minos, 315-6, and Athamas in\nRoscher's _Lexikon_.]\n\nX. _The Woman, the Ape, and the Child._--This tale illustrates Egbo\njuridicature very powerfully, and is told to account for Nigerian\nmarriage law.\n\nXI. _The Fish and the Leopard's Wife._--Another \"Just So Story.\"\n\nXII. _The Bat._--Another explanation of the nocturnal habits of the\nbat. The tortoise appears as the wisest of things, like the hare in\nNorth America, Brer Rabbit, the Bushman Mantis insect, and so on.\n\nXIII., XIV., XV. All of these are explanatory \"Just So Stories.\"\n\nXVI. _Why the Sun and Moon live in the Sky._--Sun and Moon, in savage\nmyth, lived on earth at first, but the Nigerian explanation of their\nretreat to the sky is, as far as I know, without parallel elsewhere.\n\nXVII., XVIII. \"Just So Stories.\"\n\nXIX. Quite an original myth of Thunder and Lightning: much below the\ndivine dignity of such myths elsewhere. Thunder is not the Voice of\nZeus or of Baiame the Father (Australian), but of an old sheep! The\ngods have not made the Nigerians poetical.\n\nXX. Another \"Just So Story.\"\n\nXXI. _The Cock who caused a Fight_ illustrates private war and justice\namong the natives, and shows the Egbos refusing to admit the principle\nof a fine in atonement for an offence.\n\nXXII. _The Affair of the Hippopotamus and of the Tortoise._--A very\ncurious variant of the _Whuppitie Stoorie_, or Tom-Tit-Tot story,\ndepending on the power conferred by learning the secret name of an\nopponent. These secret names are conferred at Australian ceremonies.\nAny amount of the learning about secret names is easily accessible.\n\nXXIII. _Why Dead People are Buried._--Here we meet the Creator so\ncommon in the religious beliefs of Africans as of most barbarous and\nsavage peoples. \"The Creator was a big chief.\" The Euahlayi Baiame is\nrendered \"Big Man\" by Mrs. Langloh Parker (see The _Euahlayi Tribe_).\nThe myth is one of world-wide diffusion, explaining The Origin of\nDeath, usually by the fable of a message, forgotten and misrendered,\nfrom the Creator.\n\nXXIV. _The Fat Woman who Melted Away._--The revival of this beautiful\ncreature, from all that was left of her, the toe, is an incident very\ncommon in folk-tales, i.e. the Scottish _Rashin Coatie_. (The word\n\"dowry\" is used throughout where \"bride-price\" would better express\nthe institution. The Homeric [Greek: ena] is meant.)\n\nXXV. _The Leopard, the Squirrel, and the Tortoise._--A \"Just So\nStory.\"\n\nXXVI. _Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes._--A lunar myth; not a poetical\nthough a kindly explanation of the habits of the moon.\n\nXXVII. _The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat._--A\n\"Just So Story.\"\n\nXXVIII. _The King and the JuJu Tree._--This is a fine example of Ju Ju\nbeliefs, and of an extraordinary sacrifice to a Ju Ju power located in\na tree. Goats, chickens, and white men are common offerings, but\n\"seven baskets of flies\" might propitiate Beelzebub. The \"spirit-man\"\nwho can succeed when sacrifice fails, chooses the king's daughter as\nhis reward, as is usual in _Maerchen_. Compare Melampus and Pero in\nGreece. The skull in spirit-land here plays a friendly part, in\nadvising the princess, like Proserpine, not to eat among the dead.\nThis caution is found everywhere--in the Greek version of Orpheus and\nEurydice, in the _Kalewala_, and in Scott's \"Wandering Willie's Tale,\"\nin _Redgauntlet_. Like Orpheus, the girl is not to look back while\nleaving spirit-land. Her successful escape, by obeying the injunctions\nof the skull, is unusual.\n\nXXIX. _How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and the\nHippopotamus._--A \"Just So Story,\" with the tortoise as cunning as\nBrer Rabbit.\n\nXXX. _Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous Women._--Here the good\nlittle bird plays the part of the popinjay who \"up and spake\" with\ngood effect in the first ballads. The useful Ju Ju man divines by\ncasting lots, a common method among the Zulus. The revenge of the\npretty girl's father is certainly adequate.\n\nXXXI. _How the Cannibals drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the\nCross River (Ikom)._--This professes to be historical, and concerns\nhuman sacrifices, \"to cool the new yams,\" and cannibalism.\n\nXXXII. is unimportant.\n\nIn XXXIII. we find the ordeal poison, which destroys fifty witches.\n\nXXXIV. _The Slave Girl who tried to Kill her Mistress_ is a form of\nour common tale of the waiting-maid who usurps the place of her\nmistress, the Bride. The resurrection of the Bride from the water, at\nthe cry of her little sister, occurs in a remote quarter, among the\nSamoyeds in Castren's _Samoyedische Maerchen_, but there the opening is\nin the style of _Asterinos and Pulja (Phrixus and Helle)_ in Van\nHahn's _Griechische Maerchen_. The False Bride story is, in an ancient\nFrench _chanson de geste_, part of the legend of the mother of\nCharlemagne. The story also occurs in Callaway's collection of Zulu\nfairy tales. In the Nigerian version the manners, customs, and\ncruelties are all thoroughly West African.\n\nXXXV. _The King and the 'Nsiat Bird_ accounts, as usual, for the\nhabits of the bird; and also illustrates the widespread custom of\nkilling twins.\n\nXXXVI. reflects the well-known practices of poison and the ordeal by\npoison.\n\nXXXVII. is another \"Just So Story.\"\n\nXXXVIII. _The Drummer and the Alligators._--In this grim tale of one\nof the abominable secret societies the human alligators appear to be\nregarded as being capable of taking bestial form, like werewolves or\nthe leopards of another African secret society.\n\nXXXIX. and XL. are both picturesque \"Just So Stories,\" so common in\nthe folk-lore of all countries.\n\nThe most striking point in the tales is the combination of good humour\nand good feeling with horrible cruelties, and the reign of terror of\nthe Egbos and lesser societies. European influences can scarcely do\nmuch harm, apart from whisky, in Nigeria. As to religion, we do not\nlearn that the Creator receives any sacrifice: in savage and barbaric\ncountries He usually gets none. Only Ju Jus, whether ghosts or fiends\nin general, are propitiated. The Other is \"too high and too far.\"\n\nI have briefly indicated the stories which have variants in ancient\nmyth and European _Maerchen_ or fairy tales.\n\nANDREW LANG.\n\n\n\n\nFOLK STORIES\n\nFROM SOUTHERN NIGERIA\n\n\n\n\nI\n\n_The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter_\n\n\nThere was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence\nover the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as\nthe wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon,\nto whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not\nlike any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that\nif any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and\nwho found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father\nand mother should be killed.\n\nNow about this time the tortoise and his wife had a daughter who was\nvery beautiful. The mother thought it was not safe to keep such a fine\nchild, as the prince might fall in love with her, so she told her\nhusband that her daughter ought to be killed and thrown away into the\nbush. The tortoise, however, was unwilling, and hid her until she was\nthree years old. One day, when both the tortoise and his wife were\naway on their farm, the king's son happened to be hunting near their\nhouse, and saw a bird perched on the top of the fence round the house.\nThe bird was watching the little girl, and was so entranced with her\nbeauty that he did not notice the prince coming. The prince shot the\nbird with his bow and arrow, and it dropped inside the fence, so the\nprince sent his servant to gather it. While the servant was looking\nfor the bird he came across the little girl, and was so struck with\nher form, that he immediately returned to his master and told him what\nhe had seen. The prince then broke down the fence and found the child,\nand fell in love with her at once. He stayed and talked with her for a\nlong time, until at last she agreed to become his wife. He then went\nhome, but concealed from his father the fact that he had fallen in\nlove with the beautiful daughter of the tortoise.\n\nBut the next morning he sent for the treasurer, and got sixty pieces\nof cloth[2] and three hundred rods,[3] and sent them to the tortoise.\nThen in the early afternoon he went down to the tortoise's house, and\ntold him that he wished to marry his daughter. The tortoise saw at\nonce that what he had dreaded had come to pass, and that his life was\nin danger, so he told the prince that if the king knew, he would kill\nnot only himself (the tortoise), but also his wife and daughter. The\nprince replied that he would be killed himself before he allowed the\ntortoise and his wife and daughter to be killed. Eventually, after\nmuch argument, the tortoise consented, and agreed to hand his daughter\nto the prince as his wife when she arrived at the proper age. Then the\nprince went home and told his mother what he had done. She was in\ngreat distress at the thought that she would lose her son, of whom she\nwas very proud, as she knew that when the king heard of his son's\ndisobedience he would kill him. However, the queen, although she knew\nhow angry her husband would be, wanted her son to marry the girl he\nhad fallen in love with, so she went to the tortoise and gave him some\nmoney, clothes, yams, and palm-oil as further dowry on her son's\nbehalf in order that the tortoise should not give his daughter to\nanother man. For the next five years the prince was constantly with\nthe tortoise's daughter, whose name was Adet, and when she was about\nto be put in the fatting house,[4] the prince told his father that he\nwas going to take Adet as his wife. On hearing this the king was very\nangry, and sent word all round his kingdom that all people should come\non a certain day to the market-place to hear the palaver. When the\nappointed day arrived the market-place was quite full of people, and\nthe stones belonging to the king and queen were placed in the middle\nof the market-place.\n\n[Footnote 2: A piece of cloth is generally about 8 yards long by 1\nyard broad, and is valued at 5s.]\n\n[Footnote 3: A rod is made of brass, and is worth 3d. It is in the\nshape of a narrow croquet hoop, about 16 inches long and 6 inches\nacross. A rod is native currency on the Cross River.]\n\n[Footnote 4: The fatting house is a room where a girl is kept for some\nweeks previous to her marriage. She is given plenty of food, and made\nas fat as possible, as fatness is looked upon as a great beauty by the\nEfik people.]\n\nWhen the king and queen arrived all the people stood up and greeted\nthem, and they then sat down on their stones. The king then told his\nattendants to bring the girl Adet before him. When she arrived the\nking was quite astonished at her beauty. He then told the people that\nhe had sent for them to tell them that he was angry with his son for\ndisobeying him and taking Adet as his wife without his knowledge, but\nthat now he had seen her himself he had to acknowledge that she was\nvery beautiful, and that his son had made a good choice. He would\ntherefore forgive his son.\n\nWhen the people saw the girl they agreed that she was very fine and\nquite worthy of being the prince's wife, and begged the king to cancel\nthe law he had made altogether, and the king agreed; and as the law\nhad been made under the \"Egbo\" law, he sent for eight Egbos,[5] and\ntold them that the order was cancelled throughout his kingdom, and\nthat for the future no one would be killed who had a daughter more\nbeautiful than the prince's wives, and gave the Egbos palm wine and\nmoney to remove the law, and sent them away. Then he declared that\nthe tortoise's daughter, Adet, should marry his son, and he made them\nmarry the same day. A great feast was then given which lasted for\nfifty days, and the king killed five cows and gave all the people\nplenty of foo-foo[6] and palm-oil chop, and placed a large number of\npots of palm wine in the streets for the people to drink as they\nliked. The women brought a big play to the king's compound, and there\nwas singing and dancing kept up day and night during the whole time.\nThe prince and his companions also played in the market square. When\nthe feast was over the king gave half of his kingdom to the tortoise\nto rule over, and three hundred slaves to work on his farm. The prince\nalso gave his father-in-law two hundred women and one hundred girls to\nwork for him, so the tortoise became one of the richest men in the\nkingdom. The prince and his wife lived together for a good many years\nuntil the king died, when the prince ruled in his place. And all this\nshows that the tortoise is the wisest of all men and animals.\n\n[Footnote 5: The Egbo Society has many branches, extending from\nCalabar up the Cross River as far as the German Cameroons. Formerly\nthis society used to levy blackmail to a certain extent and collect\ndebts for people. The head Ju Ju, or fetish man, of each society is\ndisguised, and frequently wears a hideous mask. There is a bell tied\nround his waist, hanging behind and concealed by feathers; this bell\nmakes a noise as he runs. When the Egbo is out no women are allowed\noutside their houses, and even at the present time the women pretend\nto be very frightened. The Egbo very often carries a whip in his hand,\nand hits out blindly at any one he comes across. He runs round the\ntown, followed by young men of his society beating drums and firing\noff guns. There is generally much drinking going on when the Egbo is\nplaying. There is an Egbo House in most towns, the end part of which\nis screened off for the Egbo to change in. Inside the house are hung\nhuman skulls and the skulls of buffalo, or bush cow, as they are\ncalled; also heads of the various antelopes, crocodiles, apes, and\nother animals which have been killed by the members. The skulls of\ncows and goats killed by the society are also hung up. A fire is\nalways kept in the Egbo House; and in the morning and late afternoon,\nthe members of the society frequently meet there to drink gin and palm\nwine.]\n\n[Footnote 6: Foo-foo=yams boiled and mashed up.]\n\nMORAL.--Always have pretty daughters, as no matter how poor they may\nbe, there is always the chance that the king's son may fall in love\nwith them, and they may thus become members of the royal house and\nobtain much wealth.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\n_How a Hunter obtained Money from his Friends the Leopard, Goat, Bush\nCat, and Cock, and how he got out of repaying them_\n\n\nMany years ago there was a Calabar hunter called Effiong, who lived in\nthe bush, killed plenty of animals, and made much money. Every one in\nthe country knew him, and one of his best friends was a man called\nOkun, who lived near him. But Effiong was very extravagant, and spent\nmuch money in eating and drinking with every one, until at last he\nbecame quite poor, so he had to go out hunting again; but now his good\nluck seemed to have deserted him, for although he worked hard, and\nhunted day and night, he could not succeed in killing anything. One\nday, as he was very hungry, he went to his friend Okun and borrowed\ntwo hundred rods from him, and told him to come to his house on a\ncertain day to get his money, and he told him to bring his gun,\nloaded, with him.\n\nNow, some time before this Effiong had made friends with a leopard and\na bush cat, whom he had met in the forest whilst on one of his hunting\nexpeditions; and he had also made friends with a goat and a cock at a\nfarm where he had stayed for the night. But though Effiong had\nborrowed the money from Okun, he could not think how he was to repay\nit on the day he had promised. At last, however, he thought of a plan,\nand on the next day he went to his friend the leopard, and asked him\nto lend him two hundred rods, promising to return the amount to him on\nthe same day as he had promised to pay Okun; and he also told the\nleopard, that if he were absent when he came for his money, he could\nkill anything he saw in the house and eat it. The leopard was then to\nwait until the hunter arrived, when he would pay him the money; and to\nthis the leopard agreed. The hunter then went to his friend the goat,\nand borrowed two hundred rods from him in the same way. Effiong also\nwent to his friends the bush cat and the cock, and borrowed two\nhundred rods from each of them on the same conditions, and told each\none of them that if he were absent when they arrived, they could kill\nand eat anything they found about the place.\n\nWhen the appointed day arrived the hunter spread some corn on the\nground, and then went away and left the house deserted. Very early in\nthe morning, soon after he had begun to crow, the cock remembered what\nthe hunter had told him, and walked over to the hunter's house, but\nfound no one there. On looking round, however, he saw some corn on the\nground, and, being hungry, he commenced to eat. About this time the\nbush cat also arrived, and not finding the hunter at home, he, too,\nlooked about, and very soon he espied the cock, who was busy picking\nup the grains of corn. So the bush cat went up very softly behind and\npounced on the cock and killed him at once, and began to eat him. By\nthis time the goat had come for his money; but not finding his\nfriend, he walked about until he came upon the bush cat, who was so\nintent upon his meal off the cock, that he did not notice the goat\napproaching; and the goat, being in rather a bad temper at not getting\nhis money, at once charged at the bush cat and knocked him over,\nbutting him with his horns. This the bush cat did not like at all, so,\nas he was not big enough to fight the goat, he picked up the remains\nof the cock and ran off with it to the bush, and so lost his money, as\nhe did not await the arrival of the hunter. The goat was thus left\nmaster of the situation and started bleating, and this noise attracted\nthe attention of the leopard, who was on his way to receive payment\nfrom the hunter. As he got nearer the smell of goat became very\nstrong, and being hungry, for he had not eaten anything for some time,\nhe approached the goat very carefully. Not seeing any one about he\nstalked the goat and got nearer and nearer, until he was within\nspringing distance. The goat, in the meantime, was grazing quietly,\nquite unsuspicious of any danger, as he was in his friend the hunter's\ncompound. Now and then he would say Ba!! But most of the time he was\nbusy eating the young grass, and picking up the leaves which had\nfallen from a tree of which he was very fond. Suddenly the leopard\nsprang at the goat, and with one crunch at the neck brought him down.\nThe goat was dead almost at once, and the leopard started on his meal.\n\nIt was now about eight o'clock in the morning, and Okun, the hunter's\nfriend, having had his early morning meal, went out with his gun to\nreceive payment of the two hundred rods he had lent to the hunter.\nWhen he got close to the house he heard a crunching sound, and, being\na hunter himself, he approached very cautiously, and looking over the\nfence saw the leopard only a few yards off busily engaged eating the\ngoat. He took careful aim at the leopard and fired, whereupon the\nleopard rolled over dead. The death of the leopard meant that four of\nthe hunter's creditors were now disposed of, as the bush cat had\nkilled the cock, the goat had driven the bush cat away (who thus\nforfeited his claim), and in his turn the goat had been killed by the\nleopard, who had just been slain by Okun. This meant a saving of eight\nhundred rods to Effiong; but he was not content with this, and\ndirectly he heard the report of the gun he ran out from where he had\nbeen hiding all the time, and found the leopard lying dead with Okun\nstanding over it. Then in very strong language Effiong began to\nupbraid his friend, and asked him why he had killed his old friend the\nleopard, that nothing would satisfy him but that he should report the\nwhole matter to the king, who would no doubt deal with him as he\nthought fit. When Effiong said this Okun was frightened, and begged\nhim not to say anything more about the matter, as the king would be\nangry; but the hunter was obdurate, and refused to listen to him; and\nat last Okun said, \"If you will allow the whole thing to drop and will\nsay no more about it, I will make you a present of the two hundred\nrods you borrowed from me.\" This was just what Effiong wanted, but\nstill he did not give in at once; eventually, however, he agreed, and\ntold Okun he might go, and that he would bury the body of his friend\nthe leopard.\n\nDirectly Okun had gone, instead of burying the body Effiong dragged it\ninside the house and skinned it very carefully. The skin he put out to\ndry in the sun, and covered it with wood ash, and the body he ate.\nWhen the skin was well cured the hunter took it to a distant market,\nwhere he sold it for much money. And now, whenever a bush cat sees a\ncock he always kills it, and does so by right, as he takes the cock in\npart payment of the two hundred rods which the hunter never paid him.\n\nMORAL.--Never lend money to people, because if they cannot pay they\nwill try to kill you or get rid of you in some way, either by poison\nor by setting bad Ju Ju's for you.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\n_The Woman with Two Skins_\n\n\nEyamba I. of Calabar was a very powerful king. He fought and conquered\nall the surrounding countries, killing all the old men and women, but\nthe able-bodied men and girls he caught and brought back as slaves,\nand they worked on the farms until they died.\n\nThis king had two hundred wives, but none of them had borne a son to\nhim. His subjects, seeing that he was becoming an old man, begged him\nto marry one of the spider's daughters, as they always had plenty of\nchildren. But when the king saw the spider's daughter he did not like\nher, as she was ugly, and the people said it was because her mother\nhad had so many children at the same time. However, in order to please\nhis people he married the ugly girl, and placed her among his other\nwives, but they all complained because she was so ugly, and said she\ncould not live with them. The king, therefore, built her a separate\nhouse for herself, where she was given food and drink the same as the\nother wives. Every one jeered at her on account of her ugliness; but\nshe was not really ugly, but beautiful, as she was born with two\nskins, and at her birth her mother was made to promise that she should\nnever remove the ugly skin until a certain time arrived save only\nduring the night, and that she must put it on again before dawn. Now\nthe king's head wife knew this, and was very fearful lest the king\nshould find it out and fall in love with the spider's daughter; so she\nwent to a Ju Ju man and offered him two hundred rods to make a potion\nthat would make the king forget altogether that the spider's daughter\nwas his wife. This the Ju Ju man finally consented to do, after much\nhaggling over the price, for three hundred and fifty rods; and he made\nup some \"medicine,\" which the head wife mixed with the king's food.\nFor some months this had the effect of making the king forget the\nspider's daughter, and he used to pass quite close to her without\nrecognising her in any way. When four months had elapsed and the king\nhad not once sent for Adiaha (for that was the name of the spider's\ndaughter), she began to get tired, and went back to her parents. Her\nfather, the spider, then took her to another Ju Ju man, who, by making\nspells and casting lots, very soon discovered that it was the king's\nhead wife who had made the Ju Ju and had enchanted the king so that he\nwould not look at Adiaha. He therefore told the spider that Adiaha\nshould give the king some medicine which he would prepare, which would\nmake the king remember her. He prepared the medicine, for which the\nspider had to pay a large sum of money; and that very day Adiaha made\na small dish of food, into which she had placed the medicine, and\npresented it to the king. Directly he had eaten the dish his eyes were\nopened and he recognised his wife, and told her to come to him that\nvery evening. So in the afternoon, being very joyful, she went down to\nthe river and washed, and when she returned she put on her best cloth\nand went to the king's palace.\n\nDirectly it was dark and all the lights were out she pulled off her\nugly skin, and the king saw how beautiful she was, and was very\npleased with her; but when the cock crowed Adiaha pulled on her ugly\nskin again, and went back to her own house.\n\nThis she did for four nights running, always taking the ugly skin off\nin the dark, and leaving before daylight in the morning. In course of\ntime, to the great surprise of all the people, and particularly of the\nking's two hundred wives, she gave birth to a son; but what surprised\nthem most of all was that only one son was born, whereas her mother\nhad always had a great many children at a time, generally about fifty.\n\nThe king's head wife became more jealous than ever when Adiaha had a\nson; so she went again to the Ju Ju man, and by giving him a large\npresent induced him to give her some medicine which would make the\nking sick and forget his son. And the medicine would then make the\nking go to the Ju Ju man, who would tell him that it was his son who\nhad made him sick, as he wanted to reign instead of his father. The Ju\nJu man would also tell the king that if he wanted to recover he must\nthrow his son away into the water.\n\nAnd the king, when he had taken the medicine, went to the Ju Ju man,\nwho told him everything as had been arranged with the head wife. But\nat first the king did not want to destroy his son. Then his chief\nsubjects begged him to throw his son away, and said that perhaps in a\nyear's time he might get another son. So the king at last agreed, and\nthrew his son into the river, at which the mother grieved and cried\nbitterly.\n\nThen the head wife went again to the Ju Ju man and got more medicine,\nwhich made the king forget Adiaha for three years, during which time\nshe was in mourning for her son. She then returned to her father, and\nhe got some more medicine from his Ju Ju man, which Adiaha gave to the\nking. And the king knew her and called her to him again, and she lived\nwith him as before. Now the Ju Ju who had helped Adiaha's father, the\nspider, was a Water Ju Ju, and he was ready when the king threw his\nson into the water, and saved his life and took him home and kept him\nalive. And the boy grew up very strong.\n\nAfter a time Adiaha gave birth to a daughter, and her the jealous wife\nalso persuaded the king to throw away. It took a longer time to\npersuade him, but at last he agreed, and threw his daughter into the\nwater too, and forgot Adiaha again. But the Water Ju Ju was ready\nagain, and when he had saved the little girl, he thought the time had\narrived to punish the action of the jealous wife; so he went about\namongst the head young men and persuaded them to hold a wrestling\nmatch in the market-place every week. This was done, and the Water Ju\nJu told the king's son, who had become very strong, and was very like\nto his father in appearance, that he should go and wrestle, and that\nno one would be able to stand up before him. It was then arranged\nthat there should be a grand wrestling match, to which all the\nstrongest men in the country were invited, and the king promised to\nattend with his head wife.\n\nOn the day of the match the Water Ju Ju told the king's son that he\nneed not be in the least afraid, and that his Ju Ju was so powerful,\nthat even the strongest and best wrestlers in the country would not be\nable to stand up against him for even a few minutes. All the people of\nthe country came to see the great contest, to the winner of which the\nking had promised to present prizes of cloth and money, and all the\nstrongest men came. When they saw the king's son, whom nobody knew,\nthey laughed and said, \"Who is this small boy? He can have no chance\nagainst us.\" But when they came to wrestle, they very soon found that\nthey were no match for him. The boy was very strong indeed,\nbeautifully made and good to look upon, and all the people were\nsurprised to see how like he was to the king.\n\nAfter wrestling for the greater part of the day the king's son was\ndeclared the winner, having thrown every one who had stood up against\nhim; in fact, some of his opponents had been badly hurt, and had their\narms or ribs broken owing to the tremendous strength of the boy. After\nthe match was over the king presented him with cloth and money, and\ninvited him to dine with him in the evening. The boy gladly accepted\nhis father's invitation; and after he had had a good wash in the\nriver, put on his cloth and went up to the palace, where he found the\nhead chiefs of the country and some of the king's most favoured wives.\nThey then sat down to their meal, and the king had his own son, whom\nhe did not know, sitting next to him. On the other side of the boy sat\nthe jealous wife, who had been the cause of all the trouble. All\nthrough the dinner this woman did her best to make friends with the\nboy, with whom she had fallen violently in love on account of his\nbeautiful appearance, his strength, and his being the best wrestler in\nthe country. The woman thought to herself, \"I will have this boy as my\nhusband, as my husband is now an old man and will surely soon die.\"\nThe boy, however, who was as wise as he was strong, was quite aware of\neverything the jealous woman had done, and although he pretended to be\nvery flattered at the advances of the king's head wife, he did not\nrespond very readily, and went home as soon as he could.\n\nWhen he returned to the Water Ju Ju's house he told him everything\nthat had happened, and the Water Ju Ju said--\n\n\"As you are now in high favour with the king, you must go to him\nto-morrow and beg a favour from him. The favour you will ask is that\nall the country shall be called together, and that a certain case\nshall be tried, and that when the case is finished, the man or woman\nwho is found to be in the wrong shall be killed by the Egbos before\nall the people.\"\n\nSo the following morning the boy went to the king, who readily granted\nhis request, and at once sent all round the country appointing a day\nfor all the people to come in and hear the case tried. Then the boy\nwent back to the Water Ju Ju, who told him to go to his mother and\ntell her who he was, and that when the day of the trial arrived, she\nwas to take off her ugly skin and appear in all her beauty, for the\ntime had come when she need no longer wear it. This the son did.\n\nWhen the day of trial arrived, Adiaha sat in a corner of the square,\nand nobody recognised the beautiful stranger as the spider's daughter.\nHer son then sat down next to her, and brought his sister with him.\nImmediately his mother saw her she said--\n\n\"This must be my daughter, whom I have long mourned as dead,\" and\nembraced her most affectionately.\n\nThe king and his head wife then arrived and sat on their stones in the\nmiddle of the square, all the people saluting them with the usual\ngreetings. The king then addressed the people, and said that he had\ncalled them together to hear a strong palaver at the request of the\nyoung man who had been the victor of the wrestling, and who had\npromised that if the case went against him he would offer up his life\nto the Egbo. The king also said that if, on the other hand, the case\nwas decided in the boy's favour, then the other party would be killed,\neven though it were himself or one of his wives; whoever it was would\nhave to take his or her place on the killing-stone and have their\nheads cut off by the Egbos. To this all the people agreed, and said\nthey would like to hear what the young man had to say. The young man\nthen walked round the square, and bowed to the king and the people,\nand asked the question, \"Am I not worthy to be the son of any chief in\nthe country?\" And all the people answered \"Yes!\"\n\nThe boy then brought his sister out into the middle, leading her by\nthe hand. She was a beautiful girl and well made. When every one had\nlooked at her he said, \"Is not my sister worthy to be any chief's\ndaughter?\" And the people replied that she was worthy of being any\none's daughter, even the king's. Then he called his mother Adiaha, and\nshe came out, looking very beautiful with her best cloth and beads on,\nand all the people cheered, as they had never seen a finer woman. The\nboy then asked them, \"Is this woman worthy of being the king's wife?\"\nAnd a shout went up from every one present that she would be a proper\nwife for the king, and looked as if she would be the mother of plenty\nof fine healthy sons.\n\nThen the boy pointed out the jealous woman who was sitting next to the\nking, and told the people his story, how that his mother, who had two\nskins, was the spider's daughter; how she had married the king, and\nhow the head wife was jealous and had made a bad Ju Ju for the king,\nwhich made him forget his wife; how she had persuaded the king to\nthrow himself and his sister into the river, which, as they all knew,\nhad been done, but the Water Ju Ju had saved both of them, and had\nbrought them up.\n\nThen the boy said: \"I leave the king and all of you people to judge my\ncase. If I have done wrong, let me be killed on the stone by the\nEgbos; if, on the other hand, the woman has done evil, then let the\nEgbos deal with her as you may decide.\"\n\nWhen the king knew that the wrestler was his son he was very glad, and\ntold the Egbos to take the jealous woman away, and punish her in\naccordance with their laws. The Egbos decided that the woman was a\nwitch; so they took her into the forest and tied her up to a stake,\nand gave her two hundred lashes with a whip made from hippopotamus\nhide, and then burnt her alive, so that she should not make any more\ntrouble, and her ashes were thrown into the river. The king then\nembraced his wife and daughter, and told all the people that she,\nAdiaha, was his proper wife, and would be the queen for the future.\n\nWhen the palaver was over, Adiaha was dressed in fine clothes and\nbeads, and carried back in state to the palace by the king's servants.\n\nThat night the king gave a big feast to all his subjects, and told\nthem how glad he was to get back his beautiful wife whom he had never\nknown properly before, also his son who was stronger than all men, and\nhis fine daughter. The feast continued for a hundred and sixty-six\ndays; and the king made a law that if any woman was found out getting\nmedicine against her husband, she should be killed at once. Then the\nking built three new compounds, and placed many slaves in them, both\nmen and women. One compound he gave to his wife, another to his son,\nand the third he gave to his daughter. They all lived together quite\nhappily for some years until the king died, when his son came to the\nthrone and ruled in his stead.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\n_The King's Magic Drum_\n\n\nEfriam Duke was an ancient king of Calabar. He was a peaceful man, and\ndid not like war. He had a wonderful drum, the property of which, when\nit was beaten, was always to provide plenty of good food and drink. So\nwhenever any country declared war against him, he used to call all his\nenemies together and beat his drum; then to the surprise of every one,\ninstead of fighting the people found tables spread with all sorts of\ndishes, fish, foo-foo, palm-oil chop, soup, cooked yams and ocros, and\nplenty of palm wine for everybody. In this way he kept all the country\nquiet, and sent his enemies away with full stomachs, and in a happy\nand contented frame of mind. There was only one drawback to possessing\nthe drum, and that was, if the owner of the drum walked over any stick\non the road or stept over a fallen tree, all the food would\nimmediately go bad, and three hundred Egbo men would appear with\nsticks and whips and beat the owner of the drum and all the invited\nguests very severely.\n\nEfriam Duke was a rich man. He had many farms and hundreds of slaves,\na large store of kernels on the beach, and many puncheons of palm-oil.\nHe also had fifty wives and many children. The wives were all fine\nwomen and healthy; they were also good mothers, and all of them had\nplenty of children, which was good for the king's house.\n\nEvery few months the king used to issue invitations to all his\nsubjects to come to a big feast, even the wild animals were invited;\nthe elephants, hippopotami, leopards, bush cows, and antelopes used to\ncome, for in those days there was no trouble, as they were friendly\nwith man, and when they were at the feast they did not kill one\nanother. All the people and the animals as well were envious of the\nking's drum and wanted to possess it, but the king would not part with\nit.\n\nOne morning Ikwor Edem, one of the king's wives, took her little\ndaughter down to the spring to wash her, as she was covered with yaws,\nwhich are bad sores all over the body. The tortoise happened to be up\na palm tree, just over the spring, cutting nuts for his midday meal;\nand while he was cutting, one of the nuts fell to the ground, just in\nfront of the child. The little girl, seeing the good food, cried for\nit, and the mother, not knowing any better, picked up the palm nut and\ngave it to her daughter. Directly the tortoise saw this he climbed\ndown the tree, and asked the woman where his palm nut was. She replied\nthat she had given it to her child to eat. Then the tortoise, who very\nmuch wanted the king's drum, thought he would make plenty palaver over\nthis and force the king to give him the drum, so he said to the mother\nof the child--\n\n\"I am a poor man, and I climbed the tree to get food for myself and my\nfamily. Then you took my palm nut and gave it to your child. I shall\ntell the whole matter to the king, and see what he has to say when he\nhears that one of his wives has stolen my food,\" for this, as every\none knows, is a very serious crime according to native custom.\n\nIkwor Edem then said to the tortoise--\n\n\"I saw your palm nut lying on the ground, and thinking it had fallen\nfrom the tree, I gave it to my little girl to eat, but I did not steal\nit. My husband the king is a rich man, and if you have any complaint\nto make against me or my child, I will take you before him.\"\n\nSo when she had finished washing her daughter at the spring she took\nthe tortoise to her husband, and told him what had taken place. The\nking then asked the tortoise what he would accept as compensation for\nthe loss of his palm nut, and offered him money, cloth, kernels or\npalm-oil, all of which things the tortoise refused one after the\nother.\n\nThe king then said to the tortoise, \"What will you take? You may have\nanything you like.\"\n\nAnd the tortoise immediately pointed to the king's drum, and said that\nit was the only thing he wanted.\n\nIn order to get rid of the tortoise the king said, \"Very well, take\nthe drum,\" but he never told the tortoise about the bad things that\nwould happen to him if he stept over a fallen tree, or walked over a\nstick on the road.\n\nThe tortoise was very glad at this, and carried the drum home in\ntriumph to his wife, and said, \"I am now a rich man, and shall do no\nmore work. Whenever I want food, all I have to do is to beat this\ndrum, and food will immediately be brought to me, and plenty to\ndrink.\"\n\nHis wife and children were very pleased when they heard this, and\nasked the tortoise to get food at once, as they were all hungry. This\nthe tortoise was only too pleased to do, as he wished to show off his\nnewly acquired wealth, and was also rather hungry himself, so he beat\nthe drum in the same way as he had seen the king do when he wanted\nsomething to eat, and immediately plenty of food appeared, so they all\nsat down and made a great feast. The tortoise did this for three days,\nand everything went well; all his children got fat, and had as much as\nthey could possibly eat. He was therefore very proud of his drum, and\nin order to display his riches he sent invitations to the king and all\nthe people and animals to come to a feast. When the people received\ntheir invitations they laughed, as they knew the tortoise was very\npoor, so very few attended the feast; but the king, knowing about the\ndrum, came, and when the tortoise beat the drum, the food was brought\nas usual in great profusion, and all the people sat down and enjoyed\ntheir meal very much. They were much astonished that the poor tortoise\nshould be able to entertain so many people, and told all their friends\nwhat fine dishes had been placed before them, and that they had never\nhad a better dinner. The people who had not gone were very sorry when\nthey heard this, as a good feast, at somebody else's expense, is not\nprovided every day. After the feast all the people looked upon the\ntortoise as one of the richest men in the kingdom, and he was very\nmuch respected in consequence. No one, except the king, could\nunderstand how the poor tortoise could suddenly entertain so\nlavishly, but they all made up their minds that if the tortoise ever\ngave another feast, they would not refuse again.\n\nWhen the tortoise had been in possession of the drum for a few weeks\nhe became lazy and did no work, but went about the country boasting of\nhis riches, and took to drinking too much. One day after he had been\ndrinking a lot of palm wine at a distant farm, he started home\ncarrying his drum; but having had too much to drink, he did not notice\na stick in the path. He walked over the stick, and of course the Ju Ju\nwas broken at once. But he did not know this, as nothing happened at\nthe time, and eventually he arrived at his house very tired, and still\nnot very well from having drunk too much. He threw the drum into a\ncorner and went to sleep. When he woke up in the morning the tortoise\nbegan to feel hungry, and as his wife and children were calling out\nfor food, he beat the drum; but instead of food being brought, the\nhouse was filled with Egbo men, who beat the tortoise, his wife and\nchildren, badly. At this the tortoise was very angry, and said to\nhimself--\n\n\"I asked every one to a feast, but only a few came, and they had\nplenty to eat and drink. Now, when I want food for myself and my\nfamily, the Egbos come and beat me. Well, I will let the other people\nshare the same fate, as I do not see why I and my family should be\nbeaten when I have given a feast to all people.\"\n\nHe therefore at once sent out invitations to all the men and animals\nto come to a big dinner the next day at three o'clock in the\nafternoon.\n\nWhen the time arrived many people came, as they did not wish to lose\nthe chance of a free meal a second time. Even the sick men, the lame,\nand the blind got their friends to lead them to the feast. When they\nhad all arrived, with the exception of the king and his wives, who\nsent excuses, the tortoise beat his drum as usual, and then quickly\nhid himself under a bench, where he could not be seen. His wife and\nchildren he had sent away before the feast, as he knew what would\nsurely happen. Directly he had beaten the drum three hundred Egbo men\nappeared with whips, and started flogging all the guests, who could\nnot escape, as the doors had been fastened. The beating went on for\ntwo hours, and the people were so badly punished, that many of them\nhad to be carried home on the backs of their friends. The leopard was\nthe only one who escaped, as directly he saw the Egbo men arrive he\nknew that things were likely to be unpleasant, so he gave a big spring\nand jumped right out of the compound.\n\nWhen the tortoise was satisfied with the beating the people had\nreceived he crept to the door and opened it. The people then ran away,\nand when the tortoise gave a certain tap on the drum all the Egbo men\nvanished. The people who had been beaten were so angry, and made so\nmuch palaver with the tortoise, that he made up his mind to return the\ndrum to the king the next day. So in the morning the tortoise went to\nthe king and brought the drum with him. He told the king that he was\nnot satisfied with the drum, and wished to exchange it for something\nelse; he did not mind so much what the king gave him so long as he got\nfull value for the drum, and he was quite willing to accept a certain\nnumber of slaves, or a few farms, or their equivalent in cloth or\nrods.\n\nThe king, however, refused to do this; but as he was rather sorry for\nthe tortoise, he said he would present him with a magic foo-foo tree,\nwhich would provide the tortoise and his family with food, provided he\nkept a certain condition. This the tortoise gladly consented to do.\nNow this foo-foo tree only bore fruit once a year, but every day it\ndropped foo-foo and soup on the ground. And the condition was, that\nthe owner should gather sufficient food for the day, once, and not\nreturn again for more. The tortoise, when he had thanked the king for\nhis generosity, went home to his wife and told her to bring her\ncalabashes to the tree. She did so, and they gathered plenty of\nfoo-foo and soup quite sufficient for the whole family for that day,\nand went back to their house very happy.\n\nThat night they all feasted and enjoyed themselves. But one of the\nsons, who was very greedy, thought to himself--\n\n\"I wonder where my father gets all this good food from? I must ask\nhim.\"\n\nSo in the morning he said to his father--\n\n\"Tell me where do you get all this foo-foo and soup from?\"\n\nBut his father refused to tell him, as his wife, who was a cunning\nwoman, said--\n\n\"If we let our children know the secret of the foo-foo tree, some day\nwhen they are hungry, after we have got our daily supply, one of them\nmay go to the tree and gather more, which will break the Ju Ju.\"\n\nBut the envious son, being determined to get plenty of food for\nhimself, decided to track his father to the place where he obtained\nthe food. This was rather difficult to do, as the tortoise always went\nout alone, and took the greatest care to prevent any one following\nhim. The boy, however, soon thought of a plan, and got a calabash with\na long neck and a hole in the end. He filled the calabash with wood\nashes, which he obtained from the fire, and then got a bag which his\nfather always carried on his back when he went out to get food. In the\nbottom of the bag the boy then made a small hole, and inserted the\ncalabash with the neck downwards, so that when his father walked to\nthe foo-foo tree he would leave a small trail of wood ashes behind\nhim. Then when his father, having slung his bag over his back as\nusual, set out to get the daily supply of food, his greedy son\nfollowed the trail of the wood ashes, taking great care to hide\nhimself and not to let his father perceive that he was being followed.\nAt last the tortoise arrived at the tree, and placed his calabashes on\nthe ground and collected the food for the day, the boy watching him\nfrom a distance. When his father had finished and went home the boy\nalso returned, and having had a good meal, said nothing to his\nparents, but went to bed. The next morning he got some of his\nbrothers, and after his father had finished getting the daily supply,\nthey went to the tree and collected much foo-foo and soup, and so\nbroke the Ju Ju.\n\nAt daylight the tortoise went to the tree as usual, but he could not\nfind it, as during the night the whole bush had grown up, and the\nfoo-foo tree was hidden from sight. There was nothing to be seen but\na dense mass of prickly tie-tie palm. Then the tortoise at once knew\nthat some one had broken the Ju Ju, and had gathered foo-foo from the\ntree twice in the same day; so he returned very sadly to his house,\nand told his wife. He then called all his family together and told\nthem what had happened, and asked them who had done this evil thing.\nThey all denied having had anything to do with the tree, so the\ntortoise in despair brought all his family to the place where the\nfoo-foo tree had been, but which was now all prickly tie-tie palm, and\nsaid--\n\n\"My dear wife and children, I have done all that I can for you, but\nyou have broken my Ju Ju; you must therefore for the future live on\nthe tie-tie palm.\"\n\nSo they made their home underneath the prickly tree, and from that day\nyou will always find tortoises living under the prickly tie-tie palm,\nas they have nowhere else to go to for food.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\n_Ituen and the King's Wife_\n\n\nItuen was a young man of Calabar. He was the only child of his\nparents, and they were extremely fond of him, as he was of fine\nproportions and very good to look upon. They were poor people, and\nwhen Ituen grew up and became a man, he had very little money indeed,\nin fact he had so little food, that every day it was his custom to go\nto the market carrying an empty bag, into which he used to put\nanything eatable he could find after the market was over.\n\nAt this time Offiong was king. He was an old man, but he had plenty of\nwives. One of these women, named Attem, was quite young and very\ngood-looking. She did not like her old husband, but wished for a young\nand handsome husband. She therefore told her servant to go round the\ntown and the market to try and find such a man and to bring him at\nnight by the side door to her house, and she herself would let him in,\nand would take care that her husband did not discover him.\n\nThat day the servant went all round the town, but failed to find any\nyoung man good-looking enough. She was just returning to report her\nill-success when, on passing through the market-place, she saw Ituen\npicking up the remains of corn and other things which had been left on\nthe ground. She was immediately struck with his fine appearance and\nstrength, and saw that he was just the man to make a proper lover for\nher mistress, so she went up to him, and said that the queen had sent\nfor him, as she was so taken with his good looks. At first Ituen was\nfrightened and refused to go, as he knew that if the King discovered\nhim he would be killed. However, after much persuasion he consented,\nand agreed to go to the queen's side door when it was dark.\n\nWhen night came he went with great fear and trembling, and knocked\nvery softly at the queen's door. The door was opened at once by the\nqueen herself, who was dressed in all her best clothes, and had many\nnecklaces, beads, and anklets on. Directly she saw Ituen she fell in\nlove with him at once, and praised his good looks and his shapely\nlimbs. She then told her servant to bring water and clothes, and after\nhe had had a good wash and put on a clean cloth, he rejoined the\nqueen. She hid him in her house all the night.\n\nIn the morning when he wished to go she would not let him, but,\nalthough it was very dangerous, she hid him in the house, and secretly\nconveyed food and clothes to him. Ituen stayed there for two weeks,\nand then he said that it was time for him to go and see his mother,\nbut the queen persuaded him to stay another week, much against his\nwill.\n\nWhen the time came for him to depart, the queen got together fifty\ncarriers with presents for Ituen's mother who, she knew, was a poor\nwoman. Ten slaves carried three hundred rods; the other forty carried\nyams, pepper, salt, tobacco, and cloth. When all the presents arrived\nItuen's mother was very pleased and embraced her son, and noticed with\npleasure that he was looking well, and was dressed in much finer\nclothes than usual; but when she heard that he had attracted the\nqueen's attention she was frightened, as she knew the penalty imposed\non any one who attracted the attention of one of the king's wives.\n\nItuen stayed for a month in his parents' house and worked on the farm;\nbut the queen could not be without her lover any longer, so she sent\nfor him to go to her at once. Ituen went again, and, as before,\narrived at night, when the queen was delighted to see him again.\n\nIn the middle of the night some of the king's servants, who had been\ntold the story by the slaves who had carried the presents to Ituen's\nmother, came into the queen's room and surprised her there with Ituen.\nThey hastened to the king, and told him what they had seen. Ituen was\nthen made a prisoner, and the king sent out to all his people to\nattend at the palaver house to hear the case tried. He also ordered\neight Egbos to attend armed with machetes. When the case was tried\nItuen was found guilty, and the king told the eight Egbo men to take\nhim into the bush and deal with him according to native custom. The\nEgbos then took Ituen into the bush and tied him up to a tree; then\nwith a sharp knife they cut off his lower jaw, and carried it to the\nking.\n\nWhen the queen heard the fate of her lover she was very sad, and cried\nfor three days. This made the king angry, so he told the Egbos to\ndeal with his wife and her servant according to their law. They took\nthe queen and the servant into the bush, where Ituen was still tied up\nto the tree dying and in great pain. Then, as the queen had nothing to\nsay in her defence, they tied her and the girl up to different trees,\nand cut the queen's lower jaw off in the same way as they had her\nlover's. The Egbos then put out both the eyes of the servant, and left\nall three to die of starvation. The king then made an Egbo law that\nfor the future no one belonging to Ituen's family was to go into the\nmarket on market day, and that no one was to pick up the rubbish in\nthe market. The king made an exception to the law in favour of the\nvulture and the dog, who were not considered very fine people, and\nwould not be likely to run off with one of the king's wives, and that\nis why you still find vultures and dogs doing scavenger in the\nmarket-places even at the present time.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\n_Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King_\n\n\nMbotu was a very famous king of Old Town, Calabar. He was frequently\nat war, and was always successful, as he was a most skilful leader.\nAll the prisoners he took were made slaves. He therefore became very\nrich, but, on the other hand, he had many enemies. The people of Itu\nin particular were very angry with him and wanted to kill him, but\nthey were not strong enough to beat Mbotu in a pitched battle, so they\nhad to resort to craft. The Itu people had an old woman who was a\nwitch and could turn herself into whatever she pleased, and when she\noffered to kill Mbotu, the people were very glad, and promised her\nplenty of money and cloth if she succeeded in ridding them of their\nworst enemy. The witch then turned herself into a young and pretty\ngirl, and having armed herself with a very sharp knife, which she\nconcealed in her bosom, she went to Old Town, Calabar, to seek the\nking.\n\nIt happened that when she arrived there was a big play being held in\nthe town, and all the people from the surrounding country had come in\nto dance and feast. Oyaikan, the witch, went to the play, and walked\nabout so that every one could see her. Directly she appeared the\npeople all marvelled at her beauty, and said that she was as\nbeautiful as the setting sun when all the sky was red. Word was\nquickly brought to king Mbotu, who, it was well known, was fond of\npretty girls, and he sent for her at once, all the people agreeing\nthat she was quite worthy of being the king's wife. When she appeared\nbefore him he fancied her so much, that he told her he would marry her\nthat very day. Oyaikan was very pleased at this, as she had never\nexpected to get her opportunity so quickly. She therefore prepared a\ndainty meal for the king, into which she placed a strong medicine to\nmake the king sleep, and then went down to the river to wash.\n\nWhen she had finished it was getting dark, so she went to the king's\ncompound, carrying her dish on her head, and was at once shown in to\nthe king, who embraced her affectionately. She then offered him the\nfood, which she said, quite truly, she had prepared with her own\nhands. The king ate the whole dish, and immediately began to feel very\nsleepy, as the medicine was strong and took effect quickly.\n\nThey retired to the king's chamber, and the king went to sleep at\nonce. About midnight, when all the town was quiet, Oyaikan drew her\nknife from her bosom and cut the king's head off. She put the head in\na bag and went out very softly, shutting and barring the door behind\nher. Then she walked through the town without any one observing her,\nand went straight to Itu, where she placed king Mbotu's head before\nher own king.\n\nWhen the people heard that the witch had been successful and that\ntheir enemy was dead, there was great rejoicing, and the king of Itu\nat once made up his mind to attack Old Town, Calabar. He therefore\ngot his fighting men together and took them in canoes by the creeks to\nOld Town, taking care that no one carried word to Calabar that he was\ncoming.\n\nThe morning following the murder of Mbotu his people were rather\nsurprised that he did not appear at his usual time, so his head wife\nknocked at his door. Not receiving any answer she called the household\ntogether, and they broke open the door. When they entered the room\nthey found the king lying dead on his bed covered in blood, but his\nhead was missing. At this a great shout went up, and the whole town\nmourned. Although they missed the pretty stranger, they never\nconnected her in their minds with the death of their king, and were\nquite unsuspicious of any danger, and were unprepared for fighting. In\nthe middle of the mourning, while they were all dancing, crying, and\ndrinking palm wine, the king of Itu with all his soldiers attacked Old\nTown, taking them quite by surprise, and as their leader was dead, the\nCalabar people were very soon defeated, and many killed and taken\nprisoners.\n\nMORAL.--Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\n_Why the Bat flies by Night_\n\n\nA bush rat called Oyot was a great friend of Emiong, the bat; they\nalways fed together, but the bat was jealous of the bush rat. When the\nbat cooked the food it was always very good, and the bush rat said,\n\"How is it that when you make the soup it is so tasty?\"\n\nThe bat replied, \"I always boil myself in the water, and my flesh is\nso sweet, that the soup is good.\"\n\nHe then told the bush rat that he would show him how it was done; so\nhe got a pot of warm water, which he told the bush rat was boiling\nwater, and jumped into it, and very shortly afterwards came out again.\nWhen the soup was brought it was as strong and good as usual, as the\nbat had prepared it beforehand.\n\nThe bush rat then went home and told his wife that he was going to\nmake good soup like the bat's. He therefore told her to boil some\nwater, which she did. Then, when his wife was not looking, he jumped\ninto the pot, and was very soon dead.\n\nWhen his wife looked into the pot and saw the dead body of her husband\nboiling she was very angry, and reported the matter to the king, who\ngave orders that the bat should be made a prisoner. Every one turned\nout to catch the bat, but as he expected trouble he flew away into the\nbush and hid himself. All day long the people tried to catch him, so\nhe had to change his habits, and only came out to feed when it was\ndark, and that is why you never see a bat in the daytime.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\n_The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull_\n\n\nEffiong Edem was a native of Cobham Town. He had a very fine daughter,\nwhose name was Afiong. All the young men in the country wanted to\nmarry her on account of her beauty; but she refused all offers of\nmarriage in spite of repeated entreaties from her parents, as she was\nvery vain, and said she would only marry the best-looking man in the\ncountry, who would have to be young and strong, and capable of loving\nher properly. Most of the men her parents wanted her to marry,\nalthough they were rich, were old men and ugly, so the girl continued\nto disobey her parents, at which they were very much grieved. The\nskull who lived in the spirit land heard of the beauty of this Calabar\nvirgin, and thought he would like to possess her; so he went about\namongst his friends and borrowed different parts of the body from\nthem, all of the best. From one he got a good head, another lent him a\nbody, a third gave him strong arms, and a fourth lent him a fine pair\nof legs. At last he was complete, and was a very perfect specimen of\nmanhood.\n\nHe then left the spirit land and went to Cobham market, where he saw\nAfiong, and admired her very much.\n\nAbout this time Afiong heard that a very fine man had been seen in the\nmarket, who was better-looking than any of the natives. She therefore\nwent to the market at once, and directly she saw the Skull in his\nborrowed beauty, she fell in love with him, and invited him to her\nhouse. The Skull was delighted, and went home with her, and on his\narrival was introduced by the girl to her parents, and immediately\nasked their consent to marry their daughter. At first they refused, as\nthey did not wish her to marry a stranger, but at last they agreed.\n\nHe lived with Afiong for two days in her parents' house, and then said\nhe wished to take his wife back to his country, which was far off. To\nthis the girl readily agreed, as he was such a fine man, but her\nparents tried to persuade her not to go. However, being very\nheadstrong, she made up her mind to go, and they started off together.\nAfter they had been gone a few days the father consulted his Ju Ju\nman, who by casting lots very soon discovered that his daughter's\nhusband belonged to the spirit land, and that she would surely be\nkilled. They therefore all mourned her as dead.\n\nAfter walking for several days, Afiong and the Skull crossed the\nborder between the spirit land and the human country. Directly they\nset foot in the spirit land, first of all one man came to the Skull\nand demanded his legs, then another his head, and the next his body,\nand so on, until in a few minutes the skull was left by itself in all\nits natural ugliness. At this the girl was very frightened, and wanted\nto return home, but the skull would not allow this, and ordered her to\ngo with him. When they arrived at the skull's house they found his\nmother, who was a very old woman quite incapable of doing any work,\nwho could only creep about. Afiong tried her best to help her, and\ncooked her food, and brought water and firewood for the old woman. The\nold creature was very grateful for these attentions, and soon became\nquite fond of Afiong.\n\nOne day the old woman told Afiong that she was very sorry for her, but\nall the people in the spirit land were cannibals, and when they heard\nthere was a human being in their country, they would come down and\nkill her and eat her. The skull's mother then hid Afiong, and as she\nhad looked after her so well, she promised she would send her back to\nher country as soon as possible, providing that she promised for the\nfuture to obey her parents. This Afiong readily consented to do. Then\nthe old woman sent for the spider, who was a very clever hairdresser,\nand made him dress Afiong's hair in the latest fashion. She also\npresented her with anklets and other things on account of her\nkindness. She then made a Ju Ju and called the winds to come and\nconvey Afiong to her home. At first a violent tornado came, with\nthunder, lightning and rain, but the skull's mother sent him away as\nunsuitable. The next wind to come was a gentle breeze, so she told the\nbreeze to carry Afiong to her mother's house, and said good-bye to\nher. Very soon afterwards the breeze deposited Afiong outside her\nhome, and left her there.\n\nWhen the parents saw their daughter they were very glad, as they had\nfor some months given her up as lost. The father spread soft animals'\nskins on the ground from where his daughter was standing all the way\nto the house, so that her feet should not be soiled. Afiong then\nwalked to the house, and her father called all the young girls who\nbelonged to Afiong's company to come and dance, and the feasting and\ndancing was kept up for eight days and nights. When the rejoicing was\nover, the father reported what had happened to the head chief of the\ntown. The chief then passed a law that parents should never allow\ntheir daughters to marry strangers who came from a far country. Then\nthe father told his daughter to marry a friend of his, and she\nwillingly consented, and lived with him for many years, and had many\nchildren.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\n_The King who Married the Cock's Daughter_\n\n\nKing Effiom of Duke Town, Calabar, was very fond of pretty maidens,\nand whenever he heard of a girl who was unusually good-looking, he\nalways sent for her, and if she took his fancy, he made her one of his\nwives. This he could afford to do, as he was a rich man, and could pay\nany dowry which the parents asked, most of his money having been made\nby buying and selling slaves.\n\nEffiom had two hundred and fifty wives, but he was never content, and\nwanted to have all the finest women in the land. Some of the king's\nfriends, who were always on the look-out for pretty girls, told Effiom\nthat the Cock's daughter was a lovely virgin, and far superior to any\nof the king's wives. Directly the king heard this he sent for the\nCock, and said he intended to have his daughter as one of his wives.\nThe Cock, being a poor man, could not resist the order of the king, so\nhe brought his daughter, who was very good-looking and pleased the\nking immensely. When the king had paid the Cock a dowry of six\npuncheons of palm-oil, the Cock told Effiom that if he married his\ndaughter he must not forget that she had the natural instincts of a\nhen, and that he should not blame Adia unen (his daughter) if she\npicked up corn whenever she saw it. The king replied that he did not\nmind what she ate so long as he possessed her.\n\nThe king then took Adia unen as his wife, and liked her so much, that\nhe neglected all his other wives, and lived entirely with Adia unen,\nas she suited him exactly and pleased him more than any of his other\nwives. She also amused the king, and played with him and enticed him\nin so many different ways that he could not live without her, and\nalways had her with him to the exclusion of his former favourites,\nwhom he would not even speak to or notice in any way when he met them.\nThis so enraged the neglected wives that they met together, and\nalthough they all hated one another, they agreed so far that they\nhated the Cock's daughter more than any one, as now that she had come\nto the king none of them ever had a chance with him. Formerly the\nking, although he always had his favourites, used to favour different\ngirls with his attentions when they pleased him particularly. That was\nvery different in their opinion to being excluded from his presence\nand all his affections being concentrated on one girl, who received\nall his love and embraces. In consequence of this they were very\nangry, and determined if possible to disgrace Adia unen. After much\ndiscussion, one of the wives, who was the last favourite, and whom the\narrival of the Cock's daughter had displaced, said: \"This girl, whom\nwe all hate, is, after all, only a Cock's daughter, and we can easily\ndisgrace her in the king's eyes, as I heard her father tell the king\nthat she could not resist corn, no matter how it was thrown about.\"\n\nVery shortly after the king's wives had determined to try and disgrace\nAdia unen, all the people of the country came to pay homage to the\nking. This was done three times a year, the people bringing yams,\nfowls, goats, and new corn as presents, and the king entertained them\nwith a feast of foo-foo, palm-oil chop, and tombo.[7] A big dance was\nalso held, which was usually kept up for several days and nights.\nEarly in the morning the king's head wife told her servant to wash one\nhead of corn, and when all the people were present she was to bring it\nin a calabash and throw it on the ground and then walk away. The corn\nwas to be thrown in front of Adia unen, so that all the people and\nchiefs could see.\n\n[Footnote 7: Tombo is an intoxicating drink made from the juice which\nis extracted from the tombo palm, and which ferments very quickly. It\nis drawn from the tree twice a day--in the morning very early, and\nagain in the afternoon.]\n\nAbout ten o'clock, when all the chiefs and people had assembled, and\nthe king had taken his seat on his big wooden chair, the servant girl\ncame and threw the corn on the ground as she had been ordered.\nDirectly she had done this Adia unen started towards the corn, picked\nit up, and began to eat. At this all the people laughed, and the king\nwas very angry and ashamed. The king's wives and many people said that\nthey thought the king's finest wife would have learnt better manners\nthan to pick up corn which had been thrown away as refuse. Others\nsaid: \"What can you expect from a Cock's daughter? She should not be\nblamed for obeying her natural instincts.\" But the king was so vexed,\nthat he told one of his servants to pack up Adia unen's things and\ntake them to her father's house. And this was done, and Aida unen\nreturned to her parents.\n\nThat night the king's third wife, who was a friend of Adia unen's,\ntalked the whole matter over with the king, and explained to him that\nit was entirely owing to the jealousy of his head wife that Adia unen\nhad been disgraced. She also told him that the whole thing had been\narranged beforehand in order that the king should get rid of Adia\nunen, of whom all the other wives were jealous. When the king heard\nthis he was very angry, and made up his mind to send the jealous woman\nback to her parents empty-handed, without her clothes and presents.\nWhen she arrived at her father's house the parents refused to take her\nin, as she had been given as a wife to the king, and whenever the\nparents wanted anything, they could always get it at the palace. It\nwas therefore a great loss to them. She was thus turned into the\nstreets, and walked about very miserable, and after a time died, very\npoor and starving.\n\nThe king grieved so much at having been compelled to send his\nfavourite wife Adia unen away, that he died the following year. And\nwhen the people saw that their king had died of a broken heart, they\npassed a law that for the future no one should marry any bird or\nanimal.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\n_The Woman, the Ape, and the Child_\n\n\nOkun Archibong was one of King Archibong's slaves, and lived on a farm\nnear Calabar. He was a hunter, and used to kill bush buck and other\nkinds of antelopes and many monkeys. The skins he used to dry in the\nsun, and when they were properly cured, he used to sell them in the\nmarket; the monkey skins were used for making drums, and the antelope\nskins were used for sitting mats. The flesh, after it had been well\nsmoked over a wood fire, he also sold, but he did not make much money.\n\nOkun Archibong married a slave woman of Duke's house named Nkoyo. He\npaid a small dowry to the Dukes, took his wife home to his farm, and\nin the dry season time she had a son. About four months after the\nbirth of the child Nkoyo took him to the farm while her husband was\nabsent hunting. She placed the little boy under a shady tree and went\nabout her work, which was clearing the ground for the yams which would\nbe planted about two months before the rains. Every day while the\nmother was working a big ape used to come from the forest and play\nwith the little boy; he used to hold him in his arms and carry him up\na tree, and when Nkoyo had finished her work, he used to bring the\nbaby back to her. There was a hunter named Edem Effiong who had for a\nlong time been in love with Nkoyo, and had made advances to her, but\nshe would have nothing to do with him, as she was very fond of her\nhusband. When she had her little child Effiong Edem was very jealous,\nand meeting her one day on the farm without her baby, he said: \"Where\nis your baby?\" And she replied that a big ape had taken it up a tree\nand was looking after it for her. When Effiong Edem saw that the ape\nwas a big one, he made up his mind to tell Nkoyo's husband. The very\nnext day he told Okun Archibong that he had seen his wife in the\nforest with a big ape. At first Okun would not believe this, but the\nhunter told him to come with him and he could see it with his own\neyes. Okun Archibong therefore made up his mind to kill the ape. The\nnext day he went with the other hunter to the farm and saw the ape up\na tree playing with his son, so he took very careful aim and shot the\nape, but it was not quite killed. It was so angry, and its strength\nwas so great, that it tore the child limb from limb and threw it to\nthe ground. This so enraged Okun Archibong that seeing his wife\nstanding near he shot her also. He then ran home and told King\nArchibong what had taken place. This king was very brave and fond of\nfighting, so as he knew that King Duke would be certain to make war\nupon him, he immediately called in all his fighting men. When he was\nquite prepared he sent a messenger to tell King Duke what had\nhappened. Duke was very angry, and sent the messenger back to King\nArchibong to say that he must send the hunter to him, so that he could\nkill him in any way he pleased. This Archibong refused to do, and\nsaid he would rather fight. Duke then got his men together, and both\nsides met and fought in the market square. Thirty men were killed of\nDuke's men, and twenty were killed on Archibong's side; there were\nalso many wounded. On the whole King Archibong had the best of the\nfighting, and drove King Duke back. When the fighting was at its\nhottest the other chiefs sent out all the Egbo men with drums and\nstopped the fight, and the next day the palaver was tried in Egbo\nhouse. King Archibong was found guilty, and was ordered to pay six\nthousand rods to King Duke. He refused to pay this amount to Duke, and\nsaid he would rather go on fighting, but he did not mind paying the\nsix thousand rods to the town, as the Egbos had decided the case. They\nwere about to commence fighting again when the whole country rose up\nand said they would not have any more fighting, as Archibong said to\nDuke that the woman's death was not really the fault of his slave Okun\nArchibong, but of Effiong Edem, who made the false report. When Duke\nheard this he agreed to leave the whole matter to the chiefs to\ndecide, and Effiong Edem was called to take his place on the stone. He\nwas tried and found guilty, and two Egbos came out armed with cutting\nwhips and gave him two hundred lashes on his bare back, and then cut\noff his head and sent it to Duke, who placed it before his Ju Ju. From\nthat time to the present all apes and monkeys have been frightened of\nhuman beings; and even of little children. The Egbos also passed a law\nthat a chief should not allow one of his men slaves to marry a woman\nslave of another house, as it would probably lead to fighting.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\n_The Fish and the Leopard's Wife; or, Why the Fish lives in the Water_\n\n\nMany years ago, when King Eyo was ruler of Calabar, the fish used to\nlive on the land; he was a great friend of the leopard, and frequently\nused to go to his house in the bush, where the leopard entertained\nhim. Now the leopard had a very fine wife, with whom the fish fell in\nlove. And after a time, whenever the leopard was absent in the bush,\nthe fish used to go to his house and make love to the leopard's wife,\nuntil at last an old woman who lived near informed the leopard what\nhappened whenever he went away. At first the leopard would not believe\nthat the fish, who had been his friend for so long, would play such a\nlow trick, but one night he came back unexpectedly, and found the fish\nand his wife together; at this the leopard was very angry, and was\ngoing to kill the fish, but he thought as the fish had been his friend\nfor so long, he would not deal with him himself, but would report his\nbehaviour to King Eyo. This he did, and the king held a big palaver,\nat which the leopard stated his case quite shortly, but when the fish\nwas put upon his defence he had nothing to say, so the king addressing\nhis subjects said, \"This is a very bad case, as the fish has been the\nleopard's friend, and has been trusted by him, but the fish has taken\nadvantage of his friend's absence, and has betrayed him.\" The king,\ntherefore, made an order that for the future the fish should live in\nthe water, and that if he ever came on the land he should die; he also\nsaid that all men and animals should kill and eat the fish whenever\nthey could catch him, as a punishment for his behaviour with his\nfriend's wife.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\n_Why the Bat is Ashamed to be seen in the Daytime_\n\n\nThere was once an old mother sheep who had seven lambs, and one day\nthe bat, who was about to make a visit to his father-in-law who lived\na long day's march away, went to the old sheep and asked her to lend\nhim one of her young lambs to carry his load for him. At first the\nmother sheep refused, but as the young lamb was anxious to travel and\nsee something of the world, and begged to be allowed to go, at last\nshe reluctantly consented. So in the morning at daylight the bat and\nthe lamb set off together, the lamb carrying the bat's drinking-horn.\nWhen they reached half-way, the bat told the lamb to leave the horn\nunderneath a bamboo tree. Directly he arrived at the house, he sent\nthe lamb back to get the horn. When the lamb had gone the bat's\nfather-in-law brought him food, and the bat ate it all, leaving\nnothing for the lamb. When the lamb returned, the bat said to him,\n\"Hullo! you have arrived at last I see, but you are too late for food;\nit is all finished.\" He then sent the lamb back to the tree with the\nhorn, and when the lamb returned again it was late, and he went\nsupperless to bed. The next day, just before it was time for food,\nthe bat sent the lamb off again for the drinking-horn, and when the\nfood arrived the bat, who was very greedy, ate it all up a second\ntime. This mean behaviour on the part of the bat went on for four\ndays, until at last the lamb became quite thin and weak. The bat\ndecided to return home the next day, and it was all the lamb could do\nto carry his load. When he got home to his mother the lamb complained\nbitterly of the treatment he had received from the bat, and was\nbaa-ing all night, complaining of pains in his inside. The old mother\nsheep, who was very fond of her children, determined to be revenged on\nthe bat for the cruel way he had starved her lamb; she therefore\ndecided to consult the tortoise, who, although very poor, was\nconsidered by all people to be the wisest of all animals. When the old\nsheep had told the whole story to the tortoise, he considered for some\ntime, and then told the sheep that she might leave the matter entirely\nto him, and he would take ample revenge on the bat for his cruel\ntreatment of her son.\n\nVery soon after this the bat thought he would again go and see his\nfather-in-law, so he went to the mother sheep again and asked her for\none of her sons to carry his load as before. The tortoise, who\nhappened to be present, told the bat that he was going in that\ndirection, and would cheerfully carry his load for him. They set out\non their journey the following day, and when they arrived at the\nhalf-way halting-place the bat pursued the same tactics that he had on\nthe previous occasion. He told the tortoise to hide his drinking-horn\nunder the same tree as the lamb had hidden it before; this the\ntortoise did, but when the bat was not looking he picked up the\ndrinking-horn again and hid it in his bag. When they arrived at the\nhouse the tortoise hung the horn up out of sight in the back yard, and\nthen sat down in the house. Just before it was time for food the bat\nsent the tortoise to get the drinking-horn, and the tortoise went\noutside into the yard, and waited until he heard that the beating of\nthe boiled yams into foo-foo had finished; he then went into the house\nand gave the drinking-horn to the bat, who was so surprised and angry,\nthat when the food was passed he refused to eat any of it, so the\ntortoise ate it all; this went on for four days, until at last the bat\nbecame as thin as the poor little lamb had been on the previous\noccasion. At last the bat could stand the pains of his inside no\nlonger, and secretly told his mother-in-law to bring him food when the\ntortoise was not looking. He said, \"I am now going to sleep for a\nlittle, but you can wake me up when the food is ready.\" The tortoise,\nwho had been listening all the time, being hidden in a corner out of\nsight, waited until the bat was fast asleep, and then carried him very\ngently into the next room and placed him on his own bed; he then very\nsoftly and quietly took off the bat's cloth and covered himself in it,\nand lay down where the bat had been; very soon the bat's mother-in-law\nbrought the food and placed it next to where the bat was supposed to\nbe sleeping, and having pulled his cloth to wake him, went away. The\ntortoise then got up and ate all the food; when he had finished he\ncarried the bat back again, and took some of the palm-oil and foo-foo\nand placed it inside the bat's lips while he was asleep; then the\ntortoise went to sleep himself. In the morning when he woke up the bat\nwas more hungry than ever, and in a very bad temper, so he sought out\nhis mother-in-law and started scolding her, and asked her why she had\nnot brought his food as he had told her to do. She replied she had\nbrought his food, and that he had eaten it; but this the bat denied,\nand accused the tortoise of having eaten the food. The woman then said\nshe would call the people in and they should decide the matter; but\nthe tortoise slipped out first and told the people that the best way\nto find out who had eaten the food was to make both the bat and\nhimself rinse their mouths out with clean water into a basin. This\nthey decided to do, so the tortoise got his tooth-stick which he\nalways used, and having cleaned his teeth properly, washed his mouth\nout, and returned to the house.\n\nWhen all the people had arrived the woman told them how the bat had\nabused her, and as he still maintained stoutly that he had had no food\nfor five days, the people said that both he and the tortoise should\nwash their mouths out with clean water into two clean calabashes; this\nwas done, and at once it could clearly be seen that the bat had been\neating, as there were distinct traces of the palm-oil and foo-foo\nwhich the tortoise had put inside his lips floating on the water. When\nthe people saw this they decided against the bat, and he was so\nashamed that he ran away then and there, and has ever since always\nhidden himself in the bush during the daytime, so that no one could\nsee him, and only comes out at night to get his food.\n\nThe next day the tortoise returned to the mother sheep and told her\nwhat he had done, and that the bat was for ever disgraced. The old\nsheep praised him very much, and told all her friends, in consequence\nof which the reputation of the tortoise for wisdom was greatly\nincreased throughout the whole country.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\n_Why the Worms live Underneath the Ground_\n\n\nWhen Eyo III. was ruling over all men and animals, he had a very big\npalaver house to which he used to invite his subjects at intervals to\nfeast. After the feast had been held and plenty of tombo had been\ndrunk, it was the custom of the people to make speeches. One day after\nthe feast the head driver ant got up and said he and his people were\nstronger than any one, and that no one, not even the elephant, could\nstand before him, which was quite true. He was particularly offensive\nin his allusions to the worms (whom he disliked very much), and said\nthey were poor wriggling things.\n\nThe worms were very angry and complained, so the king said that the\nbest way to decide the question who was the stronger was for both\nsides to meet on the road and fight the matter out between themselves\nto a finish. He appointed the third day from the feast for the\ncontest, and all the people turned out to witness the battle.\n\nThe driver ants left their nest in the early morning in thousands and\nmillions, and, as is their custom, marched in a line about one inch\nbroad densely packed, so that it was like a dark-brown band moving\nover the country. In front of the advancing column they had out their\nscouts, advance guard, and flankers, and the main body followed in\ntheir millions close behind.\n\nWhen they came to the battlefield the moving band spread out, and as\nthe thousands upon thousands of ants rolled up, the whole piece of\nground was a moving mass of ants and bunches of struggling worms. The\nfight was over in a very few minutes, as the worms were bitten in\npieces by the sharp pincer-like mouths of the driver ants. The few\nworms who survived squirmed away and buried themselves out of sight.\n\nKing Eyo decided that the driver ants were easy winners, and ever\nsince the worms have always been afraid and have lived underground;\nand if they happen to come to the surface after the rain they hide\nthemselves under the ground whenever anything approaches, as they fear\nall people.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\n_The Elephant and the Tortoise; or, Why the Worms are Blind and Why\nthe Elephant has Small Eyes_\n\n\nWhen Ambo was king of Calabar, the elephant was not only a very big\nanimal, but he had eyes in proportion to his immense bulk. In those\ndays men and animals were friends, and all mixed together quite\nfreely. At regular intervals King Ambo used to give a feast, and the\nelephant used to eat more than any one, although the hippopotamus used\nto do his best; however, not being as big as the elephant, although he\nwas very fat, he was left a long way behind.\n\nAs the elephant ate so much at these feasts, the tortoise, who was\nsmall but very cunning, made up his mind to put a stop to the elephant\neating more than a fair share of the food provided. He therefore\nplaced some dry kernels and shrimps, of which the elephant was very\nfond, in his bag, and went to the elephant's house to make an\nafternoon call.\n\nWhen the tortoise arrived the elephant told him to sit down, so he\nmade himself comfortable, and, having shut one eye, took one palm\nkernel and a shrimp out of his bag, and commenced to eat them with\nmuch relish.\n\nWhen the elephant saw the tortoise eating, he said, as he was always\nhungry himself, \"You seem to have some good food there; what are you\neating?\"\n\nThe tortoise replied that the food was \"sweet too much,\" but was\nrather painful to him, as he was eating one of his own eyeballs; and\nhe lifted up his head, showing one eye closed.\n\nThe elephant then said, \"If the food is so good, take out one of my\neyes and give me the same food.\"\n\nThe tortoise, who was waiting for this, knowing how greedy the\nelephant was, had brought a sharp knife with him for that very\npurpose, and said to the elephant, \"I cannot reach your eye, as you\nare so big.\"\n\nThe elephant then took the tortoise up in his trunk and lifted him up.\nAs soon as he came near the elephant's eye, with one quick scoop of\nthe sharp knife he had the elephant's right eye out. The elephant\ntrumpeted with pain; but the tortoise gave him some of the dried\nkernels and shrimps, and they so pleased the elephant's palate that he\nsoon forgot the pain.\n\nVery soon the elephant said, \"That food is so sweet, I must have some\nmore\"; but the tortoise told him that before he could have any the\nother eye must come out. To this the elephant agreed; so the tortoise\nquickly got his knife to work, and very soon the elephant's left eye\nwas on the ground, thus leaving the elephant quite blind. The tortoise\nthen slid down the elephant's trunk on to the ground and hid himself.\nThe elephant then began to make a great noise, and started pulling\ntrees down and doing much damage, calling out for the tortoise; but\nof course he never answered, and the elephant could not find him.\n\nThe next morning, when the elephant heard the people passing, he asked\nthem what the time was, and the bush buck, who was nearest, shouted\nout, \"The sun is now up, and I am going to market to get some yams and\nfresh leaves for my food.\"\n\nThen the elephant perceived that the tortoise had deceived him, and\nbegan to ask all the passers-by to lend him a pair of eyes, as he\ncould not see, but every one refused, as they wanted their eyes\nthemselves. At last the worm grovelled past, and seeing the big\nelephant, greeted him in his humble way. He was much surprised when\nthe king of the forest returned his salutation, and very much\nflattered also.\n\nThe elephant said, \"Look here, worm, I have mislaid my eyes. Will you\nlend me yours for a few days? I will return them next market-day.\"\n\nThe worm was so flattered at being noticed by the elephant that he\ngladly consented, and took his eyes out--which, as every one knows,\nwere very small--and gave them to the elephant. When the elephant had\nput the worm's eyes into his own large eye-sockets, the flesh\nimmediately closed round them so tightly that when the market-day\narrived it was impossible for the elephant to get them out again to\nreturn to the worm; and although the worm repeatedly made applications\nto the elephant to return his eyes, the elephant always pretended not\nto hear, and sometimes used to say in a very loud voice, \"If there are\nany worms about, they had better get out of my way, as they are so\nsmall I cannot see them, and if I tread on them they will be squashed\ninto a nasty mess.\"\n\nEver since then the worms have been blind, and for the same reason\nelephants have such small eyes, quite out of proportion to the size of\ntheir huge bodies.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\n_Why a Hawk kills Chickens_\n\n\nIn the olden days there was a very fine young hen who lived with her\nparents in the bush.\n\nOne day a hawk was hovering round, about eleven o'clock in the\nmorning, as was his custom, making large circles in the air and\nscarcely moving his wings. His keen eyes were wide open, taking in\neverything (for nothing moving ever escapes the eyes of a hawk, no\nmatter how small it may be or how high up in the air the hawk may be\ncircling). This hawk saw the pretty hen picking up some corn near her\nfather's house. He therefore closed his wings slightly, and in a\nsecond of time was close to the ground; then spreading his wings out\nto check his flight, he alighted close to the hen and perched himself\non the fence, as a hawk does not like to walk on the ground if he can\nhelp it.\n\nHe then greeted the young hen with his most enticing whistle, and\noffered to marry her. She agreed, so the hawk spoke to the parents,\nand paid the agreed amount of dowry, which consisted mostly of corn,\nand the next day took the young hen off to his home.\n\nShortly after this a young cock who lived near the hen's former home\nfound out where she was living, and having been in love with her for\nsome months--in fact, ever since his spurs had grown--determined to\ntry and make her return to her own country. He therefore went at dawn,\nand, having flapped his wings once or twice, crowed in his best voice\nto the young hen. When she heard the sweet voice of the cock she could\nnot resist his invitation, so she went out to him, and they walked off\ntogether to her parent's house, the young cock strutting in front\ncrowing at intervals.\n\nThe hawk, who was hovering high up in the sky, quite out of sight of\nany ordinary eye, saw what had happened, and was very angry. He made\nup his mind at once that he would obtain justice from the king, and\nflew off to Calabar, where he told the whole story, and asked for\nimmediate redress. So the king sent for the parents of the hen, and\ntold them they must repay to the hawk the amount of dowry they had\nreceived from him on the marriage of their daughter, according to the\nnative custom; but the hen's parents said that they were so poor that\nthey could not possibly afford to pay. So the king told the hawk that\nhe could kill and eat any of the cock's children whenever and wherever\nhe found them as payment of his dowry, and, if the cock made any\ncomplaint, the king would not listen to him.\n\nFrom that time until now, whenever a hawk sees a chicken he swoops\ndown and carries it off in part-payment of his dowry.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\n_Why the Sun and the Moon live in the Sky_\n\n\nMany years ago the sun and water were great friends, and both lived on\nthe earth together. The sun very often used to visit the water, but\nthe water never returned his visits. At last the sun asked the water\nwhy it was that he never came to see him in his house, the water\nreplied that the sun's house was not big enough, and that if he came\nwith his people he would drive the sun out.\n\nHe then said, \"If you wish me to visit you, you must build a very\nlarge compound; but I warn you that it will have to be a tremendous\nplace, as my people are very numerous, and take up a lot of room.\"\n\nThe sun promised to build a very big compound, and soon afterwards he\nreturned home to his wife, the moon, who greeted him with a broad\nsmile when he opened the door. The sun told the moon what he had\npromised the water, and the next day commenced building a huge\ncompound in which to entertain his friend.\n\nWhen it was completed, he asked the water to come and visit him the\nnext day.\n\nWhen the water arrived, he called out to the sun, and asked him\nwhether it would be safe for him to enter, and the sun answered,\n\"Yes, come in, my friend.\"\n\nThe water then began to flow in, accompanied by the fish and all the\nwater animals.\n\nVery soon the water was knee-deep, so he asked the sun if it was still\nsafe, and the sun again said, \"Yes,\" so more water came in.\n\nWhen the water was level with the top of a man's head, the water said\nto the sun, \"Do you want more of my people to come?\" and the sun and\nmoon both answered, \"Yes,\" not knowing any better, so the water flowed\non, until the sun and moon had to perch themselves on the top of the\nroof.\n\nAgain the water addressed the sun, but receiving the same answer, and\nmore of his people rushing in, the water very soon overflowed the top\nof the roof, and the sun and moon were forced to go up into the sky,\nwhere they have remained ever since.\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\n_Why the Flies Bother the Cows_\n\n\nWhen Adiaha Umo was Queen of Calabar, being very rich and hospitable,\nshe used to give big feasts to all the domestic animals, but never\ninvited the wild beasts, as she was afraid of them.\n\nAt one feast she gave there were three large tables, and she told the\ncow to sit at the head of the table, as she was the biggest animal\npresent, and share out the food. The cow was quite ready to do this,\nand the first course was passed, which the cow shared out amongst the\npeople, but forgot the fly, because he was so small.\n\nWhen the fly saw this, he called out to the cow to give him his share,\nbut the cow said: \"Be quiet, my friend, you must have patience.\"\n\nWhen the second course arrived, the fly again called out to the cow,\nbut the cow merely pointed to her eye, and told the fly to look there,\nand he would get food later.\n\nAt last all the dishes were finished, and the fly, having been given\nno food by the cow, went supperless to bed.\n\nThe next day the fly complained to the queen, who decided that, as the\ncow had presided at the feast, and had not given the fly his share,\nbut had pointed to her eye, for the future the fly could always get\nhis food from the cow's eyes wherever she went; and even at the\npresent time, wherever the cows are, the flies can always be seen\nfeeding off their eyes in accordance with the queen's orders.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\n_Why the Cat kills Rats_\n\n\nAnsa was King of Calabar for fifty years. He had a very faithful cat\nas a housekeeper, and a rat was his house-boy. The king was an\nobstinate, headstrong man, but was very fond of the cat, who had been\nin his store for many years.\n\nThe rat, who was very poor, fell in love with one of the king's\nservant girls, but was unable to give her any presents, as he had no\nmoney.\n\nAt last he thought of the king's store, so in the night-time, being\nquite small, he had little difficulty, having made a hole in the roof,\nin getting into the store. He then stole corn and native pears, and\npresented them to his sweetheart.\n\nAt the end of the month, when the cat had to render her account of the\nthings in the store to the king, it was found that a lot of corn and\nnative pears were missing. The king was very angry at this, and asked\nthe cat for an explanation. But the cat could not account for the\nloss, until one of her friends told her that the rat had been stealing\nthe corn and giving it to the girl.\n\nWhen the cat told the king, he called the girl before him and had her\nflogged. The rat he handed over to the cat to deal with, and\ndismissed them both from his service. The cat was so angry at this\nthat she killed and ate the rat, and ever since that time whenever a\ncat sees a rat she kills and eats it.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\n_The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder_\n\n\nIn the olden days the thunder and lightning lived on the earth amongst\nall the other people, but the king made them live at the far end of\nthe town, as far as possible from other people's houses.\n\nThe thunder was an old mother sheep, and the lightning was her son, a\nram. Whenever the ram got angry he used to go about and burn houses\nand knock down trees; he even did damage on the farms, and sometimes\nkilled people. Whenever the lightning did these things, his mother\nused to call out to him in a very loud voice to stop and not to do any\nmore damage; but the lightning did not care in the least for what his\nmother said, and when he was in a bad temper used to do a very large\namount of damage. At last the people could not stand it any longer,\nand complained to the king.\n\nSo the king made a special order that the sheep (Thunder) and her son,\nthe ram (Lightning), should leave the town and live in the far bush.\nThis did not do much good, as when the ram got angry he still burnt\nthe forest, and the flames sometimes spread to the farms and consumed\nthem.\n\nSo the people complained again, and the king banished both the\nlightning and the thunder from the earth and made them live in the\nsky, where they could not cause so much destruction. Ever since, when\nthe lightning is angry, he commits damage as before, but you can hear\nhis mother, the thunder, rebuking him and telling him to stop.\nSometimes, however, when the mother has gone away some distance from\nher naughty son, you can still see that he is angry and is doing\ndamage, but his mother's voice cannot be heard.\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\n_Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant are bad Friends_\n\n\nThe bush cow and the elephant were always bad friends, and as they\ncould not settle their disputes between themselves, they agreed to let\nthe head chief decide.\n\nThe cause of their unfriendliness was that the elephant was always\nboasting about his strength to all his friends, which made the bush\ncow ashamed of himself, as he was always a good fighter and feared no\nman or animal. When the matter was referred to the head chief, he\ndecided that the best way to settle the dispute was for the elephant\nand bush cow to meet and fight one another in a large open space. He\ndecided that the fight should take place in the market-place on the\nnext market-day, when all the country people could witness the battle.\n\nWhen the market-day arrived, the bush cow went out in the early\nmorning and took up his position some distance from the town on the\nmain road to the market, and started bellowing and tearing up the\nground. As the people passed he asked them whether they had seen\nanything of the \"Big, Big one,\" which was the name of the elephant.\n\nA bush buck, who happened to be passing, replied, \"I am only a small\nantelope, and am on my way to the market. How should I know anything\nof the movements of the 'Big, Big one?'\" The bush cow then allowed him\nto pass.\n\nAfter a little time the bush cow heard the elephant trumpeting, and\ncould hear him as he came nearer breaking down trees and trampling\ndown the small bush.\n\nWhen the elephant came near the bush cow, they both charged one\nanother, and a tremendous fight commenced, in which a lot of damage\nwas done to the surrounding farms, and many of the people were\nfrightened to go to the market, and returned to their houses.\n\nAt last the monkey, who had been watching the fight from a distance\nwhilst he was jumping from branch to branch high up in the trees,\nthought he would report what he had seen to the head chief. Although\nhe forgot several times what it was he wanted to do, which is a little\nway monkeys have, he eventually reached the chief's house, and jumped\nupon the roof, where he caught and ate a spider. He then climbed to\nthe ground again, and commenced playing with a small stick. But he\nvery soon got tired of this, and then, picking up a stone, he rubbed\nit backwards and forwards on the ground in an aimless sort of way,\nwhilst looking in the opposite direction. This did not last long, and\nvery soon he was busily engaged in a minute personal inspection.\n\nHis attention was then attracted by a large praying mantis, which had\nfluttered into the house, making much clatter with its wings. When it\nsettled, it immediately assumed its usual prayerful attitude.\n\nThe monkey, after a careful stalk, seized the mantis, and having\ndeliberately pulled the legs off one after the other, he ate the body,\nand sat down with his head on one side, looking very wise, but in\nreality thinking of nothing.\n\nJust then the chief caught sight of him while he was scratching\nhimself, and shouted out in a loud voice, \"Ha, monkey, is that you?\nWhat do you want here?\"\n\nAt the chief's voice the monkey gave a jump, and started chattering\nlike anything. After a time he replied very nervously: \"Oh yes, of\ncourse! Yes, I came to see you.\" Then he said to himself, \"I wonder\nwhat on earth it was I came to tell the chief?\" but it was no use,\neverything had gone out of his head.\n\nThen the chief told the monkey he might take one of the ripe plantains\nhanging up in the verandah. The monkey did not want telling twice, as\nhe was very fond of plantains. He soon tore off the skin, and holding\nthe plantain in both hands, took bite after bite from the end of it,\nlooking at it carefully after each bite.\n\nThen the chief remarked that the elephant and the bush cow ought to\nhave arrived by that time, as they were going to have a great fight.\nDirectly the monkey heard this he remembered what it was he wanted to\ntell the chief; so, having swallowed the piece of plantain he had\nplaced in the side of his cheek, he said: \"Ah! that reminds me,\" and\nthen, after much chattering and making all sorts of funny grimaces,\nfinally made the chief understand that the elephant and bush cow,\ninstead of fighting where they had been told, were having it out in\nthe bush on the main road leading to the market, and had thus stopped\nmost of the people coming in.\n\nWhen the chief heard this he was much incensed, and called for his bow\nand poisoned arrows, and went to the scene of the combat. He then shot\nboth the elephant and the bush cow, and throwing his bow and arrows\naway, ran and hid himself in the bush. About six hours afterwards both\nthe elephant and bush cow died in great pain.\n\nEver since, when wild animals want to fight between themselves, they\nalways fight in the big bush and not on the public roads; but as the\nfight was never definitely decided between the elephant and the bush\ncow, whenever they meet one another in the forest, even to the present\ntime, they always fight.\n\n\n\n\nXXI\n\n_The Cock who caused a Fight between two Towns_\n\n\nEkpo and Etim were half-brothers, that is to say they had the same\nmother, but different fathers. Their mother first of all had married a\nchief of Duke Town, when Ekpo was born; but after a time she got tired\nof him and went to Old Town, where she married Ejuqua and gave birth\nto Etim.\n\nBoth of the boys grew up and became very rich. Ekpo had a cock, of\nwhich he was very fond, and every day when Ekpo sat down to meals the\ncock used to fly on to the table and feed also. Ama Ukwa, a native of\nOld Town, who was rather poor, was jealous of the two brothers, and\nmade up his mind if possible to bring about a quarrel between them,\nalthough he pretended to be friends with both.\n\nOne day Ekpo, the elder brother, gave a big dinner, to which Etim and\nmany other people were invited. Ama Ukwa was also present. A very good\ndinner was laid for the guests, and plenty of palm wine was provided.\nWhen they had commenced to feed, the pet cock flew on to the table and\nbegan to feed off Etim's plate. Etim then told one of his servants to\nseize the cock and tie him up in the house until after the feast. So\nthe servant carried the cock to Etim's house and tied him up for\nsafety.\n\nAfter much eating and drinking, Etim returned home late at night with\nhis friend Ama Ukwa, and just before they went to bed, Ama Ukwa saw\nEkpo's cock tied up. So early in the morning he went to Ekpo's house,\nwho received him gladly.\n\nAbout eight o'clock, when it was time for Ekpo to have his early\nmorning meal, he noticed that his pet cock was missing. When he\nremarked upon its absence, Ama Ukwa told him that his brother had\nseized the cock the previous evening during the dinner, and was going\nto kill it, just to see what Ekpo would do. When Ekpo heard this, he\nwas very vexed, and sent Ama Ukwa back to his brother to ask him to\nreturn the cock immediately. Instead of delivering the message as he\nhad been instructed, Ama Ukwa told Etim that his elder brother was so\nangry with him for taking away his friend, the cock, that he would\nfight him, and had sent Ama Ukwa on purpose to declare war between the\ntwo towns.\n\nEtim then told Ama Ukwa to return to Ekpo, and say he would be\nprepared for anything his brother could do. Ama Ukwa then advised Ekpo\nto call all his people in from their farms, as Etim would attack him,\nand on his return he advised Etim to do the same. He then arranged a\nday for the fight to take place between the two brothers and their\npeople. Etim then marched his men to the other side of the creek, and\nwaited for his brother; so Ama Ukwa went to Ekpo and told him that\nEtim had got all his people together and was waiting to fight. Ekpo\nthen led his men against his brother, and there was a big battle,\nmany men being killed on both sides. The fighting went on all day,\nuntil at last, towards evening, the other chiefs of Calabar met and\ndetermined to stop it; so they called the Egbo men together and sent\nthem out with their drums, and eventually the fight stopped.\n\nThree days later a big palaver was held, when each of the brothers was\ntold to state his case. When they had done so, it was found that Ama\nUkwa had caused the quarrel, and the chiefs ordered that he should be\nkilled. His father, who was a rich man, offered to give the Egbos five\nthousand rods, five cows, and seven slaves to redeem his son, but they\ndecided to refuse his offer.\n\nThe next day, after being severely flogged, he was left for\ntwenty-four hours tied up to a tree, and the following day his head\nwas cut off.\n\nEkpo was then ordered to kill his pet cock, so that it should not\ncause any further trouble between himself and his brother, and a law\nwas passed that for the future no one should keep a pet cock or any\nother tame animal.\n\n\n\n\nXXII\n\n_The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise; or, Why the\nHippopotamus lives in the Water_\n\n\nMany years ago the hippopotamus, whose name was Isantim, was one of\nthe biggest kings on the land; he was second only to the elephant. The\nhippo had seven large fat wives, of whom he was very fond. Now and\nthen he used to give a big feast to the people, but a curious thing\nwas that, although every one knew the hippo, no one, except his seven\nwives, knew his name.\n\nAt one of the feasts, just as the people were about to sit down, the\nhippo said, \"You have come to feed at my table, but none of you know\nmy name. If you cannot tell my name, you shall all of you go away\nwithout your dinner.\"\n\nAs they could not guess his name, they had to go away and leave all\nthe good food and tombo behind them. But before they left, the\ntortoise stood up and asked the hippopotamus what he would do if he\ntold him his name at the next feast? So the hippo replied that he\nwould be so ashamed of himself, that he and his whole family would\nleave the land, and for the future would dwell in the water.\n\nNow it was the custom for the hippo and his seven wives to go down\nevery morning and evening to the river to wash and have a drink. Of\nthis custom the tortoise was aware. The hippo used to walk first, and\nthe seven wives followed. One day when they had gone down to the river\nto bathe, the tortoise made a small hole in the middle of the path,\nand then waited. When the hippo and his wives returned, two of the\nwives were some distance behind, so the tortoise came out from where\nhe had been hiding, and half buried himself in the hole he had dug,\nleaving the greater part of his shell exposed. When the two hippo\nwives came along, the first one knocked her foot against the\ntortoise's shell, and immediately called out to her husband, \"Oh!\nIsantim, my husband, I have hurt my foot.\" At this the tortoise was\nvery glad, and went joyfully home, as he had found out the hippo's\nname.\n\nWhen the next feast was given by the hippo, he made the same condition\nabout his name; so the tortoise got up and said, \"You promise you will\nnot kill me if I tell you your name?\" and the hippo promised. The\ntortoise then shouted as loud as he was able, \"Your name is Isantim,\"\nat which a cheer went up from all the people, and then they sat down\nto their dinner.\n\nWhen the feast was over, the hippo, with his seven wives, in\naccordance with his promise, went down to the river, and they have\nalways lived in the water from that day till now; and although they\ncome on shore to feed at night, you never find a hippo on the land in\nthe daytime.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\n_Why Dead People are Buried_\n\n\nIn the beginning of the world when the Creator had made men and women\nand the animals, they all lived together in the creation land. The\nCreator was a big chief, past all men, and being very kind-hearted,\nwas very sorry whenever any one died. So one day he sent for the dog,\nwho was his head messenger, and told him to go out into the world and\ngive his word to all people that for the future whenever any one died\nthe body was to be placed in the compound, and wood ashes were to be\nthrown over it; that the dead body was to be left on the ground, and\nin twenty-four hours it would become alive again.\n\nWhen the dog had travelled for half a day he began to get tired; so as\nhe was near an old woman's house he looked in, and seeing a bone with\nsome meat on it he made a meal off it, and then went to sleep,\nentirely forgetting the message which had been given him to deliver.\n\nAfter a time, when the dog did not return, the Creator called for a\nsheep, and sent him out with the same message. But the sheep was a\nvery foolish one, and being hungry, began eating the sweet grasses by\nthe wayside. After a time, however, he remembered that he had a\nmessage to deliver, but forgot what it was exactly; so as he went\nabout among the people he told them that the message the Creator had\ngiven him to tell the people, was that whenever any one died they\nshould be buried underneath the ground.\n\nA little time afterwards the dog remembered his message, so he ran\ninto the town and told the people that they were to place wood ashes\non the dead bodies and leave them in the compound, and that they would\ncome to life again after twenty-four hours. But the people would not\nbelieve him, and said, \"We have already received the word from the\nCreator by the sheep, that all dead bodies should be buried.\" In\nconsequence of this the dead bodies are now always buried, and the dog\nis much disliked and not trusted as a messenger, as if he had not\nfound the bone in the old woman's house and forgotten his message, the\ndead people might still be alive.\n\n\n\n\nXXIV\n\n_Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away_\n\n\nThere was once a very fat woman who was made of oil. She was very\nbeautiful, and many young men applied to the parents for permission to\nmarry their daughter, and offered dowry, but the mother always\nrefused, as she said it was impossible for her daughter to work on a\nfarm, as she would melt in the sun. At last a stranger came from a\nfar-distant country and fell in love with the fat woman, and he\npromised if her mother would hand her to him that he would keep her in\nthe shade. At last the mother agreed, and he took his wife away.\n\nWhen he arrived at his house, his other wife immediately became very\njealous, because when there was work to be done, firewood to be\ncollected, or water to be carried, the fat woman stayed at home and\nnever helped, as she was frightened of the heat.\n\nOne day when the husband was absent, the jealous wife abused the fat\nwoman so much that she finally agreed to go and work on the farm,\nalthough her little sister, whom she had brought from home with her,\nimplored her not to go, reminding her that their mother had always\ntold them ever since they were born that she would melt away if she\nwent into the sun. All the way to the farm the fat woman managed to\nkeep in the shade, and when they arrived at the farm the sun was very\nhot, so the fat woman remained in the shade of a big tree. When the\njealous wife saw this she again began abusing her, and asked her why\nshe did not do her share of the work. At last she could stand the\nnagging no longer, and although her little sister tried very hard to\nprevent her, the fat woman went out into the sun to work, and\nimmediately began to melt away. There was very soon nothing left of\nher but one big toe, which had been covered by a leaf. This her little\nsister observed, and with tears in her eyes she picked up the toe,\nwhich was all that remained of the fat woman, and having covered it\ncarefully with leaves, placed it in the bottom of her basket. When she\narrived at the house the little sister placed the toe in an earthen\npot, filled it with water, and covered the top up with clay.\n\nWhen the husband returned, he said, \"Where is my fat wife?\" and the\nlittle sister, crying bitterly, told him that the jealous woman had\nmade her go out into the sun, and that she had melted away. She then\nshowed him the pot with the remains of her sister, and told him that\nher sister would come to life again in three months' time quite\ncomplete, but he must send away the jealous wife, so that there should\nbe no more trouble; if he refused to do this, the little girl said she\nwould take the pot back to their mother, and when her sister became\ncomplete again they would remain at home.\n\nThe husband then took the jealous wife back to her parents, who sold\nher as a slave and paid the dowry back to the husband, so that he\ncould get another wife. When he received the money, the husband took\nit home and kept it until the three months had elapsed, when the\nlittle sister opened the pot and the fat woman emerged, quite as fat\nand beautiful as she had been before. The husband was so delighted\nthat he gave a feast to all his friends and neighbours, and told them\nthe whole story of the bad behaviour of his jealous wife.\n\nEver since that time, whenever a wife behaves very badly the husband\nreturns her to the parents, who sell the woman as a slave, and out of\nthe proceeds of the sale reimburse the husband the amount of dowry\nwhich he paid when he married the girl.\n\n\n\n\nXXV\n\n_Concerning the Leopard, the Squirrel, and the Tortoise_\n\n\nMany years ago there was a great famine throughout the land, and all\nthe people were starving. The yam crop had failed entirely, the\nplantains did not bear any fruit, the ground-nuts were all shrivelled\nup, and the corn never came to a head; even the palm-oil nuts did not\nripen, and the peppers and ocros also gave out.\n\nThe leopard, however, who lived entirely on \"beef,\" did not care for\nany of these things; and although some of the animals who lived on\ncorn and the growing crops began to get rather skinny, he did not mind\nvery much. In order to save himself trouble, as everybody was\ncomplaining of the famine, he called a meeting of all the animals and\ntold them that, as they all knew, he was very powerful and must have\nfood, that the famine did not affect him, as he only lived on flesh,\nand as there were plenty of animals about he did not intend to starve.\nHe then told all the animals present at the meeting that if they did\nnot wish to be killed themselves they must bring their grandmothers to\nhim for food, and when they were finished he would feed off their\nmothers. The animals might bring their grandmothers in succession,\nand he would take them in their turn; so that, as there were many\ndifferent animals, it would probably be some time before their mothers\nwere eaten, by which time it was possible that the famine would be\nover. But in any case, he warned them that he was determined to have\nsufficient food for himself, and that if the grandmothers or mothers\nwere not forthcoming he would turn upon the young people themselves\nand kill and eat them.\n\nThis, of course, the young generation, who had attended the meeting,\ndid not appreciate, and in order to save their own skins, agreed to\nsupply the leopard with his daily meal.\n\nThe first to appear with his aged grandmother was the squirrel. The\ngrandmother was a poor decrepit old thing, with a mangy tail, and the\nleopard swallowed her at one gulp, and then looked round for more. In\nan angry voice he growled out: \"This is not the proper food for me; I\nmust have more at once.\"\n\nThen a bush cat pushed his old grandmother in front of the leopard,\nbut he snarled at her and said, \"Take the nasty old thing away; I want\nsome sweet food.\"\n\nIt was then the turn of a bush buck, and after a great deal of\nhesitation a wretchedly poor and thin old doe tottered and fell in\nfront of the leopard, who immediately despatched her, and although the\nmeal was very unsatisfactory, declared that his appetite was appeased\nfor that day.\n\nThe next day a few more animals brought their old grandmothers, until\nat last it became the tortoise's turn; but being very cunning, he\nproduced witnesses to prove that his grandmother was dead, so the\nleopard excused him.\n\nAfter a few days all the animals' grandmothers were exhausted, and it\nbecame the turn of the mothers to supply food for the ravenous\nleopard. Now although most of the young animals did not mind getting\nrid of their grandmothers, whom they had scarcely even known, many of\nthem had very strong objections to providing their mothers, of whom\nthey were very fond, as food for the leopard. Amongst the strongest\nobjectors were the squirrel and the tortoise. The tortoise, who had\nthought the whole thing out, was aware that, as every one knew that\nhis mother was alive (she being rather an amiable old person and\nfriendly with all-comers), the same excuse would not avail him a\nsecond time. He therefore told his mother to climb up a palm tree, and\nthat he would provide her with food until the famine was over. He\ninstructed her to let down a basket every day, and said that he would\nplace food in it for her. The tortoise made the basket for his mother,\nand attached it to a long string of tie-tie. The string was so strong\nthat she could haul her son up whenever he wished to visit her.\n\nAll went well for some days, as the tortoise used to go at daylight to\nthe bottom of the tree where his mother lived and place her food in\nthe basket; then the old lady would pull the basket up and have her\nfood, and the tortoise would depart on his daily round in his usual\nleisurely manner.\n\nIn the meantime the leopard had to have his daily food, and the\nsquirrel's turn came first after the grandmothers had been finished,\nso he was forced to produce his mother for the leopard to eat, as he\nwas a poor, weak thing and not possessed of any cunning. The squirrel\nwas, however, very fond of his mother, and when she had been eaten he\nremembered that the tortoise had not produced his grandmother for the\nleopard's food. He therefore determined to set a watch on the\nmovements of the tortoise.\n\nThe very next morning, while he was gathering nuts, he saw the\ntortoise walking very slowly through the bush, and being high up in\nthe trees and able to travel very fast, had no difficulty in keeping\nthe tortoise in sight without being noticed. When the tortoise arrived\nat the foot of the tree where his mother lived, he placed the food in\nthe basket which his mother had let down already by the tie-tie, and\nhaving got into the basket and given a pull at the string to signify\nthat everything was right, was hauled up, and after a time was let\ndown again in the basket. The squirrel was watching all the time, and\ndirectly the tortoise had gone, jumped from branch to branch of the\ntrees, and very soon arrived at the place where the leopard was\nsnoozing.\n\nWhen he woke up, the squirrel said:\n\n\"You have eaten my grandmother and my mother, but the tortoise has not\nprovided any food for you. It is now his turn, and he has hidden his\nmother away in a tree.\"\n\nAt this the leopard was very angry, and told the squirrel to lead him\nat once to the tree where the tortoise's mother lived. But the\nsquirrel said:\n\n\"The tortoise only goes at daylight, when his mother lets down a\nbasket; so if you go in the morning early, she will pull you up, and\nyou can then kill her.\"\n\nTo this the leopard agreed, and the next morning the squirrel came at\ncockcrow and led the leopard to the tree where the tortoise's mother\nwas hidden. The old lady had already let down the basket for her daily\nsupply of food, and the leopard got into it and gave the line a pull;\nbut except a few small jerks nothing happened, as the old mother\ntortoise was not strong enough to pull a heavy leopard off the ground.\nWhen the leopard saw that he was not going to be pulled up, being an\nexpert climber, he scrambled up the tree, and when he got to the top\nhe found the poor old tortoise, whose shell was so tough that he\nthought she was not worth eating, so he threw her down on to the\nground in a violent temper, and then came down himself and went home.\n\nShortly after this the tortoise arrived at the tree, and finding the\nbasket on the ground gave his usual tug at it, but there was no\nanswer. He then looked about, and after a little time came upon the\nbroken shell of his poor old mother, who by this time was quite dead.\nThe tortoise knew at once that the leopard had killed his mother, and\nmade up his mind that for the future he would live alone and have\nnothing to do with the other animals.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI\n\n_Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes_\n\n\nThere was once an old woman who was very poor, and lived in a small\nmud hut thatched with mats made from the leaves of the tombo palm in\nthe bush. She was often very hungry, as there was no one to look after\nher.\n\nIn the olden days the moon used often to come down to the earth,\nalthough she lived most of the time in the sky. The moon was a fat\nwoman with a skin of hide, and she was full of fat meat. She was quite\nround, and in the night used to give plenty of light. The moon was\nsorry for the poor starving old woman, so she came to her and said,\n\"You may cut some of my meat away for your food.\" This the old woman\ndid every evening, and the moon got smaller and smaller until you\ncould scarcely see her at all. Of course this made her give very\nlittle light, and all the people began to grumble in consequence, and\nto ask why it was that the moon was getting so thin.\n\nAt last the people went to the old woman's house where there happened\nto be a little girl sleeping. She had been there for some little time,\nand had seen the moon come down every evening, and the old woman go\nout with her knife and carve her daily supply of meat out of the\nmoon. As she was very frightened, she told the people all about it, so\nthey determined to set a watch on the movements of the old woman.\n\nThat very night the moon came down as usual, and the old woman went\nout with her knife and basket to get her food; but before she could\ncarve any meat all the people rushed out shouting, and the moon was so\nfrightened that she went back again into the sky, and never came down\nagain to the earth. The old woman was left to starve in the bush.\n\nEver since that time the moon has hidden herself most of the day, as\nshe was so frightened, and she still gets very thin once a month, but\nlater on she gets fat again, and when she is quite fat she gives\nplenty of light all the night; but this does not last very long, and\nshe begins to get thinner and thinner, in the same way as she did when\nthe old woman was carving her meat from her.\n\n\n\n\nXXVII\n\n_The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat_\n\n\nAt the time of the great famine all the animals were very thin and\nweak from want of food; but there was one exception, and that was the\ntortoise and all his family, who were quite fat, and did not seem to\nsuffer at all. Even the leopard was very thin, in spite of the\narrangement he had made with the animals to bring him their old\ngrandmothers and mothers for food.\n\nIn the early days of the famine (as you will remember) the leopard had\nkilled the mother of the tortoise, in consequence of which the\ntortoise was very angry with the leopard, and determined if possible\nto be revenged upon him. The tortoise, who was very clever, had\ndiscovered a shallow lake full of fish in the middle of the forest,\nand every morning he used to go to the lake and, without much trouble,\nbring back enough food for himself and his family. One day the leopard\nmet the tortoise and noticed how fat he was. As he was very thin\nhimself he decided to watch the tortoise, so the next morning he hid\nhimself in the long grass near the tortoise's house and waited very\npatiently, until at last the tortoise came along quite slowly,\ncarrying a basket which appeared to be very heavy. Then the leopard\nsprang out, and said to the tortoise:\n\n\"What have you got in that basket?\"\n\nThe tortoise, as he did not want to lose his breakfast, replied that\nhe was carrying firewood back to his home. Unfortunately for the\ntortoise the leopard had a very acute sense of smell, and knew at once\nthat there was fish in the basket, so he said:\n\n\"I know there is fish in there, and I am going to eat it.\"\n\nThe tortoise, not being in a position to refuse, as he was such a poor\ncreature, said:\n\n\"Very well. Let us sit down under this shady tree, and if you will\nmake a fire I will go to my house and get pepper, oil, and salt, and\nthen we will feed together.\"\n\nTo this the leopard agreed, and began to search about for dry wood,\nand started the fire. In the meantime the tortoise waddled off to his\nhouse, and very soon returned with the pepper, salt, and oil; he also\nbrought a long piece of cane tie-tie, which is very strong. This he\nput on the ground, and began boiling the fish. Then he said to the\nleopard:\n\n\"While we are waiting for the fish to cook, let us play at tying one\nanother up to a tree. You may tie me up first, and when I say\n'Tighten,' you must loose the rope, and when I say 'Loosen,' you must\ntighten the rope.\"\n\nThe leopard, who was very hungry, thought that this game would make\nthe time pass more quickly until the fish was cooked, so he said he\nwould play. The tortoise then stood with his back to the tree and\nsaid, \"Loosen the rope,\" and the leopard, in accordance with the rules\nof the game, began to tie up the tortoise. Very soon the tortoise\nshouted out, \"Tighten!\" and the leopard at once unfastened the\ntie-tie, and the tortoise was free. The tortoise then said, \"Now,\nleopard, it is your turn;\" so the leopard stood up against the tree\nand called out to the tortoise to loosen the rope, and the tortoise at\nonce very quickly passed the rope several times round the leopard and\ngot him fast to the tree. Then the leopard said, \"Tighten the rope;\"\nbut instead of playing the game in accordance with the rules he had\nlaid down, the tortoise ran faster and faster with the rope round the\nleopard, taking great care, however, to keep out of reach of the\nleopard's claws, and very soon had the leopard so securely fastened\nthat it was quite impossible for him to free himself.\n\nAll this time the leopard was calling out to the tortoise to let him\ngo, as he was tired of the game; but the tortoise only laughed, and\nsat down at the fireside and commenced his meal. When he had finished\nhe packed up the remainder of the fish for his family, and prepared to\ngo, but before he started he said to the leopard:\n\n\"You killed my mother and now you want to take my fish. It is not\nlikely that I am going to the lake to get fish for you, so I shall\nleave you here to starve.\"\n\nHe then threw the remains of the pepper and salt into the leopard's\neyes and quietly went on his way, leaving the leopard roaring with\npain.\n\nAll that day and throughout the night the leopard was calling out for\nsome one to release him, and vowing all sorts of vengeance on the\ntortoise; but no one came, as the people and animals of the forest do\nnot like to hear the leopard's voice.\n\nIn the morning, when the animals began to go about to get their food,\nthe leopard called out to every one he saw to come and untie him, but\nthey all refused, as they knew that if they did so the leopard would\nmost likely kill them at once and eat them. At last a bush rat came\nnear and saw the leopard tied up to the tree and asked him what was\nthe matter, so the leopard told him that he had been playing a game of\n\"tight\" and \"loose\" with the tortoise, and that he had tied him up and\nleft him there to starve. The leopard then implored the bush rat to\ncut the ropes with his sharp teeth. The bush rat was very sorry for\nthe leopard; but at the same time he knew that, if he let the leopard\ngo, he would most likely be killed and eaten, so he hesitated, and\nsaid that he did not quite see his way to cutting the ropes. But this\nbush rat, being rather kind-hearted, and having had some experience of\ntraps himself, could sympathise with the leopard in his uncomfortable\nposition. He therefore thought for a time, and then hit upon a plan.\nHe first started to dig a hole under the tree, quite regardless of the\nleopard's cries. When he had finished the hole he came out and cut one\nof the ropes, and immediately ran into his hole, and waited there to\nsee what would happen; but although the leopard struggled frantically,\nhe could not get loose, as the tortoise had tied him up so fast. After\na time, when he saw that there was no danger, the bush rat crept out\nagain and very carefully bit through another rope, and then retired to\nhis hole as before. Again nothing happened, and he began to feel more\nconfidence, so he bit several strands through one after the other\nuntil at last the leopard was free. The leopard, who was ravenous with\nhunger, instead of being grateful to the bush rat, directly he was\nfree, made a dash at the bush rat with his big paw, but just missed\nhim, as the bush rat had dived for his hole; but he was not quite\nquick enough to escape altogether, and the leopard's sharp claws\nscored his back and left marks which he carried to his grave.\n\nEver since then the bush rats have had white spots on their skins,\nwhich represent the marks of the leopard's claws.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII\n\n_The King and the Ju Ju Tree_\n\n\nUdo Ubok Udom was a famous king who lived at Itam, which is an inland\ntown, and does not possess a river. The king and his wife therefore\nused to wash at the spring just behind their house.\n\nKing Udo had a daughter, of whom he was very fond, and looked after\nher most carefully, and she grew up into a beautiful woman.\n\nFor some time the king had been absent from his house, and had not\nbeen to the spring for two years. When he went to his old place to\nwash, he found that the Idem Ju Ju tree had grown up all round the\nplace, and it was impossible for him to use the spring as he had done\nformerly. He therefore called fifty of his young men to bring their\nmatchets[8] and cut down the tree. They started cutting the tree, but\nit had no effect, as, directly they made a cut in the tree, it closed\nup again; so, after working all day, they found they had made no\nimpression on it.\n\n[Footnote 8: A matchet is a long sharp knife in general use throughout\nthe country. It has a wooden handle; it is about two feet six inches\nlong and two inches wide.]\n\nWhen they returned at night, they told the king that they had been\nunable to destroy the tree. He was very angry when he heard this, and\nwent to the spring the following morning, taking his own matchet with\nhim.\n\nWhen the Ju Ju tree saw that the king had come himself and was\nstarting to try to cut his branches, he caused a small splinter of\nwood to go into the king's eye. This gave the king great pain, so he\nthrew down his matchet and went back to his house. The pain, however,\ngot worse, and he could not eat or sleep for three days.\n\nHe therefore sent for his witch men, and told them to cast lots to\nfind out why he was in such pain. When they had cast lots, they\ndecided that the reason was that the Ju Ju tree was angry with the\nking because he wanted to wash at the spring, and had tried to destroy\nthe tree.\n\nThey then told the king that he must take seven baskets of flies, a\nwhite goat, a white chicken, and a piece of white cloth, and make a\nsacrifice of them in order to satisfy the Ju Ju.\n\nThe king did this, and the witch men tried their lotions on the king's\neye, but it got worse and worse.\n\nHe then dismissed these witches and got another lot. When they arrived\nthey told the king that, although they could do nothing themselves to\nrelieve his pain, they knew one man who lived in the spirit land who\ncould cure him; so the king told them to send for him at once, and he\narrived the next day.\n\nThen the spirit man said, \"Before I do anything to your eye, what will\nyou give me?\" So King Udo said, \"I will give you half my town with the\npeople in it, also seven cows and some money.\" But the spirit man\nrefused to accept the king's offer. As the king was in such pain, he\nsaid, \"Name your own price, and I will pay you.\" So the spirit man\nsaid the only thing he was willing to accept as payment was the king's\ndaughter. At this the king cried very much, and told the man to go\naway, as he would rather die than let him have his daughter.\n\nThat night the pain was worse than ever, and some of his subjects\npleaded with the king to send for the spirit man again and give him\nhis daughter, and told him that when he got well he could no doubt\nhave another daughter but that if he died now he would lose\neverything.\n\nThe king then sent for the spirit man again, who came very quickly,\nand in great grief the king handed his daughter to the spirit.\n\nThe spirit man then went out into the bush, and collected some leaves,\nwhich he soaked in water and beat up. The juice he poured into the\nking's eye, and told him that when he washed his face in the morning\nhe would be able to see what was troubling him in the eye.\n\nThe king tried to persuade him to stay the night, but the spirit man\nrefused, and departed that same night for the spirit land, taking the\nking's daughter with him.\n\nBefore it was light the king rose up and washed his face, and found\nthat the small splinter from the Ju Ju tree, which had been troubling\nhim so much, dropped out of his eye, the pain disappeared, and he was\nquite well again.\n\nWhen he came to his proper senses he realised that he had sacrificed\nhis daughter for one of his eyes, so he made an order that there\nshould be general mourning throughout his kingdom for three years.\n\nFor the first two years of the mourning the king's daughter was put in\nthe fatting house by the spirit man, and was given food; but a skull,\nwho was in the house, told her not to eat, as they were fatting her\nup, not for marriage, but so that they could eat her. She therefore\ngave all the food which was brought to her to the skull, and lived on\nchalk herself.\n\nTowards the end of the third year the spirit man brought some of his\nfriends to see the king's daughter, and told them he would kill her\nthe next day, and they would have a good feast off her.\n\nWhen she woke up in the morning the spirit man brought her food as\nusual; but the skull, who wanted to preserve her life, and who had\nheard what the spirit man had said, called her into the room and told\nher what was going to happen later in the day. She handed the food to\nthe skull, and he said, \"When the spirit man goes to the wood with his\nfriends to prepare for the feast, you must run back to your father.\"\n\nHe then gave her some medicine which would make her strong for the\njourney, and also gave her directions as to the road, telling her that\nthere were two roads but that when she came to the parting of the ways\nshe was to drop some of the medicine on the ground and the two roads\nwould become one.\n\nHe then told her to leave by the back door, and go through the wood\nuntil she came to the end of the town; she would then find the road.\nIf she met people on the road she was to pass them in silence, as if\nshe saluted them they would know that she was a stranger in the spirit\nland, and might kill her. She was also not to turn round if any one\ncalled to her, but was to go straight on till she reached her father's\nhouse.\n\nHaving thanked the skull for his kind advice, the king's daughter\nstarted off, and when she reached the end of the town and found the\nroad, she ran for three hours, and at last arrived at the branch\nroads. There she dropped the medicine, as she had been instructed, and\nthe two roads immediately became one; so she went straight on and\nnever saluted any one or turned back, although several people called\nto her.\n\nAbout this time the spirit man had returned from the wood, and went to\nthe house, only to find the king's daughter was absent. He asked the\nskull where she was, and he replied that she had gone out by the back\ndoor, but he did not know where she had gone to. Being a spirit,\nhowever, he very soon guessed that she had gone home; so he followed\nas quickly as possible, shouting out all the time.\n\nWhen the girl heard his voice she ran as fast as she could, and at\nlast arrived at her father's house, and told him to take at once a\ncow, a pig, a sheep, a goat, a dog, a chicken, and seven eggs, and cut\nthem into seven parts as a sacrifice, and leave them on the road, so\nthat when the spirit man saw these things he would stop and not enter\nthe town. This the king did immediately, and made the sacrifice as his\ndaughter had told him.\n\nWhen the spirit man saw the sacrifice on the road, he sat down and at\nonce began to eat.\n\nWhen he had satisfied his appetite, he packed up the remainder and\nreturned to the spirit land, not troubling any more about the king's\ndaughter.\n\nWhen the king saw that the danger was over, he beat his drum, and\ndeclared that for the future, when people died and went to the spirit\nland, they should not come to earth again as spirits to cure sick\npeople.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX\n\n_How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus_\n\n\nThe elephant and the hippopotamus always used to feed together, and\nwere good friends.\n\nOne day when they were both dining together, the tortoise appeared and\nsaid that although they were both big and strong, neither of them\ncould pull him out of the water with a strong piece of tie-tie, and he\noffered the elephant ten thousand rods if he could draw him out of the\nriver the next day. The elephant, seeing that the tortoise was very\nsmall, said, \"If I cannot draw you out of the water, I will give you\ntwenty thousand rods.\" So on the following morning the tortoise got\nsome very strong tie-tie and made it fast to his leg, and went down to\nthe river. When he got there, as he knew the place well, he made the\ntie-tie fast round a big rock, and left the other end on the shore for\nthe elephant to pull by, then went down to the bottom of the river and\nhid himself. The elephant then came down and started pulling, and\nafter a time he smashed the rope.\n\nDirectly this happened, the tortoise undid the rope from the rock and\ncame to the land, showing all people that the rope was still fast to\nhis leg, but that the elephant had failed to pull him out. The\nelephant was thus forced to admit that the tortoise was the winner,\nand paid to him the twenty thousand rods, as agreed. The tortoise then\ntook the rods home to his wife, and they lived together very happily.\n\nAfter three months had passed, the tortoise, seeing that the money was\ngreatly reduced, thought he would make some more by the same trick, so\nhe went to the hippopotamus and made the same bet with him. The\nhippopotamus said, \"I will make the bet, but I shall take the water\nand you shall take the land; I will then pull you into the water.\"\n\nTo this the tortoise agreed, so they went down to the river as before,\nand having got some strong tie-tie, the tortoise made it fast to the\nhippopotamus' hind leg, and told him to go into the water. Directly\nthe hippo had turned his back and disappeared, the tortoise took the\nrope twice round a strong palm-tree which was growing near, and then\nhid himself at the foot of the tree.\n\nWhen the hippo was tired of pulling, he came up puffing and blowing\nwater into the air from his nostrils. Directly the tortoise saw him\ncoming up, he unwound the rope, and walked down towards the\nhippopotamus, showing him the tie-tie round his leg. The hippo had to\nacknowledge that the tortoise was too strong for him, and reluctantly\nhanded over the twenty thousand rods.\n\nThe elephant and the hippo then agreed that they would take the\ntortoise as their friend, as he was so very strong; but he was not\nreally so strong as they thought, and had won because he was so\ncunning.\n\nHe then told them that he would like to live with both of them, but\nthat, as he could not be in two places at the same time, he said that\nhe would leave his son to live with the elephant on the land, and that\nhe himself would live with the hippopotamus in the water.\n\nThis explains why there are both tortoises on the land and tortoises\nwho live in the water. The water tortoise is always much the bigger of\nthe two, as there is plenty of fish for him to eat in the river,\nwhereas the land tortoise is often very short of food.\n\n\n\n\nXXX\n\n_Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous Women_\n\n\nThere was once a very beautiful girl called Akim. She was a native of\nIbibio, and the name was given to her on account of her good looks, as\nshe was born in the spring-time. She was an only daughter, and her\nparents were extremely fond of her. The people of the town, and more\nparticularly the young girls, were so jealous of Akim's good looks and\nbeautiful form--for she was perfectly made, very strong, and her\ncarriage, bearing, and manners were most graceful--that her parents\nwould not allow her to join the young girls' society in the town, as\nis customary for all young people to do, both boys and girls belonging\nto a company according to their age; a company consisting, as a rule,\nof all the boys or girls born in the same year.\n\nAkim's parents were rather poor, but she was a good daughter, and gave\nthem no trouble, so they had a happy home. One day as Akim was on her\nway to draw water from the spring she met the company of seven girls,\nto which in an ordinary way she would have belonged, if her parents\nhad not forbidden her. These girls told her that they were going to\nhold a play in the town in three days' time, and asked her to join\nthem. She said she was very sorry, but that her parents were poor, and\nonly had herself to work for them, she therefore had no time to spare\nfor dancing and plays. She then left them and went home.\n\nIn the evening the seven girls met together, and as they were very\nenvious of Akim, they discussed how they should be revenged upon her\nfor refusing to join their company, and they talked for a long time as\nto how they could get Akim into danger or punish her in some way.\n\nAt last one of the girls suggested that they should all go to Akim's\nhouse every day and help her with her work, so that when they had made\nfriends with her they would be able to entice her away and take their\nrevenge upon her for being more beautiful than themselves. Although\nthey went every day and helped Akim and her parents with their work,\nthe parents knew that they were jealous of their daughter, and\nrepeatedly warned her not on any account to go with them, as they were\nnot to be trusted.\n\nAt the end of the year there was going to be a big play, called the\nnew yam play, to which Akim's parents had been invited. The play was\ngoing to be held at a town about two hours' march from where they\nlived. Akim was very anxious to go and take part in the dance, but her\nparents gave her plenty of work to do before they started, thinking\nthat this would surely prevent her going, as she was a very obedient\ndaughter, and always did her work properly.\n\nOn the morning of the play the jealous seven came to Akim and asked\nher to go with them, but she pointed to all the water-pots she had to\nfill, and showed them where her parents had told her to polish the\nwalls with a stone and make the floor good; and after that was\nfinished she had to pull up all the weeds round the house and clean up\nall round. She therefore said it was impossible for her to leave the\nhouse until all the work was finished. When the girls heard this they\ntook up the water-pots, went to the spring, and quickly returned with\nthem full; they placed them in a row, and then they got stones, and\nvery soon had the walls polished and the floor made good; after that\nthey did the weeding outside and the cleaning up, and when everything\nwas completed they said to Akim, \"Now then, come along; you have no\nexcuse to remain behind, as all the work is done.\"\n\nAkim really wanted to go to the play; so as all the work was done\nwhich her parents had told her to do, she finally consented to go.\nAbout half-way to the town, where the new yam play was being held,\nthere was a small river, about five feet deep, which had to be crossed\nby wading, as there was no bridge. In this river there was a powerful\nJu Ju, whose law was that whenever any one crossed the river and\nreturned the same way on the return journey, whoever it was, had to\ngive some food to the Ju Ju. If they did not make the proper sacrifice\nthe Ju Ju dragged them down and took them to his home, and kept them\nthere to work for him. The seven jealous girls knew all about this Ju\nJu, having often crossed the river before, as they walked about all\nover the country, and had plenty of friends in the different towns.\nAkim, however, who was a good girl, and never went anywhere, knew\nnothing about this Ju Ju, which her companions had found out.\n\nWhen the work was finished they all started off together, and crossed\nthe river without any trouble. When they had gone a small distance on\nthe other side they saw a small bird, perched on a high tree, who\nadmired Akim very much, and sang in praise of her beauty, much to the\nannoyance of the seven girls; but they walked on without saying\nanything, and eventually arrived at the town where the play was being\nheld. Akim had not taken the trouble to change her clothes, but when\nshe arrived at the town, although her companions had on all their best\nbeads and their finest clothes, the young men and people admired Akim\nfar more than the other girls, and she was declared to be the finest\nand most beautiful woman at the dance. They gave her plenty of palm\nwine, foo-foo, and everything she wanted, so that the seven girls\nbecame more angry and jealous than before. The people danced and sang\nall that night, but Akim managed to keep out of the sight of her\nparents until the following morning, when they asked her how it was\nthat she had disobeyed them and neglected her work; so Akim told them\nthat the work had all been done by her friends, and they had enticed\nher to come to the play with them. Her mother then told her to return\nhome at once, and that she was not to remain in the town any longer.\n\nWhen Akim told her friends this they said, \"Very well, we are just\ngoing to have some small meal, and then we will return with you.\" They\nall then sat down together and had their food, but each of the seven\njealous girls hid a small quantity of foo-foo and fish in her clothes\nfor the Water Ju Ju. However Akim, who knew nothing about this, as her\nparents had forgotten to tell her about the Ju Ju, never thinking for\none moment that their daughter would cross the river, did not take any\nfood as a sacrifice to the Ju Ju with her.\n\nWhen they arrived at the river Akim saw the girls making their small\nsacrifices, and begged them to give her a small share so that she\ncould do the same, but they refused, and all walked across the river\nsafely. Then when it was Akim's turn to cross, when she arrived in the\nmiddle of the river, the Water Ju Ju caught hold of her and dragged\nher underneath the water, so that she immediately disappeared from\nsight. The seven girls had been watching for this, and when they saw\nthat she had gone they went on their way, very pleased at the success\nof their scheme, and said to one another, \"Now Akim is gone for ever,\nand we shall hear no more about her being better-looking than we are.\"\n\nAs there was no one to be seen at the time when Akim disappeared they\nnaturally thought that their cruel action had escaped detection, so\nthey went home rejoicing; but they never noticed the little bird high\nup in the tree who had sung of Akim's beauty when they were on their\nway to the play. The little bird was very sorry for Akim, and made up\nhis mind that, when the proper time came, he would tell her parents\nwhat he had seen, so that perhaps they would be able to save her. The\nbird had heard Akim asking for a small portion of the food to make a\nsacrifice with, and had heard all the girls refusing to give her any.\n\nThe following morning, when Akim's parents returned home, they were\nmuch surprised to find that the door was fastened, and that there was\nno sign of their daughter anywhere about the place, so they inquired\nof their neighbours, but no one was able to give them any information\nabout her. They then went to the seven girls, and asked them what had\nbecome of Akim. They replied that they did not know what had become of\nher, but that she had reached their town safely with them, and then\nsaid she was going home. The father then went to his Ju Ju man, who,\nby casting lots, discovered what had happened, and told him that on\nher way back from the play Akim had crossed the river without making\nthe customary sacrifice to the Water Ju Ju, and that, as the Ju Ju was\nangry, he had seized Akim and taken her to his home. He therefore told\nAkim's father to take one goat, one basketful of eggs, and one piece\nof white cloth to the river in the morning, and to offer them as a\nsacrifice to the Water Ju Ju; then Akim would be thrown out of the\nwater seven times, but that if her father failed to catch her on the\nseventh time, she would disappear for ever.\n\nAkim's father then returned home, and, when he arrived there, the\nlittle bird who had seen Akim taken by the Water Ju Ju, told him\neverything that had happened, confirming the Ju Ju's words. He also\nsaid that it was entirely the fault of the seven girls, who had\nrefused to give Akim any food to make the sacrifice with.\n\nEarly the following morning the parents went to the river, and made\nthe sacrifice as advised by the Ju Ju. Immediately they had done so,\nthe Water Ju Ju threw Akim up from the middle of the river. Her\nfather caught her at once, and returned home very thankfully.\n\nHe never told any one, however, that he had recovered his daughter,\nbut made up his mind to punish the seven jealous girls, so he dug a\ndeep pit in the middle of his house, and placed dried palm leaves and\nsharp stakes in the bottom of the pit. He then covered the top of the\npit with new mats, and sent out word for all people to come and hold a\nplay to rejoice with him, as he had recovered his daughter from the\nspirit land. Many people came, and danced and sang all the day and\nnight, but the seven jealous girls did not appear, as they were\nfrightened. However, as they were told that everything had gone well\non the previous day, and that there had been no trouble, they went to\nthe house the following morning and mixed with the dancers; but they\nwere ashamed to look Akim in the face, who was sitting down in the\nmiddle of the dancing ring.\n\nWhen Akim's father saw the seven girls he pretended to welcome them as\nhis daughter's friends, and presented each of them with a brass rod,\nwhich he placed round their necks. He also gave them tombo to drink.\n\nHe then picked them out, and told them to go and sit on mats on the\nother side of the pit he had prepared for them. When they walked over\nthe mats which hid the pit they all fell in, and Akim's father\nimmediately got some red-hot ashes from the fire and threw them in on\ntop of the screaming girls, who were in great pain. At once the dried\npalm leaves caught fire, killing all the girls at once.\n\nWhen the people heard the cries and saw the smoke, they all ran back\nto the town.\n\nThe next day the parents of the dead girls went to the head chief, and\ncomplained that Akim's father had killed their daughters, so the chief\ncalled him before him, and asked him for an explanation.\n\nAkim's father went at once to the chief, taking the Ju Ju man, whom\neverybody relied upon, and the small bird, as his witnesses.\n\nWhen the chief had heard the whole case, he told Akim's father that he\nshould only have killed one girl to avenge his daughter, and not\nseven. So he told the father to bring Akim before him.\n\nWhen she arrived, the head chief, seeing how beautiful she was, said\nthat her father was justified in killing all the seven girls on her\nbehalf, so he dismissed the case, and told the parents of the dead\ngirls to go away and mourn for their daughters, who had been wicked\nand jealous women, and had been properly punished for their cruel\nbehaviour to Akim.\n\nMORAL.--Never kill a man or a woman because you are envious of their\nbeauty, as if you do, you will surely be punished.\n\n\n\n\nXXXI\n\n_How the Cannibals drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the Cross\nRiver (Ikom)_\n\n\nVery many years ago, before the oldest man alive at the present time\ncan remember, the towns of Ikom, Okuni, Abijon, Insofan, Obokum, and\nall the other Injor towns were situated round and near the Insofan\nMountain, and the head chief of the whole country was called Agbor.\nAbragba and Enfitop also lived there, and were also under King Agbor.\nThe Insofan Mountain is about two days' march inland from the Cross\nRiver, and as none of the people there could swim, and knew nothing\nabout canoes, they never went anywhere outside their own country, and\nwere afraid to go down to the big river. The whole country was taken\nup with yam farms, and was divided amongst the various towns, each\ntown having its own bush. At the end of each year, when it was time to\ndig the yams, there was a big play held, which was called the New Yam\nfeast. At this festival there was always a big human sacrifice, fifty\nslaves being killed in one day. These slaves were tied up to trees in\na row, and many drums were beaten; then a strong man, armed with a\nsharp matchet, went from one slave to another and cut their heads off.\nThis was done to cool the new yams, so that they would not hurt the\nstomachs of the people. Until this sacrifice was made no one in the\ncountry would eat a new yam, as they knew, if they did so, they would\nsuffer great pain in their insides.\n\nWhen the feast was held, all the towns brought one hundred yams each\nas a present to King Agbor. When the slaves were all killed fires were\nlit, and the dead bodies were placed over the fires to burn the hair\noff. A number of plantain leaves were then gathered and placed on the\nground, and the bodies, having been cut into pieces, were placed on\nthe plantain leaves.\n\nWhen the yams were skinned, they were put into large pots, with water,\noil, pepper, and salt. The cut-up bodies were then put in on top, and\nthe pots covered up with other clay pots and left to boil for an hour.\n\nThe king, having called all the people together, then declared the New\nYam feast had commenced, and singing and dancing were kept up for\nthree days and nights, during which time much palm wine was consumed,\nand all the bodies and yams, which had been provided for them, were\neaten by the people.\n\nThe heads were given to the king for his share, and, when he had\nfinished eating them, the skulls were placed before the Ju Ju with\nsome new yams, so that there should be a good crop the following\nseason.\n\nBut although these natives ate the dead bodies of the slaves at the\nNew Yam feast, they did not eat human flesh during the rest of the\nyear.\n\nThis went on for many years, until at last the Okuni people noticed\nthat the graves of the people who had been buried were frequently dug\nopen and the bodies removed. This caused great wonder, and, as they\ndid not like the idea of their dead relations being taken away, they\nmade a complaint to King Agbor. He at once caused a watch to be set on\nall newly dug graves, and that very night they caught seven men, who\nwere very greedy, and used to come whenever a body was buried, dig it\nup, and carry it into the bush, where they made a fire, and cooked and\nate it.\n\nWhen they were caught, the people made them show where they lived, and\nwhere they cooked the bodies.\n\nAfter walking for some hours in the forest, they came to a place where\nlarge heaps of human bones and skulls were found.\n\nThe seven men were then securely fastened up and brought before King\nAgbor, who held a large palaver of all the towns, and the whole\nsituation was discussed.\n\nAgbor said that this bad custom would necessitate all the towns\nseparating, as they could not allow their dead relations to be dug up\nand eaten by these greedy people, and he could see no other way to\nprevent it. Agbor then gave one of the men to each of the seven towns,\nand told some of them to go on the far side of the big river and make\ntheir towns there. The others were to go farther down the river on the\nsame side as Insofan Mountain, and when they found suitable places,\nthey were each to kill their man as a sacrifice and then build their\ntown.\n\nAll the towns then departed, and when they had found good sites, they\nbuilt their towns there.\n\nWhen they had all gone, after a time Agbor began to feel very lonely,\nso he left the site of his old town and also went to the Cross River\nto live, so that he could see his friends.\n\nAfter that the New Yam feast was held in each town, and the people\nstill continued to kill and eat a few slaves at the feast, but the\nbodies of their relations and friends were kept for a long time above\nground until they had become rotten, so that the greedy people should\nnot dig them up and eat them.\n\nThis is why, even at the present time, the people do not like to bury\ntheir dead relations until they have become putrid.\n\n\n\n\nXXXII\n\n_The Lucky Fisherman_\n\n\nIn the olden days there were no hooks or casting nets, so that when\nthe natives wanted to catch fish they made baskets and set traps at\nthe river side.\n\nOne man named Akon Obo, who was very poor, began to make baskets and\ntraps out of bamboo palm, and then when the river went down he used to\ntake his traps to a pool and set them baited with palm-nuts. In the\nnight the big fish used to smell the palm-nuts and go into the trap,\nwhen at once the door would fall down, and in the morning Akon Obo\nwould go and take the fish out. He was very successful in his fishing,\nand used to sell the fish in the market for plenty of money. When he\ncould afford to pay the dowry he married a woman named Eyong, a native\nof Okuni, and had three children by her, but he still continued his\nfishing. The eldest son was called Odey, the second Yambi, and the\nthird Atuk. These three boys, when they grew up, helped their father\nwith his fishing, and he gradually became wealthy and bought plenty of\nslaves. At last he joined the Egbo society, and became one of the\nchiefs of the town. Even after he became a chief, he and his sons\nstill continued to fish.\n\nOne day, when he was crossing the river in a small dug-out canoe, a\ntornado came on very suddenly, and the canoe capsized, drowning the\nchief. When his sons heard of the death of their father, they wanted\nto go and drown themselves also, but they were persuaded not to by the\npeople. After searching for two days, they found the dead body some\ndistance down the river, and brought it back to the town. They then\ncalled their company together to play, dance, and sing for twelve\ndays, in accordance with their native custom, and much palm wine was\ndrunk.\n\nWhen the play was finished, they took their father's body to a\nhollowed-out cavern, and placed two live slaves with it, one holding a\nnative lamp of palm-oil, and the other holding a matchet. They were\nboth tied up, so that they could not escape, and were left there to\nkeep watch over the dead chief, until they died of starvation.\n\nWhen the cave was covered in, the sons called the chiefs together, and\nthey played Egbo[9] for seven days, which used up a lot of their late\nfather's money. When the play was over, the chiefs were surprised at\nthe amount of money which the sons had been able to spend on the\nfuneral of their father, as they knew how poor he had been as a young\nman. They therefore called him the lucky fisherman.\n\n[Footnote 9: The Egbo society would meet together and would be\nprovided with palm wine and food, as much as they could eat and drink,\nwhich frequently cost a lot of money. Dancing and singing would also\nbe kept up and a band would play, consisting of drums made of\nhollowed-out trunks of trees, beaten with two pieces of soft wood,\nnative made bells and rattles made of basket work, with stones inside,\nthe bottom consisting of hard dried skin, and covered all over with\nlong streamers of fibre. Other drums are also played by hand; these\nare made out of hollow wood, covered at one end with dried skin, the\nother end being left open. The drummer usually sits on two of these\ndrums, which have a different note, one being a deep sound, and the\nother slightly higher.]\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII\n\n_The Orphan Boy and the Magic Stone_\n\n\nA chief of Inde named Inkita had a son named Ayong Kita, whose mother\nhad died at his birth.\n\nThe old chief was a hunter, and used to take his son out with him when\nhe went into the bush. He used to do most of his hunting in the long\ngrass which grows over nearly all the Inde country, and used to kill\nplenty of bush buck in the dry season.\n\nIn those days the people had no guns, so the chief had to shoot\neverything he got with his bow and arrows, which required a lot of\nskill.\n\nWhen his little son was old enough, he gave him a small bow and some\nsmall arrows, and taught him how to shoot. The little boy was very\nquick at learning, and by continually practising at lizards and small\nbirds, soon became expert in the use of his little bow, and could hit\nthem almost every time he shot at them.\n\nWhen the boy was ten years old his father died, and as he thus became\nthe head of his father's house, and was in authority over all the\nslaves, they became very discontented, and made plans to kill him, so\nhe ran away into the bush.\n\nHaving nothing to eat, he lived for several days on the nuts which\nfell from the palm trees. He was too young to kill any large animals,\nand only had his small bow and arrows, with which he killed a few\nsquirrels, bush rats, and small birds, and so managed to live.\n\nNow once at night, when he was sleeping in the hollow of a tree, he\nhad a dream in which his father appeared, and told him where there was\nplenty of treasure buried in the earth, but, being a small boy, he was\nfrightened, and did not go to the place.\n\nOne day, some time after the dream, having walked far and being very\nthirsty, he went to a lake, and was just going to drink, when he heard\na hissing sound, and heard a voice tell him not to drink. Not seeing\nany one, he was afraid, and ran away without drinking.\n\nEarly next morning, when he was out with his bow trying to shoot some\nsmall animal, he met an old woman with quite long hair. She was so\nugly that he thought she must be a witch, so he tried to run, but she\ntold him not to fear, as she wanted to help him and assist him to rule\nover his late father's house. She also told him that it was she who\nhad called out to him at the lake not to drink, as there was a bad Ju\nJu in the water which would have killed him. The old woman then took\nAyong to a stream some little distance from the lake, and bending\ndown, took out a small shining stone from the water, which she gave to\nhim, at the same time telling him to go to the place which his father\nhad advised him to visit in his dream. She then said, \"When you get\nthere you must dig, and you will find plenty of money; you must then\ngo and buy two strong slaves, and when you have got them, you must\ntake them into the forest, away from the town, and get them to build\nyou a house with several rooms in it. You must then place the stone in\none of the rooms, and whenever you want anything, all you have to do\nis to go into the room and tell the stone what you want, and your\nwishes will be at once gratified.\"\n\nAyong did as the old woman told him, and after much difficulty and\ndanger bought the two slaves and built a house in the forest, taking\ngreat care of the precious stone, which he placed in an inside room.\nThen for some time, whenever he wanted anything, he used to go into\nthe room and ask for a sufficient number of rods to buy what he\nwanted, and they were always brought at once.\n\nThis went on for many years, and Ayong grew up to be a man, and became\nvery rich, and bought many slaves, having made friends with the Aro\nmen, who in those days used to do a big traffic in slaves. After ten\nyears had passed Ayong had quite a large town and many slaves, but one\nnight the old woman appeared to him in a dream and told him that she\nthought that he was sufficiently wealthy, and that it was time for him\nto return the magic stone to the small stream from whence it came. But\nAyong, although he was rich, wanted to rule his father's house and be\na head chief for all the Inde country, so he sent for all the Ju Ju\nmen in the country and two witch men, and marched with all his slaves\nto his father's town. Before he started he held a big palaver, and\ntold them to point out any slave who had a bad heart, and who might\nkill him when he came to rule the country. Then the Ju Ju men\nconsulted together, and pointed out fifty of the slaves who, they\nsaid, were witches, and would try to kill Ayong. He at once had them\nmade prisoners, and tried them by the ordeal of Esere bean[10] to see\nwhether they were witches or not. As none of them could vomit the\nbeans they all died, and were declared to be witches. He then had them\nburied at once. When the remainder of his slaves saw what had\nhappened, they all came to him and begged his pardon, and promised to\nserve him faithfully. Although the fifty men were buried they could\nnot rest, and troubled Ayong very much, and after a time he became\nvery sick himself, so he sent again for the Ju Ju men, who told him\nthat it was the witch men who, although they were dead and buried, had\npower to come out at night and used to suck Ayong's blood, which was\nthe cause of his sickness. They then said, \"We are only three Ju Ju\nmen; you must get seven more of us, making the magic number of ten.\"\nWhen they came they dug up the bodies of the fifty witches, and found\nthey were quite fresh. Then Ayong had big fires made, and burned them\none after the other, and gave the Ju Ju men a big present. He soon\nafter became quite well again, and took possession of his father's\nproperty, and ruled over all the country.\n\n[Footnote 10: The Esere or Calabar bean is a strong poison, and was\nformerly much used by the natives. These beans are ground up in a\nstone mortar, and are then swallowed by the accused person. If the man\ndies he is considered guilty, but if he lives, he is supposed to have\nproved his innocence of whatever the charge may have been which was\nbrought against him. Death generally ensues about two hours after the\npoison is administered. If the accused takes a sufficient amount of\nthe ground-up beans to make him vomit it will probably save his life,\notherwise he will die in great pain.]\n\nEver since then, whenever any one is accused of being a witch, they\nare tried by the ordeal of the poisonous Esere bean, and if they can\nvomit they do not die, and are declared innocent, but if they cannot\ndo so, they die in great pain.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIV\n\n_The Slave Girl who tried to Kill her Mistress_\n\n\nA man called Akpan, who was a native of Oku, a town in the Ibibio\ncountry, admired a girl called Emme very much, who lived at Ibibio,\nand wished to marry her, as she was the finest girl in her company. It\nwas the custom in those days for the parents to demand such a large\namount for their daughters as dowry, that if after they were married\nthey failed to get on with their husbands, as they could not redeem\nthemselves, they were sold as slaves. Akpan paid a very large sum as\ndowry for Emme, and she was put in the fatting-house until the proper\ntime arrived for her to marry.\n\nAkpan told the parents that when their daughter was ready they must\nsend her over to him. This they promised to do. Emme's father was a\nrich man, and after seven years had elapsed, and it became time for\nher to go to her husband, he saw a very fine girl, who had also just\ncome out of the fatting-house, and whom the parents wished to sell as\na slave. Emme's father therefore bought her, and gave her to his\ndaughter as her handmaiden.\n\nThe next day Emme's little sister, being very anxious to go with her,\nobtained the consent of her mother, and they started off together, the\nslave girl carrying a large bundle containing clothes and presents\nfrom Emme's father. Akpan's house was a long day's march from where\nthey lived. When they arrived just outside the town they came to a\nspring, where the people used to get their drinking water from, but no\none was allowed to bathe there. Emme, however, knew nothing about\nthis. They took off their clothes to wash close to the spring, and\nwhere there was a deep hole which led to the Water Ju Ju's house. The\nslave girl knew of this Ju Ju, and thought if she could get her\nmistress to bathe, she would be taken by the Ju Ju, and she would then\nbe able to take her place and marry Akpan. So they went down to bathe,\nand when they were close to the water the slave girl pushed her\nmistress in, and she at once disappeared. The little girl then began\nto cry, but the slave girl said, \"If you cry any more I will kill you\nat once, and throw your body into the hole after your sister.\" And she\ntold the child that she must never mention what had happened to any\none, and particularly not to Akpan, as she was going to represent her\nsister and marry him, and that if she ever told any one what she had\nseen, she would be killed at once. She then made the little girl carry\nher load to Akpan's house.\n\nWhen they arrived, Akpan was very much disappointed at the slave\ngirl's appearance, as she was not nearly as pretty and fine as he had\nexpected her to be; but as he had not seen Emme for seven years, he\nhad no suspicion that the girl was not really Emme, for whom he had\npaid such a large dowry. He then called all his company together to\nplay and feast, and when they arrived they were much astonished, and\nsaid, \"Is this the fine woman for whom you paid so much dowry, and\nwhom you told us so much about?\" And Akpan could not answer them.\n\nThe slave girl was then for some time very cruel to Emme's little\nsister, and wanted her to die, so that her position would be more\nsecure with her husband. She beat the little girl every day, and\nalways made her carry the largest water-pot to the spring; she also\nmade the child place her finger in the fire to use as firewood. When\nthe time came for food, the slave girl went to the fire and got a\nburning piece of wood and burned the child all over the body with it.\nWhen Akpan asked her why she treated the child so badly, she replied\nthat she was a slave that her father had bought for her. When the\nlittle girl took the heavy water-pot to the river to fill it there was\nno one to lift it up for her, so that she could not get it on to her\nhead; she therefore had to remain a long time at the spring, and at\nlast began calling for her sister Emme to come and help her.\n\nWhen Emme heard her little sister crying for her, she begged the Water\nJu Ju to allow her to go and help her, so he told her she might go,\nbut that she must return to him again immediately. When the little\ngirl saw her sister she did not want to leave her, and asked to be\nallowed to go into the hole with her. She then told Emme how very\nbadly she had been treated by the slave girl, and her elder sister\ntold her to have patience and wait, that a day of vengeance would\narrive sooner or later. The little girl went back to Akpan's house\nwith a glad heart as she had seen her sister, but when she got to the\nhouse, the slave girl said, \"Why have you been so long getting the\nwater?\" and then took another stick from the fire and burnt the little\ngirl again very badly, and starved her for the rest of the day.\n\nThis went on for some time, until, one day, when the child went to the\nriver for water, after all the people had gone, she cried out for her\nsister as usual, but she did not come for a long time, as there was a\nhunter from Akpan's town hidden near watching the hole, and the Water\nJu Ju told Emme that she must not go; but, as the little girl went on\ncrying bitterly, Emme at last persuaded the Ju Ju to let her go,\npromising to return quickly. When she emerged from the water, she\nlooked very beautiful with the rays of the setting sun shining on her\nglistening body. She helped her little sister with her water-pot, and\nthen disappeared into the hole again.\n\nThe hunter was amazed at what he had seen, and when he returned, he\ntold Akpan what a beautiful woman had come out of the water and had\nhelped the little girl with her water-pot. He also told Akpan that he\nwas convinced that the girl he had seen at the spring was his proper\nwife, Emme, and that the Water Ju Ju must have taken her.\n\nAkpan then made up his mind to go out and watch and see what happened,\nso, in the early morning the hunter came for him, and they both went\ndown to the river, and hid in the forest near the water-hole.\n\nWhen Akpan saw Emme come out of the water, he recognised her at once,\nand went home and considered how he should get her out of the power\nof the Water Ju Ju. He was advised by some of his friends to go to an\nold woman, who frequently made sacrifices to the Water Ju Ju, and\nconsult her as to what was the best thing to do.\n\nWhen he went to her, she told him to bring her one white slave, one\nwhite goat, one piece of white cloth, one white chicken, and a basket\nof eggs. Then, when the great Ju Ju day arrived, she would take them\nto the Water Ju Ju, and make a sacrifice of them on his behalf. The\nday after the sacrifice was made, the Water Ju Ju would return the\ngirl to her, and she would bring her to Akpan.\n\nAkpan then bought the slave, and took all the other things to the old\nwoman, and, when the day of the sacrifice arrived, he went with his\nfriend the hunter and witnessed the old woman make the sacrifice. The\nslave was bound up and led to the hole, then the old woman called to\nthe Water Ju Ju and cut the slave's throat with a sharp knife and\npushed him into the hole. She then did the same to the goat and\nchicken, and also threw the eggs and cloth in on top of them.\n\nAfter this had been done, they all returned to their homes. The next\nmorning at dawn the old woman went to the hole, and found Emme\nstanding at the side of the spring, so she told her that she was her\nfriend, and was going to take her to her husband. She then took Emme\nback to her own home, and hid her in her room, and sent word to Akpan\nto come to her house, and to take great care that the slave woman knew\nnothing about the matter.\n\nSo Akpan left the house secretly by the back door, and arrived at the\nold woman's house without meeting anybody.\n\nWhen Emme saw Akpan, she asked for her little sister, so he sent his\nfriend, the hunter, for her to the spring, and he met her carrying her\nwater-pot to get the morning supply of water for the house, and\nbrought her to the old woman's house with him.\n\nWhen Emme had embraced her sister, she told her to return to the house\nand do something to annoy the slave woman, and then she was to run as\nfast as she could back to the old woman's house, where, no doubt, the\nslave girl would follow her, and would meet them all inside the house,\nand see Emme, who she believed she had killed.\n\nThe little girl did as she was told, and, directly she got into the\nhouse, she called out to the slave woman: \"Do you know that you are a\nwicked woman, and have treated me very badly? I know you are only my\nsister's slave, and you will be properly punished.\" She then ran as\nhard as she could to the old woman's house. Directly the slave woman\nheard what the little girl said, she was quite mad with rage, and\nseized a burning stick from the fire, and ran after the child; but the\nlittle one got to the house first, and ran inside, the slave woman\nfollowing close upon her heels with the burning stick in her hand.\n\nThen Emme came out and confronted the slave woman, and she at once\nrecognised her mistress, whom she thought she had killed, so she stood\nquite still.\n\nThen they all went back to Akpan's house, and when they arrived\nthere, Akpan asked the slave woman what she meant by pretending that\nshe was Emme, and why she had tried to kill her. But, seeing she was\nfound out, the slave woman had nothing to say.\n\nMany people were then called to a play to celebrate the recovery of\nAkpan's wife, and when they had all come, he told them what the slave\nwoman had done.\n\nAfter this, Emme treated the slave girl in the same way as she had\ntreated her little sister. She made her put her fingers in the fire,\nand burnt her with sticks. She also made her beat foo-foo with her\nhead in a hollowed-out tree, and after a time she was tied up to a\ntree and starved to death.\n\nEver since that time, when a man marries a girl, he is always present\nwhen she comes out of the fatting-house and takes her home himself, so\nthat such evil things as happened to Emme and her sister may not occur\nagain.\n\n\n\n\nXXXV\n\n_The King and the 'Nsiat Bird_\n\n\nWhen 'Ndarake was King of Idu, being young and rich, he was very fond\nof fine girls, and had plenty of slaves. The 'Nsiat bird was then\nliving at Idu, and had a very pretty daughter, whom 'Ndarake wished to\nmarry. When he spoke to the father about the matter, he replied that\nof course he had no objection personally, as it would be a great\nhonour for his daughter to marry the king, but, unfortunately, when\nany of his family had children, they always gave birth to twins,\nwhich, as the king knew, was not allowed in the country; the native\ncustom being to kill both the children and throw them into the bush,\nthe mother being driven away and allowed to starve. The king, however,\nbeing greatly struck with Adit, the bird's daughter, insisted on\nmarrying her, so the 'Nsiat bird had to agree. A large amount of dowry\nwas paid by the king, and a big play and feast was held. One strong\nslave was told to carry Adit 'Nsiat during the whole play, and she sat\non his shoulders with her legs around his neck; this was done to show\nwhat a rich and powerful man the king was.\n\nAfter the marriage, in due course Adit gave birth to twins, as her\nmother had done before her. The king immediately became very fond of\nthe two babies, but according to the native custom, which was too\nstrong for any one to resist, he had to give them up to be killed.\nWhen the 'Nsiat bird heard this, he went to the king and reminded him\nthat he had warned the king before he married what would happen if he\nmarried Adit, and rather than that the twins should be killed, he and\nthe whole of his family would leave the earth and dwell in the air,\ntaking the twins with them. As the king was so fond of Adit and the\ntwo children, and did not want them to be killed, he gladly consented,\nand the 'Nsiat bird took the whole of his family, as well as Adit and\nher two children, away, and left the earth to live and make their home\nin the trees; but as they had formerly lived in the town with all the\npeople, they did not like to go into the forest, so they made their\nnests in the trees which grew in the town, and that is why you always\nsee the 'Nsiat birds living and making their nests only in places\nwhere human beings are. The black birds are the cocks, and the\ngolden-coloured ones are the hens. It was the beautiful colour of Adit\nwhich first attracted the attention of 'Ndarake and caused him to\nmarry her.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVI\n\n_Concerning the Fate of Essido and his Evil Companions_\n\n\nChief Oborri lived at a town called Adiagor, which is on the right\nbank of the Calabar River. He was a wealthy chief, and belonged to the\nEgbo Society. He had many large canoes, and plenty of slaves to paddle\nthem. These canoes he used to fill up with new yams--each canoe being\nunder one head slave and containing eight paddles; the canoes were\ncapable of holding three puncheons of palm-oil, and cost eight hundred\nrods each. When they were full, about ten of them used to start off\ntogether and paddle to Rio del Rey. They went through creeks all the\nway, which run through mangrove swamps, with palm-oil trees here and\nthere. Sometimes in the tornado season it was very dangerous crossing\nthe creeks, as the canoes were so heavily laden, having only a few\ninches above the water, that quite a small wave would fill the canoe\nand cause it to sink to the bottom. Although most of the boys could\nswim, it often happened that some of them were lost, as there are many\nlarge alligators in these waters. After four days' hard paddling they\nwould arrive at Rio del Rey, where they had very little difficulty in\nexchanging their new yams for bags of dried shrimps and sticks with\nsmoked fish on them.[11]\n\n[Footnote 11: A stick of fish consisted of two sticks with a big fish\nin the middle of each and small fish at each end, there being eight\nfish on each stick, making sixteen in all. These sticks were then tied\ntogether, and smoked over wood fires until they were quite dried. One\nstick of fish would sell at Calabar in the dry season time for from\n3s. 6d. to 5s. a stick, and a stick would be got for five large yams\nwhich cost Chief Oborri only 1s., so a large profit was made on each\ncanoe load--the canoes carrying about a thousand yams each. A bag of\nshrimps would be bartered for twenty-five large yams, and the shrimps\nwould be sold for 15s., being a profit of 10s. on each bag. At the\npresent time, however, the same sized bag of shrimps, in the wet\nseason, would sell at Calabar for L3, 10s., and in the dry season for\nbetween L1, 10s. and L2.]\n\nChief Oborri had two sons, named Eyo I. and Essido. Their mother\nhaving died when they were babies, the children were brought up by\ntheir father. As they grew up, they developed entirely different\ncharacters. The eldest was very hard-working and led a solitary life;\nbut the younger son was fond of gaiety and was very lazy, in fact, he\nspent most of his time in the neighbouring towns playing and dancing.\nWhen the two boys arrived at the respective ages of eighteen and\ntwenty their father died, and they were left to look after themselves.\nAccording to native custom, the elder son, Eyo I., was entitled to the\nwhole of his father's estate; but being very fond of his younger\nbrother, he gave him a large number of rods and some land with a\nhouse. Immediately Essido became possessed of the money he became\nwilder than ever, gave big feasts to his companions, and always had\nhis house full of women, upon whom he spent large sums. Although the\namount his brother had given him on his father's death was very large,\nin the course of a few years Essido had spent it all. He then sold\nhis house and effects, and spent the proceeds on feasting.\n\nWhile he had been living this gay and unprofitable life, Eyo I. had\nbeen working harder than ever at his father's old trade, and had made\nmany trips to Rio del Rey himself. Almost every week he had canoes\nladen with yams going down river and returning after about twelve days\nwith shrimps and fish, which Eyo I. himself disposed of in the\nneighbouring markets, and he very rapidly became a rich man. At\nintervals he remonstrated with Essido on his extravagance, but his\nwarnings had no effect; if anything, his brother became worse. At last\nthe time arrived when all his money was spent, so Essido went to his\nbrother and asked him to lend him two thousand rods, but Eyo refused,\nand told Essido that he would not help him in any way to continue his\npresent life of debauchery, but that if he liked to work on the farm\nand trade, he would give him a fair share of the profits. This Essido\nindignantly refused, and went back to the town and consulted some of\nthe very few friends he had left as to what was the best thing to do.\n\nThe men he spoke to were thoroughly bad men, and had been living upon\nEssido for a long time. They suggested to him that he should go round\nthe town and borrow money from the people he had entertained, and then\nthey would run away to Akpabryos town, which was about four days'\nmarch from Calabar. This Essido did, and managed to borrow a lot of\nmoney, although many people refused to lend him anything. Then at\nnight he set off with his evil companions, who carried his money, as\nthey had not been able to borrow any themselves, being so well known.\nWhen they arrived at Akpabryos town they found many beautiful women\nand graceful dancers. They then started the same life again, until\nafter a few weeks most of the money had gone. They then met and\nconsulted together how to get more money, and advised Essido to return\nto his rich brother, pretending that he was going to work and give up\nhis old life; he should then get poison from a man they knew of, and\nplace it in his brother's food, so that he would die, and then Essido\nwould become possessed of all his brother's wealth, and they would be\nable to live in the same way as they had formerly. Essido, who had\nsunk very low, agreed to this plan, and they left Akpabryos town the\nnext morning. After marching for two days, they arrived at a small hut\nin the bush where a man who was an expert poisoner lived, called\nOkponesip. He was the head Ju Ju man of the country, and when they had\nbribed him with eight hundred rods he swore them to secrecy, and gave\nEssido a small parcel containing a deadly poison which he said would\nkill his brother in three months. All he had to do was to place the\npoison in his brother's food.\n\nWhen Essido returned to his brother's house he pretended to be very\nsorry for his former mode of living, and said that for the future he\nwas going to work. Eyo I. was very glad when he heard this, and at\nonce asked his brother in, and gave him new clothes and plenty to eat.\n\nIn the evening, when supper was being prepared, Essido went into the\nkitchen, pretending he wanted to get a light from the fire for his\npipe. The cook being absent and no one about, he put the poison in\nthe soup, and then returned to the living-room. He then asked for some\ntombo, which was brought, and when he had finished it, he said he did\nnot want any supper, and went to sleep. His brother, Eyo I., had\nsupper by himself and consumed all the soup. In a week's time he began\nto feel very ill, and as the days passed he became worse, so he sent\nfor his Ju Ju man.\n\nWhen Essido saw him coming, he quietly left the house; but the Ju Ju\nman, by casting lots, very soon discovered that it was Essido who had\ngiven poison to his brother. When he told Eyo I. this, he would not\nbelieve it, and sent him away. However, when Essido returned, his\nelder brother told him what the Ju Ju man had said, but that he did\nnot believe him for one moment, and had sent him away. Essido was much\nrelieved when he heard this, but as he was anxious that no suspicion\nof the crime should be attached to him, he went to the Household Ju\nJu,[12] and having first sworn that he had never administered poison\nto his brother, he drank out of the pot.\n\n[Footnote 12: Every compound has a small Ju Ju in the centre, which\ngenerally consists of a few curiously shaped stones and a small tree\non which the 'Nsiat bird frequently builds. There is sometimes a\nspecies of cactus at the foot, an earthenware pot is supported on\nsticks against the tree, and tied on with tie-tie, or native rope. In\nthis pot there is always a very foul-smelling liquid, with frequently\nsome rotten eggs floating in it. Small sacrifices are made to these Ju\nJu's of chickens, &c., and this Ju Ju is frequently appealed to. The\nliquid is sometimes taken as a specific against sickness or poison. In\nthe dry season the author has often observed large spiders with their\nwebs all over these Ju Ju's, but they are never touched. There is also\nfrequently a roughly carved image of wood, and sometimes an old\nmatchet and some broken earthenware on the ground, with a brass rod or\nmanilla. It is generally a very dirty spot.]\n\nThree months after he had taken the poison Eyo I. died, much to the\ngrief of every one who knew him, as he was much respected, not only on\naccount of his great wealth, but because he was also an upright and\nhonest man, who never did harm to any one.\n\nEssido kept his brother's funeral according to the usual custom, and\nthere was much playing and dancing, which was kept up for a long time.\nThen Essido paid off his old creditors in order to make himself\npopular, and kept open house, entertaining most lavishly, and spending\nhis money in many foolish ways. All the bad women about collected at\nhis house, and his old evil companions went on as they had done\nbefore.\n\nThings got so bad that none of the respectable people would have\nanything to do with him, and at last the chiefs of the country, seeing\nthe way Essido was squandering his late brother's estate, assembled\ntogether, and eventually came to the conclusion that he was a witch\nman, and had poisoned his brother in order to acquire his position.\nThe chiefs, who were all friends of the late Eyo, and who were very\nsorry at the death, as they knew that if he had lived he would have\nbecome a great and powerful chief, made up their minds to give Essido\nthe Ekpawor Ju Ju, which is a very strong medicine, and gets into\nmen's heads, so that when they have drunk it they are compelled to\nspeak the truth, and if they have done wrong they die very shortly.\nEssido was then told to dress himself and attend the meeting at the\npalaver house, and when he arrived the chiefs charged him with having\nkilled his brother by witchcraft. Essido denied having done so, but\nthe chiefs told him that if he were innocent he must prove it by\ndrinking the bowl of Ekpawor medicine which was placed before him. As\nhe could not refuse to drink, he drank the bowl off in great fear and\ntrembling, and very soon the Ju Ju having got hold of him, he\nconfessed that he had poisoned his brother, but that his friends had\nadvised him to do so. About two hours after drinking the Ekpawor,\nEssido died in great pain.\n\nThe friends were then brought to the meeting and tied up to posts, and\nquestioned as to the part they had taken in the death of Eyo. As they\nwere too frightened to answer, the chiefs told them that they knew\nfrom Essido that they had induced him to poison his brother. They were\nthen taken to the place where Eyo was buried, the grave having been\ndug open, and their heads were cut off and fell into the grave, and\ntheir bodies were thrown in after them as a sacrifice for the wrong\nthey had done. The grave was then filled up again.\n\nEver since that time, whenever any one is suspected of being a witch,\nhe is tried by the Ekpawor Ju Ju.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVII\n\n_Concerning the Hawk and the Owl_\n\n\nIn the olden days when Effiong was king of Calabar, it was customary\nat that time for rulers to give big feasts, to which all the subjects\nand all the birds of the air and animals of the forest, also the fish\nand other things that lived in the water, were invited. All the\npeople, birds, animals, and fish, were under the king, and had to obey\nhim. His favourite messenger was the hawk, as he could travel so\nquickly.\n\nThe hawk served the king faithfully for several years, and when he\nwanted to retire, he asked what the king proposed to do for him, as\nvery soon he would be too old to work any more. So the king told the\nhawk to bring any living creature, bird or animal, to him, and he\nwould allow the hawk for the future to live on that particular species\nwithout any trouble. The hawk then flew over a lot of country, and\nwent from forest to forest, until at last he found a young owl which\nhad tumbled out of its nest. This the hawk brought to the king, who\ntold him that for the future he might eat owls. The hawk then carried\nthe owlet away, and told his friends what the king had said.\n\nOne of the wisest of them said, \"Tell me when you seized the young\nowlet, what did the parents say?\" And the hawk replied that the father\nand mother owls kept quite quiet, and never said anything. The hawk's\nfriend then advised him to return the owlet to his parents, as he\ncould never tell what the owls would do to him in the night-time, and\nas they had made no noise, they were no doubt plotting in their minds\nsome deep and cruel revenge.\n\nThe next day the hawk carried the owlet back to his parents and left\nhim near the nest. He then flew about, trying to find some other bird\nwhich would do as his food; but as all the birds had heard that the\nhawk had seized the owlet, they hid themselves, and would not come out\nwhen the hawk was near. He therefore could not catch any birds.\n\nAs he was flying home he saw a lot of fowls near a house, basking in\nthe sun and scratching in the dust. There were also several small\nchickens running about and chasing insects, or picking up anything\nthey could find to eat, with the old hen following them and clucking\nand calling to them from time to time. When the hawk saw the chickens,\nhe made up his mind that he would take one, so he swooped down and\ncaught the smallest in his strong claws. Immediately he had seized the\nchicken the cocks began to make a great noise, and the hen ran after\nhim and tried to make him drop her child, calling loudly, with her\nfeathers fluffed out and making dashes at him. But he carried it off,\nand all the fowls and chickens at once ran screaming into the houses,\nsome taking shelter under bushes and others trying to hide themselves\nin the long grass. He then carried the chicken to the king, telling\nhim that he had returned the owlet to his parents, as he did not want\nhim for food; so the king told the hawk that for the future he could\nalways feed on chickens.\n\nThe hawk then took the chicken home, and his friend who dropped in to\nsee him, asked him what the parents of the chicken had done when they\nsaw their child taken away; so the hawk said--\n\n\"They all made a lot of noise, and the old hen chased me, but although\nthere was a great disturbance amongst the fowls, nothing happened.\"\n\nHis friend then said as the fowls had made much palaver, he was quite\nsafe to kill and eat the chickens, as the people who made plenty of\nnoise in the daytime would go to sleep at night and not disturb him,\nor do him any injury; the only people to be afraid of were those who\nwhen they were injured, kept quite silent; you might be certain then\nthat they were plotting mischief, and would do harm in the\nnight-time.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVIII\n\n_The Story of the Drummer and the Alligators_\n\n\nThere was once a woman named Affiong Any who lived at 'Nsidung, a\nsmall town to the south of Calabar. She was married to a chief of\nHensham Town called Etim Ekeng. They had lived together for several\nyears, but had no children. The chief was very anxious to have a child\nduring his lifetime, and made sacrifices to his Ju Ju, but they had no\neffect. So he went to a witch man, who told him that the reason he had\nno children was that he was too rich. The chief then asked the witch\nman how he should spend his money in order to get a child, and he was\ntold to make friends with everybody, and give big feasts, so that he\nshould get rid of some of his money and become poorer.\n\nThe chief then went home and told his wife. The next day his wife\ncalled all her company together and gave them a big dinner, which cost\na lot of money; much food was consumed, and large quantities of tombo\nwere drunk. Then the chief entertained his company, which cost a lot\nmore money. He also wasted a lot of money in the Egbo house. When half\nof his property was wasted, his wife told him that she had conceived.\nThe chief, being very glad, called a big play for the next day.\n\nIn those days all the rich chiefs of the country belonged to the\nAlligator Company, and used to meet in the water. The reason they\nbelonged to the company was, first of all, to protect their canoes\nwhen they went trading, and secondly, to destroy the canoes and\nproperty of the people who did not belong to their company, and to\ntake their money and kill their slaves.\n\nChief Etim Ekeng was a kind man, and would not join this society,\nalthough he was repeatedly urged to do so. After a time a son was born\nto the chief, and he called him Edet Etim. The chief then called the\nEgbo society together, and all the doors of the houses in the town\nwere shut, the markets were stopped, and the women were not allowed to\ngo outside their houses while the Egbo was playing. This was kept up\nfor several days, and cost the chief a lot of money. Then he made up\nhis mind that he would divide his property, and give his son half when\nhe became old enough. Unfortunately after three months the chief died,\nleaving his sorrowing wife to look after their little child.\n\nThe wife then went into mourning for seven years for her husband, and\nafter that time she became entitled to all his property, as the late\nchief had no brothers. She looked after the little boy very carefully\nuntil he grew up, when he became a very fine, healthy young man, and\nwas much admired by all the pretty girls of the town; but his mother\nwarned him strongly not to go with them, because they would make him\nbecome a bad man. Whenever the girls had a play they used to invite\nEdet Etim, and at last he went to the play, and they made him beat\nthe drum for them to dance to. After much practice he became the best\ndrummer in the town, and whenever the girls had a play they always\ncalled him to drum for them. Plenty of the young girls left their\nhusbands, and went to Edet and asked him to marry them. This made all\nthe young men of the town very jealous, and when they met together at\nnight they considered what would be the best way to kill him. At last\nthey decided that when Edet went to bathe they would induce the\nalligators to take him. So one night, when he was washing, one\nalligator seized him by the foot, and others came and seized him round\nthe waist. He fought very hard, but at last they dragged him into the\ndeep water, and took him to their home.\n\nWhen his mother heard this, she determined to do her best to recover\nher son, so she kept quite quiet until the morning.\n\nWhen the young men saw that Edet's mother remained quiet, and did not\ncry, they thought of the story of the hawk and the owl, and determined\nto keep Edet alive for a few months.\n\nAt cockcrow the mother raised a cry, and went to the grave of her dead\nhusband in order to consult his spirit as to what she had better do to\nrecover her lost son. After a time she went down to the beach with\nsmall young green branches in her hands, with which she beat the\nwater, and called upon all the Ju Jus of the Calabar River to help her\nto recover her son. She then went home and got a load of rods, and\ntook them to a Ju Ju man in the farm. His name was Ininen Okon; he was\nso called because he was very artful, and had plenty of strong Ju\nJus.\n\nWhen the young boys heard that Edet's mother had gone to Ininen Okon,\nthey all trembled with fear, and wanted to return Edet, but they could\nnot do so, as it was against the rules of their society. The Ju Ju man\nhaving discovered that Edet was still alive, and was being detained in\nthe alligators' house, told the mother to be patient. After three days\nIninen himself joined another alligators' society, and went to inspect\nthe young alligators' house. He found a young man whom he knew, left\non guard when all the alligators had gone to feed at the ebb of the\ntide, and came back and told the mother to wait, as he would make a Ju\nJu which would cause them all to depart in seven days, and leave no\none in the house. He made his Ju Ju, and the young alligators said\nthat, as no one had come for Edet, they would all go at the ebb tide\nto feed, and leave no one in charge of the house. When they returned\nthey found Edet still there, and everything as they had left it, as\nIninen had not gone that day.\n\nThree days afterwards they all went away again, and this time went a\nlong way off, and did not return quickly. When Ininen saw that the\ntide was going down he changed himself into an alligator, and swam to\nthe young alligators' home, where he found Edet chained to a post. He\nthen found an axe and cut the post, releasing the boy. But Edet,\nhaving been in the water so long, was deaf and dumb. He then found\nseveral loin cloths which had been left behind by the young\nalligators, so he gathered them together and took them away to show to\nthe king, and Ininen left the place, taking Edet with him.\n\nHe then called the mother to see her son, but when she came the boy\ncould only look at her, and could not speak. The mother embraced her\nboy, but he took no notice, as he did not seem capable of\nunderstanding anything, but sat down quietly. Then the Ju Ju man told\nEdet's mother that he would cure her son in a few days, so he made\nseveral Ju Jus, and gave her son medicine, and after a time the boy\nrecovered his speech and became sensible again.\n\nThen Edet's mother put on a mourning cloth, and pretended that her son\nwas dead, and did not tell the people he had come back to her. When\nthe young alligators returned, they found that Edet was gone, and that\nsome one had taken their loin cloths. They were therefore much afraid,\nand made inquiries if Edet had been seen, but they could hear nothing\nabout him, as he was hidden in a farm, and the mother continued to\nwear her mourning cloth in order to deceive them.\n\nNothing happened for six months, and they had quite forgotten all\nabout the matter. Affiong, the mother, then went to the chiefs of the\ntown, and asked them to hold a large meeting of all the people, both\nyoung and old, at the palaver house, so that her late husband's\nproperty might be divided up in accordance with the native custom, as\nher son had been killed by the alligators.\n\nThe next day the chiefs called all the people together, but the mother\nin the early morning took her son to a small room at the back of the\npalaver house, and left him there with the seven loin cloths which the\nJu Ju man had taken from the alligators' home. When the chiefs and\nall the people were seated, Affiong stood up and addressed them,\nsaying--\n\n\"Chiefs and young men of my town, eight years ago my husband was a\nfine young man. He married me, and we lived together for many years\nwithout having any children. At last I had a son, but my husband died\na few months afterwards. I brought my boy up carefully, but as he was\na good drummer and dancer the young men were jealous, and had him\ncaught by the alligators. Is there any one present who can tell me\nwhat my son would have become if he had lived?\" She then asked them\nwhat they thought of the alligator society, which had killed so many\nyoung men.\n\nThe chiefs, who had lost a lot of slaves, told her that if she could\nproduce evidence against any members of the society they would destroy\nit at once. She then called upon Ininen to appear with her son Edet.\nHe came out from the room leading Edet by the hand, and placed the\nbundle of loin cloths before the chiefs.\n\nThe young men were very much surprised when they saw Edet, and wanted\nto leave the palaver house; but when they stood up to go the chiefs\ntold them to sit down at once, or they would receive three hundred\nlashes. They then sat down, and the Ju Ju man explained how he had\ngone to the alligators' home, and had brought Edet back to his mother.\nHe also said that he had found the seven loin cloths in the house, but\nhe did not wish to say anything about them, as the owners of some of\nthe cloths were sons of the chiefs.\n\nThe chiefs, who were anxious to stop the bad society, told him,\nhowever, to speak at once and tell them everything. Then he undid the\nbundle and took the cloths out one by one, at the same time calling\nupon the owners to come and take them. When they came to take their\ncloths, they were told to remain where they were; and they were then\ntold to name their company. The seven young men then gave the names of\nall the members of their society, thirty-two in all. These men were\nall placed in a line, and the chiefs then passed sentence, which was\nthat they should all be killed the next morning on the beach. So they\nwere then all tied together to posts, and seven men were placed as a\nguard over them. They made fires and beat drums all the night.\n\nEarly in the morning, at about 4 A.M., the big wooden drum was placed\non the roof of the palaver house, and beaten to celebrate the death of\nthe evildoers, which was the custom in those days.\n\nThe boys were then unfastened from the posts, and had their hands tied\nbehind their backs, and were marched down to the beach. When they\narrived there, the head chief stood up and addressed the people. \"This\nis a small town of which I am chief, and I am determined to stop this\nbad custom, as so many men have been killed.\" He then told a man who\nhad a sharp matchet to cut off one man's head. He then told another\nman who had a sharp knife to skin another young man alive. A third man\nwho had a heavy stick was ordered to beat another to death, and so the\nchief went on and killed all the thirty-two young men in the most\nhorrible ways he could think of. Some of them were tied to posts in\nthe river, and left there until the tide came up and drowned them.\nOthers were flogged to death.\n\nAfter they had all been killed, for many years no one was killed by\nalligators, but some little time afterwards on the road between the\nbeach and the town the land fell in, making a very large and deep\nhole, which was said to be the home of the alligators, and the people\nhave ever since tried to fill it up, but have never yet been able to\ndo so.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIX\n\n_The 'Nsasak Bird and the Odudu Bird_\n\n\nA long time ago, in the days of King Adam of Calabar, the king wanted\nto know if there was any animal or bird which was capable of enduring\nhunger for a long period. When he found one the king said he would\nmake him a chief of his tribe.\n\nThe 'Nsasak bird is very small, having a shining breast of green and\nred; he also has blue and yellow feathers and red round the neck, and\nhis chief food consists of ripe palm nuts. The Odudu bird, on the\nother hand, is much larger, about the size of a magpie, with plenty of\nfeathers, but a very thin body; he has a long tail, and his colouring\nis black and brown with a cream-coloured breast. He lives chiefly on\ngrasshoppers, and is also very fond of crickets, which make a noise at\nnight.\n\nBoth the 'Nsasak bird and the Odudu were great friends, and used to\nlive together. They both made up their minds that they would go before\nthe king and try to be made chiefs, but the Odudu bird was quite\nconfident that he would win, as he was so much bigger than the 'Nsasak\nbird. He therefore offered to starve for seven days.\n\nThe king then told them both to build houses which he would inspect,\nand then he would have them fastened up, and the one who could remain\nthe longest without eating would be made the chief.\n\nThey both then built their houses, but the 'Nsasak bird, who was very\ncunning, thought that he could not possibly live for seven days\nwithout eating anything. He therefore made a tiny hole in the wall\n(being very small himself), which he covered up so that the king would\nnot notice it on his inspection. The king then came and looked\ncarefully over both houses, but failed to detect the little hole in\nthe 'Nsasak bird's house, as it had been hidden so carefully. He\ntherefore declared that both houses were safe, and then ordered the\ntwo birds to go inside their respective houses, and the doors were\ncarefully fastened on the outside.\n\nEvery morning at dawn the 'Nsasak bird used to escape through the\nsmall opening he had left high up in the wall, and fly away a long\ndistance and enjoy himself all day, taking care, however, that none of\nthe people on the farms should see him. Then when the sun went down he\nwould fly back to his little house and creep through the hole in the\nwall, closing it carefully after him. When he was safely inside he\nwould call out to his friend the Odudu and ask him if he felt hungry,\nand told him that he must bear it well if he wanted to win, as he, the\n'Nsasak bird, was very fit, and could go on for a long time.\n\nFor several days this went on, the voice of the Odudu bird growing\nweaker and weaker every night, until at last he could no longer reply.\nThen the little bird knew that his friend must be dead. He was very\nsorry, but could not report the matter, as he was supposed to be\nconfined inside his house.\n\nWhen the seven days had expired the king came and had both the doors\nof the houses opened. The 'Nsasak bird at once flew out, and, perching\non a branch of a tree which grew near, sang most merrily; but the\nOdudu bird was found to be quite dead, and there was very little left\nof him, as the ants had eaten most of his body, leaving only the\nfeathers and bones on the floor.\n\nThe king therefore at once appointed the 'Nsasak bird to be the head\nchief of all the small birds, and in the Ibibio country even to the\npresent time the small boys who have bows and arrows are presented\nwith a prize, which sometimes takes the shape of a female goat, if\nthey manage to shoot a 'Nsasak bird, as the 'Nsasak bird is the king\nof the small birds, and most difficult to shoot on account of his\nwiliness and his small size.\n\n\n\n\nXL\n\n_The Election of the King Bird (the black-and-white Fishing Eagle)_\n\n\nOld Town, Calabar, once had a king called Essiya, who, like most of\nthe Calabar kings in the olden days, was rich and powerful; but\nalthough he was so wealthy, he did not possess many slaves. He\ntherefore used to call upon the animals and birds to help his people\nwith their work. In order to get the work done quickly and well, he\ndetermined to appoint head chiefs of all the different species. The\nelephant he appointed king of the beasts of the forest, and the\nhippopotamus king of the water animals, until at last it came to the\nturn of the birds to have their king elected.\n\nEssiya thought for some time which would be the best way to make a\ngood choice, but could not make up his mind, as there were so many\ndifferent birds who all considered they had claims. There was the hawk\nwith his swift flight, and of hawks there were several species. There\nwere the herons to be considered, and the big spur-winged geese, the\nhornbill or toucan tribe, and the game birds, such as guinea-fowl, the\npartridge, and the bustards. Then again, of course, there were all the\nbig crane tribe, who walked about the sandbanks in the dry season,\nbut who disappeared when the river rose, and the big black-and-white\nfishing eagles. When the king thought of the plover tribe, the\nsea-birds, including the pelicans, the doves, and the numerous shy\nbirds who live in the forest, all of whom sent in claims, he got so\nconfused, that he decided to have a trial by ordeal of combat, and\nsent word round the whole country for all the birds to meet the next\nday and fight it out between themselves, and that the winner should be\nknown as the king bird ever afterwards.\n\nThe following morning many thousands of birds came, and there was much\nscreeching and flapping of wings. The hawk tribe soon drove all the\nsmall birds away, and harassed the big waders so much, that they very\nshortly disappeared, followed by the geese, who made much noise, and\nwinged away in a straight line, as if they were playing \"Follow my\nleader.\" The big forest birds who liked to lead a secluded life very\nsoon got tired of all the noise and bustle, and after a few croaks and\nother weird noises went home. The game birds had no chance and hid in\nthe bush, so that very soon the only birds left were the hawks and the\nbig black-and-white fishing eagle, who was perched on a tree calmly\nwatching everything. The scavenger hawks were too gorged and lazy to\ntake much interest in the proceedings, and were quietly ignored by the\nfighting tribe, who were very busy circling and swooping on one\nanother, with much whistling going on. Higher and higher they went,\nuntil they disappeared out of sight. Then a few would return to earth,\nsome of them badly torn and with many feathers missing.\n\nAt last the fishing eagle said--\n\n\"When you have quite finished with this foolishness please tell me,\nand if any of you fancy yourselves at all, come to me, and I will\nsettle your chances of being elected head chief once and for all;\" but\nwhen they saw his terrible beak and cruel claws, knowing his great\nstrength and ferocity, they stopped fighting between themselves, and\nacknowledged the fishing eagle to be their master.\n\nEssiya then declared that Ituen, which was the name of the fishing\neagle, was the head chief of all the birds, and should thenceforward\nbe known as the king bird.[13]\n\n[Footnote 13: As the king bird is always very difficult to shoot with\na bow and arrow, owing to his sharp and keen sight, the young men,\nwhen they want his feathers, set traps for him baited with rats, which\ncatch him by the foot in a noose when he seizes them. Except when they\nare nesting the king birds roost on very high trees, sometimes as many\nas twenty or thirty on neighbouring trees. They fly many miles from\nwhere they get their food, and arrive at their roosting-place just\nbefore the sun sets, leaving the next morning at dawn for their\nfavourite haunts. They are very regular in their habits, and you can\nsee them every night at the same time coming from the same direction\nand flying over the same trees, generally fairly high up in the air.\nThere is a strong belief amongst many natives on the Cross River that\nthe king bird has the power of influencing the luck or the reverse of\na canoe. For example, when a trader, having bought a new canoe, is\ngoing to market and a king bird crosses the river from right to left,\nthen if he is unlucky at the market that day, whenever the king bird\nagain crosses that particular canoe from right to left he will be\nunlucky, and the bad luck will stick to the canoe. If, on the other\nhand, the bird for the first time crosses from left to right, and he\nis fortunate in his dealings that day at the market, then he will\nalways be lucky in that canoe the day he sees a king bird flying\nacross the river from the left to the right-hand side.]\n\nFrom that time to the present day, whenever the young men of the\ncountry go to fight they always wear three of the long black-and-white\nfeathers of the king bird in their hair, one on each side and one in\nthe middle, as they are believed to impart much courage and skill to\nthe wearer; and if a young man is not possessed of any of these\nfeathers when he goes out to fight, he is looked upon as a very small\nboy indeed.\n\nTHE END\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nBY ANDREW LANG\n\n\nTHE SECRET OF THE TOTEM. 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.\n\nCUSTOM AND MYTH: Studies of Early Usage and Belief. With 15\nIllustrations. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.\n\nMYTH, RITUAL, AND RELIGION. 2 vols. Crown 8vo, 7s.\n\nMODERN MYTHOLOGY: a Reply to Professor Max Mueller. 8vo, 9s.\n\nMAGIC AND RELIGION. 8vo, 10s. 6d.\n\nTHE MAKING OF RELIGION. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.\n\nHOMER AND THE EPIC. Crown 8vo, 9s. net.\n\nHOMER AND HIS AGE. With 8 Illustrations. 8vo, 12s. 6d. net.\n\nCOCK LANE AND COMMON SENSE. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.\n\nTHE BOOK OF DREAMS AND GHOSTS. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.\n\n\n\nLONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.\n\nLONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":43551}