{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70959/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70959","id":"gutenberg_70959","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70959","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Nigeria, Southern","Tales -- Nigeria, Southern"],"text":"ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.\n\n                    IKOM FOLK STORIES FROM SOUTHERN\n                               NIGERIA.\n\n                                  BY\n\n                              E. DAYRELL,\n\n              _District Commissioner, Southern Nigeria_.\n\n                       OCCASIONAL PAPERS, No. 3.\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n                           PUBLISHED BY THE\n     Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.\n                50, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON, W.C.\n\n                                 1913.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThese folk stories have been told to me by natives of the various\ncountries to which they relate in the Ikom district of Southern\nNigeria. In all cases they have had to be translated by an interpreter,\nand frequently it has been found necessary to employ two. Some of the\nstories are very old and have been handed down from one generation to\nanother, but it is most difficult, almost impossible, to judge with\nany degree of accuracy how old they really are. The word \u201cdowry\u201d comes\nfrequently into these tales, and is used as meaning the amount paid\nto the parents of the girl by the husband. In the introduction to my\n_Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria_, published in 1910, Mr. Andrew\nLang suggests that the term \u201cbride-price\u201d would better express the\ninstitution, and, no doubt, he is perfectly right. I have, however,\nadhered to the old expression of \u201cdowry\u201d as it is in general use, and\nis so well known on the \u201cCoast.\u201d When a man is asked how much \u201cdowry\u201d\nhe paid for his wife, he will frequently produce his \u201cbush book,\u201d\nconsisting of bundles of small sticks tied round with \u201ctie-tie,\u201d one\nbundle for each year. He will then take one stick from a bundle, and\nholding it up will say: \u201cThat is two calabashes of tombo I gave to the\nfather.\u201d He will then place the stick on the ground and take another,\nsaying \u201cThis is one fathom of cloth I gave to the girl.\u201d The next stick\nmay represent twenty yams given to the mother, and the following sticks\nmay mean twenty-five rods, a silk handkerchief, a bar of soap and some\nbottles of gin. And so he goes on until the bundles are finished, the\nvalue of each article being noted in order to ascertain the total\namount paid. The marriage customs vary considerably in different parts\nof the district. In most of the Cross River towns above Abaragba there\nis no restriction placed on young girls as to sexual intercourse,\nbut when they are married twenty-five pieces of cloth (value 5s. per\npiece) would be paid as damages for adultery. There is, however, an\nold custom existing between several towns that no damages can be\nclaimed for adultery. It may be of interest to the reader to state here\nbriefly the usual form of marriage in vogue in this district as the\npoint of several of the tales turns on the position of the woman with\nreference to her husband or lover. I do not, however, propose to enter\ninto details, but merely to indicate what constitutes a binding form\nof marriage in this part of the country according to native custom.\nWhen a man takes a fancy to a young girl and wishes to marry her, he\ninforms the parents of his intention, and gives them presents. For\nexample, the mother would receive a piece of cloth, and the father a\npiece of cloth and two bottles of gin. The brothers and sisters of the\ngirl would be given _tombo_ to drink, and in addition the sisters would\nreceive one fathom of cloth each. The man would work on the parents\u2019\nfarm for some months, and the girl would receive small presents from\ntime to time. Later the mother would be given two bars of salt, one\nspoon, one bar of soap, and twenty yams, the balance of the dowry being\npaid on the completion of the marriage ceremony. The girl would go and\nlive with the man. If she did not prove satisfactory, she would be\nreturned to her parents, who would refund the amount of dowry received\nup to date, and the girl would be given a present of about 8_s._; she\ncould then marry another man. If, however, she satisfied the man, he\nwould then have her circumcized by her parents, and the man would touch\nher with camwood. Having done this he would hand the girl over to his\nbest friend to rub all over with camwood. The man would then build a\nhouse for the woman, being helped with the mudding of the walls by\nhis sisters and the sisters of the girl. He would then buy two pieces\nof cloth and one blanket, and hang them round the walls of the house.\nWhile the girl was being rubbed with camwood the friends of the husband\nwould give her presents of sometimes four or five rods each, and his\nbest friend would fire off a gun in the compound where the girl was.\nWhen the parents heard the gun, they would go in and say: \u201cThere is\nyour wife, we have handed her over to you.\u201d The man would then tell\neverybody that the girl was his wife. The girl would remain in one\nroom for about two weeks after the above-mentioned operation, until\nthe wound was healed, and then the man would give a feast to all his\nfriends, the cost of the food forming part of the dowry. The girl would\nthen go to live with her husband, and the ceremony would be completed.\nThere appears to be a considerable divergence of opinion between the\nchiefs and the young men as to whom the children brought forth by a\nwoman before her marriage should belong. Most of the old chiefs say\nthat such children should go to the man who marries the mother and pays\nthe dowry, as children are a valuable asset. On the other hand, the\nyounger generation maintain that when the children are old enough to\nleave their mother they should be handed over to their proper fathers.\nThis conflict of opinion is not difficult to follow, as the young men\nare generally the fathers of the children born before marriage, and\nthe old chiefs who are wealthy are generally the husbands, and both\nthe putative fathers and the lawful husbands are anxious to possess\nthe children. It is a vexed question, and each case would be decided\nupon its own merits, the opinion of the parents of the woman weighing\nlargely in the balance. This opinion is influenced to a great extent\nby the value of the presents received from the young man and how much\nhe has helped the parents with their work on the farm. If the parents\nwere satisfied, they would probably say that the child or children\nshould belong to the father, but if, on the other hand, the presents\nwere not large enough, they would most likely urge that the children of\ntheir daughter born before she was married should belong to her lawful\nhusband. It should be remembered that the feelings of the girl are in\nno way considered, and she is handed to the man, as a wife, who is in\na position to pay the largest amount of dowry. It is therefore often\nsomewhat difficult to distinguish the difference between the dowry paid\nfor a girl on her marriage and the price which was formerly paid for\na slave, seeing that the inclinations of the girl are not consulted\nand she has absolutely no say in the matter of a choice of husband.\nWhen the dowry is paid she is taken away from her lover, together with\nany children she may have had by him, and handed over to the husband\nby her parents, the question of the rightful ownership of the children\nbeing settled usually when they are old enough to leave their mother.\nIn the olden days when \u201cmight was right,\u201d these children were taken by\nthe husband, who kept them by the \u201cstrong hand\u201d if he were sufficiently\npowerful; but there is a growing feeling amongst the younger chiefs\nand the more intelligent trading classes that the children born before\nmarriage should be given to the father when they are weaned.\n\nIt will be observed on perusing some of these stories that in several\nof them the greater part of the tale has nothing, apparently, to do\nwith the main object, which frequently might be dismissed in a few\nsentences. But that will not surprise anyone who knows the native well,\nas he can never come to the point at once, but must always first beat\nabout the bush. For example, a native will come to make a complaint\nthat certain goods belonging to him have been stolen and he wants\nto have the thief punished. After the usual salutations have been\nexchanged, he will make his complaint, which when translated by the\ninterpreter will be something like the following: \u201cMy father and father\n(grandfather) catch one man goat and one woman goat. They done born two\npiccane. One piccane done die and leff one piccane. Them piccane, them\nleff, born two piccane. My father and father done die and him brother\ntake all them thing; but he be big hunter man and no care them goat too\nmuch, so he done dash my father. My father catch one slave man, they\ncall \u2019im Okon and he good man, so my father dash him them two goat.\nOkon catch wife and two piccane. One be mammie piccane they call \u2019im\nAwa, she fine too much, when she done grow I marry her proper and take\nher brother Abassi for make my head boy. Last moon I send him Calabar\nfor my canoe with twenty bag kernel and one puncheon palm oil. I tell\n\u2019im for factory and bring tobacco and cloth and gin. He done catch them\nthing and one night he stop for one country, he no know how them call\nhim. Them people come and thief them gin for night time but he no look\nthem man cause he live for sleep, so I make them boy pay for them gin\nand now I want catch them thief man.\u201d\n\nAnyone who takes the trouble to read these folk stories seriously will\nnotice that a great deal has to be taken for granted or understood.\nAlthough I have made a special study of witchcraft, ju-ju, and poison,\nand the various societies in this district for over nine years, I must\nconfess that I understand and _know_ for certain very little about\nju-ju. In fact, the more one learns about ju-ju the more hopeless it\nseems. It must seem incredible to people at home that a man can die\nbecause a ju-ju has been made against him--for example, two sticks\ncrossed on the path with, say, a rotten egg and a fowl stuck on a\nstick, the man\u2019s name having been \u201ccalled.\u201d And yet one knows of\nnumerous instances where men have died, and young, healthy men, too,\nagainst whom such a ju-ju has been made. The man whose name has been\n\u201ccalled\u201d and who has passed the ju-ju firmly believes in its power to\nkill him, and he will go home, refuse to eat, and in a short time will\npine away and die. He will probably also just before he dies accuse\nthe man whom he thinks made the ju-ju of having witched him. It is\nalways possible, of course, in these cases, that poison may have been\nadministered, but it is most difficult to get any proof. No amount of\nargument has any effect on the native mind, and you cannot convince the\nman that a ju-ju, such as the one mentioned above, is harmless. They\ngenerally reply: \u201cBlack man ju-ju no be strong enough to hurt white\nman, but black man he go die one time.\u201d\n\nWhen I first came to this district, poisoning was rife, and human\nsacrifices were of frequent occurrence. Whenever a chief died several\nslaves were killed and buried with him, and it was no uncommon thing\nfor a whole family to accuse another family of witchcraft. They would\nthen resort to the usual trial by ordeal of burning oil and _essure_\n(poison) bean, which would result in several deaths. These evil\npractices have been practically stopped now, but the native belief in\nwitchcraft and ju-ju is just as strong as ever, although they know\nquite well that to call a man a witch is an offence for which they will\nget into trouble. As an instance of the native belief in the witch bird\n(the owl), I would mention a case which came under my notice. Some few\nyears ago I happened to be having some bush cleared and some large\ntrees cut down on the station at Okuni. An owl was disturbed from one\nof the trees which was covered with creepers, and flew out hooting.\nOne of the station labourers who knew a little English, said: \u201cPoor\nOkuni.\u201d I at once asked him why he said so, and he replied, \u201cWhen them\nwitch bird cry for day time, some man go die.\u201d I said, \u201cNonsense,\u201d\nor something to that effect, and thought no more about it. Shortly\nafterwards the eleven o\u2019clock bell rang, and the boys went home for\nfood. When they returned at one o\u2019clock to work, the boy who had spoken\nabout the owl said, \u201cMan done die for Okuni when them witch bird cry.\u201d\nI then sent to the town and found that a man had died in the morning.\nThis was proof positive to the boy\u2019s mind that whenever the owl hooted\nin the daytime a man would die, and no amount of explanation would\nalter his belief. It was a case of \u201cI told you so.\u201d\n\nIt is noteworthy that when you get over the watershed between the Cross\nRiver and the Katsena (Niger), and into the Munchi country, ju-ju does\nnot seem to exist in the same way as it does further south. In the\nyear 1909, while I was Political Officer on the Anglo-German Boundary\nCommission, I marched up through the Munchi country into Northern\nNigeria, and back again, being absent from my district altogether about\nsix months. During the whole of that time there was not a single death\nin any of the Munchi or Domi towns where I stayed. It was so noticeable\nthat even the soldiers and carriers remarked upon the absence of\ndeaths, and could not understand the reason. It may have been that the\ncountry was more healthy, and we may have been very fortunate, but\nthe fact remains that where there was no ju-ju there were no deaths,\nand when we returned to the country of ju-ju deaths were of frequent\noccurrence.\n\nIt has been suggested in one of the criticisms on my _Folk Stories\nfrom Southern Nigeria_ that the native words should be given on one\nside of the page, and a fairly literal translation on the other. This\nwould, however, involve a larger expenditure of time than I have at my\ndisposal. There are ten different languages spoken in this district,\nand it would be extremely difficult to give exact translations of the\nstories, particularly as some of them as told would be quite unfit\nfor publication. The stories have, however, been set down as nearly\nas possible in the way they were related to me, the only alterations\nmade being those necessary to render the tales into simple English, as\nbush English would not be understood, and certain passages containing\nobjectionable matter have been omitted.\n\nIn some of the stories it may be noticed that articles such as plates,\nglasses, bottles of gin, brass pans, and pots have been mentioned,\nalso the use of locks and keys has been introduced into at least one\nof the tales, although it is quite obvious that the above-mentioned\narticles could not have existed in this country when the majority of\nthe stories were first related, I have written them down when they were\nso translated by the interpreter. It is not difficult to understand how\nsome of the things crept into the stories. For example, demijons (which\nare brought up river from Calabar filled with rum) are used every day\nin most of the towns for tombo, and glass tumblers are also quite\ncommon, and it is easily conceivable that a native, who is accustomed\nto using these articles, in relating a story might say in his language\nthe equivalent for \u201cThe pourer-out then took the demijon of tombo\nand poured some into a glass which he gave to the chief,\u201d instead\nof saying, \u201cThe pourer-out then poured some tombo from the calabash\ninto the drinking-horn which he handed to the chief.\u201d The latter\ntranslation would probably be far nearer to the original version. It\nis also extremely doubtful whether brass rods, which are mentioned so\nfrequently, existed at the date of many of the stories. The approximate\ndate of the importation of rods into this country is probably known,\nand cannot be more than about sixty years ago, and most likely\nconsiderably less. The author is of the opinion that in the early\ndays there was no form of native currency in the Ikom district. At\nthe present time, rods are not used further north-east from Ikom than\nUmbaji, and in 1909, whilst on the Anglo-German Boundary Commission,\nhe found that there was no form of native currency at Bassankwala, and\nno substitute therefore, with the possible exception of a few native\nforged iron hoes which found their way down from the north-west, and\nhad a fixed marketable value. But the use of these implements is\ndoubtless of a comparatively recent date, as nearly all the natives in\nthat part use wooden hoes lashed on to the bent handles with tie-tie.\nIn the country mentioned, all trade was and is still done by a system\nof barter and exchange. The Umbaji people exchanging salt and _house\nrats_ (which form an article of diet for the Bassankwala people, who\nare cannibals) for palm oil and yams. The Bassankwala people admitted\nto the author that they ate human beings, and had always done so, but\nthey asserted vehemently that they did not eat their own dead--these\nthey passed on to the next town, who sent them theirs in exchange.\nPrisoners taken in fighting or people killed were also eaten, and,\nfrom what the adjoining countries told the author, natives straying\ninto their bush were similarly treated. These people, however, all\npromised, and were apparently perfectly sincere, at once to stop this\nabominable practice, at the same time saying that they were unaware\nthey had been doing wrong, as they had never heard the white man\u2019s laws\nbefore.\n\nIt is perhaps noteworthy that these people, who are pure cannibals, all\nfile their teeth to a sharp point.\n\nWith reference to the eating of rats, it may be remarked that all the\nnatives in the Ikom district eat the bush rat, which is quite different\nfrom the house or domestic species, but the Bassankwala people are the\nonly natives the author has met who eat the \u201ccommon or garden\u201d house\nrat. The large fruit-eating bats, about which so many native stories\nare told, are looked upon as a great delicacy, and at Insofan on the\nCross River, there is quite a trade done in them, one bat selling for\none rod or sixpence in English money. In the evening, just before it\ngets dark, you can frequently see thousands of these bats flying off,\nhigh up in the air, to their favourite feeding places. The way they\nare obtained for food is simple and may be worth mentioning. On the\nbank opposite to Insofan there are some very tall trees covered with\ncreepers, in which many thousands of these bats sleep during the day. A\nfew hunters go out with their long Dane guns and station themselves one\nunder each tree. Then when one man has found a thick cluster of bats,\nhe fires into them, and with luck brings down a few. (The author has\nkilled seven at one shot, with number 6 from a full choke 12-bore, at\nthe particular request of a chief who wanted them for food.)\n\nImmediately the bats hear the gun fired, they desert the trees they\nare sheltering in, and commence circling around in the air, flying\nabout in a most aimless and erratic sort of way, until, after about ten\nminutes, they settle on a different tree. Then another hunter fires,\nand so the game goes on. In connection with these creatures, it is\ncurious to notice the agitation amongst the birds, should one happen\nto be disturbed in the day time. The same applies to the large eagle\nowls, who are invariably chased by the smaller birds, whenever they\nappear while the sun is up, but it is seldom the owl comes out in the\nday time, and then he takes shelter in some thick covert as soon as\npossible.\n\n  E. D.\n\n\n\n\nIKOM FOLK STORIES FROM SOUTHERN NIGERIA.\n\nBY\n\nE. DAYRELL.\n\nI.--HOW AN INKUM WOMAN ABANDONED ONE OF HER TWINS IN THE FOREST, AND\nHOW IT WAS SAVED BY THE HAWK.\n\n\nAwu was a native woman of Inkum, a town on the right bank of the Cross\nRiver, consisting of five compounds separate one from another by about\nhalf a mile of bush. Awu was a fine girl, but preferred to enjoy\nherself as she liked rather than to get married, which would mean too\nhard work. She used to walk from one town to another, and attend all\nthe dances and plays, as she was a good singer and dancer. She always\nwore a cloth of the latest pattern, and a silk handkerchief round her\nhead, with plenty of hairs from the elephant\u2019s tail round her neck,\nand strings of beads round her waist. She also wore a piece of black\nbraid tied round each ankle, and some rings on her fingers. These are\nthe signs of a girl who is popular with young men. Awu had men friends\nin every town she visited, but she never stayed long with any of them,\nbeing what is called a \u201cwalking woman.\u201d\n\nAt last she conceived, and when she was about eight months gone with\nchild she happened one day to go into the forest to gather firewood\nto cook her morning food. While she was thus engaged a branch fell\nfrom a tree and hit her on the belly, this immediately brought on her\nconfinement, and she gave birth to twins in the forest. The first born\nwas a girl, to whom she gave the name of Aro, and the second was a boy,\nwhom she named Agbor. When Awu found that she had given birth to twins\nshe was very much ashamed of herself, and was afraid to take both the\nbabies back to the town as they would be killed by the people, and she\nwould be turned out of the town and left to starve in the bush. She\ntherefore decided to take the first-born child Aro back with her, but\nAgbor she left on the ground underneath a tree.\n\nVery soon after Awu had departed, the driver ants discovered Agbor\nand quickly covered him, commencing to eat him. The bites of the\ndriver ants made the child cry. All this time a hawk had been circling\naround, high up in the air, searching for food, and when he saw Awu\nhad deserted her baby he swooped down and carried the infant off with\nhim to the top of a high tree. The hawk, seeing what a fine child\nAgbor was, thought he would try to save his life, and immediately set\nabout removing the ants from Agbor\u2019s body. He lit a fire and boiled\nsome water, with which he washed the child, and the ants very quickly\ndisappeared.\n\nThe hawk looked after Agbor until he grew up. One day Awu sent her\ndaughter Aro to get her some fire, and Aro, after wandering about,\neventually found herself at the hawk\u2019s house, where she saw Agbor\nsitting down.\n\nAro was so taken with Agbor\u2019s good looks that she continued to stare at\nhim without speaking, until at last Agbor said, \u201cWhy do you look at me\nlike that?\u201d but Aro did not reply, and picked up some fire, continuing\nto stare at Agbor. Then he repeated his question, and added, \u201cDo I\nresemble either your father or your mother? If so, let the fire you are\nholding go out,\u201d and the fire went out at once. Aro then took up some\nmore fire, and Agbor put the same question to her again, and the fire\nAro was holding went out a second time. This was done three times, each\ntime with the same result. Then Aro ran home to her mother and reported\nwhat she had seen, and said what a fine boy Agbor was.\n\nWhen Awu, the mother, heard about the fire, she knew at once that Agbor\nmust be her son whom she had deserted and left to die in the forest.\nShe therefore made up her mind that she would go and see him. The\nfollowing morning, therefore, she rose at first cock crow and went to\nthe hawk\u2019s house, where she found Agbor and took a great fancy to him.\nAwu wanted to get Agbor away from the hawk and keep him for herself,\nbut did not quite see how it could be done.\n\nAt last she thought of the porcupine, who was well known throughout the\ncountry as a clever and resourceful person, and went to him and told\nher story.\n\nNow, the porcupine was a lot caster, and when he had cast lots he\ndecided that the best thing that Awu could do was to go to a house and\nlie down, pretending to be dead. The porcupine told her that, if she\ndid this, directly the hawk heard that she was dead he would send Agbor\nto his dead mother\u2019s side to mourn for her. Then Awu would be able to\nseize him. The mother having paid the porcupine for his advice went\naway, and did what she had been told to do. When the hawk heard that\nAwu was dead he told Agbor that the next day he should go and cry at\nhis mother\u2019s side, so, when the morning came, the hawk dressed Agbor up\nand he started off to cry.\n\nWhen he arrived at the house Agbor wanted to sit at the head of his\nmother, but the people who had assembled would not allow this, and\ntold him to sit at Awu\u2019s feet, which Agbor did. Directly he sat down,\nhis mother jumped up and seized him, and said she would not let him go\nagain.\n\nVery soon afterwards, the hawk arrived on the scene to take Agbor away,\nbut his mother would not part with him. Then the hawk became angry, and\naddressed the people, as follows:--\n\n\u201cHere is a \u2018walking woman\u2019 who, several years ago, gave birth to twins\nin the forest, and, being naturally ashamed of herself, deserted her\nbaby boy, and left him on the ground to be eaten by the driver ants. I\nsaved the boy\u2019s life and have brought him up and fed him. I now demand\nthat he shall be returned to me at once.\u201d\n\nWhen the people heard, this, they said to the hawk: \u201cIf you will let\nAwu have her son back we will give you a slave in his place,\u201d but the\nhawk refused this offer indignantly.\n\nThen they offered him cows, sheep, goats, and pigs, all of which the\nhawk refused with scorn.\n\nThe people then suggested giving some cocks and hens to the hawk, to\nwhich he replied that, although he would not accept them for Agbor,\nthey were getting nearer to what he possibly might accept.\n\nAt last the people offered him a large basket of eggs, whereupon the\nhawk immediately closed the bargain, handed over Agbor to his mother,\nand flew away with the basket of eggs in his claws.\n\nThe next morning early the hawk started off with his basket of eggs,\nand left one egg in every house all round the country, until all the\neggs in the basket were exhausted. He then returned home in the evening\nwith the empty basket.\n\nAfter a few months had elapsed, the hawk said to himself: \u201cThe time has\nnow come for me to take my revenge upon the people for taking my boy\nAgbor from me.\u201d\n\nSo he flew from town to town, taking chickens from every compound.\n\nThis is the reason why hawks always take chickens wherever they find\nthem, and in those days the people never thought of making any trouble\nwith the hawk, as he had a right to the chickens, but nowadays when a\nhawk swoops down and seizes a chicken, the people shout out and try to\nkill him, as they have forgotten the story of how the twin child Agbor\nwas redeemed by a basket of eggs.\n\nThis story was related by a native of Inkum called Abassi.--[E.D.,\n25.5.10.]\n\n\n\n\nII.--THE CUNNING HARE; OR, WHY THE TORTOISE HAS A PATCHED SHELL.\n\n\nThe hare (_asima bieso_, native name) was known to everyone as a very\ncunning animal. He was very fond of meat, although he was unable to\nkill anything himself. He therefore thought out a scheme by which he\nwould be able to obtain meat without any trouble.\n\nThe first thing the hare did was to call all the animals together,\nand when they arrived, he said: \u201cWe ought to have a king over us,\u201d to\nwhich the animals agreed, and, after some discussion, the elephant\nwas chosen. A law was also passed, at the hare\u2019s suggestion, that a\npiece of ground at the roadside should be set aside for the king\u2019s\nown private use, and that if anyone was caught defiling this piece of\nground in any way he should be killed and eaten.\n\nIn the night time the hare went to the king\u2019s private piece of ground\nand made a mess there.\n\nWhen the morning came he hid himself in the bush near the place, in\norder to see who might be the first animal to pass the piece of ground,\nso that he could give false information against him.\n\nAfter he had been waiting for a short time, a bush cat passed on his\nway to the farm, whereupon the hare jumped up and said: \u201cHave you\nvisited the king\u2019s piece of ground this morning?\u201d Upon the bush cat\nsaying \u201cNo,\u201d the hare ordered him to go there at once. He did so, and\nreturned saying that the place was very dirty indeed. The hare then\nsaid: \u201cHow is that possible? I visited the place myself this morning,\nand it was quite clean then. You must have defiled it yourself, and I\nshall report you.\u201d\n\nThe hare then ran into the town and told the people what he had seen.\nThe big wooden drum was then beaten, and when all the animals had come\ntogether the bush cat was put upon his defence.\n\nThe bush cat told the people what had happened, and that he had nothing\nto do with the matter. But the hare stood up as the accuser, and the\npeople decided that the bush cat was guilty, and the king ordered him\nto be killed, and said that the meat was to be dried by Keroho and\nbrought to him in the morning.\n\nNow, Keroho is a fruit-eating animal, who is very lazy, and sleeps most\nof the day. He always seems tired, and after he has taken a few steps\nhe lies down, and sleeps for a time.\n\nThe hare had suggested to the king that Keroho should be told to dry\nand guard the meat, and said to the king that, as Keroho only eat\nfruit, he would not be likely to steal any of the meat.\n\nIn reality the hare suggested Keroho for a very different reason, and\nthat reason was that Keroho was a fat animal in good condition, and far\ntoo lazy and sleepy to guard the meat properly.\n\nWhen the evening came, Keroho made a fire and cut up the body of the\nbush cat and set it out to dry. He then went to sleep.\n\nThe hare, being very greedy and fond of meat, wanted to have it all to\nhimself, so, when all the people had gone to bed, he slipped out of his\nhouse by the back way, and very soon had taken the dried meat out of\nKeroho\u2019s yard and returned to his house, where he made a good meal, and\nburied what he could not eat.\n\nEarly in the morning the hare went and beat the big drum to call the\nanimals together at the king\u2019s house.\n\nKeroho, hearing the drum, got up and went to the fire in his back yard,\nwhere he had left the meat drying, and, to his intense astonishment,\nfound that it had vanished. He was very frightened at this, and went to\nthe meeting trembling in every limb. He tried to explain that he had\nleft the meat before the fire when he went to bed, but the hare got up\nat once and said, \u201cDo not believe him, most likely he has sold the meat\nto get some money. I propose that Keroho be killed so that we shall not\nlose our meat.\u201d\n\nAll the people agreed to this, so Keroho was killed and cut up, the\nmeat being given to the bush cow to keep.\n\nThe hare, in order to make himself acquainted with the bush cow\u2019s\nhouse, waited until sundown, and then went to the bush cow\u2019s house with\na large calabash of strong tombo. The hare was careful to drink only\na little himself, and very soon the bush cow had finished the whole\ncalabash.\n\nThat night the bush cow slept very soundly, and at midnight, when\nnothing could be heard but the occasional hoot of an owl or the\ncroaking of the frogs in the marsh, the hare went very quietly and\nstole the meat from the bush cow\u2019s fire and took it home with him, as\nbefore.\n\nThe following morning he beat the drum as usual, and the people met\ntogether. The bush cow, failing to produce the meat, was killed by the\nking\u2019s order and his meat given to another animal to dry.\n\nAs usual, the hare stole the meat at night and the animal was killed\nthe next day. This went on until there were only seven animals left.\n\nThe meat of the last animal that was killed was handed over to the\ntortoise. The tortoise at once placed his wife on guard over the meat,\nand went off into the bush to cut rubber.\n\nNow, the tortoise was looked upon as one of the wisest of all animals.\nFor some time it had seemed to him very curious that every night the\nmeat should disappear and another animal should be killed. He therefore\ndetermined that, when it became his turn to dry and guard the meat, he\nwould take every precaution possible, and would try to catch whoever it\nwas who always removed the meat at night, as he had no intention that\nhis body should supply food for the remaining six animals.\n\nBefore going into the bush, he gave his wife strict injunctions not to\nlet the meat out of her sight.\n\nWhen he returned in the evening, he cut up the meat, saying as he did\nso: \u201cAh, there goes another poor animal. I wonder whose turn it will be\nto-morrow, but it shall not be mine if I can help it.\u201d\n\nSo he made a big fire and put the meat on, and then covered it all over\nwith the rubber he had brought back with him from the bush.\n\nThe tortoise then told his wife that he was tired, and went to bed\npretending to be asleep, but he had one eye open all the time, and that\neye he kept fixed upon the meat, as he was not going to take any risks,\nknowing full well that, if the meat disappeared, as it had a habit of\ndoing, he himself would be the next victim.\n\nWhen all was quiet, and the hare thought everybody had gone to sleep,\nhe went round to the back of the tortoise\u2019s house and put his right\nhand out to take the meat, but when his hand closed on the rubber, he\nfound that he could not remove it because the rubber was so sticky. He\ntried his hardest to get his hand away, but without success. He then\ncalled out softly, because he was afraid of waking the tortoise, \u201cLet\nme go! Let me go!\u201d but the rubber never answered, and held on tighter\nthan ever. This made the hare angry, so he whispered to the rubber,\n\u201cLook here, if you don\u2019t let my right hand go at once I will hit you\nvery hard with my left hand, and then you will be sorry.\u201d He got no\nreply, but thought he heard a laugh somewhere. The hare then hit the\nrubber with his disengaged hand as hard as he was able, and that hand\nalso stuck fast.\n\nThen the hare heard the tortoise murmur, \u201cYes, to-morrow I will\ndiscover that rat who is always stealing the king\u2019s meat.\u201d\n\nAt length the hare became absolutely terrified, and kicked the rubber\nhard with one of his feet, which became as fast as his hands were, and\nvery shortly the other foot also became caught up, so that he was held\nquite securely.\n\nWhen the morning came, the tortoise called his wife to help him, and\ntogether they put the meat and rubber into a basket with the hare on\ntop, and carried them all to the king\u2019s house.\n\nWhen the drum was beaten, the people assembled as usual, and discussed\namongst themselves to whom the meat of the tortoise should be given\nwhen he was killed. In the middle of the discussion, the tortoise\nappeared carrying the meat with the hare on top.\n\nThe tortoise then charged the hare with attempting to steal the king\u2019s\nmeat, and told the people of the trap he had set. The hare was found\nguilty, and was ordered to pay a large number of brass rods, and he\nwas told that if they were not forthcoming, he would be killed, and\nthat his mother and sister would be killed with him, as he had been the\ncause of the death of so many animals.\n\nThe hare begged for a little time to enable him to get the rods, which\nwas allowed to him.\n\nHe then ran home and got his mother and sister to come with him at once\nto the foot of a big cotton tree, and, having got a rope round the\nlowest branch, he very soon got to the top of the tree, where he built\na small hut for himself and his people.\n\nThe hare then went down to the lowest branch where the rope was, and\nhauled his mother and sister up. He put them in the hut at the top of\nthe tree, and sat down himself next to the rope with a sharp knife in\nhis hand.\n\nAs the hare did not appear at the appointed time to pay the rods, the\npeople went to his house, and found that they had all disappeared. It\ndid not take long, however, to discover that he had taken refuge in the\ncotton tree, so they all went there and found the rope hanging down.\n\nThen they all began to climb the rope together, leaving the tortoise on\nthe ground, and just as he was about to commence to climb, the others\nhaving already reached halfway, the hare cut the rope with one cut\nof his sharp knife, and all the animals fell down upon the tortoise,\nsmashing his smooth shell into small pieces, and hurting themselves\nvery much. No one was killed, however, and they limped home one after\nthe other.\n\nOn the way they passed the tortoise\u2019s house, so they told Mrs. Tortoise\nthat they had fallen on her husband from a great height, and that his\nshell was broken into pieces.\n\nOn hearing this the mammie tortoise got her basket and went off to the\ncotton tree. Having picked up all the pieces of her husband\u2019s shell,\nand having placed them in the basket, she lifted the tortoise and\ncarried them all home.\n\nWhen she got inside she put all the little pieces of the shell together\nand placed them on her husband\u2019s back, where they grew quite strongly,\nbut the marks showed where the pieces were joined together, and that is\nwhy you always find that the shell of a tortoise is covered in patches,\nand not smooth as it was formerly.--[E.D., 26.5.10.]\n\n_Note._\n\nThe Inkum people came from a country about five or six days\u2019 march\nnorth-west of the site of their present town, where hares abound. There\nare no hares in the country now occupied by them on the Cross River.\nThis is one of their old stories, which they brought with them when\nthey were driven south by the Awala tribe, and is still handed on from\none generation to another.\n\nTold by Abassi, an Inkum boy.--[E.D.]\n\n\n\n\nIII.--THE STORY OF IGIRI AND HER HUSBAND INKANG, WHO BROUGHT UP A\nMUSHROOM BABY BOY, AND WHAT BECAME OF HIM.\n\n\nChief Inkang of Inkum was married to a woman named Igiri. She was a\nfine well-made woman, and the chief was so fond of her that he would\nnot have any other wives.\n\nIgiri was quite faithful to her husband, and never went with other men.\nThey lived together for several years without having any children, much\nto their mutual grief.\n\nInkang then told his wife to consult the ju-ju man, to see what should\nbe done, in order that she might bear a son who would inherit his\nfather\u2019s property and look after his mother in her old age. The ju-ju\nman was consulted by Igiri, and the usual sacrifices of fowls and eggs\nwere made, but without any result.\n\nWhen the time for collecting mushrooms arrived, which is the beginning\nof the rainy season, about the month of May, Igiri went out with her\nbasket to collect mushrooms for their food, and her husband went with\nher.\n\nWhen they arrived at the forest they separated, Igiri going in one\ndirection and Inkang going off in another, but not so far away that\nthey could not hear one another shout.\n\nIgiri went on gathering the mushrooms and putting them in her basket,\nuntil at last she came across a very large mushroom which was fat and\nwhite. Then Igiri said, \u201cHow I do wish that this mushroom would turn\ninto a boy baby, which we want so badly.\u201d\n\nThe mushroom, who was kind-hearted, then took pity on Igiri, and\nturned itself into a boy baby, much to the joy of the woman, who at\nonce picked the baby up and placed him in her basket with the mushrooms.\n\nWithout troubling to look for any more mushrooms, she put the basket on\nher head and called out to her husband, saying she was going home at\nonce, and that he was to follow.\n\nWhen she reached the house, she was so pleased at having got the baby,\nthat she asked Inkang to help her down with the basket. At this he was\nrather surprised, as, although it is the custom for anyone near to help\nthe women to put down their heavy loads when they come in from the\nfarm, this would not be done with a light load like mushrooms.\n\nInkang therefore said to his wife, \u201cWhat have you put in the basket to\nmake it so heavy that you want me to help you down with it? Is it not\nmushrooms you have there?\u201d\n\nHis wife replied, \u201cOnly help me with the basket, and you shall then see\nwhat I have got.\u201d\n\nInkang\u2019s curiosity was immediately aroused, so he went to his wife\nand helped her to place the basket carefully on the ground. Then they\nopened the basket together, and, to the chief\u2019s intense surprise and\njoy, he saw a fat little baby boy lying smiling in the bottom of the\nbasket, half covered with mushrooms. He then embraced his wife, who\ntold him all that had happened in the forest.\n\nInkang then said, \u201cWe must hide the boy in the house until he grows up,\nso that the people will not know what we have got.\u201d\n\nIgiri took great care of the child for the next six years, and he grew\nup a strong boy.\n\nWhen the planting season came round, which is towards the end of the\ndry season, the chief and his wife used to go off every morning early\nto their farm, returning in the evening. The boy was always left at\nhome, but the woman prepared food for him and placed it high up over\nthe fireplace, and showed the boy how to get at it by standing on a\nnative-made box.\n\nThe first day they went to the farm the little boy got his food down\nand eat it, but did not notice that a small boy from the neighbouring\ntown was watching him. The next day the small boy from the town,\nwho was hungry (yams being scarce at that time), waited until the\nmushroom boy had gone out, and then went softly in and stole all the\nfood, filling the calabash with water, which he replaced where he had\nfound the food. This happened for three days in succession, until the\nmushroom boy became so hungry that he determined to go back to the\nforest where he came from, and turn himself back into a mushroom again.\nHe was angry with Inkang and Igiri because he thought they were fooling\nhim, and, of course, he knew nothing about the thief boy who had stolen\nhis food each day.\n\nOn his way to the forest he met his foster parents returning from\nthe farm, and told them what his intention was. They did their best\nto persuade him to return home with them, but he was obstinate, and\nran away to the place in the forest where he came from, and, having\narrived there, turned himself into a mushroom and disappeared for ever.\n\nSince that time the mushroom has refused to take pity on women who have\nno children, and he has never changed himself into a baby again.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--(E.D., 27.5.10.)\n\n\n\n\nIV.--HOW ELILI OF INKUM DIED, AND WAS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE AGAIN.\n\n\nElili and Aikor were both Inkum women, the wives of Chief Nyip. They\neach had a female child by him.\n\nElili was the head wife and looked after the house, and for several\nyears everything went well, until at last Elili became sick, and, after\na short illness, died, and was buried.\n\nHer daughter Oga was quite young when her mother died; her breasts were\nonly just beginning to get round, and she had not been circumcised.\n\nOn Elili\u2019s death Aikor took charge of the house, and cooked all the\nfood. When it was time to hand the food round, Aikor always gave her\ndaughter Nagor the best food, and only gave a very small portion to\nOga, as she was a very jealous woman, and disliked Elili and her\ndaughter.\n\nThis went on for some time, until one day Oga took the food which was\nnot sufficient for her to her mother\u2019s grave, and sat there crying and\ncalling for her mother until the evening came, when she went home. The\nnext day she went again and wept on the grave, until at last the grave\nopened, and she could see the top of her mother\u2019s head. Oga continued\nto cry until sunset, and then she had to go home.\n\nThe following day, as soon as it was light, Oga started off again\nfor the grave, and cried more, and by sundown her mother\u2019s head and\nshoulders had appeared.\n\nThe day after, by constant crying, she induced her mother to come out\nas far as her waist, and, after a few more days of persistent weeping,\nshe got her mother out altogether.\n\nAs it was dusk at the time, Oga led her mother to the back of the\nhouse, and hid her in a small room which was used only for storing yams\nand baskets. There she remained undiscovered for three days, and then\nOga went to her father and said, \u201cIf you will give me a good present, I\nwill show you my mother alive.\u201d\n\nHer father then gave her a piece of cloth, and Oga took him to the room\nwhere Elili was hiding, and said, \u201cHere is my mother, who I have got\nalive again out of the grave.\u201d\n\nChief Nyip was delighted to get his favourite wife back again, and they\nlived together as they had done before.\n\nVery soon after the return of Elili from the grave, Aikor died, leaving\nher daughter Nagor in the charge of Elili and Oga. Elili then began to\nrevenge herself upon Nagor for the way Oga had been treated. Nagor was\nmade to do all the hard work of the house, and was also half starved.\n\nThis caused Nagor to go and cry on her mother\u2019s grave. After crying\nbitterly for three days, her mother began to come out of the grave,\nand on the fourth day, when Aikor\u2019s head and shoulders were showing\nabove the ground, Nagor was so anxious to get her mother out altogether\nthat she caught hold of her head and pulled with all her might, with\nthe result that she pulled her mother\u2019s head off her shoulders. Nagor\nthen took the head and placed it in the same room where Oga had put her\nmother Elili.\n\nShe then called her father to come, but when he saw his dead wife\u2019s\nhead, he was very angry with Nagor, and told her to go and bury it\nagain in the grave. Instead of doing as she was told, Nagor threw her\nmother\u2019s head amongst the young palm oil trees. This caused them to\nbear fruit which resembled a woman\u2019s head in shape and size, and even\nat the present time the young palm trees have bunches of fruit which\nlook like a woman\u2019s head with the plaits of hair all round.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 27.5.10.]\n\n\n\n\nV.--CONCERNING THE HUMAN SACRIFICES WHICH TOOK PLACE ON THE DEATH OF\nCHIEF INDOMA.\n\n\nChief Indoma was a very powerful chief. It was he who led the Inkum\npeople to the site of their present town when they were driven out of\ntheir own country by the Awalas. When he arrived at the Cross River, he\nestablished the five compounds which still exist, and ruled over all\nthe people. They were very fond of Indoma, as he was a just man.\n\nA few years after they had built their compound, the two adjoining\ncountries, Inde and Akparabong, made war against the Inkum, but Chief\nIndoma, who was skilled in warfare, led his people so well and wisely\nthat both countries were driven back, and they have occupied the land\never since.\n\nIndoma had two sons by his wife Isibe, whose names were Agatin and\nOgum. When they were grown up, Chief Indoma died. All the country\npeople were very sorry, and a big play was held, and the mourning was\nkept up for a long time.\n\nThen a large and deep grave was dug, and a number of slaves were killed\nby knocking them on the head with wooden clubs. Their bodies were\nplaced in the bottom of the grave, and Chief Indoma\u2019s body was put on\ntop. The head chief then ordered four young men to be caught alive and\nbound. One was placed under Indoma\u2019s head as a pillow, another under\nhis feet to make him more comfortable, and the other two were placed\none on either side of the corpse, so that it was surrounded by living\nboys.\n\nThen the head chief remembered that Indoma had been very fond of a boy\nnamed Edim, so they caught him, and, having tied him up, placed him in\nthe grave near the dead chief\u2019s head, so that he and the other four\nyoung men should be able to work for their master in the spirit land.\n\nAs the grave was very big and deep they put sticks across it, wedged\nfirmly into the sides, planks were then placed over the sticks, and the\nplanks were covered with sand.\n\nBy this time the grave was about half full, and the people left it\nuntil the next day, when more slaves were being brought in from the\nfarms to be killed and put in the grave to fill it up.\n\nWhen night time came, Edim, who had not been very securely fastened,\ncalled to the other four boys, and, managing to get his teeth to the\ntie-tie which bound the boy nearest to him, he bit it through, and the\nboy who was then released undid Edim\u2019s thongs, and together they freed\nthe other three boys. Edim then made a hole in the planks and sand, and\ngot out of the grave.\n\nWhen he had helped the others out, they all ran down to the beach,\nwhere they seized a canoe and paddled down river as hard as they could\ngo to Akuna Muna. When they got there they presented themselves to King\nEgugo, and told him their story.\n\nThe King then took Edim as one of his boys, and, finding him to be\nintelligent, made him his head canoe boy.\n\nAfter five years had elapsed Edim had made a lot of money, so he\nreturned to Inkum with the other four boys, knowing that, even if he\nwere recognised, he would not be killed, as the people had filled the\ngrave with bodies the day after he had escaped.\n\nEdim very shortly afterwards became one of the head men of the town\nunder Agatin and Ogum. He married some wives, and many children, and\nlived to a good age.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 27.5.10.]\n\n\n\n\nVI.--THE STORY OF THE WITCH WHO TRIED TO KILL HER HUSBAND; OR, WHY\nNATIVE DOGS REFUSE TO OBEY THEIR MASTERS.\n\n\nChief Leku of Inkum married a woman called Achor, and lived with her\nfor some years.\n\nAt that time there was a very fine woman walking about the towns named\nAkoba. She was a yellow (light skin) woman, and had many hairs from\nthe elephant\u2019s tail, and beads round her neck. She did not wear any\nclothes, as she preferred to walk about naked, so that everyone could\nsee her fine skin. Akoba had very large breasts, which hung down, but\nthis did not in any way spoil her beauty in the young men\u2019s eyes.\n\nMany of them, including chiefs, wanted to marry her, but Akoba refused\nthem all, as she made a lot of money out of them, and would not bind\nherself down to one man.\n\nWhen she saw that so many men were bidding for her, she got a calabash\nand painted it different colours. Having placed the calabash some\nlittle distance off, Akoba said that anyone who wanted to marry her\nmust hit the calabash with a small stone.\n\nMany young men and chiefs tried who were anxious to possess her, but\ndid not succeed, as she had put a ju-ju on them.\n\nAt last, however, Chief Leku managed to hit the calabash with a stone,\nand at once took Akoba home as his wife. He then called all the women\ntogether and held a big play, fired guns off in the town, rubbed Akoba\nwith camwood, and told all people that she was his wife.\n\nAkoba lived with Chief Leku for a little time, but very soon got tired\nof him. So she made up her mind that she would kill him and resume her\nformer life. She said to herself, \u201cIt is very dull living with Leku all\nthe time. If I kill him, I can have any man I fancy and make plenty of\nmoney, as all the young men want me, and are willing to pay, whereas\nnow I have to do all the housework, and work hard on the farm, and Leku\ndoes not \u2018dash\u2019 me anything.\u201d\n\nNow, Chief Leku was a hunter, and made his living by killing animals\n(bush cows, buck, and kobs) and selling their meat. He had five dogs\nwho were very clever, and had been taught to follow animals by scent.\nWhen they were young, a ju-ju was made for them, and certain leaves\nwere mashed up and rubbed on their noses, which gave them very strong\nsmelling powers, and they could follow wounded animals in the bush,\nwhich was most useful to Chief Leku.\n\nThe morning after Akoba had made up her mind to kill her husband, she\nsaid to him, \u201cI want you to come into the forest with me to cut some\npalm nuts, but leave your hunting dogs behind as I do not like them.\u201d\nChief Leku, suspecting nothing, agreed, and they started off together.\n\nWhen they got to the palm tree, the chief put his climbing belt of\ntie-tie round the tree, and, having secured it round his back, walked\nup to the top and commenced to cut the leaves or branches off round the\nnuts.\n\nAkoba then beat her breast, and produced a sharp axe with which she\nbegan to cut down the tree, at the same time calling out to her husband\nthat she was going to kill him. Very soon, the tree began to fall, but\nwas fortunately caught by another tree growing near. Then Leku climbed\ninto the other tree. Akoba, who was a witch, then started to cut down\nthe tree in which her husband had taken refuge.\n\nSo the chief called a bird to him and sent it off with a message to\nhis hunting dogs to come and rescue him. Immediately the dogs got the\nmessage they started off to help their master, but the witch Akoba\ncaused a flood to overflow the path, so that the dogs could not track\nher. At last one of the dogs jumped into the water and swam across, and\nwas very soon followed by the other four.\n\nWhen they reached the foot of the tree the Chief told them to kill the\nwoman, so they all leaped on her, and bit her until she died.\n\nThen the chief came down from the tree, and divided Akoba\u2019s body into\nfive bundles, and told his dogs to carry them to his house, which they\ndid.\n\nWhen they reached the house it was night time, so the chief went to bed\nand told Achor what had happened to his new wife.\n\nIn the morning Achor saw the five bundles outside, and asked her\nhusband how he had managed to carry them all, but he refused to tell\nher. So when night came and the chief went to bed, Achor said to him,\n\u201cI will not sleep with you unless you tell me how you managed to carry\nthose five bundles.\u201d Now, Chief Leku was very fond of Achor, and\nwanted her badly, so he gave in, and told her that his hunting dogs\nhad carried the bundles for him. Achor then went to bed, but the next\nmorning she rose early, and calling the dogs to follow her, she went to\nthe farm, where she collected five bundles of firewood and placed them\nin a row. Then Achor said to the dogs: \u201cIf you can carry bundles for\nyour master, you can carry my firewood. Take those loads to my house at\nonce.\u201d\n\nThe dogs did not answer, but picked up their loads and carried them to\nthe house. As each dog placed its load of firewood on the ground, it\ndropped down dead. Then the chief came out and said to Achor, \u201cLook\nwhat you have done. All my hunting dogs are dead. This is what comes of\ntelling you that my dogs carried the bundles for me.\u201d\n\nEver since that day dogs never speak or do anything for their masters,\nalthough they can understand quite well. The reason the dogs will not\nobey now is because they say that the chief broke their dog law when he\ntold his wife what they did for him.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 27.5.10.]\n\n\n\n\nVII.--HOW TWO FRIENDS FELL OUT: THE SPIDER AND THE GRASSHOPPER.\n\n\nLong ago the spider and the grasshopper were good friends.\nUnfortunately the spider was intensely greedy, and this led to much\nunpleasantness.\n\nNow the spider wanted to go some distance from his house to marry a\nwife in a strange country, so he called upon his friend the grasshopper\nto accompany him. They started off together in the morning before the\nsun was hot, and when they had gone some little way, the spider said\nto his friend, \u201cWhile we are away together, I want you to call me\n\u2018Stranger,\u2019 and I will call you \u2018Dabi.\u2019 We must not call one another\nby our proper names, as I do not want the people to know who we really\nare.\u201d To this the grasshopper readily consented, little knowing what he\nwas letting himself in for.\n\nShortly afterwards they arrived at the first town, and were welcomed by\nthe chief. The grasshopper said he was called Dabi, and introduced his\nfriend as \u201cStranger.\u201d\n\nThe chief then ordered food to be placed before them, but the spider,\nwhilst thanking the chief for his kindness, said: \u201cSurely the custom\nof the country is, when a stranger arrives in a town, to first of all\noffer him \u2018the peace dish,\u2019 consisting of dried meat and kola nuts, to\nshow that he is welcome, and that there is peace between them.\u201d\n\nThe chief replied, \u201cYes, there is certainly that custom here, but as\nI thought you were hungry after your long walk, I ordered the food\nto be brought at once.\u201d He then told one of his slaves to bring the\ndried meat and kola, and when it was brought, the spider eat all the\nmeat and kola except two nuts, one of which he returned to the chief,\nand the other he gave to the grasshopper, saying, \u201cYou must wait, my\nfriend Dabi, for your food, as this meat and kola was brought for the\nstranger, and your name was not mentioned.\u201d\n\nLater on the general supply of food was passed round, a certain amount\nbeing set on one side for the strangers. This the spider also eat,\nsaying, \u201cI am sorry, Dabi, but there is no food for you, as this was\nbrought for the stranger, and that is my name.\u201d\n\nThe next day they resumed their journey, and when they arrived at the\ntown where the girl lived whom the spider was about to marry, he went\nto his future father-in-law\u2019s house, whose name was Tawn, and said,\n\u201cTawn, I have come to marry your daughter.\u201d\n\nNow Tawn had a wife called Osegi, who was a very good-natured woman,\nwhich was lucky for the grasshopper as things turned out.\n\nWhen Tawn had embraced his future son-in-law, he ordered a cow to be\nkilled to welcome him. And when the people brought the food, they said,\n\u201cHere is the stranger\u2019s portion.\u201d Immediately the spider said to his\nfriend, \u201cDid you hear that, Dabi? Your name was not mentioned, so you\nhave no right to this food, which is all for me, \u2018the stranger.\u2019\u201d But\nthe grasshopper kept quiet and never said a word to anyone, although he\nwas very hungry.\n\nThe marriage between the spider and Chief Tawn\u2019s daughter was\ncelebrated the following day. All the people were called together to\ndance and play, guns were fired off in the town, and Chief Tawn killed\nfour more cows for the strangers who had come from a distance.\n\nThe grasshopper longed to eat the food, but did not see how he could\nmanage it, as he was known as Dabi, and his name was never called. The\nspider therefore ate his own share and the grasshopper\u2019s as well, while\nthe poor grasshopper sat down by himself, feeling very sad, and not\nspeaking to anyone.\n\nWhen he had finished the food the spider went out to dance and play\nwith his new wife, but the grasshopper did not go, as he was very\nhungry and weak, and not feeling at all up to singing and dancing.\n\nAfter he had been alone for a little while, the Chief\u2019s wife Osegi came\nin, and seeing the grasshopper looking so miserable, went up to him and\nsaid, \u201cWhy are you so silent and sad at my daughter\u2019s wedding, when all\nthe other people are feasting and dancing?\u201d\n\nAt this the grasshopper could contain himself no longer, and burst into\ntears saying, \u201cThree days ago, when we left our home, the spider asked\nme to call him \u2018Stranger\u2019 and said he would call me \u2018Dabi.\u2019 During all\nthis time I have been starving, and I am very hungry indeed, as all\nthe food has been brought for \u2018the Stranger,\u2019 and the spider has eaten\nit because my name is Dabi, and I was never mentioned.\u201d Then Osegi said\nshe would tell the people what their proper names were so that when\nthe food was brought the grasshopper would have his share. Osegi then\nwent out and gave the necessary orders, and told her slaves to be most\nparticular to call the grasshopper\u2019s name the next time there was food\nso that he should be able to eat. In the afternoon this was done, but\nwhen the spider heard his friend\u2019s name called out, he was so angry\nthat he would not eat.\n\nThe second day the servants did the same, and the spider again refused\nthe food when it was brought. Early in the morning of the third day the\nspider told his father-in-law that he was going home, and that he would\nleave his wife for a time, and come back for her later.\n\nTawu then said he would make another feast to celebrate their\ndeparture, and that he should like to see his son-in-law dance once\nmore before he returned home; so the people were called to another\nplay, and the chief milked one more cow for their food. When the food\nwas ready the spider said to his friend, \u201cCome on, Dabi, let us go and\ndance.\u201d But the grasshopper refused and said, \u201cNo, you go and dance,\nand I will join you later.\u201d So the spider went by himself, leaving the\ngrasshopper in the room where the food was. Seeing there was no one\nabout, he took his outside skin off very quickly and hung it up on a\npeg on the wall, making it look just like a living grasshopper; he then\nwent out and joined the dancers.\n\nWhen the spider saw the grasshopper had arrived and was busily engaged\ndancing, being very hungry he stole off by himself to the room where\nthe food was and put his hand into the pot. But, just as he was going\nto take out a piece of meat, he happened to look up and saw the skin\nof the grasshopper, which was so lifelike that it deceived him into\nthinking that it really was his friend on the wall, so he pulled his\nhand out of the pot and said, trying to laugh, \u201cIt is all right, Dabi,\nmy friend, I was not going to eat anything, I just came in to see what\nthe food was like.\u201d He then went out again to where the people were\ndancing, and to his great surprise he saw the grasshopper, where he had\nleft him, dancing and enjoying himself with some pretty young girls.\n\nThe spider could not understand how it was that the grasshopper had\nmanaged to get back to the play so quickly, but, as he saw him there,\nhe was too hungry to trouble much about that, and went back again to\nget the food he was so much in need of. Everything was quiet when\nhe returned, so he lifted the lid again, and took out a large piece\nof yam, and had only taken one bite, when his eye was caught by the\ngrasshopper\u2019s skin in the same place where he had seen it before. The\nspider was amazed at this, and thought there must be some ju-ju in it,\nso he put the yam down and ran out of the house, shouting as he went,\n\u201cAll right, Dabi, I only thought I would like to taste the food to see\nthat it was good.\u201d\n\nBut when he got to the dance he again saw, to his intense astonishment,\nthat the grasshopper was dancing away as merrily as before.\n\nThe spider then went up to his father-in-law and asked him to stop the\ndance, as he wished to go home at once. This was done, and they all\nwent back to the chief\u2019s house together.\n\nChief Tawu then gave both the spider and the grasshopper a dog each\nas a present, and shortly afterwards they started off together on\ntheir-return journey.\n\nAfter walking a short distance outside the town, the spider was so\nhungry that he stopped and killed the dog his father-in-law had given,\nand very soon had eaten the whole of it.\n\nHe then tried to get the grasshopper to kill his dog, but he refused,\nsaying, \u201cThe dog was given to me by the chief as a present and not for\nfood. I shall take it home with me.\u201d\n\nWhen the spider had finished eating his dog, he put the skull of the\ndog in his bag, and asked the grasshopper to go in front of him.\nShortly after this, the dog, scenting some game, dived into the bush,\nand very soon returned to the path with a small bush buck in his mouth.\nAs the grasshopper had gone on in front and had not waited for his dog,\nthe spider took the buck, and, having cut its head off and put it in\nhis bag next to the dog\u2019s skull, he sat down and eat the body.\n\nWhen he rejoined the grasshopper later in the day, he produced his\nbag, and took out the buck\u2019s head, and told the grasshopper that his\ndog\u2019s skull was very clever, and had killed the buck. Although the\ngrasshopper knew quite well what had happened, he did not say anything,\nbut walked on again in front with his dog as he had done before.\n\nThat night they slept in the bush, and the next day, when they got near\nthe first town they had passed through when leaving home, the dog again\ndashed off into the forest, and chased a bush cow which he bit very\nbadly in the leg.\n\nWhen they reached the town, the spider told the people that the\ngrasshopper\u2019s dog had chased one of the chief\u2019s cows and bitten it\nvery badly. This made the people angry, and they all turned out with\nsticks to beat the grasshopper, but when he saw them coming, he called\nout to them and soon convinced them that his dog had not bitten the\nchief\u2019s cow, but had chased a bush cow and had wounded it badly. He\nthen offered to show the hunters where the place was, and they gladly\naccepted his offer. The hunters then got their bows and arrows, and\nhaving been shown the tracks of the bush cow by the grasshopper, they\nhad little difficulty in tracking it by its blood, and eventually\nkilled it.\n\nThe people then carried the meat back to the town and placed the horns\nin front of their ju-ju. Half the meat was given to the grasshopper,\nand the remainder divided amongst the people, the spider getting\nnothing.\n\nWhen the spider saw this he was vexed, and told the grasshopper that he\ndid not want him for his friend again. He then set himself to make a\nnet of web in order to revenge himself on the grasshopper, and has ever\nsince lived on insects.\n\nN.B.--This story was given to me at Akparabong by a native, but there\nwould appear to be some doubt as to whether it is a local story or not.\nA native from Cavally on the Kroo Coast affirms that he first told this\nstory which was afterwards related to me, and this boy certainly gave\nme afterwards the main features of the story, but with a different\nlocal colouring.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.--HOW EWA ABAGI, AN INKUM WOMAN, WAS DROWNED IN THE CROSS RIVER,\nAND HOW SHE WAS RESCUED BY THE YOUNG MEN OF INSOFAN.\n\nIn the olden days, Ewa Abagi lived at Inkum. She was very rich and was\nconsidered to be a most beautiful woman. She made most of her money\nby trading in palm kernels and camwood, but, as she was so popular\nwherever she went with the young men of the country, she also made a\nlot of money out of them, as, if they did not pay her well in advance,\nshe would have nothing to do with them.\n\nShe received many offers of marriage, but refused them all, until one\nday a chief of Insofan named Awor sent a message to her that he wished\nto make her his wife, as he had heard what a fine woman she was.\n\nEwa Abagi then sent word back to the chief that she could not marry him\njust then as she was expecting to bear a son, but that, some time after\nthe child was born, she would go up the river to Insofan and marry him\nas she had heard that he was rich and was a good man.\n\nThe child turned out to be a girl, and shortly after her birth, Ewa\nAbagi bought a young slave woman called Mossim to look after her baby,\nwhile she herself went to the different markets trading.\n\nWhen the girl baby had become six years old, Ewa Abagi dressed herself\nand her daughter up in their best clothes, and crossed over the river\nto Okuni with the slave woman Mossim carrying her load. They then\nproceeded to walk overland to Insofan.\n\nOn reaching the Abum River which is quite close to Insofan, Ewa Abagi\nwent to bathe, and took her little daughter with her, putting down her\ncloth and beads on the ground. As the river was very shallow, it being\nthe dry season, they walked and waded down to the Cross River.\n\nWhen she got there, she washed her daughter and then called upon Mossim\nto scrub her back. The slave woman then came up behind her mistress,\nand pushed her into the Cross River, where she at once disappeared.\n\nWhen the little girl, whose name was Essere, saw that her mother had\ngone, she began to cry, but Mossim said, \u201cDo not cry. You must call me\nyour mother, and I will treat you well. When we get to the town, you\nmust not tell anyone that I am not your mother, or I will punish you\nseverely.\u201d\n\nShe then dressed the child and put on the cloth and beads of Ewa Abagi\nherself, having just tied up her own clothes into a bundle with some\nstones and thrown them into the Cross River.\n\nMossim and the child then walked on to Insofan, and, when they got\nthere, the slave woman went to Chief Awor\u2019s house and said, \u201cI am Ewa\nAbagi whom you wanted to marry, and this (turning to the little girl)\nis my daughter Essere.\u201d The chief welcomed her, but was not very\npleased, as he had expected to see a much finer woman from all the\nreports he had heard of her beauty.\n\nWhen the people of Insofan heard that the chief\u2019s new wife had arrived,\nmany of them went to see her, as she was so well known by name. When\nthey saw Mossim, they were not greatly impressed by her looks, and said\nso quite freely in very plain terms.\n\nNow, one of the young men of the town, who had been down the river\ntrading, knew Ewa Abagi very well indeed, and, when he saw the slave\nwoman, he recognized her as the servant, so he told Chief Awor. The\nchief said, \u201cVery well, I hear what you say, and will not marry the\nwoman at present. We will wait for a time, and I will make enquiries.\u201d\n\nIn the morning Mossim told the girl to go and get water from the\nspring, and the little girl went off with the water pot on her head.\nEssere, however, did not go to the spring as she had been told, but\nwent to the place where she had seen the slave woman push her mother\ninto the water. She then sat down and began to cry for her mother.\n\nWhen Ewa Abagi heard her daughter crying, she came out of the river\nand talked to her. She then painted her daughter with _okukum_,[1] and\nhaving helped the child with the water pot, she returned to the river,\nand Essere went home.\n\nWhen she arrived at the house, Mossim asked her who had painted her\nwith okokum and why she had been so long getting the water from the\nspring. The child did not answer, so the slave woman said to her,\n\u201cDon\u2019t you be so long another time, or you will get into trouble.\u201d\n\nThe next day Essere went to get the water at the same place. She\ncalled for a long time, but her mother did not come out, as she saw a\nman making tombo in a tree near at hand. At last, however, as she did\nnot like to hear her little daughter crying, Ewa Abagi came out very\nquickly, helped Essere with the water pot on to her head, and went back\nagain into the river.\n\nThe man, who had been watching, saw Ewa Abagi and recognized her. He\ntherefore came down from the tree and went at once to the chief and\ntold him what he had seen.\n\nThe chief then told all the young men of the town to go early the next\nmorning to the place where Ewa Abagi had been seen and to try and get\nher out of the river. He promised them that, if they succeeded in\nbringing the woman to him, he would hold a big play and \u201cdash\u201d them\nplenty of tombo and food.\n\nThe chief told Essere that, when she went in the morning to get the\nwater, if she wanted to get her mother back, directly she had got the\nwater out of the river she must take the pot back some little distance\ninto the bush.\n\nWhen the morning came, the little girl went off with her pot, as\nbefore, and having filled it with water, carried it back into the bush\nsome little way from the river, and then sat down, and called for her\nmother to come and help her.\n\nThe young men, who had gone to the place before it was light, and who\nhad lined both banks of the Abum river, by the chief\u2019s orders, were all\nhidden out of sight, and, when Ewa Abagi came out of the water, they\nimmediately surrounded her and caught her before she could get back to\nthe river. They then carried her back to the chief.\n\nThe slave woman was then seized, and tied up to a tree, and, when the\nmorning came, the chief charged her with trying to kill her mistress.\nShe was found guilty, and was ordered to be killed as a sacrifice to\nthe water ju-ju.\n\nMossim was then handed over to the young men who had rescued Ewa Abagi,\nand they took her to the place where she had pushed her mistress into\nthe river, and, having cut her head off, threw the head and body into\nthe river. This is one of the reasons why slaves are always killed and\nput into the grave of their master or mistress when they die, as a\nwarning to other slaves not to try to kill their owners.\n\n_Author\u2019s note._\n\nThere is a firm belief amongst all the natives in the Ikom district\nthat the slaves who are killed and buried with their master will meet\nhim again in the Spirit Land, where the conditions of life will be the\nsame as they were on earth. The master will recognise his slaves and\nthey will work for him. They also believe that, when a chief arrives in\nthe Spirit Land, accompanied by these slaves, carrying the gin cloth,\nrods, etc., which were placed in the grave, the people of the Spirit\nLand-will say, \u201cThis is a chief coming. Look at his slaves, etc.\u201d\n\nSome years ago a road was being made through an old compound which had\ntumbled down and disappeared, leaving no trace of any human habitation.\nThe road passed through an old grave of a chief who had been buried in\nthe house, and many things, including rods, bottles of gin and plates,\nhad been put in the grave. The natives who were working on the road\nwere afraid to touch anything in the grave, but a native foreman, who\ncame from another country where they held different beliefs, opened a\nbottle of gin and drank some of it. When the natives saw that nothing\nhappened to him, they all rushed in and there was a regular scramble\nfor everything.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 1.6.10.]\n\nThomas, District Clerk, Inkom, told me this grave incident, and said\nit happened in his presence some years ago at Calabar, when he was\ntime-keeper in the P.W.D.\n\n\n\n\nIX.--THE STORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN INKUM AND ENFITOP.\n\n\nWhen the Inkum people first came to the Cross River about one hundred\nyears ago, Chief Indoma established the five Inkum towns on the right\nbank of the river, and Chief Awum took his people over to the other\nside, and, having given the Enfitop people presents, asked them to\nallow him to build his town there, and also requested them to give him\nsufficient bush where he and his people could make their farms.\n\nThe Enfitop people eventually agreed to do this, and Chief Awum built\nhis town, which he called Aliese, and appointed a man called Osode to\nbe his second chief. Both these chiefs were under Chief Indoma of Inkum.\n\nWhen the houses were finished and their farms made, Chief Awum called a\nsociety to play, the name of the society being Eberambi.\n\nIt was one of the rules of the society that anyone wishing to join\nmust pay fifty rods, one goat, and five pots of tombo, which would be\ndivided amongst the members.\n\nThen Chief Osode sent invitations to the young men of Enfitop to come\nand join their society, and altogether about fifty of them became\nmembers.\n\nNow, when the young men of Enfitop joined and paid their goats, rods,\nand tombo, Chief Osode divided up all the things they brought amongst\nthe Inkum members, and never gave the Enfitop boys their share.\n\nThis caused great dissatisfaction, and at last they became so vexed\nthat the Chief of Enfitop gave orders that for the future no more of\nhis boys were to join the Eberambi Society.\n\nWhen Chief Awum heard this, it made him angry, so he made a scheme or\nplan to rid the society of the Enfitop boys, who were no longer of any\nuse, as they had paid up their presents to the society.\n\nThe Chiefs Awum and Osode then went into the bush, and searched about\nuntil they found an open space, which could be cleared without much\ntrouble. There was a big rock in the middle, and the members all began\nworking on the ground, and after a few days had it quite clear.\n\nChief Awum then told his young men to dig a very deep pit on one side\nof the rock next to its deepest side, and, when it was finished, he\nplaced sharp stakes firmly in the ground with the points upwards.\n\nA meeting of the members was called for the next evening, and the chief\ntold his young men to sit all round the rock.\n\nWhen the Enfitop boys arrived, they all sat together a little distance\noff, and one of their head boys was told to sit on the rock with his\nback to the pit, which he could not see, as it was dark.\n\nThe singing and dancing then began, and the tombo was passed round,\nbut when it came to the turn of the man sitting on the rock, just at\nthe moment when he began to drink, one of the Inkum boys, who had been\ninstructed by the chief what to do, seized him by the ankles and\npushed him over backwards, so that he fell into the pit on the sharp\nstakes and was killed at once. As it was quite dark and such a noise\nwas going on, no one missed the boy or saw what had happened.\n\nThen, in the early morning, before it was light, the Inkum boys went to\nthe pit, and having taken out the body, covered the blood stains with\nsand and carried the body back to the town. The body was then cut up\ninto small pieces and divided amongst the members of the society, who\nlit fires and cooked and eat their portions.\n\nThat night Chief Awum said to Osode:--\u201cWell! that accounts for one of\nthe members, and I hope soon that we shall have got rid of all of them.\u201d\n\nChief Osode said that he thought the plan a very good one, particularly\nas it brought them in a supply of food which was always welcome.\n\nThen, for four nights running, the same thing was done, and the boy\nwho had been killed the previous night was divided up and eaten by the\nInkum members of the society on the following day.\n\nOn the sixth night, however, the Enfitop boys met together, and counted\ntheir numbers. Finding that there were five of their members missing,\nthey could not understand what had happened, so they decided not to\nattend the play that night.\n\nThis enraged the Inkum people, and the next day Chief Osode went to\nEnfitop and told them that, as they had refused to attend the play,\nthey would not be members of the society any longer. So, after that,\nthe Enfitop boys did not go to the play again, and the Inkum people\nlost their chance of getting any more of them for food.\n\nAfter a short time had elapsed, Chief Awum consulted with Osode as to\nhow they should get some more Enfitop boys to eat. After thinking some\ntime, he said he thought the best way was to steal the children from\nthe town.\n\nSo the following morning the Inkum young men surrounded Enfitop, but\nhid themselves in the bush, and waited there until all the men and\nwomen had gone to their farms to work, leaving only the old people and\nyoung children in the town.\n\nWhen they had all gone, the Inkum men went very quietly into the town\nfrom house to house, and stole all the children they could find and\ncarried them off. They did not take any of the old people as they were\nnot much good for food.\n\nThat night they had a great feast in the town.\n\nWhen the parents of the children who had been stolen returned from\ntheir farms they missed their little ones, and so they went and\ncomplained to the head chief.\n\nThe next day he called all his people together, and they held a big\npalaver to settle what should be done. At the meeting, one of the boys\nwho had been a member of the Eberambi society got up and said that five\nof their members were missing, and he believed that it was the Inkum\npeople who had killed them, and that they had stolen the children as\nwell.\n\nAfter a long discussion, it was decided to drive the Inkum people away,\nand to send them back across the river again, so a message was sent to\nChief Indoma to tell his people to leave their town at Enfitop and go\nover to the Inkum side.\n\nChief Indoma could not understand the reason of this message being\nsent, so he replied that he certainly would not tell his people to\nmove, and that he would see what they could do.\n\nWhen the Enfitop people had completed their preparations for war, the\nhead chief took one of his slaves to his ju-ju as a sacrifice, and the\nblood was sprinkled all round the ju-ju, the chiefs dancing in it. The\nbody was then cut up and divided amongst the fighting men, who eat it.\nThe chief then addressed the ju-ju as follows:--\n\n\u201cYou always help us in the time of trouble. Here are my fighting men.\nI want you to make them strong and so that they will not receive any\nwounds from their enemies. If you help me, when the war is over, I will\nbring all the heads of the men we kill to you as tribute. I will also\nbring the prisoners we capture and kill them before you as a sacrifice.\u201d\n\nThe chief then put his hand into the ju-ju pot containing water, rotten\neggs, and mashed-up leaves and roots, and having stirred it well up,\nthe fighting men all came up to him one after another, and he smeared\nthem with the liquid on the forehead and breast.\n\nAfter this ceremony was over, all the people went to the chief\u2019s\ncompound, where he consulted his head ju-ju man as to what the result\nof the war with the Inkum people would be. The ju-ju man then cast\nlots, and told them that they would drive the Inkum people away,\nkilling many men and taking many men, women and children prisoners, but\nhe warned them that they must not commence the fight, as it was the\nInkum people who were in the wrong and had killed the Enfitop people.\n\nThey then armed themselves with bows and arrows, stones, and short\nheavy throwing sticks sharp at both ends, so that one end or the other\nwould stick into their enemies. The next morning they surrounded the\ntown of Aliese, and very soon the Inkum men came out.\n\nThe first arrow was fired by an Inkum man named Osim, and at once the\nfight became general. They fought for the greater part of the day,\nuntil at last the Inkum men were beaten, many having been killed and\nwounded. The survivors, including Chief Indoma, who was present at the\nfighting, escaped into the bush, leaving the women and children and old\nmen at the mercy of the Enfitop people.\n\nMost of the old men were killed, and the women and children were made\nprisoners and taken to Enfitop.\n\nThat very night they held a big play, and the heads of all the men who\nhad been killed were placed before the ju-ju. Six of the best of the\nprisoners were then killed in front of the ju-ju, and after their blood\nhad been sprinkled on the ground, the bodies were cut up and given to\nthe fighting men, who lit fires and boiled the flesh with yams, pepper\nand salt.\n\nWhile the food was cooking, a big dance was being held, and one of the\nprisoners was placed on his back upon the ground in front of the ju-ju.\nHe was then staked securely to the ground, and a heavy wooden drum was\nplaced upon his stomach and was beaten with sticks while the fighters\nwere dancing.\n\nWhen the food was sufficiently cooked the fighting men eat it, and\nthen, after drinking plenty of tombo, went to bed. The prisoner was\nleft on the ground all night with the heavy drum on top of him.\n\nThe next morning the head fighting man released the prisoner, and\nhaving tied him up to a tree, cut his head off with his matchet. He\nthen dressed himself up in the long hair (mane) of a ram, wrapped a\nleopard skin round his waist, painted his face, breast and right hand\nwith white chalk, and placed four feathers from the black-and-white\nfishing eagle in his hair, one down the centre in front, one behind,\nand one on either side. He then took the head of the man he had just\nkilled in his left hand, and holding his matchet in his right, he\ndanced all round the town, shouting out that they were great fighters,\nand that the ju-ju had made them successful in the battle. When he\nhad been all round, he went into the open space in the middle of the\ncompound, and the women came up to him with presents; some would\npresent him with a fathom of cloth, but the poorer people would offer a\nfew rods, yams, or some salt. The body of the man was then divided up\namongst the chiefs, the head chief getting the right arm, shoulder and\nbreast for his share, and the head fighter was given the man\u2019s heart to\neat.\n\nAll the heads were then collected and placed over a fire to singe the\nhair off. They were then given to the head chief, who boiled and eat\nthe meat off them with his sons and people. The chief placed the skulls\non the ground of the room where he slept, so that the room was quite\npaved with them. This was done so that the chief could put his feet on\nthem, to show that he had trampled on the enemies whom he had conquered.\n\nThe head of the man who was first sacrificed before the war commenced\nwas not eaten, but was left on the ground in front of the ju-ju as his\nshare.\n\nTo return to the Inkum people, who had escaped into the bush on the\nnight of the battle, as soon as it was dark, Chief Indoma called them\nall together and asked his ju-ju man what he had done to make him so\nunfortunate in the battle and to lose so many people. The ju-ju man\ntold him that Chief Awum and Chief Osode had caused all the trouble by\nkilling the Enfitop boys and stealing the children for food. He also\nsaid that the Inkum people had gone to fight like women; they had not\nconsulted him (by which he lost a handsome present) neither had they\nkilled a slave as a sacrifice to their ju-ju.\n\nChief Indoma agreed with the ju-ju man, and said he would not forget\nagain, and that in the future when he went to war he would see that the\nproper precautions were taken and the usual sacrifices made as had\nalways been done in the past.\n\nHe then spoke to Awum and Osode, saying \u201cI am very angry with both\nof you. Up to the present I have been known to all people as a good\nfighter and leader, but I shall always be ashamed to meet the Enfitop\npeople now. You have done wrong. You have killed and eaten many of the\nEnfitop people and told me nothing about it. When they sent a message\nto me, I told them that I would not move my people across the river, as\nI never thought they would fight against me, but now I am compelled to\ndo so, as they have either killed or taken as prisoners nearly all the\nmen, women and children of the town. I look to you to arrange how to\nget me and the remaining people over the river in safety.\u201d\n\nThen Chief Osode stood up, and said that he could manage that quite\neasily, as he was a ju-ju man, and would make a bridge for them out of\nhis body.\n\nNow, in those days there was a big snake who used to live on the land,\nand when he grew to be as long as a palm oil tree is high, he forsook\nthe land and lived in the small creeks and rivers, where he grew to a\ntremendous size. The name of the snake was Ku Ku Barakpa.\n\nIn the early morning, Osode turned himself into the snake, and placed\nhimself across the river with his tail on the Enfitop side and his head\non the Inkum side, his back being out of water, so that the people\ncould cross over in safety. As soon as he had done this the survivors\nof the Inkums, headed by Chief Indoma, walked over the snake\u2019s body,\nbut, when the Enfitop people tried to follow them, the snake waited\nuntil they were in the middle and then sank, leaving the Enfitop men to\ndrown. After two days their bodies floated and were picked up by the\nInkum people who carried them back to their town and eat them.\n\nChief Indoma blamed Chief Awum very much for what had happened, but he\npraised Chief Osode for getting them back in safety across the river,\nand also for his ingenious device in getting them some more human food\nwithout any risk or fighting.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum, 7th June, 1910.\n\n\n\n\nX.--HOW AN INKUM BOY WAS DROWNED BY HIS COMPANIONS AND HOW THEY WERE\nPUNISHED.\n\n\nThere was once an Inkum woman named Omegha, who was considered very\ngood-looking, but, curiously enough, no man had ever wanted to marry\nher, although she was very popular and went about from one man to\nanother. She also went from town to town, showing off her beauty, in\nthe hopes that some man might fancy her and ask her to marry him.\n\nAt last she got tired of walking about, and returned home to live with\nher parents. Her father was very fond of her, but often said that he\nwished she had been a boy as she would then have been able to help him\nwith his work on the farm.\n\nAfter Omegha had been living at home for a little time, her father said\nto her, \u201cI wish you would get a son who would help me on the farm when\nhe grew up.\u201d Omegha replied that, although she slept with plenty of\nmen, she had never conceived. Her father then warned her that she would\nnever bear a child if she went on as she was doing, always changing and\nsleeping with so many different men.\n\nHe then advised her to live with the same man for a whole month, and\nthen see what would happen. Omegha waited for a week, and then did\nas she had been advised to do by her father, and, after a month had\nelapsed, she found that she had conceived.\n\nA few months after this, Omegha\u2019s father died, leaving her mother and\nherself in the house. Then her mother said to her \u201cNow that your father\nis dead, you must not go about as you did before, as there are only two\nof us. You shall stay at home and I will look after you and the child\nwho is soon to be born.\u201d They then wrapped the dead body up in mats,\nand made a hole in a room at the back of the house, where they buried\nthe corpse.\n\nSome time afterwards, Omegha gave birth to a son, whom she called Ogor.\nThe boy grew very fast, and after a time he was able to walk.\n\nAs Omegha was a poor woman, she used to take her little son with her to\nthe farm every day. But when Ogor was six years old, she got tired of\ndoing this, and used to leave him in the house with his grandmother,\nwho was very fond of him. Then Omegha used to go off alone, and visit\nher numerous men friends.\n\nOgor had often been told by his mother not to go near the river, and he\nwas frequently warned not to play about with the other boys of his age\nin the town, as they would surely lead him into mischief.\n\nOne day, while his grandmother was cooking, he heard the company of\nsmall boys to which he belonged playing outside, so he stole out of the\nhouse and joined them. When the boys saw who it was had come to play\nwith them, they asked him why he did not always come out and join them,\nso he told them that his grandmother would not allow him to go out of\nthe house.\n\nThe boys then said they were hot from playing and were going down to\nthe river to bathe. They invited Ogor to go with them, but he refused\nand ran home.\n\nBefore he reached the house, his mother, who was returning from\nvisiting one of her lovers, met him and gave him a sound flogging for\nbeing so disobedient.\n\nThat night, the boys belonging to Ogor\u2019s company, of whom there were\neight, met together and decided that Ogor had been very rude to them.\nThey therefore determined to punish him the next time they caught him.\n\nA few days afterwards, Ogor again stole out of the house when his\ngrandmother was busy, and joined his companions who were playing in the\ntown not far from the beach.\n\nWhen the play was finished, they all went down to the river to bathe,\nand swam out to a sand bank in the middle of the river, it being the\ndry season.\n\nOne of the boys had brought some strong tie-tie with him, and two\nothers went off and soon came back again with a heavy stone. Ogor\nwas then put on his back and securely fastened to the stone with the\ntie-tie. He did not struggle or cry out, as he thought it was all done\nin play.\n\nWhen the boys had finished tying up their companion, they looked round\nvery carefully to see whether anyone was watching them, but, finding\nthere was no one about, they carried Ogor out into the river, and threw\nhim into the water where it was deep, and he sank at once. The boys\nthen swam back to the beach, and went off to their various homes.\n\nJust about this time, Omegha returned home, and, missing Ogor, asked\nher mother what had become of the boy. The old woman told her daughter\nthat Ogor had stolen out of the house as he had done on the previous\nday, and she thought he had most likely gone to join the small boys\u2019\ncompany as she had heard them playing in the town.\n\nBoth the women then went out to look for the boy, but could not find\nhim or any of his companions, as they had all returned to their\nparents\u2019 houses. They searched everywhere for Ogor, but could not\nfind him, so at last Omegha thought of the porcupine, and made up her\nmind to ask his advice as to what had happened to Ogor, and what was\nthe best thing to do to get him back again. She then walked to the\nporcupine\u2019s house and told him that she was in great grief as she had\nlost her only son Ogor, and could not find out what had become of him.\nOmegha then asked the porcupine to help her, which he promised to do.\nHe then went into his back room to consult his ju-ju, and, being very\nclever, it did not take him long to find out what had happened to the\nboy, so he soon returned to Omegha, and told her that her son had been\nthrown into the river by his companions, and that the water ju-ju had\ntaken him to his house at the bottom of the deep pool in the river.\n\nOmegha then went down to the beach with the porcupine, and, when\nthey arrived at the water\u2019s edge, the porcupine, who was a very good\nswimmer, at once dived into the river and swam to the water ju-ju\u2019s\nhouse. The porcupine then told the water ju-ju that he had promised to\nhelp Omegha, and asked if the boy was there. The water ju-ju replied\nthat he had saved Ogor\u2019s life as he was sorry for Omegha and her\nmother, who were poor people, and only had this one boy.\n\nHe then said that he had no objection to returning Ogor to his mother,\nand that the porcupine might take him away when he departed, but he\ninsisted that the boys who had thrown Ogor into the river should be\npunished, and told the porcupine to tell the chiefs of the town that,\nif they did not punish the boys very severely, he would seize everyone\nwho came into the river and keep them in his house for all time.\n\nThe water ju-ju also told the porcupine that he must take Ogor to his\nmother when it was dark, and hide him in the house until the palaver\nwas heard, so that no one should know that Ogor was alive.\n\nThe porcupine waited until the evening came, and then, having thanked\nthe water ju-ju for his kindness, swam off with Ogor, and took him\nto his mother\u2019s house, taking care to go by the back way so that no\none should see them. Omegha was delighted to get her son back again,\nand hid him away. She then thanked the porcupine, who went off to the\nchiefs of the town and delivered to them the message from the water\nju-ju.\n\nThe chiefs at once sent the drummer round the town to tell all the\npeople to attend at the palaver house the next day, that no one was\nto go to their farms, and that all the small boys of the town were to\nattend.\n\nIn the morning, the chiefs took their seats, and the people sat down\nall round them. The porcupine was then called upon to tell all the\npeople what had happened. So he stood up and said that Ogor, the son\nof Omegha, had been thrown into the river by his companions, they\nhaving first tied him up and fastened a heavy stone to him to make\nhim sink. They had then left him to drown, but the water ju-ju, being\nkind-hearted, had saved him.\n\nOgor was next called, to the great astonishment of the eight boys who\nthought he was dead. He pointed them all out, and told the chiefs which\nof the boys had tied him up and those who had carried him and thrown\nhim into the river.\n\nThe head chief then said that all the eight boys were guilty of trying\nto drown their companion, and that they should all be taken to the\nbeach and killed as a warning to other boys not to kill one another. He\nalso pointed out that the water ju-ju had threatened to seize all the\npeople who went into the river if the boys were not properly punished.\n\nAll the people agreed that it was a just sentence, but one chief,\ncalled Eka, refused to allow his son, who was one of the eight boys, to\nbe killed, and said he would see what the water ju-ju could do.\n\nAll that night, the mothers of the seven boys cried bitterly; and\nbegged the chief not to kill their sons, but he told them that the\nsentence must be carried out, as otherwise the water ju-ju would be\nangry and kill many people.\n\nThe next day, the seven boys were taken down to the beach and killed,\nand their fathers took their bodies home and buried them. The town then\nmourned for three days.\n\nThe head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go\nto the water ju-ju and tell him that the seven boys had been killed,\nbut that Chief Eka had refused to allow his son to be killed, and had\ndefied the water ju-ju to do his worst.\n\nSo the porcupine set off and dived into the river and reported to the\nwater ju-ju all that had happened. The water ju-ju said the head chief\nhad done quite right to kill the seven boys, as, had he not done so, he\nwould have made the people suffer very much. He also said that he would\ndeal with Chief Eka\u2019s son later on. Then the porcupine returned to the\nland and reported to the head chief all that the water ju-ju had said.\n\nWhen Chief Eka heard the threat of the water ju-ju he at once gave\norders to all his people that none of them were to go into the river,\nbut, that, if they wanted to wash, they must carry the water to their\nhouses for the purpose.\n\nThis was done for two years and nothing happened, but, in the\ncommencement of the third year, Chief Eka\u2019s son, thinking he was quite\nsafe, thought he would like to bathe, so he went down to the river and\nwent into the water as far as his knees; he then washed himself and\nreturned home. As nothing had happened to him the first day, he went\ndown again in the afternoon when the sun was not quite so hot, and\njumped into the deep water, but the water ju-ju, who was waiting for\nhim, at once seized him and dragged him out of sight under the water.\n\nThe people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy\ndisappear at once, guessed that it must be the water ju-ju who had\ntaken him, so they went and told Chief Eka what they had seen. When he\nheard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked him to go\nto the water ju-ju, and offer him two slaves if he would return his\nson. The porcupine agreed to go, providing Chief Eka gave him one slave\nand 500 rods for his trouble. The chief willingly agreed to this, and\nthe slave and rods were brought to the porcupine\u2019s house that very\nnight.\n\nIn the morning the porcupine went down to the river, and dived in as\nhe had done before, and swam to the water ju-ju\u2019s house and told him\nthat Chief Eka offered to give him two slaves if he would release his\nson. But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, \u201cTell Chief Eka, if he\nwants to see his son, let him look in the river in two days\u2019 time.\u201d So\nthe porcupine went back and delivered the message to Chief Eka, who was\nvery sorry as he was so fond of his son.\n\nTwo days afterwards, Chief Eka went down to the beach, where he saw the\ndead body of his son floating down the river, so he sent some men out\nin a canoe and they brought back the dead body and it was buried.\n\nEver since that time, the people of Inkum believe, when anyone is\ndrowned and his body floats after three days without being eaten by\nthe fish or crocodiles, that the water ju-ju has killed the dead man\nbecause he had done some evil thing.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 9.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXI.--HOW A FATHER TRIED TO KILL ONE OF HIS SONS BUT FAILED.\n\n\nOsewo of Inkum was a rich chief and had many slaves. He also had five\nwives, four of whom had two children each, but the fifth wife whose\nname was Agbor had no children. As a child did not come quickly to\nAgbor the chief used to beat her and use her very badly as he thought\nshe might never have a child and then he would have paid all the dowry\nand marriage expenses for nothing. Agbor bore all the ill-treatment\nshe received without complaining, and although her husband gave her\nno money (rods) or food, she remained faithful to him. A year later,\nhowever, she gave birth to a male child whom she called Agberamfe. This\ndid not alter the chief\u2019s feeling in any way towards her, and he took\na violent dislike to the little boy. Up to the time the infant was one\nyear old he never gave the mother or child a present, and when, as he\ngrew up, the father saw his little son playing about the house he\nnever called him to come to him or dashed him anything as he did to\nhis other children. Up to the time when the baby boy could walk about\nChief Osewo never told Agbor to come and sleep with him but she never\ncomplained to anyone. This caused the Chief to dislike her more than he\nhad done before, and he told some of his other wives that he believed\nthat Agbor was going about with other men. His servants, however,\ntold him that Agbor was quite faithful to him, but he would not be\nconvinced. After another year had passed, Osewo, having drunk a lot of\ntombo one evening, sent for Agbor to sleep with him, and in due course\nshe conceived and gave birth to a little girl baby whose name was \u2019Nse.\nEven this did not change the chief\u2019s dislike to his son Agberamfe, and\nby degrees he got to hate the boy, until at last, when the planting\nseason came round, he made up his mind to kill him, but he did not want\nto do this in such a way that any one could blame him.\n\nOsewo then called all his sons together and gave each of them a sharp\nmatchet, but to Agberamfe he gave a piece of iron. He then told the\nboys that he would take them into the bush the next day, to the place\nwhere he intended to make a farm, and that they should clear some\nground for him. The boys then went back to their different houses and\ntold their mothers what the chief had said. When Agberamfe saw his\nmother he told her that his father had given each of his brothers a\nmatchet but that he had received only a piece of iron to work with\nalthough he was the youngest of them all. Agbor at once thought that\nher husband must have some evil design upon her son; so that night\nshe went to the place where her husband was going to make his farm\nand saw the Queen of the White Ants. She told the Queen the whole of\nher sad story, and said that she feared that her husband would try to\ninjure her son. Then the Queen of the White Ants asked her what she\ncould do to help her. So Agbor asked the Queen to send all her people\nto the place where her son was going to work, and tell them to bite\nthrough the roots of the grass and bush so that her son could make a\nbig clearing with his piece of iron without any trouble. This the Queen\npromised to do, and Agbor thanked her.\n\nAgbor then went to the rabbit[2] who was a great friend of hers, and\nhaving told him her story, asked him to dig a hole underneath the bed\nof her husband so that he could hide there and hear what the chief said\nat night to his other wives in case he should be planning evil against\nher son, and Agbor also asked him to tell her every morning what he\nhad heard. The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief\u2019s\nbed so that he could hear all that passed in the room above him, and\nwhen it was dark he went into the hole to listen. In the evening when\nthe chief\u2019s favourite wife came to join him, the rabbit heard him tell\nher that the next day he was going to take all his sons into the bush\nto clear his farm, and that the one who was last in doing his share\nof work would be killed, and that all the boys would be placed in a\nline and he would tell them to clear the bush to where he would be\nstanding and that as he had given Agberamfe a piece of iron instead\nof a matchet, he was certain to be last and would be killed. When\nthe rabbit heard this he went off and told Agbor, who was very glad\nthat she had arranged matters with the Queen of the White Ants. When\nmorning came Chief Osewo went into the bush calling upon his sons to\nfollow him, but Agbor went with her son. The chief then placed the\nboys in a row and told them to clear the bush to the place where he\nwould be standing, and told them that the boy who finished last would\nbe killed as a warning to the others what would happen to them if they\ndid not work hard. He then went off 50 paces into the bush and gave the\nsignal to start. Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in\nthe place where the white ants were, and he started off cutting right\nand left with his piece of iron and everything fell before him so that\nhe very soon reached his father before the other boys had got so far\nas half way. This made the chief very angry. So he called out that he\nhad changed his mind, and told his sons to stop working and go home\nwithout finishing the work. Then for some time he did not try to injure\nAgberamfe. But when the rainy season came he made another plan to kill\nhim, which he told his wife at night, fortunately in the hearing of the\nrabbit, who told Agbor. The plan worked out as follows:--\n\nChief Osewo sent all his slaves to the other side of the river to cut\nthe leaves of the tombo palm to make roof mats with; they were also\nto take some rats with them and catch a crocodile. When they returned\nthey were to place eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road,\nand they were then to put the crocodile on the ground and cover him\nup with leaves for the ninth bundle. The slaves did as as they were\nordered, and after three days returned and reported to the chief that\neverything had been done as he had directed. Then the chief called his\nnine sons together and told them to go down to the beach one after the\nother and bring up a bundle of the leaves, and they were then to start\nmaking mats to repair the houses, but he told Agberamfe to go last\nbecause he was the youngest. Agbor, who was waiting outside, then gave\nher son some strong tie-tie which had been made into a running noose.\nShe also gave him a sharp spear and told him that he was to spear the\nbundle before he went near it as there was a crocodile hidden beneath\nthe leaves. She also told him that if the crocodile showed his head\nhe was to cast the noose round him and tie him up securely. Agberamfe\nthen went down to the beach and threw the spear as hard as he could at\nthe bundle. He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground\nand very soon it showed its head through the leaves, whereupon the\nboy threw the noose round its jaws and made it fast to a tree. He\nthen withdrew the spear and stabbed the crocodile until it was dead.\nAgberamfe then placed his bundle of leaves under the crocodile, and\nhaving got it on to his head carried it up to the house and placed it\nin front of his father. The chief was more angry than ever at this,\nand determined to make another plan that would not fail. So when the\ndry season came round he told his favourite wife at night time that\nhe had arranged with a blacksmith to kill the boy. That the next day\nhe would send Agbor\u2019s son to blow the bellows, and that when the iron\nwas red hot the blacksmith would plunge it into the boy\u2019s inside, and\nthat he would die in great pain. The rabbit, who was listening all\nthe time, told Agbor of the plan he had heard, and she warned her\nson not to blow the bellows, but to watch the blacksmith carefully\nIn the morning Chief Osewo told his son to go to the blacksmith and\nblow the bellows for him as he was making something for him. Agberamfe\nwent as he was told but he stood outside the shelter and watched the\nblacksmith very carefully until he saw him pull the red hot iron out of\nthe fire and make a dart for him. He was quite prepared, fortunately,\nand ran off home at once and told his father what had happened. His\nfather pretended to pity the boy, and told him that he would send him\nthe next day to his friend the leopard to look after him, and that he\nshould stay there for ten nights. In the evening Chief Osewo sent for\nthe leopard and told him that he was going to send his son Agberamfe\nto him for ten days, and that during that time he must contrive to\nkill him by stealth and send the boy\u2019s skin to him so that he might be\nquite sure that his son was dead at last. This time Agbor had no plan,\nbut she told Agberamfe to be very careful all the time he remained in\nthe leopard\u2019s house. The boy started off the next day, and when he\narrived at the house he was much surprised to find that the leopard was\nas rich as his father. After they had finished their evening meal the\nleopard told Agberamfe to sleep with his sons, but the boy suspecting\nthat the leopard had designs upon his life, waited until the leopard\u2019s\nsons had gone to sleep and then having placed a log in his bed went\noutside to sleep. The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it\nwas so dark that he could not see very distinctly, and killed the boy\nhe thought was Agberamfe, but he was mistaken and killed one of his\nown sons instead. The leopard was very angry when he found what he had\ndone, so that the next evening he shut the boy up in the goat house.\nBut Agberamfe very soon undid the fastening and got out, closing the\ndoor behind him. He then went to sleep in the same place where he had\nslept the previous night. About midnight the leopard brought fire and\nburnt the house down, thinking that he had made certain of the boy this\ntime. But when the morning came Agberamfe greeted the leopard as usual,\nmuch to his surprise. The leopard then went to the house he had burnt,\nand found that he had destroyed all his own goats, leaving the boy\nstill uninjured. This annoyed the leopard so much that he determined to\ntake the boy back to his father and not to try and kill him any more as\neach time he tried he did something to damage himself. The leopard then\nreturned the boy to his father, and said he could not kill him as he\nwas too cunning.\n\nBy this time, Agberamfe had grown into a fine good-looking young man.\nSome little time after the leopard had tried so unsuccessfully to kill\nthe boy, the Chief thought he would make a trial to see which of his\nsons liked him best. So the next day he told his wives not to wake\nhim as he was not feeling well. He woke up in the middle of the day\nand refused to eat until the evening. He then told his wives to sleep\nin their own houses as he was ill. In the morning he pretended to be\nvery weak. He shut his eyes and held his breath from time to time. The\nboys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute amongst\nthemselves as to what share of their father\u2019s property each should\ntake. But Agbor\u2019s son sat beside his father\u2019s bed the whole day. When\nthe night came the Chief saw that Agberamfe was looking sad, and told\nhim to go home to his mother, but the boy would not go, and told his\nfather that he was too fond of him to leave him and let him die alone.\nSo he stayed all that night with his father while his brothers were\nlaughing and playing outside, and the Chief clearly saw that they did\nnot care in the least that he was ill.\n\nThe following morning, the Chief got up from his bed, and having called\nall his people round him, explained the trial he had made, to see which\nof his sons loved him the most. Osewo also told him of the behaviour\nof his sons when they thought that their father was dying, and that\nAgberamfe had stayed by his side and looked after him all the time,\nalthough he had so often tried to kill him. The people then advised the\nChief to divide his property into two shares, so that when he died, one\nshare should belong to Agbor\u2019s son, who would be able to look after his\nsister; and the other share would be divided amongst the other eight\nboys. This the Chief did.\n\n_Moral._--It is not the one who makes the fire to boil the koko yams[3]\nwho is most likely to eat them. And it is not always the ones you love\nmost who will care most for you.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 10.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXII.--CONCERNING THE OKUNI WITCHES AND CANNIBALISM.\n\n\nIn Okuni, a long time ago, there dwelt a chief called \u2019Ndabu. He was\nconsidered to be a rich man in that part of the country, and was the\nowner of numerous slaves. He also had a large farm and many canoes.\nChief \u2019Ndabu was, however, not a happy man, as all the time he was\nyoung he never had a son who should inherit his property when he\ndied. On this account, he married thirty wives, but none of them had\na child. At last, the Chief consulted a ju-ju man, and gave him a big\n\u201cdash.\u201d The ju-ju man then made ju-ju, and finally told the Chief that\nthe only wife he had, by whom he could get a child was a woman called\nIya Agagim. He advised the chief to pull down all the houses where\nhis other wives lived and to send them away. He should then build an\nentirely new house for Iya Agagim, and make a sacrifice of a white goat\nand a white fowl, to which he should add a white piece of cloth which\nshould be tied up inside the door of the new house. The ju-ju man told\nthe chief not to sleep with anyone until the house was built, and that\nthen Iya Agagim was to go into the river and wash herself all over, and\nhaving thrown away all her old clothes, she was to put on a new cloth\nbefore she joined her husband so that she would be an entirely fresh\nwoman. When the chief heard this, he was very pleased, and went home.\n\nHaving called all his wives together, he told them what the ju-ju man\nhad advised him to do, and although he was very sorry to part with\nthem, still they would all have to go as he was determined to get a son\nif possible. That night all the wives cried bitterly. The following\nday the chief sent to his farm for yams which he gave to his wives,\nand many rods as a dash; he then sent them back to their respective\nparents. Iya Agagim was also sorry to lose her old companions. When\nthey had all departed the chief pulled down all the houses where they\nhad been living, and then built a new house on a different piece of\nground. When this was completed he made the sacrifices as he had\nbeen directed to do by the ju-ju man. Iya Agagim then went down to\nthe town beach on the Cross River and washed herself very carefully.\nShe then threw all her old clothes away and walked back to the house\nwhere she put on a new cloth and joined her husband. After a month had\nelapsed she found that she had conceived and told her husband, who was\ndelighted at the good news.\n\nThe chief then called a play for all the young men and young women of\nthe town, and told them what had happened. He also gave them plenty to\neat and drink so that they might rejoice with him in his good fortune.\nChief \u2019Ndabu then went to the ju-ju man, taking many presents with him,\nand having thanked him for his good advice which had turned out so\nwell, he then asked how many children he would have by his wife; and\nwhen the ju-ju man said he would have twenty-one children, he was very\nglad and went home, but he did not tell his wife. The chief then sent\nhis slaves off to the farm to make it larger, as in the future he would\nhave to make provision for a larger household. From the time Iya Agagim\nconceived, the chief kept her in the house, as he was afraid that if\nshe met any of his former wives they might be jealous, and try to do\nher some injury.\n\nIn due course, the woman gave birth to a boy baby, and the chief held\nanother big play which lasted for three days and nights, and much tombo\nwas drunk. Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having\ngiven him a big \u201cdash,\u201d asked whether the boy would live. The ju-ju\nman said that he would live, and that some day one of his sons would\ndiscover something which the Okuni people had never heard of or known\nbefore. Then the chief went home. Altogether Iya Agagim gave birth to\ntwenty-one children, and the last boy who was born was called Amoru.\nThe chief then knew that his wife would not bear any more children.\nAs they grew up, whenever he went to his farm, Chief \u2019Ndabu used to\ntake all his children with him, and there were many people in the town\nwho were very jealous of him on account of his large family. At last,\nsome of the townspeople met together and decided to get rid of the\nchief and all his family. One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who\nwas a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief \u2019Ndabu\u2019s house\nat night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju\nwhich the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful\nagainst witches and might kill him. At last, he thought of a plan, so\nhe went to one of Chief \u2019Ndabu\u2019s former wives, who was called Elilli,\nand asked her what sort of ju-ju her former husband had to protect\nhim against witches. Elilli then asked him why he wanted to know,\nso the chief told her that they were tired of Chief \u2019Ndabu and all\nhis family, and wanted to kill them, but that they were afraid of his\nju-ju. Elilli said that she was also very jealous of Iya Agagim having\nso many children, and that as she was a witch herself she would like\nto join with Chief Elullo and kill the whole family. Elilli said that\nthe safest way to dispose of them all was to put a witch into Amoru\nthe last born, and that he would take them to his father\u2019s house so\nthat they would not then do anything contrary to the chief\u2019s protecting\nju-ju. Chief Elullo then invited Chief \u2019Ndabu to dine with him, and\nasked him to bring his wife and all his children. The chief gladly\naccepted the invitation and Elullo prepared large quantities of palm\noil chop and tombo for his guests. One portion of the food he set aside\nfor the boy Amoru, and this portion was bewitched. In the evening Chief\n\u2019Ndabu came with his family, and they all enjoyed their dinner. But\nthe prepared food had been given to Amoru who eat it. After they had\ndined, they all went home and, shortly afterwards, went to bed. During\nthe night, Chief Elullo turned himself into a witch-bird (the owl) and\nwent to \u2019Ndabu\u2019s house, where he called the boy whom he had witched.\nBy this time a lot of witches had arrived, and when Amoru came out he\nwas surprised to see so many people. Chief Elullo then cautioned the\nboy never to tell anyone what he saw, and then took him to the place\nwhere they cooked human food, and gave him a piece of flesh and some\nyam to eat. Amoru eat the yam, but took the flesh home and hid it. He\nhid the meat inside his mother\u2019s fire-place, and covered it over with\npots. Although he never spoke about what he had seen, he could not help\nwondering how it was that he could go in and out of the house when all\nthe doors were fastened. The next night when he heard the witches play\nin the town, he was compelled by the witch inside him to go and join\nthem, and found when he got to the cooking place that a man had been\nkilled and hung up to the branch of a tree by his neck. Chief Elullo\ntold the boy that they were going to eat the dead man as they had\neaten the man the previous night, and that he should have his share\nas before. Amoru was very frightened when he saw what was done, but\ndared not say anything. The dead man was then cut up and cooked with\nyams. When the food was sufficiently cooked it was divided amongst the\nwitches who sat down and eat it, but Amoru only eat the yam and took\nthe meat home and hid it in the same place. Every night for a month and\na half the boy attended the feast of the witches, and either a man or\na woman was always killed and eaten; but Amoru always took his piece\nof flesh home and placed it with the other meat. All this time Chief\n\u2019Ndabu had been making sacrifices to his ju-ju to protect him against\nwitchcraft, and he used to call all his sons together to sit round the\nju-ju while the sacrifices were being made, but Amoru sat outside as he\nwas afraid to go near his father\u2019s ju-ju on account of the witch in him.\n\nOne night when the boy went to the feast the witches told him that it\nwas his turn to provide a body for food, but Amoru said he was too\nyoung and had no one to give. Then Chief Elullo said, you have a father\nand mother and plenty of brothers and sisters, we shall be pleased to\neat any of them. But still the boy refused, saying that he was much\ntoo fond of his people to have them killed for the witches\u2019 food. Chief\nElullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had\nseen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that\nhe had received his share although the people who had been killed and\neaten were the dear relations of some of the witches. Amoru then begged\nthe witches to have another round and that when it came to his turn\nagain he would give either his father or mother up to be eaten. To this\nthey all agreed, and they went on in their usual way killing and eating\na man or a woman every night: but Amoru never eat his share. The witch\npeople used to play every night from the time other people went to bed\nuntil cock crow when they were obliged to go home. When the time came\nfor Amoru to supply a man to be eaten, he began to get frightened. So\nat last he made up his mind to tell his eldest brother, whose name was\nNkanyan, all about the witches and the difficulty he was in. Amoru then\ngot his big brother to go into the bush with him so that no one could\nhear what he said, and then told him how he had been made a witch in\nsecret and was compelled to attend the meetings where the dead bodies\nwere eaten, but he explained that he had not eaten any of the human\nflesh, having hidden it in the fireplace. Amoru then said, \u201cthe time\nhas now arrived when I have to produce a man or a woman for the witches\nto eat, and they want my father or mother or one of us children, but\nas I do not want to give them anyone I thought I would get you to help\nme as you are big and strong.\u201d At first Nkanyan could not believe his\nyoung brother\u2019s story, so Amoru brought him to the place where he had\nhidden the meat, and showed it to him asking him not to tell anyone as\nhe had thought of a plan. Amoru then told his brother to lie down in a\nbed opposite the door, but that he was not to go to sleep. He was to\narm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was\nto stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his\narm raised ready to strike. Amoru also said, \u201cone of the witches will\npresent the calabash holding \u2018the night\u2019 three times, and on the third\ntime you must smash the \u2018night\u2019 calabash[4] with your matchet, and it\nwill at once become light.\u201d He told his brother to be brave and not to\nmake a noise or tell anyone until the calabash was broken. He must then\ncall out to the people who must catch the witches and tie them up.\n\nAmoru told Nkanyan that when the time came he would hide under one\nof the beds, but the witches would run outside, and could be easily\ndistinguished from the other people, as they would be all naked.\n\nThat evening, after all the people had gone to bed, the witches met as\nusual for their feast and play, and Amoru went and joined them. Chief\nElullo said it was Amoru\u2019s turn to provide a body for food and asked\nhim who he was going to give. Amoru replied that he would give them\nhis eldest brother Nkanyan. The chief then told the people to take the\nnight calabash with them, and to bring Nkanyan out of his father\u2019s\nhouse, but Amoru asked Elullo to lead the people, as he was the chief\nof the witches. To this the chief agreed, and Amoru showed the way to\nhis father\u2019s house, and having opened the door showed them the bed\nwhere Nkanyan was supposed to be sleeping.\n\nThen the man presented the \u201cnight\u201d calabash towards Nkanyan three\ntimes, but as he held it out for the third time, Nkanyan hit it with\nhis matchet and smashed it to pieces with one blow. Directly this had\nbeen done, it became light at once, and all the witches were discovered\nnaked, and at once started screaming and running away, trying to hide.\n\nBut Nkanyan called out in a loud voice for everyone to come out and\nseize the witches, and very soon they were all caught and securely\nfastened up. The people then took the witches to the palaver house, and\nChief \u2019Ndabu sent word to the other chiefs that they would be tried at\nonce.\n\nThe big wooden drum was then beaten to call the people together. The\npeople of the town were much surprised that the night had been so\nshort, but when they heard that the night calabash had been broken and\nthe witches captured, they were very glad, and went to have a look at\nthem.\n\nChief \u2019Ndabu told the chiefs what had happened in his house the\nprevious night.\n\nWhen all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were very\nfew chiefs present as most of them and the head men had joined the\nwitches\u2019 society.\n\nAmoru was then called upon to give evidence. He told the people all\nthat had happened and the number of people he had seen killed and\neaten. He also produced the basket of human flesh which had been given\nhim as his share.\n\nNkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to\nkill him, but he had broken their ju-ju calabash and turned the night\ninto day, when all the naked witches were caught.\n\nThe chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk in\nfront of the witches. When they returned they ordered the witches to be\ntied up to trees and burnt alive, but Chief Elullo, being the leader\nwas tortured and kept alive for some time. They cut small bits of flesh\nfrom him, and cooked it before his eyes. They then made him eat his own\nmeat. After a time he died in great agony. His body was then burnt all\nexcept the skull which would not burn, so the people cut it into pieces\nwith an axe and threw the broken pieces on the fire. The basket of meat\nwhich Amoru brought was also burnt.\n\nThe sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their parents,\nbut they were glad that all the witches in the town had been caught and\ndisposed of.\n\nThe chiefs then consulted together as to how they should get the witch\nout of Amoru. They decided that he should be sent to a ju-ju man named\nEwo who could take witches out of people, and they agreed to pay his\ncharges, which amounted to one slave, between them.\n\nSo Amoru went to Ewo, the ju-ju man, and he took the witch out of his\nheart and put it under a rock.\n\nWhen the boy returned to Okuni, he told the people that he was quite\ncured and was no longer a witch man.\n\nThe chiefs were very glad to hear of this, and sent Amoru round the\ntowns, when he received many presents of cloth, rods, and tombo.\n\nThe people then collected all the ashes of the witches who had been\nburnt and threw them into the river, saying they had got rid of all the\nwitches in their town.\n\nThe chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a\nbig play was held.\n\nA month later Chief \u2019Ndabu died and his funeral was attended by all\nthe chiefs and people of the town. His body was dressed up in his best\nclothes and it was made to sit up in a chair, some of his wives fanning\nit to keep the flies off. It was kept there for three days, and the\nchiefs sat round the dead body and eat their food, but each mouthful\nwas first offered to the dead man to eat. Those people who were very\nfond of \u2019Ndabu went so far as to touch his mouth with the food before\nthey eat it.\n\nThe body was then wrapped up in sleeping mats and buried, and many rods\nand pieces of cloth were placed in the grave.\n\nNkanyan then took the place of his father and looked after his mother\nand brothers and sisters, who lived in peace and died natural deaths\nwithout being troubled by witches.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[E.D., 16.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXIII.--OF CHIEF AMAZA, HIS WIFE ACHI AND THE TORTOISE.\n\n\nAchi was a fine-looking Okuni woman, the wife of Chief Amaza. He was\nvery fond of her and would not have any other wives.\n\nShe lived with her husband for some time, and eventually conceived. The\nchief then told his wife that she was not to go out of the house as she\nmight give birth to the child when there was no one about to help her.\n\nAbout this time a ju-ju man called Nkendeng was driven out of the Okuni\ntowns into the bush near Insofan because he used to kill people with a\npoison called Ekpinon.\n\nWhen the dry season came, it was the custom of the Okuni women to go\ninto the bush to the small rivers, and having dammed them up with\nsticks and clay, they would bale the water out and catch the fish.\nAs a rule they stayed out in the bush for several days, and on these\noccasions the married women were accompanied by their husbands, and the\nyoung women would have their men friends.\n\nAs Achi was skilful at catching fish, she begged her husband to allow\nher to go, but he refused on account of her condition. Achi was,\nhowever, determined to go and bothered her husband so much that at\nlast he consented and they started off together.\n\nChief Amaza did not take any of his slaves with him as he did not\nwish to stay more than two days in the bush on account of his wife\u2019s\ncondition.\n\nWhen they arrived at the river, which was close to where the ju-ju man\nlived, they found that most of the people had already dried their fish\nand were returning home. The chief then begged his wife to go back with\nthe other people to the town as he was afraid of the ju-ju man. But\nAchi refused, and said she had taken a lot of trouble to come all the\nway from Okuni and she would not go back without some fish. When the\nchief saw that his wife was determined to stay, he made a bush shelter\nfor them both to sleep in.[5]\n\nAmongst the people who came to the fishing was the tortoise, who\nhad made his shelter near the source of the stream. He did not fish\nhimself, but he brought his drum with him and a large bag. In the\nevenings the tortoise used to play his drum very skilfully for the\npeople to dance, and as a reward they used to give him dried fish,\nwhich he put in the bag.\n\nThe next day the few remaining people packed up their fish and returned\nto Okuni, but the tortoise remained behind, as he hoped to get some\nfish out of Achi and her husband.\n\nAchi and her husband went fishing that day, and caught a lot of fish\nbetween them, which they dried on sticks in the smoke of the fire at\nnight.\n\nThe next morning Achi was not feeling well, so she told her husband to\ngo and fish by himself. Achi was quite alone, when suddenly she felt\npains, and shortly afterwards the child she was expecting was born. She\nthen called for her husband to come and help her, but he could not hear.\n\nThe ju-ju man, however, had heard the child cry, and came to Achi at\nonce and assisted her by boiling water for her to wash with. He then\ntook the child up and washed it, and placed it on some soft dry leaves\non the ground.\n\nHe then asked Achi what she would give him as a reward for the trouble\nhe had taken. But Achi said \u201cI have nothing to give you. Wait until my\nhusband returns.\u201d But the ju-ju man said, \u201cI know what you are thinking\nof, you want to put me off with a present of some fish, but I do not\nintend to accept anything of the sort. Nothing will content me but the\nhead of your baby, which I intend to give to my Ekpinon ju-ju.\u201d When\nAchi heard this she began to cry, and while she was crying her husband\ncame in, but no sooner did he see the ju-ju man than he threw his load\nof fish on the ground and ran off to the nearest farm as fast as he\ncould go.\n\nShortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter,\nand he found the ju-ju man preparing to cut the baby\u2019s head off,\nand Achi weeping and imploring him to spare her new-born baby. The\ntortoise then asked the ju-ju man some questions, and at last agreed\nthat he should take the baby\u2019s head, but that he should leave the\nbody. He then reminded the ju-ju man that, when anyone was going to be\nkilled, it was the custom to beat the drum and march the victim to the\nslaughter place. The ju-ju man agreed that there was such a custom, so\nthe tortoise went off and fetched his drum.\n\nVery soon afterwards he returned, and commenced to play and sing, and\nhe played so well that the ju-ju man felt compelled to dance. The\ntortoise then beat his drum louder and louder, and faster and faster,\ntelling the ju-ju man to dance further off, as he would hear the\ndrum better. He did so, but very soon returned to see that Achi and\nher child was safe. He continued to dance a little way off, and then\nreturned two or three times, until the tortoise told him that he could\ndance as far off as he liked, as he was there to look after Achi. He\nthen went further away each time until the sixth time, coming back\nalways to look at the child.\n\nThe tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away,\nshe was to pick up her baby and cover it with her cloth, and then run\nby the nearest path, which he pointed out to her, to a farm which was\nnot far off, and where he thought her husband had gone to.\n\nWhen the ju-ju man had gone some little distance, Achi picked up\nher baby, and ran off as fast as she could go. The ju-ju man then\nreturned, and the tortoise drew in his head and legs into his shell,\nbut the ju-ju man was so angry at losing the baby that he picked up\nthe tortoise and carried it home. He then placed the tortoise on the\nground in front of his ju-ju, and drove a stake through his body, and\nsaid to the ju-ju, \u201cThis is the man who stole Achi\u2019s baby from me, and\nprevented me from making a human sacrifice for you, so you must take\nhim instead.\u201d\n\nAchi reached the farm safely, and found her husband, who took her away\nat once to Abijon, a town about five miles inland from Okuni. He then\nconsulted a lot-caster called Aja as to the baby\u2019s future, and asked\nhim whether the child would live or die as the ju-ju man had seen him.\n\nAja placed his mats on the ground, and having sat down with his legs\ncrossed, he cast lots. He soon discovered that the tortoise had\nsacrificed himself for the child, and that the child would therefore\nlive, but he warned the chief that the Ekpinon ju-ju walked about when\nthe sun was high up in the sky, and that he must never allow the child\nto go out in the middle of the day, as the ju-ju would kill him. The\nchief, with his wife and child, stayed three months at Abijon, and then\nreturned to Okuni.\n\nSince that time tortoises have always been sacrificed to the Ekpinon\nju-ju, and the Okuni people always warn their children never to go out\nin the middle of the day, when the sun is high up, as they might meet\nthe Ekpinon ju-ju without knowing it, and when they returned home they\nwould get sick and die.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman dancer.--[E.D., 17.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXIV.--THE FATE OF AGBOR THE HUNTER, WHO KILLED HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.\n\n\nAgbor was an Okuni man, and was married to a woman named Awo, by whom\nhe had two children, but they were both girls, much to his annoyance,\nas he wanted a boy who would be able to help him with his work when he\ngrew up.\n\nAgbor was a hunter and a trapper, and it was his custom to set traps\nall along the road to the boundary where the Okuni farms joined up\nwith Insofan. Every morning he would start off with his bow and arrows\nto inspect his traps and take out anything he found in them, and\nsometimes, if he were lucky, he would shoot a buck or bush pig.\n\nWhen he returned in the evening, Agbor used to worry his wife and tell\nher that he wanted a son, until at last Awo told her husband that, as\nshe did not appear to be lucky with her children, he had better save up\nand buy a slave who could help him. This Agbor did, and after a time\nhe managed to buy a slave called Edim. The slave always went with his\nmaster into the bush, and helped him with his trap-setting and carried\nthe heavy loads.\n\nOne day Agbor caught a small bird in one of his traps, so he took it\nout very carefully and carried it home. He then made a cage for it,\nand fed it with seeds. Agbor warned his wife and two children that\nthey were on no account to touch the bird, as he was very fond of it,\nand did not want any harm to happen to it. Then, for some time, Agbor\ntook much trouble in taming the bird, and taught it to sing. In the\nevenings, when he returned from hunting, he used to take the bird round\nto some of the chiefs and head men of the town, and the bird used to\nsing to them. This pleased the chiefs so much that they used to give\nAgbor presents of tombo and yams.\n\nOne day, while Agbor and his slave Edim were absent in the bush\nhunting, one of Awo\u2019s daughters opened the cage and let the bird fly\naway.\n\nWhen the hunter returned, he found that his pet bird had gone, and\nhe was very angry indeed, so he asked his wife who had let the bird\ngo, and Awo told him. Agbor then got a cutting whip, and flogged his\ndaughter very severely until the blood ran. Awo was much annoyed with\nher husband for beating the child, so she packed up all her things, and\nsaid she was going to return to her parents and would take her children\nwith her. But Agbor would not let her go, and told her to go to bed and\ntake her children with her.\n\nAgbor then got his matchet, and having sharpened it on a stone, went\ninto the house and cut his wife\u2019s head off, and then killed his two\nchildren. When he had done this he was frightened, and ran away into\nthe bush and hid himself.\n\nThe next morning at daylight Edim the slave went to wake his master as\nusual to go out and visit the traps, but he found that the hunter was\nabsent. Edim then opened the door of Awo\u2019s room, and looked in. There\nhe saw the floor was covered with blood, and the three dead bodies were\nlying together on the bed.\n\nEdim then ran out of the house shouting, and told the people of the\ntown what he had seen, and that Agbor was not in the house. The people\nthen went to the house to look at Awo and her children, and the father\nand brothers of Awo at once armed themselves and set off into the bush\nto find Agbor.\n\nAfter searching for some time they found him setting one of his traps,\nso they surrounded and caught him; then, having tied him up securely\nwith his hands behind his back, they brought him into the town and\nhanded him over to the head chief.\n\nThe chief asked Agbor who had killed Awo and the two children, and he\nreplied that he had done so as they had made him angry. He told the\nchief that one daughter had let his pet bird fly away, and when he\nflogged her the mother had threatened to leave him and to take the\nchildren with her. The chief told Agbor that he had no right to kill\nhis wife and children, and sentenced Agbor to be killed by degrees.\n\nHe was then led away and tied up to a post in the middle of the town. A\nman with a sharp knife then cut off Agbor\u2019s left hand. But Agbor said\nnothing, much to the disappointment of the people, who wished to hear\nhim shout. So the torturer said, \u201cDo you feel any pain, Agbor?\u201d and he\nreplied \u201cNo.\u201d After a short time the man cut off Agbor\u2019s right hand,\nand as he still remained quiet, the man asked him, \u201cHow do you feel\nnow, Agbor?\u201d He replied as before, that he did not feel any pain. Then\nthey cut off his left foot, and still Agbor remained quiet.\n\nThe people were not at all satisfied with this, so they lit a fire and\nput Agbor\u2019s right leg into it. The pain of the burning was so great\nthat Agbor screamed with agony, but the people laughed and told him\nthat he was now feeling what death was like, and to remember how he had\nkilled his wife and children. Agbor implored the people to kill him at\nonce, but they refused, and left him tied up to the post, where he died\nduring the night from loss of blood.\n\nWhen Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was cut\noff and given to him, and the body was buried.\n\nHe then buried the head for two weeks, until the ants and maggots had\nremoved the flesh. He then dug the skull up again, and placed it on the\nground outside the door of his house.\n\nThen, every morning when he went out, he would hit the skull with his\nchewing-stick which he cleaned his teeth with, and say, \u201cAh, you killed\nmy daughter, but I conquered you.\u201d\n\nFrom that time, whenever the Okuni people go to war, they put the\nskulls of their enemies whom they have killed on the ground, so that\nthey can show them to all people as the heads of their enemies whom\nthey have slain, and they always hit them with their chewing-sticks\nwhen they go out in the morning, saying, \u201cI conquered you; I conquered\nyou.\u201d\n\nTold by Ennenni of Okuni.--[E.D., 19.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXV.--WHAT HAPPENED AT OKUNI WHEN ANYONE WAS KILLED BY ACCIDENT.\n\n\nMany years ago there were two small boys living at Okuni, named Ori\nNamfup and Ori, they were great friends and always used to play\ntogether. One day in the rainy season when the native pear trees were\ncovered with fruit, Ori said to his friend let us climb up to the top\nof two of these pear trees, and when we are high up we can play at\nstoning one another. They very soon climbed up to the highest branches\nof the trees, collecting the fruit as they went, and started throwing\nthem at one another, when suddenly Ori lost his hold and fell to the\nground, breaking his neck. Ori Namfup was very frightened, and ran into\nthe town and told the people that Ori had fallen from a tree, and was\ndead. His friends then came and carried the body of Ori to the head\nchief. When the father of Ori heard that his son was dead, he went\nto the chief and demanded that Ori Namfup\u2019s father should give him\ntwo slaves to replace the son he had lost. But the chief refused, and\nsaid that as Ori had been killed accidentally it was not right that\ntwo slaves should be given as compensation. But Ori\u2019s father being\nobstinate and very headstrong, insisted upon his claim so fiercely\nthat the chief gave in and ordered the slaves to be paid. Ori Namfup\u2019s\nfather then bought two slaves and handed them over to Ori\u2019s father, in\norder to settle the matter and so that there should be no bad feeling\nbetween them.\n\nThe chiefs then made a law that, for the future, whenever a man killed\nanother by accident, he should pay two slaves to the father of the dead\nman, but he should not be killed as he would have been if he had killed\nthe man on purpose.\n\nTold by Ennenni of Okuni.--[E.D., 19.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXVI.--HOW OGHABI POISONED HIS FRIEND OKPA AND FAMILY, OR WHY A HOST\nSHOULD ALWAYS EAT FIRST FROM THE FOOD WHICH HE GIVES TO HIS GUESTS.\n\n\nOghabi and Okpa both lived at Inkum. They had always been great friends\nsince they were boys, and when they grew up they made farms in the same\nplace and used to feed together. As they became richer they bought\nslaves and canoes and lived in separate houses, each man having one\nwife. At last Oghabi became tired of the farming work and told his\nfriend that he was going to be a hunter. He said that by his hunting he\nhoped to grow richer, as he intended to go from town to town and sell\nthe meat of the animals he killed while Okpa could be looking after the\nfarm.\n\nFor some time all went well with Oghabi, and he made a lot of money by\nselling his dried meat, but one day he went into the forest with two of\nhis slaves and met with misfortune. He had hunted all day, and killed\nseveral buck, and when the evening came he skinned the animals, and\nhaving cut them in half placed the meat over the fire to dry in the\nsmoke. He then went to sleep with the two slaves.\n\nDuring the night a large python came and took one of Oghabi\u2019s legs in\nhis mouth and swallowed it up to the thigh.\n\nOkhabi woke up in great fear and yelled for help, he tried to stand up\nbut could not do so, as his leg was down the snake\u2019s throat. He then\ncalled for his hunting knife which one of the slaves gave him, the\nother slave called Odo snatched a burning stick from the fire and ran\noff to call Okpa to come and help. But before Okpa arrived Oghabi had\ncut the snake\u2019s mouth and body right down with his hunting knife and\nreleased his leg. The leg was so swollen and inflamed that he could\nnot walk. Okpa arrived shortly afterwards with his wife and together\nwith the help of the slaves they carried Oghabi and the meat he had\nkilled back to his house. Okpa then went home with his wife, but the\nnext morning he went to enquire after his friend, and having stayed a\nshort time he went home again. Later in the day Okpa\u2019s wife came to\nsee Oghabi and had a conversation with his wife. She said she thought\nthere must be something wrong about what had happened the night before\nas it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore\nadvised Oghabi\u2019s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. After\nshe had gone home Oghabi\u2019s wife told her husband what Okpa\u2019s wife had\nsaid, and Oghabi agreed and sent off for the ju-ju man at once. When\nthe man came he consulted his skull and then said: \u201cIt was your best\nfriend who sent the snake to kill you but I will not mention his name\nunless you promise to revenge yourself upon him.\u201d As Oghabi only had\none good friend he did not want to promise what the ju-ju man asked,\nbut his wife, who had great faith in the ju-ju man, at last persuaded\nhim to pass his word. The ju-ju man then said, \u201cIt was your friend Okpa\nwho sent the big snake to swallow you as he is envious of your being a\nhunter and making more money than him.\u201d Oghabi would not believe this\nat first, but his wife convinced him after much argument that what the\nju-ju man had said was true. From that day Oghabi grew to hate his\nfriend, and when he recovered from the injuries he had received from\nthe snake he began to plot as to how he should revenge himself upon\nOkpa and his wife. At last he decided to poison them as he did not wish\nto kill them openly with a matchet. Having got some strong poison from\nthe ju-ju man he told his wife to prepare palm oil chop for Okpa and\nhis family. While she was getting the food ready Oghabi went out and\nmade some tombo, and when he returned he divided the tombo into two\ncalabashes, one large and one small. Into the large calabash he placed\nsome of the poison, and the remainder he put in the palm oil chop. He\nthen got ready and went with his wife to Okpa\u2019s house taking the two\ncalabashes of tombo and the palm oil chop with him. When they arrived\nOkpa received them gladly and ordered food to be prepared at once. When\nthe food was ready Okpa and his wife sat down and eat it and drank the\ntombo from the small calabash. Oghabi then told Okpa and his wife that\nthey could eat the food which they had brought for them, and when they\nhad finished they could drink the tombo in the big calabash. Okpa and\nhis wife then called their children together and sat down and eat the\npoisoned food and drank the tombo, but Okpa\u2019s youngest son would not\neat or drink anything.\n\nWhen they had finished Oghabi said he should go home but Okpa begged\nhim to stay. Oghabi, however, refused and started off home with his\nwife. When they had reached half way and were sitting down to rest,\nOkpa\u2019s youngest son came running up to them and implored them to return\nwith him and help his father as they were all very ill and in great\npain. Oghabi said, \u201crun back home at once and tell your father that I\nwill come directly I have been home, and will bring some medicine which\nwill make them vomit and they will then get well.\u201d\n\nBut Oghabi never went back to Okpa\u2019s house until the next morning, when\nhe found they were all dead except Okpa\u2019s youngest son who was crying.\nOghabi was very glad at what he saw, and the boy noticed that Oghabi\ndid not cry, so he went and reported everything to the chief.\n\nThe chief sent for Oghabi and his wife and called the chiefs of the\ntown together to hold palaver. The boy told them how Oghabi had brought\nfood for his people the previous night and that he was the only one\nwho had not eaten any, and all the others had died soon after Oghabi\nleft the house. He also told the chief that Oghabi and his wife had\nnot eaten any of the food, and that when he saw his friend and all his\nfamily were dead that he had not cried. The chief then asked Oghabi\nwhether he had tasted the food he brought for Okpa, and Oghabi replied\nthat he had done so and that his wife had cooked and eaten some of the\nfood. As there was no one besides the boy to give evidence the chief\nsaid he could not treat Oghabi as a poisoner. He therefore took him to\nhis ju-ju and made him swear that he had not killed Okpa, and that if\nhe had the ju-ju should kill him. Oghabi\u2019s wife swore also.\n\nThe chief then sent word all round the towns that as Okpa and his\nfamily had been poisoned, for the future whenever anyone gave another\nperson tombo, foo-foo, palm oil chop, or anything else to eat or drink,\nthey must first partake of it themselves, to show that it was not\npoisoned.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[20.6.10.]\n\n_Author\u2019s Note._\n\nIt is a universal custom throughout the district that when food or\ndrink is brought for strangers the provider of the food should first\ntaste it, to show that it is not poisoned.\n\nIn connection with the above it may be of interest to note the\nformalities which are invariably observed whenever tombo is brought for\npeople to drink, even when there are only a few present.\n\nThe \u201cpourer out\u201d (Ka-ammum (Ingor) pour drink) takes the demijon or\ncalabash of tombo in his right hand and places it on his knee, then he\ntakes a glass or small calabash in his left hand and having poured a\nlittle tombo into the glass he presents it to the chief or the head man\npresent, who makes a little speech asking God (Ossor wor) to be good\nto them to prevent their children from dying, and to give them good\nyam crops, etc. He then throws the tombo on the ground. Having handed\nthe glass back, it is filled and given to the chief\u2019s small boy, who\nstands behind him, to drink. The \u201cpourer out\u201d then pours out a glass\nand drinks it himself. After that the next glass is given to the chief\nwho throws it on the ground as a libation to the dead ancestors, then\nthe glass will be filled again, and the chief drinks it.\n\nThe tombo is then poured out glass after glass and handed round until\nthere is only one glass left in the calabash and that is drunk by the\nchief\u2019s small boy who drank the first glass, he leaves a little in the\nbottom of the glass and gives it to the chief who throws the contents\non the ground to propitiate the evil spirits.\n\nThe reason that the glass is presented with the left hand of the\n\u201cpourer out\u201d is, that formerly the natives were afraid of being seized\nby the hand, when they held out the tombo, by some man who would seize\nthem on behalf of a third person who owed him a debt, and if they held\nthe glass out in their right hand and were caught by it they could not\nget at their knives which are worn on their right side, to protect\nthemselves. On all other occasions things are given and taken with the\nright hand as the left hand is looked upon as \u201cunclean\u201d for certain\nreasons, and it is considered in consequence an insult to offer or take\nanything with the left hand. Natives eat their food with their right\nhands only.--[E.D., 20.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXVII.--HOW CHIEF ALANKOR AND ALL HIS FAMILY WERE KILLED BY A BIG FROG,\nOR WHY THE COCK CROWS AT DAWN.\n\n\nA long time ago, Chief Alankor was one of the head chiefs of Ikom, he\nwas rich and powerful. This chief had five wives and several children\nby each, but he disliked them all with the exception of the last born\nwhose name was Eba. Wherever he went, whether it was into the forest to\nfell timber for making canvas, or to visit neighbouring towns, he used\nto take his little son with him and spoil him in many ways.\n\nWhen all the people were working, including the women and children\non the farm, Eba always stood with his father in the shade of a tree\nthroughout the heat of the day, and when it was time to go home in\nthe evening, and all the others were carrying heavy loads, some of\nfirewood, and others of food, Eba only carried his father\u2019s bag,\ncontaining his snuff and horn. After the bush had been cut and burnt,\nand the ground prepared for the farm the Chief waited until some\nheavy rains had fallen, and then proceeded to distribute the yams for\nplanting. Eba carried the yams round for the others to plant. As he\nwas putting the yams into the basket, he took a great fancy to one\nparticular yam-tail which he thought he would like to take home and\neat, so he placed the yam-tail behind the tree where his father was\nstanding, and then took the remaining yams out to the people on the\nfarm to plant. When the work for the day was finished, and it was time\nto go home, Chief Alankor called his people together and started off,\nEba carrying his father\u2019s bag as usual, but he entirely forgot his\nyam-tail which he had left behind the tree until they got half way\nhome. Eba then told his father, that he wished to return to the farm as\nhe had left something behind which he wanted to get.\n\nHis father told him that it was most unusual for anyone to return to\nthe farm after the work was over as it was well known that anyone\ngoing back might meet some evil thing. But Eba said he was not afraid,\nand as his father did not like to refuse his favourite son anything\nhe allowed him to go, and told his people to sit down and wait until\nEba came back. Eba then hurried back to the place where he had left\nhis yam-tail, but when he got there he found the yam-tail was turning\nitself into a frog, which grew larger and larger every moment. Eba was\nvery frightened, but continued to look at the frog until suddenly he\ncaught its eye, when he dropped down dead.\n\nChief Alankor waited for some time for Eba, and as he did not come,\nsent two of his slaves back to fetch him, and then went on with the\nrest of his people.\n\nSoon after they reached the house, food was brought for the chief, but\nhe could not eat anything as he was anxious about his favourite son,\nand was expecting him to return with the two slaves every minute. When\nit became dark, as they did not return, Alankor sent four more slaves\nafter the other two, and told them to search the farm all over for his\nson, but they did not return either.\n\nThe chief became more anxious as it got later, and there were no signs\nof any of the people he had sent out, so just before midnight he sent\neight more slaves with fire-brands, to help in the search. When the day\nwas about to break, and there was no message from any of his people,\nChief Alankor became thoroughly frightened, and called the rest of his\nslaves together, and having armed them with bows and arrows to protect\nthemselves, he sent them off after the others and warned them to be\nvery careful how they went. As nothing was heard from the last lot, the\nchief armed himself and his sons, and told his wives that he was going\nhimself to look for Eba and the slaves who were lost.\n\nHe then started off. As the chief did not return, the wives and\ndaughters went out to the farm to look for him and try to find out what\nhad happened to everybody, thus leaving the house deserted except for\nthe cattle and the fowls. When the morning came, the cock went to the\ncow, the sheep and goats, and said, \u201cAs our master is missing we should\nall go and look for him.\u201d So they started off, the cow leading the way,\nfollowed by the goats and sheep, and then came the hens and chickens,\nbut the cock stayed some distance behind them all.\n\nWhen they reached the farm, the cock flew up to the top of a high tree\nto watch and see what happened to everybody. On looking round the farm\nhe saw the bodies of Chief Alankor and all his family, including the\nslaves, lying on the ground apparently dead. Some little distance off\nhe saw a creature like a gigantic frog covered with hair, sitting down\nwith its head bent down, as he watched the cow and other animals walked\npast the monster, and as they looked in its eyes they fell down dead,\none after the other.\n\nThe cock was very frightened, and flew down from the top of his tree\nand ran off as fast as he could to his friend the rabbit, and told him\nwhat had happened to his master and all his household, including the\nanimals and hens.\n\nThe rabbit said that he thought he could bring the Chief and all his\npeople back to life again, but they must be very careful not to let the\nfrog look at them as if he did they would surely die. They then set off\ntogether for the farm, but they went by a different path so as to come\nin at the back of the frog. The rabbit then began burrowing, and the\ncock went into the bush and cut some strong tie-tie one end of which\nhe made fast to a tree. He then sat down to wait for the rabbit. After\na time, the rabbit came out and said that he had burrowed away until\nhe had come just under where the frog was sitting, and that he had\nmade holes so that they could get at both his hind legs without being\nseen. The rabbit then led the way into the hole, and the cock followed\ndragging the tie-tie with him. When they got to the place where the\nevil monster was, they tied both of his legs very securely with the\ntie-tie, and then went back by the way they had come. When they got to\nthe mouth of the hole, the cock cut a small piece of tie-tie and flew\nto the top of a tree, taking great care not to look in the direction of\nthe frog.\n\nHe then tied his head in such a way that he could not catch the frog\u2019s\neye. The rabbit remained in the hole so that he could not see or be\nseen. The cock then called out to the frog to make all the people come\nto life again at once or else he and the rabbit would kill him.\n\nThe frog tried to jump away, but found that he was helpless as both of\nhis hind legs were fast. Then the frog promised to cure the people,\nbut begged the cock and the rabbit not to kill him but to throw him\ninto the water to drown, this they agreed to do. The frog then pointed\nto some leaves growing near and told the cock to gather them, and to\nsqueeze the juice into the eyes of the people and animals, and they\nwould all wake up. The cock and the rabbit then untied the frog and\nthrew him into the river: they then returned and squeezed the juice of\nthe leaves into the eyes of all the people and animals, and they woke\nup immediately, none the worse for their experience but very frightened.\n\nThey all went home and were shortly afterwards joined by the cock and\nthe rabbit. The chief then asked who it was that had redeemed him from\ndeath with all his household? When he heard it was the cock and the\nrabbit, he appointed the cock to be the head man of the house, and gave\nhim power to wake everybody at daylight and tell them it was time to go\nand work. As a reward to the rabbit, the chief pointed to his farm and\nsaid, \u201cyou can eat as much as you like of the yams, cassava, and of the\npalm-nuts which fall to the ground, and take them home and nobody will\ntake them from you.\u201d\n\nFrom that day, the frog lived in the water, and seldom came to land\nexcept for food, and, ever since, the young of the frog have had tails\nwhich show that they come from the frog which was made from the tail of\na yam.\n\nTold by Ewonkom, an Ikom woman.--[E.D., 22.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXVIII.--HOW THE RIVER CAME INTO EXISTENCE; OR, WHY A CRAB HAS NO HEAD.\n\n\nWhen the Creator made the earth he appointed the elephant ruler of\nthe world. In those days there were no rivers but the Creator made a\npond for the elephant to drink out of. One day the elephant told his\nfriends, the hawk and the crab, that he was going to hunt in the forest\non a certain day. When the appointed day arrived the elephant and the\nhawk went off with their bows and arrows, and having surrounded a part\nof the forest, commenced to hunt.\n\nNow the crab was a poor thing and could not walk fast, neither could\nhe use a bow and arrow, so he took a long net with him into the forest\nand waited for the animals to run into it. When an animal which had\nbeen wounded by the elephant or the hawk ran into the net it very soon\nbecame entangled in the meshes of the net. The crab then went up to\nthe animal and killed it with a stick; having thrown the arrow away he\nwould put the animal on one side as his own.\n\nAt the end of the day the elephant had killed five buck and the hawk\nthree, but the crab had secured ten animals all much bigger than\nhimself. When the hunt was over the elephant told the hawk and the crab\nto bring to him all the animals they had killed, but when he saw that\nthe crab had killed ten animals to his five he was very angry and told\nthe hawk to put him down on the ground and cut his head off.\n\nBut the crab begged the elephant so hard to forgive him, and offered to\ngive up the animals he had killed, that at last the elephant trumpeted:\n\u201cGo!\u201d in a very loud voice, and the crab went, leaving the ten animals\nbehind him.\n\nThe crab was very angry at losing all the meat, so he thought he would\nrevenge himself upon the elephant. He therefore crawled along sideways\nto the elephant\u2019s house, and told the elephant\u2019s wife that the place\nwhere they had been hunting was very cold and that her husband wished\nher to make him some good soup and that she was not to forget to put\nplenty of peppers in it.\n\nThe mammie elephant did as she was told, and the crab went down to the\nelephant\u2019s pond and filled it up with earth, so that there would be no\nplace where the elephant could drink. When he had finished he dug a\nsmall hole where the pond had been and buried himself in it.\n\nShortly after this the elephant returned home, carrying the meat, and\nbringing his friend the hawk with him. The elephant\u2019s wife then brought\nthe soup she had made, and the elephant and the hawk sat down together\nand finished it.\n\nWhen the meal was over, the elephant told his wife to bring some water\nfor them to drink, as the soup was so hot from the peppers that he had\nbecome quite thirsty, but his wife said that she had not got any water\nthat morning, so they had better go to the pond, as it was not so far.\nThe elephant went down to the pond but found to his intense surprise\nand disgust that there was no water, and that the pond was full of mud.\nAt this he was very angry and went home and told the hawk.\n\nThen the hawk, who was also very thirsty, went down to the pond with\nthe elephant, and together they dug the mud out until at last they came\nacross the crab. The elephant at once guessed that it was the crab who\nhad filled up his drinking pond, and being in a furious rage, he cut\nthe crab\u2019s head off and threw him into the pond.\n\nThe water came back into the pond at once and both the elephant and the\nhawk had a good drink and wash. After a time he thought that if he left\nthe crab in the water that he would fill the pond up again, so he told\nthe hawk to dig away at the lower end, so that the water could flow out\nof the pond. The hawk did as he was told and made a running stream.\nThis stream became larger and larger until it grew into a big river.\nThe crab then went into the river, but having no head he could not see,\nso he went to the fish and asked him to cure his wounds and give him a\npair of eyes to see with. The fish cured his wounds after a time, but,\nhaving no eyes to spare, he sent the crab on to his friend the prawn.\n\nThe prawn got some eyes, which he placed on the shoulders of the crab,\nand they grew there, so that he could see quite well, but the crab has\nnever had a head since that time.\n\nTold by Ewonkom, an Ikom woman.--[E.D., 22.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXIX.--WHY THE MIST RISES FROM THE WATER.\n\n\nOgbaja of Ikom was the son of Chief \u2019Njum, and his mother was called\nNara. Chief \u2019Njum was a poor man, but he had a farm and a few slaves to\nwork for him. When Ogbaja grew up, he became a hunter, and being a good\nshot with his bow and arrows he nearly always succeeded in bringing\nback some meat, which he took to his father.\n\nOne year the season was so dry and the sun so hot that Chief \u2019Njum\ncould not plant his yams in time, and when he did plant them it was too\nlate, and there was a very bad crop in consequence.\n\nWhen the food began to get scarce, Chief \u2019Njum told his son to go\nhunting every day to supply meat for everybody.\n\nOgbaja went out every morning with his bow and arrows, and generally\nreturned in the evening just before it was dark, carrying the animals\nhe had killed. He also used to bring some bush mangoes with him as\nwell, as they were useful for making soup.\n\nHis father always sent Ogbaja to the chiefs every day with a small\npiece of meat and one mango for each, and after a time they got to know\nhim quite well.\n\nJust at that time there were eight wicked people who had been driven\nout of the town. Some of them were witches and others were poisoners,\nbut one of them was a cripple, and could only scramble along on his\nhands and knees. These people were not allowed to make farms, so they\nwere forced to live on the fruits and seeds which they found in the\nforest.\n\nOgbaja knew all about these men, and was afraid to meet them, so he\nalways gathered mangoes at a time when he knew they would not be near\nthe tree.\n\nOne day Ogbaja\u2019s mother Nara said she wished to go with him to gather\nsome fruit, but he told her that she could not go, as the witches were\ndangerous men and might kill her.\n\nNara, however, made up her mind to go, so she put ashes in Ogbaja\u2019s\nbag which he always carried, and made holes in the bottom, so that she\ncould follow him.\n\nOgbaja got up early in the morning, and took his bow and arrows with\nhim to hunt; then as he went along he left a trail of ashes behind him,\nwhich Nara followed, and at last came to the mango tree, where she\nfound Ogbaja picking up the fruit.\n\nHer son said \u201cWhy do you come here? If you had waited at home, I would\nhave brought you some fruit.\u201d But his mother told him that she wanted\nto get the fruit herself, and commenced gathering the mangoes and\neating some of the ripe ones.\n\nOgbaja said, \u201cI cannot take you home, as I must go out hunting to get\nfood. I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will\nbe safe from the wicked men, but you must be careful to keep very quiet\nand not move when they come.\u201d He then helped his mother up the tree,\nand left her sitting on a branch, telling her that he would return the\nsame way after he had finished hunting, late in the afternoon, and take\nher home. He then went away.\n\nAt midday when the sun was high up, the witches came and started to\npick up the mangoes, but they left the cripple underneath the tree.\n\nWhen they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream to\nget water and would return to him later.\n\nNara was very frightened when she saw the witches, and kept quite\nquiet, but when she saw them go down to the stream she thought they had\nall gone, so she moved about in the branches and looked all round.\n\nThis movement soon attracted the attention of the cripple, who was\nlying on his back, and he looked up and saw Nara sitting on the branch.\n\nShortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and after\nhe had taken a drink he told the others what he had seen in the tree.\nThey looked up and saw Nara, so one of the witches climbed up the tree\nand threw her down. She was killed at once, and they cut the body up\nand divided it and took it home to eat. The cripple claimed the head\nfor his share. As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on\nhis hands and knees, rolling the head in front of him.\n\nWhen Ogbaja returned to the mango tree after his hunting to take his\nmother home, he could not find her, but on looking about on the ground\nhe saw the bloodstains where his mother\u2019s body had been cut up, and\nat once knew that she must have been killed by the witches. He never\ngathered any fruit, but returned home empty-handed.\n\nOgbaja was far too frightened to go to the place where the bad men\nlived to look for his mother, so he went home, feeling very sad.\n\nWhen he returned, Chief \u2019Njum asked him what had become of his mother,\nbut Ogbaja\u2019s heart was so full of grief that he could not answer. Then\nhis friends Bojor and Osobia came and asked him why he grieved so much.\nSo he told them what had happened, sobbing all the time.\n\nHis father, in the meantime, had sent to call another chief called\nAgborleku, who was a very wise man, to consult with him as to what was\nthe best thing to be done.\n\nWhen Agborleku arrived, Chief \u2019Njum told him what had happened to\nhis wife. Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking,\nconsidering what was the best way to get rid of these wicked men.\n\nAt last he told Chief \u2019Njum not to do anything for two months, as, by\nthat time, the witches would think they were quite safe.\n\nHe was then to prepare a big feast and make plenty of strong tombo,\nhalf of which was to be made from the tombo drawn from the top of the\ntree and the other half from a tree which had been cut down. He was\nthen to mix the two lots of tombo together. Cows would then be killed\nand goats, and all the people of the country, including the witches,\nwould be invited to attend the feast which would be given in honour of\nthe chief\u2019s dead wife.\n\nA certain house would be set aside for the witches to sleep in, and\nthey were to be given plenty of tombo to drink, so that they would\nsleep well. When they were fast asleep, they would be covered up with\ndry palm leaves and then burnt to death.\n\nChief \u2019Njum agreed that this was a good plan, and commenced making\npreparations for the feast. When they were completed, a man was sent to\nthe eight witches with a message from Chief \u2019Njum, that he would like\nthe people who had been turned out of the town to take part in the big\nfeast he was giving in honour of his dead wife.\n\nWhen the man had gone, the cripple tried to persuade the other witches\nnot to go to the feast, as he said that the people of the town would\nbe certain to revenge themselves upon them for the death of Nara, but\nthe witches did not agree with him, and said that it was impossible for\nChief Njum to know that they had killed his wife, as no one had seen\nthem do it, and they did not think he would ask them to a feast if he\nwished to harm them. They also said that they had not had a good feed\nfor a long time, so, in spite of the entreaties of the cripple, they\ndecided to go.\n\nWhen the day of the feast arrived, the seven evil men carried the\ncripple to the town, and at once began to eat as much as they could,\nand drank large quantities of the strong tombo. But the cripple eat\nvery little, and did not drink any of the tombo, as he was suspicious\nof the people.\n\nVery soon, the seven witches were quite drunk, and lay down in the\nhouse which had been set apart for them, and went fast asleep. The\ncripple also lay down and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but\nin reality he was wide-awake and very watchful.\n\nWhen Ogbaja saw that all the witches had gone to sleep, he covered them\nall over, very softly, with dry palm leaves, and, having set fire to\nthem, went out and fastened the door.\n\nThe seven men were burnt to death, as they were too drunk to escape,\nbut the cripple managed to crawl into a large water-pot which was kept\nin the room for drinking-water, and the fire did not hurt him, as he\nonly kept his mouth just out of the water.\n\nWhen the house was burnt down, Ogbaja went inside to see that all the\nwitches were dead, and counted the bodies, but could only find seven.\nHe thought he must have made a mistake, so he counted them again out\nloud, one, two, three, up to seven, and the cripple called from his pot\nafter him the numbers up to seven. Ogbaja could not understand this,\nso he counted the bodies again aloud, and again the cripple copied\nhim. Ogbaja then called the people in with hoes, and they dug up the\nground, but could not find the eighth body. Ogbaja then counted the\nbodies again, and the people listened carefully; the cripple answered\nas before, and they guessed from the direction the voice came from that\nthe last of the witch-men must be in the water-pot, so they looked\nin and found the cripple. They dragged him out of the pot at once,\nand said, \u201cAs you do not seem to like to be killed with fire, we will\nkill you with the water-pot you took refuge in.\u201d They then dragged the\ncripple down to the waterside, where they made a large fire, and put\nthe water-pot into it. The cripple begged them not to put him in the\nfire, but no one answered him. When the pot was red-hot, it was taken\nout of the fire and placed over the cripple\u2019s shoulders. He was then\npushed into the river. The red-hot pot caused steam and mist to rise\nfrom the water, and it is still to be seen when the mornings are cold\nthat mist rises from the river, and people say that this is caused\nby the red-hot pot which was placed over the shoulders of the wicked\ncripple when he was thrown into the water and the steam still continues\nto rise.\n\nTold by Ewonkom, an Ikom woman.--[E.D., 23.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXX.--HOW IBANANG OKPONG AND HER MOTHER WERE SWALLOWED BY A MAN-EATING\nDRUM, AND HOW THEY ESCAPED FROM ITS INSIDE.\n\n\nYears and years ago the Ikom people had never seen the large wooden\ndrum called \u2019Ndofu. This drum was made out of the trunk of a hard-wood\ntree and hollowed out with a long slit at the top. When this drum was\nbeaten with two soft pieces of wood, the sound carried for a great\ndistance. This drum was used for dances and for calling the people\nin from the farms when there was any big palaver on, or if the town\nwere going to be attacked. Messages could also be sent to anyone who\nunderstood the beat of the drum.\n\nAbout this time, many people from the surrounding towns and countries\ndisappeared and were never seen or heard of again, until at last it\nbecame known that one of these wooden drums lived in a town in the bush\nnot far from Ikom, and if anyone strayed into the wooden drum\u2019s town\nby accident he was swallowed alive and was never seen again. The people\nof Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by themselves to\nthe farms unless they knew the road very well indeed, as if they took\nthe wrong path and went to the town where the wooden drum lived, they\nwould be swallowed up and would disappear for ever.\n\nIn those days a man called Okongo Osim lived at Ikom. He had a very\nbeautiful wife whose name was Inkang Ezen. They only had one child,\nIbanang Okpong by name, and both the father and mother were very fond\nof her. They took great care of the little girl, never allowing her to\ngo about by herself, and frequently warned her about the bad ju-ju who\nlived in the bush and eat people. Ibanang, however, did not pay much\nattention to what her parents said, and, as she was never allowed to go\nout to the farm, she grew to be very discontented.\n\nThe parents arranged that they would never go to their farm together,\nso one day Okongo Osim would go to the farm and leave his wife to look\nafter their daughter, as she could help in the cooking and get water\nfrom the river. The next day the father would stay at home to look\nafter the girl and his wife would go to the farm.\n\nThis went on for some time, until at last Ibanang became very\ndissatisfied, as she had never been to their farm and wanted to see\nwhat it was like very much. So she waited until the day when her mother\nhad gone to the farm and she was left in charge of her father.\n\nIbanang then said she was going down to the river to get water to\nboil the yams in, but, instead of doing as she proposed, she left her\nwater-pot on the ground outside the house, and ran off along the path\nwhich she knew her mother always took to go to the farm.\n\nAfter she had gone for a little distance outside the town, Ibanang came\nto a place where the path divided and, not knowing which way to go,\nshe took the path which led to the right, and ran on until she came to\na cripple sitting on the side of the path beneath a tree. He greeted\nher and offered her some kola. But Ibanang was in a hurry to find her\nmother, and would not stop. She ran on and paid no attention to the\ncripple, who shouted after her that she ought to go back, as the path\ndid not lead to her farm.\n\nAfter she had gone a little distance she was out of breath, so she\nstopped to rest for a time. While she was resting, a small wooden drum\ncame up and spoke to her. He offered a kola nut, which she refused, and\nhe then told her to go back, but Ibanang would not listen to him and\nsaid she was looking for her mother. She then ran on and passed several\nmore wooden drums, each one bigger than the last; they all told her to\nreturn, but she was obstinate, and still ran on until at last she came\nto a clearing in the bush where there was an enormous wooden drum held\nup by forked sticks and resting on the ground.\n\nAs the girl had never seen anything like this drum before she went up\nquite close to it. The drum then said to her: \u201cWhat are you doing in\nmy town? No one is allowed to come here, and if anyone does come, they\nnever go back again.\u201d\n\nThe girl then began to be afraid and looked round to see how she could\nescape, but the path she had come by had closed up and there was no way\nout, as she was entirely surrounded by thick bush.\n\nShe then listened and could hear singing and dancing going on, but the\nsounds seemed to come from the inside of the drum, and, although she\nlooked round everywhere, she could not see anybody.\n\nWhile she was wondering where the sounds came from, the big drum opened\nhis lips wide and swallowed her up. She slid down his throat and fell\ninto a big compound where there were many people singing and dancing.\nIbanang did not know any of the people, but they were those who had\ndisappeared from the surrounding towns for some years.\n\nShe then asked some of the people why they did not go back home; so\nthey told her that the only way was to climb up and cut the heart\nand liver out of the drum, but they could not do that as they had no\nmatchets or knives.\n\nThis made the girl very sad, but, as she could not see any other way\nout of the place, she made up her mind to enjoy herself, and sang and\ndanced with the rest of the people.\n\nWhen Ibanang\u2019s mother returned from the farm her husband told her that\nIbanang had escaped from the house and had gone to the farm. But her\nmother knew that she must have lost her way, as she had not been to the\nfarm and guessed at once that she had gone to the town of the wooden\ndrum, where she would be killed. She then abused her husband as much as\nshe dared for not looking after their child properly, and pulled her\nhair down and cried all the night.\n\nInkang Ezen told her husband that in three days\u2019 time she would set\nout to find Ibanang, and that if she did not find her she would never\nreturn. The next two days Inkang Ezen spent in borrowing native razors\nfrom her friends and sharpening them.\n\nThen on the third day she started off, when there was no one about,\nwith the razors in her cloth, and went by the road leading to the town\nof the wooden drum.\n\nShe had not gone far when she met the cripple, who was always in the\nsame place from morning until sunset. He offered Inkang Ezen some kola,\nas he had done to her daughter, but she refused to take it. Then the\ncripple called her back and said she was on the wrong road and that if\nshe went further she would never return; but the woman told him she did\nnot care, as she was looking for her daughter, who had disappeared.\n\nShe went on, and met the small drum, who also offered her kola, and\ntried to persuade her to go back, but she would not listen to him.\n\nAfter that, she passed drum after drum, until at length she arrived at\nthe big drum, who asked her why she had come, so Inkang Ezen said she\nwas looking for her daughter Ibanang, and would like to go to the same\nplace where she had gone.\n\nThen the big drum took her up, and, having opened his big lips wide, he\nswallowed Inkang Ezen in the same way as he had swallowed her daughter.\n\nWhen she went down the drum\u2019s throat and reached the compound, she came\nacross several people she did not know, but, on looking round, she saw\nher daughter, and ran to her and embraced her.\n\nShe talked to Ibanang for some time, until the people came up and spoke\nto them. Inkang Ezen told them that Ibanang was her daughter, who had\nlost her way in trying to find their farm. She also told them that she\nhad found out how to escape from the drum before she came, and had\nbrought some sharp razors to help them to cut their way out. When the\npeople heard this, they were so glad that they danced and sang all the\nnight through.\n\nIn the morning Inkang Ezen gave her razors to the men, and they at once\nclimbed up into the drum, and commenced cutting the drum\u2019s heart out,\nbit by bit.\n\nWhen they began to cut, the drum felt a great pain in his inside, and\nmade such a noise that all the small drums and the cripple came to\nenquire what the matter was. When they came, the big drum told them\nthat he had a bad pain in his heart, and thought that the people he had\nswallowed must be trying to cut their way out. He then asked them if\nthey could do anything to help him, but the small drums said they could\ndo nothing.\n\nAll this time the men inside the drum were cutting away at his heart\nand liver with their razors, until at last the drum got up from his\nseat, and fell over dead.\n\nWhen the drum fell down, Inkang Ezen told the men to work hard and cut\ntheir way out. They cut their way through the drum\u2019s heart and liver,\nand then made an opening in his lips big enough for a man to crawl\nthrough. One man got out, and told the people inside that it was quite\nlight.\n\nThen all the people came out of the inside of the drum one after\nanother, including the goats and other animals that the drum had\nswallowed.\n\nEveryone praised Inkang Ezen very much for the way she had delivered\nthem, and asked her to show them her house, so that they would know\nwhere to find her in the future. She was very glad to do this, and took\nall the people to her husband\u2019s house.\n\nWhen they arrived, a report was sent round the whole country that the\nbig wooden drum, the destroyer of men, was dead.\n\nThen the men went to the home of the big drum with axes, and cut the\ndrum into pieces and carried them to Inkang Ezen\u2019s house.\n\nAfter the body of the drum had been eaten up, the bones were preserved.\nThey bored holes in the leg bones, and took the marrow out. The bones\nwere then used to beat the drums with at dances and in times of danger.\n\nThe people who had escaped from the drum\u2019s inside each took one of his\nbones and departed to their different towns, where they all made big\nwooden drums like the one which had swallowed them.\n\nTold by Ewonkom, an Ikom woman.--[E.D., 23.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXI.--WHY THE HEAD OF THE MALE GOAT SMELLS SO STRONG.\n\n\nThere was once a male goat who cut a large cotton-tree down and then\nburnt it. When it was quite dead, mushrooms began to grow on the\ntrunk. Now these mushrooms are very good in palm-oil chop, and the\ngoat thought he would like to eat them. Unfortunately, just before\nhe gathered them, the elephant went to the tree and rooted them all\nup. When the goat saw what the elephant had done, he was vexed, so he\nwent and told the elephant that he had cut down the tree and burnt\nit in order to grow the mushrooms for his food, and as the elephant\nhad spoilt them all, he demanded fish or meat to make soup, as\ncompensation. The elephant said he did not care much for either fish\nor meat, and had none to give, so he gave the goat some beans instead.\nThe goat was satisfied at receiving this present from the elephant, and\ntook the beans home to his house and left them in a calabash on the\nfloor. During the night, while the goat was asleep, a rat came into the\nhouse and eat all the beans up.\n\nWhen the morning came, the goat, missing his beans, guessed that the\nrat had eaten them, and told him that he must pay for the beans he had\nstolen. The rat said he was willing to do so, and gave the goat one\nof his small children. The goat took the young rat home and put it on\nthe ground just outside the house. He then sat down to watch, and very\nsoon a hen came along who, being very hungry, swallowed the young rat.\nThe goat at once told her that she must pay, so the hen gave him one\nof her chickens. The goat allowed the little chicken to run about, and\nwent out himself to get some food. While he was gone, the hawk, who was\nhovering round, soon caught sight of the chicken, and swooped down and\ncarried it off and eat it. A sheep, who had been watching, told the\ngoat, when he returned, what had happened to the chicken, so the next\nmorning the goat went to the hawk and demanded payment. But the hawk,\nhaving nothing to pay with, gave the goat one of his feathers out of\nhis wing to settle the matter, and said that those particular feathers\nwere much liked by the young men, who were fond of dancing, and also\nby the fighting-men, as they put them in their hair for decoration and\nthen danced round the town. The goat was not very satisfied with this,\nbut as he did not see any way to get anything else out of the hawk, he\nhad to pretend that he was contented, and took the feather home.\n\nNext day, hearing there was a big play being held at Inde, and that\nall the young men who had returned from fighting, were gathered there,\nhe went over, taking his feather with him. When he got to the town he\nput the hawk\u2019s feather on the ground in a place where everyone could\nsee it, and then went for a walk round the town, eating a few freshly\nfallen leaves from the ju-ju tree as he went.\n\nAfter a time he returned to where the people were dancing, and found,\nas he had expected, that his feather had been taken. It did not take\nhim long to discover his hawk\u2019s feather, which was in the hair of one\nof the fighting-men. The goat went up to the man and told him that the\nfeather was his, and asked for payment, so the man took the goat to\nhis house and gave him one yam in satisfaction of his claim.\n\nThe next day the goat went one day\u2019s march inland from the river,\nwhere yams were unknown, and found that all the people were planting\nkoko yams, which are very inferior in every way. The goat then asked\nthe people why they grew koko yams, which were poor things to eat, and\nshowed them the big yam he had received from the fighting man from\nInde. The goat told the people that in the country he came from they\nalways planted the proper yams, and the koko yams were only used in the\nhungry season when food was scarce. The goat then put his yam on the\nground and pretended to go away as if he had forgotten all about the\nyam, but he did not go far, and watched to see what might happen.\n\nVery soon the owner of the farm, thinking he would like to grow some\nof these big Inde yams, took the yam up and, having cut it, planted it\nin the ground. When he had finished, the goat went up to him and said,\n\u201cWhere is my yam?\u201d The farmer said he thought the goat had forgotten\nall about the yam, so he had planted it, but he was willing to pay, so\nhe told one of his wives to bring a ball of camwood, which he gave to\nthe goat.\n\nThe next day the goat went on into a country where the people did not\nuse camwood as a part of the marriage ceremony, and went from house to\nhouse looking for a girl who had just been circumcised and was about to\nbe married. At last he found one, so he went into the house and asked\nthe woman if she were going to be married, and she said, \u201cYes.\u201d So the\ngoat said, \u201cHow is it you are not rubbed with camwood?\u201d and showed\nher his ball, saying, \u201cIn my country no woman can be properly married\nunless she is rubbed all over with camwood.\u201d The girl replied, \u201cIn our\ncountry we have no such custom.\u201d So the goat left the ball of camwood\nin the house and went out for a little while. On his return he found\nthat the parents of the girl had taken his camwood and rubbed their\ndaughter all over with it. As usual, the goat demanded payment, and the\nmother of the girl gave him a sleeping-mat.\n\nIn the morning the goat went on to the next town, taking the\nsleeping-mat with him. He went to the chief\u2019s house, and, having had\nsome food, placed his mat on the ground and went to sleep on it.\n\nThe next day one of the chief\u2019s slaves died, and when the people were\ngoing to bury the body, the goat, observing that they wrapped it up in\nplaintain leaves, at once said, \u201cIn my country, when anyone dies, they\nare wrapped up in sleeping-mats.\u201d He then went out for a walk. When\nhe returned he found that, as he expected, his sleeping-mat had been\ntaken; so he went to the chief and asked for payment. But the chief\nreplied, \u201cYou said that it was the proper custom to bury dead bodies in\nsleeping-mats, so we took yours to bury the dead slave in. If you have\nany complaint to make or wish to be paid, you had better settle with\nthe dead body.\u201d\n\nSo the goat went to the corpse and asked it to give back his mat or\nelse to pay him for it, but he received no reply.\n\nThe next day the goat went again, but again got no answer. On the\nthird day, when the dead body did not reply, the goat became so angry\nthat he charged the dead body as hard as he could, and butted it with\nhis horns again and again. By this time the corpse had become quite\nputrid, and as the goat\u2019s horns tore the body his head was covered\nwith bad-smelling blood. When he had revenged himself sufficiently he\nreturned to the town, and the people told him that he smelt very badly\nof dead bodies. The goat replied that in every town he had visited\nhe had always been paid for anything belonging to him which had been\ntaken, but that in this town the chief had referred him to the dead\nbody of the slave, and as the corpse refused to pay he had butted it\nwith his horns, and the smell seemed to stick to him. Ever since that\ntime the man-goat\u2019s head has had a strong smell.\n\nTold by an Okuni woman.--[28.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXII.--A STORY OF THE GREAT FAMINE.\n\n\nIn the days of the great famine, when all men and animals on the land\nwere starving, the alligators and the fish in the river had plenty to\neat, and the parrots and bats were also well off for food. The parrot\nused to fly off very early every morning with his family to an island\nin the river where there were plenty of palm-trees, and return in\nthe evening carrying his bag of palm nuts with him. All the people\nwere very jealous of the parrot in consequence, and wanted to kill\nhim and all his family. The hare (Nchigga) was very curious to know\nhow it was that the parrot always managed to get food, so he went to\nhim pretending to be a great friend of his, but could never find him\nat home in the daytime, so he went in the evening and met the parrot\nreturning home carrying his bag, full of palm nuts as usual. The hare\nasked the parrot where he got all the palm nuts from, and said he would\nlike to go with him. But the parrot said that the hare could not go,\nand that he was only able to take his own family to the place where the\npalm nuts grew.\n\nThe hare then went home, but made up his mind to go with the parrot,\nso that very night he hid himself in the parrot\u2019s bag. At daylight the\nparrot put his bag round his neck and flew off with his family to the\nisland. He then began to gather the palm nuts, and to fill up his bag.\nNow the palm-tree where the parrot was overhung the river, and the\nhare, thinking he would pay the parrot out for refusing to bring him,\nmade a hole in the bottom of the bag so that the nuts dropped through\ninto the water as fast as the parrot put them into the bag. When the\nparrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some also, and when\nthe parrot dropped the kernel the hare dropped his at the same time\nthrough the hole in the bag. The parrot did not notice this, as he\nthought that some of his family were also eating close at hand, so he\ncontinued to put nuts into the bag, but could not understand why it was\nthat the bag did not get full. At last the parrot thought there must be\na hole in the bag, so he looked inside and found the hare there.\n\nThen the parrot said, \u201cMy friend, what are you doing in my bag? Did I\nnot tell you that I would not take you to the place where I got my food\nfrom? You must have hidden yourself in my bag without my knowledge.\u201d He\nthen pulled the hare out of the bag, and having placed him on the top\nof the palm-tree, flew off to the next tree, where he was joined by the\nrest of his family, to whom he related the way in which he had punished\nthe hare, and shortly afterwards they all flew home, leaving the hare\non the island.\n\nThe hare managed with some difficulty to climb down the tree, but when\nhe reached the ground he was afraid to cross over to the land from\nthe island, as he thought the alligators or big fish might catch him.\nHe looked all round the island for a place to make his house in, but\nit was all wet, as the river was high; so the next day he determined\nto swim across the river, and risk being eaten. But before the hare\nstarted he threw some small bits of dried stick into the river and\nwatched the fish come up and look at them. When he saw that he was\nbigger than the fish, he said, \u201cThey cannot eat me,\u201d and without much\nfear jumped into the water and began to swim across.\n\nThe fish came round the hare and saluted him, saying, \u201cGo on your way\nin peace.\u201d Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a\nlarge female alligator, who asked him where he came from and where he\nwas going. When he said that he was swimming from the island towards\nthe land the alligator caught him, saying, \u201cI want you to do me a\nservice first, and then I will let you go.\u201d\n\nShe then took the hare to her house at the bottom of the river, where\nshe introduced him to her husband, and said, \u201cThis man can paint our\nchildren, and make them look nice to all people.\u201d At this time the\nalligators were grey-coloured without any markings, and had for some\ntime been wanting to change their colouring.\n\nThen the hare said, \u201cI see you have many young alligators here, and I\nwill paint them all for you, but you must not look at me while I am\ndoing it. I will paint one of your children every day and show it to\nyou, but you must first of all build me a house, into which you must\nput all your children, with plenty of food and firewood.\u201d\n\nThe next day the alligators built the house, and did everything the\nhare told them, a small hole being left in the wall of the house so\nthat the hare could show the alligators each child as he painted it.\nThe hare then went into the house and shut the door carefully. That day\nhe painted the alligators\u2019 eldest son with long-dark stripes across his\nbody, and when he had finished he held the young alligator up to the\nhole for his parents to see, and asked them if they were satisfied.\nThe old alligators told the hare that he had painted their son very\nwell, and they were pleased. So the hare put the young alligator on the\nground and closed the hole.\n\nThat evening the hare killed one of the young alligators and eat it.\nThe next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the\nhole for the old ones to see, and then put it down again, closing the\nhole as before. When night came he again killed another young alligator\nand eat it. The same thing happened every night until the hare had\neaten all the young alligators except the one he had painted and showed\nto the parents each morning.\n\nThe hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all\ntheir children, and wanted to go home, but he told them that they must\nnot go into the house until after he had gone, as if they did his ju-ju\nwould be broken and all the painting would be spoiled. He also asked\nthem to allow him to be rowed across the river by an iguana, who is\ndeaf and cannot hear anyone shouting.[6]\n\nThe alligators agreed to this, and told the iguana to bring his canoe\nand paddle the hare across the river. They then gave the hare presents\nof fish and yams, and said good-bye to him. The hare then got into the\ncanoe and pushed off, and the iguana commenced to paddle him over.\n\nWhen they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the\nhouse where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only\nhis eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other\nchildren were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his\nbrothers or sisters every night until he was the only one left. When\nthe alligator heard this he was wild with rage, and went up the bank\nand called to the iguana to bring the hare back; but as he was deaf,\nthe iguana took no notice. When the hare heard the alligator shouting\nand waving from the bank, he attracted the iguana\u2019s attention and made\nhim understand that the alligator was so pleased at the good work he\nhad done that he wished the iguana to row faster, so he paddled harder\nthan before.\n\nSeeing that the canoe did not return, the alligator dived into the\nriver and swam after the canoe, but before he could catch it the\nhare had jumped to the land and ran up the bank. The alligator then\nscrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him\nwhy he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should\nkill him. The hare acknowledged that he had done wrong, but asked the\nalligator not to kill him at once, as his body was so small it would\nnot be worth eating. He then advised the alligator to dig a pit and put\nsharp stakes, with their points upwards, in the bottom. The hare said,\n\u201cIf you do this, and then throw me up in the air as high as you can, so\nthat my body will fall into the pit on the sharp stakes, then I shall\ndie in great pain, and in three days\u2019 time my body will be much swollen\nand will then be better worth eating.\u201d The alligator thought this a\ngood plan, and agreed to what the hare said, so he dug a pit and put\nthe sharp sticks in the bottom. The alligator then threw the hare into\nthe air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful\nnot to be caught on the sharp sticks. The hare then commenced to scream\nwith pain, pretending to be in great agony. So the alligator said,\n\u201cNow I have got you, you cunning hare!\u201d and walked away to the river.\nThe alligator then swam home and told his wife, who was mourning her\nchildren, of the revenge he had taken upon the hare.\n\nThe next morning he went to the pit to see if the hare had grown any\nlarger, but when he looked in he found that the hare had disappeared.\nHe then made enquiries from some other animals about the hare, and they\ntold him that he was alive and they had seen him running home.\n\nWhen the hare got home, he went to the parrot and told him what had\nhappened to him, and warned the parrot that he should do his best to\nkill him for leaving him on the palm-tree to the danger of his life,\nunless for the future the parrot lived by the waterside, as that was\nwhere he got his food from. Then the parrot was frightened, and moved\nhis house to the top of a high tree on the island. Ever since that time\nthe parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when\nthey are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the\nhare, saying, \u201cWe are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.\u201d And\neven at the present time you can see that the young alligators have\nstripes across their bodies, but the skin of the old ones, which is\nvery rough, does not show the marks made by the hare, except on the\ntail part.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[28.6.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXIII.--WHY EDIDOR KILLED HER HUSBAND AND HER LOVER.\n\n\nEdidor was a very pretty Okuni girl. She was a good dancer and singer,\nand won the love of plenty of young men, but although she liked to\nenjoy herself with them, she would not marry any of them. At last,\nhowever, she met a man called Ode, to whom she took a great fancy, and\nmarried him. Ode was a fine young man, and many women wanted him, but\nhe would have nothing to do with them, and did not marry any other\nwives, as Edidor asked him to look upon her alone. Ode had three\nchildren by Edidor, the first-born being a boy, and the other two girls.\n\nAfter a time Edidor got tired of Ode and ran away to one of the Inde\ntowns, leaving her children with her husband. She went about from one\nman to another as she had done before she was married, and attended all\nthe dances and plays until at last Ode heard where she was. He then\ntook his three little children to his father-in-law, asking him to look\nafter them for him, as he was going to Inde to try and get Edidor to\nreturn to him. The old man did not want Ode to get his daughter back,\nas he preferred her to walk about and go with different young men, as\nin that case he would receive numerous presents from them, whereas\nOde, having paid his dowry, never gave him anything. He therefore sent\na message secretly to Edidor informing her that her husband was going\nto look for her, and advising her to try and kill him, so that the\nchildren would become his property, as he knew his daughter would not\nwant to look after them.\n\nWhen Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for\nInkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and\nOde swam to the shore. He looked upon the sinking of the canoe as a\nbad omen and a warning to him not to go that day.\n\nWhen he returned home his friends encouraged him to make another\nattempt to get his wife back, and advised him to take a larger canoe,\nwhich would not be so likely to upset. Ode started off in a big canoe\nthe following morning; but when he got to the other side of the river\nhe heard a kingfisher making a noise on his right-hand side, in a\nbush overhanging the river. Not knowing what this omen might mean, he\nstopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on\nthe same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known\nto be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had\nmade a noise on his right-hand as he was going down the river. The man\nthen said to Ode, \u201cWhat kind of a child did you first get when you were\nmarried?\u201d And Ode told him that his first-born child was a boy. Ode\u2019s\nfriend then said, \u201cYour good fortune depends on your left.[7] You will\nmeet with much opposition where you are going, and you will not bring\nback what you are going to seek.\u201d So Ode returned to his canoe and\npaddled on with much suspicion in his heart. He landed at Inkum, and\nwent to see a friendly chief called Aigonga, to whom he told his story\nand asked him for help. The chief gave Ode one of his boys to show him\nthe way overland to Inde and they started off together.\n\nUnfortunately for Ode, his wife Edidor had consulted a ju-ju man called\nEkum at Inde, who had a very powerful medicine which enabled him to see\nwhat was going to happen, and this man told Edidor that her husband was\non his way to catch her and take her home, and that if she wanted to\nstay at Inde she should hide herself at once.\n\nWhen Ode arrived at Inde he searched all over the towns, but could not\nfind his wife. He then asked some of the people what had become of her,\nand they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a\nvery powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his\nwife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger.\nBut Ode would not go home, and got an Inde boy to show him the place\nwhere the ju-ju man lived. Ode then asked Ekum what had become of his\nwife Edidor. Ekum did not at first reply, but gave Ode one sharp stick\nand one blunt stick, and after a time said, \u201cTouch your body with the\nsharp stick and also with the blunted one; if you feel any pain with\nthe sharp stick, go home at once and do not bother me any more; if\nyou do not feel any pain, come to me to-morrow morning and ask me any\nquestions you like concerning your wife.\u201d\n\nThe Inde boy who had gone with Ode, directly they had gone a little\ndistance from the house, strongly urged Ode to go home, as the sticks\nthe ju-ju man had given to him were known to be very dangerous, and if\nhe went there again Ekum would probably either poison him or call upon\nthe lightning to kill him, which he was quite capable of doing. The\nboy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his\nfather-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde\nhimself again. Ode thought the advice good, and returned to Okuni with\nthe two sticks Ekum had given him; these he gave to his father-in-law,\ntelling him what had happened, and at the same time asking him to try\nto get Edidor back for him. When he saw that Ode\u2019s life had been in\ndanger and that he had escaped, the old man repented, and told Ode\nto stay at Okuni and he would try to make Edidor return to him. He\ntherefore sent a messenger to Inde to tell Edidor to return at once to\nOkuni. But Edidor was enjoying herself too much, and had no desire to\nreturn to her husband. The ju-ju man also had taken a fancy to her,\nand when he found that Edidor\u2019s father had been trying to persuade his\ndaughter to return to her husband, he put some ju-ju into her food\nwhich made her take an intense dislike to her husband. When Edidor\u2019s\nheart had turned and she found that she hated Ode, Ekum made some\nstrong poison, which he gave to Edidor and told her to put it in her\nhusband\u2019s food, and that when he was dead she should return and marry\nhim.\n\nThe next day Edidor started off for Okuni, taking the poison with her,\nand intending to kill her husband on the first opportunity, but when\nshe reached the house Ode produced their three children and talked to\nher very kindly until her heart was cold. Edidor then lived with Ode\nfor a month, until the ju-ju man, finding she did not return to him,\nmade another strong ju-ju, which at once made Edidor want to go back\nto him at Inde. She therefore packed up her things, and was starting\noff for Inde when Ode seized her and said she was not to go. That very\nnight Edidor put half the poison Ekum had given her into Ode\u2019s food. He\nthen became very ill, and died after two days.\n\nOde was buried by his relations, but Edidor only mourned a very short\ntime and then ran off to Inde, where she joined her lover. Ekum was\nvery glad to get her back again, and called all his friends together.\nHe then killed a goat, and they had a big feast, and he told all the\npeople that Edidor was going to be his wife.\n\nDuring the night Ekum asked Edidor to marry him properly, but she asked\nhim to wait for a time until she knew all his ways and habits, and she\npromised she would then marry him. For some little time after this\nEdidor went about with different men, but Ekum always found her out,\nand when she returned to him he would tell her what she had been doing\nand the name of the man she had been with. This made Edidor afraid,\nbut she dare not leave Ekum altogether, as he might get the lightning\nto kill her or cause his ju-ju to catch her. Then Ekum again asked\nEdidor to marry him, and she agreed to do so, but said that before\nthe ceremony took place she wanted to join his ju-ju, so that she\nmight know everything and not be afraid. Ekum was pleased at this, and\nshowed Edidor all the ju-ju he had, and explained them to her. When\nhe had finished, Edidor was so frightened that she ran away and left\nEkum. Ekum, however, looked into his ju-ju pot and saw at once where\nshe was, so he sent a messenger, who seized her and brought her back.\nThen Edidor made up her mind to kill Ekum, so she went to his ju-ju pot\nwhich he always looked into when he wanted to know where she had gone\nor what she was doing, and broke it. She then cooked the food and put\nthe half of the poison Ekum had given her for Ode into the food and\ngave it to Ekum to eat; he died the next day. Before Ekum was dead,\nEdidor ran back to her father\u2019s house at Okuni.\n\nWhen the Inde people found that Ekum was dead, they at once knew that\nEdidor must have killed him, as she had run away. They therefore went\nto Okuni to have the palaver judged. When all the chiefs and people had\nmet together, Edidor was accused of having poisoned Ekum, her lover.\nEdidor then stood up and told the chiefs that Ekum had made her poison\nher husband, and that when she found his ju-jus were so powerful; she\nbroke them, and gave half the poison Ekum had given her for her husband\nto him in his food, and that he had then died at once.\n\nAfter considering some time, the chiefs decided that they would not\npunish Edidor, and said that \u201cThe stone Ekum had thrown had returned\nand hit him.\u201d[8]\n\nThe chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison\nju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives\nor any other women, because if they wished to run away from their\nhusbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison\nthem.\n\nTold by Ennanni, an Okuni woman.--[1.7.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXIV.--HOW \u2019NYAMBI PUNISHED CHIEF OGA FOR TRYING TO COMMIT ADULTERY\nWITH HIS WIFE OBIM.\n\n\nThere was once a fine strong man living at Okuni, whose name was\n\u2019Nyambi. He was a good dancer, drum-beater and singer, and these\nqualities, combined with his good looks and fine manly beauty, won him\nthe admiration of many of the young Okuni girls. He knew many of them,\nbut never asked them to marry him.\n\nAt last, when \u2019Nyambi was about twenty-five years of age, he met a\ngirl at a big dance, to whom he took a great fancy, and whom he wished\nto marry. So he went to her parents, and, having given them the usual\npresents, told them that he wished to marry their daughter Obim. The\nparents, however, were unwilling, and told \u2019Nyambi that they had\nalready promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga.\n\nWhen Obim heard this, she told her parents that she would never marry\nChief Oga, as he was too old, and she intended to marry \u2019Nyambi, who\nwas such a fine young man, and she was very fond of him. The parents\ndid their best to persuade Obim to marry Chief Oga, as they would\nreceive far more presents and a bigger dowry from him than if they\nallowed her to marry \u2019Nyambi, who was not a rich man. Obim, however,\nwas obstinate, and absolutely declined to have anything to do with the\nchief, so at last her parents consented to her marriage with \u2019Nyambi.\n\nThen Obim and \u2019Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they\nwould never part from one another, and they would both try to help each\nother and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as\nthey knew him to be a most revengeful man.\n\n\u2019Nyambi then bought the usual presents for the parents and collected\nthe dowry, which he handed to Obim\u2019s father and mother, and rubbed the\ngirl with camwood. She was then circumcised and kept in one room until\nthe wound had healed.\n\nWhen the gun was fired off and Obim was declared to be \u2019Nyambi\u2019s wife,\nChief Oga was very vexed, and, although he wanted to speak to Obim, he\ndared not do so openly, as he thought the people might laugh at him if\nthey saw him going after a woman who had only just been married, seeing\nthat he had so many wives already himself. So, when it was dark, he\nwent to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her\nvery happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work\nand she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not\nlisten to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than before\nand more determined than ever to get hold of Obim, somehow or other.\n\nThat night Obim told her husband of the advances made to her by the\nchief, and they agreed not to take any notice, but to be very careful\nfor the future.\n\nThe next day Chief Oga consulted a ju-ju man as to the best way to turn\nObim\u2019s heart, so that she would hate \u2019Nyambi and come to him. The ju-ju\nman, after casting lots, told the chief that it would be quite easy to\nmake Obim leave \u2019Nyambi and go to him, and that all the chief would\nhave to do would be to give Obim some tombo to drink, which he would\nprepare with a strong medicine in it. The ju-ju man then made the tombo\nand put a ju-ju into it, and the chief, having given him a big present,\ntook the tombo to his house, and sent word to Obim that he wished to\nspeak to her.\n\nWhen Obim arrived, the chief offered her some of the tombo to drink,\nbut she refused to touch it. Chief Oga tried his best to make her\ndrink, but Obim would not do so, and said she had merely come to hear\nwhat he might have to say. Oga then tried again to persuade Obim to\nleave her husband and go to him, but Obim refused as before.\n\nFinding this plot had failed, the chief went again to the ju-ju man and\ntold him that Obim had refused to drink the tombo. He then asked the\nju-ju man to poison \u2019Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and\nwhen he had given him another big present, he went home.\n\nThe next day, the ju-ju man joined the society to which \u2019Nyambi\nbelonged, and went to all the dances, looking for an opportunity to put\nthe poison he had prepared into \u2019Nyambi\u2019s drink, but he could never\nsucceed in making \u2019Nyambi drink anything, as, whenever he went to a\ndance or a play, Obim made him promise not to drink anything at the\ndancing place and she would have drink ready for him when he returned\nhome. This probably saved his life, as the ju-ju man was unable to\npoison him, so after a time he went to Chief Oga, and told him that the\nyear of \u2019Nyambi\u2019s death had not yet arrived, and he could do nothing\nwith the young man.\n\nChief Oga then for twelve months did not try to do anything more to\nkill \u2019Nyambi, but sat down and waited until the proper time should\narrive when he would be able to revenge himself upon \u2019Nyambi and take\nObim away.\n\nHowever, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep\nwith him, but she always refused. At last Obim became so annoyed at\nthese repeated messages, that she told her husband what was going on\nbetween herself and Chief Oga, and advised him to revenge himself in\nhis turn. She advised \u2019Nyambi to pretend to go down river to sell some\ncamwood and she would then allow the chief to come to her at night\nwhen \u2019Nyambi should come in and surprise them together. Obim also told\nher husband that she hoped he would cut a certain part off the chief\u2019s\nbody, which would punish him properly and prevent his troubling her for\nthe future.\n\n\u2019Nyambi thought the plan a good one, so he put some camwood into his\ncanoe and told the people that he was going down river to trade, and\ndid not expect to return for some few days. He then started off but did\nnot go very far.\n\nDirectly the chief heard that \u2019Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger\nto Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night. But Obim told the\nmessenger to tell his master that she could not come to him, but that\nhe might come to her alone at night, and he was to be careful not to\nlet anyone know what was going on between them.\n\nChief Oga was so glad when he got Obim\u2019s message that he at once went\ndown to the river and washed himself. He then went home and put on a\nfine cloth and had food before it was dark. After that he sat down and\nwaited as patiently as he could until all the people in the town had\ngone to sleep.\n\nWhen he thought it was quite safe and no one would see him, he went\nvery quietly to Obim\u2019s house and knocked softly on the door. Obim let\nthe chief in, and then fastened the door, telling him to lie down and\nthat she would join him later on. Oga asked Obim to come to him at\nonce, but she told him to wait a little, as all the people had not then\ngone to bed.\n\nVery soon Chief Oga dropped off to sleep, so Obim went to the door very\nquietly and undid the fastening.\n\nNot long afterwards, \u2019Nyambi opened the door and found Chief Oga asleep\nin his wife\u2019s bed; so he fastened the door securely, and, having got\nhis knife ready, made the fire blaze and woke the chief up.\n\nWhen Oga awoke he saw \u2019Nyambi standing over him with his knife pointing\nat his breast. \u2019Nyambi told him to be quiet and not to make a noise or\nhe would kill him at once.\n\nHe then said, \u201cI find you as a thief and one who would commit adultery\nwith my wife. I will not receive any present from you; I do not\nwant to kill you, but I intend to take one of two things from your\nbody, and, if you refuse, I shall kill you at once.\u201d On hearing this,\nChief Oga was very much frightened, as he was no match for \u2019Nyambi in\nstrength; so he lay there for some time, thinking of his life, his\nwealth, and his wives, until at last he asked \u2019Nyambi what it was he\nwished to take from his body so that he might go.\n\n\u2019Nyambi said, \u201cI intend either to take your eyes out, which will\nprevent your looking at pretty girls any more, or else I will cut a\ncertain part of your body off, which will stop your doing them any harm\nin the future.\u201d\n\nOga said he could not part with his eyes, so at last he consented to\n\u2019Nyambi\u2019s cutting the part off his body, provided he promised not to\nkill him and to let him go.\n\n\u2019Nyambi promised, and having told Oga not to make a noise, he cut the\nthing off, and turned the chief out of his house. Chief Oga then went\nhome, but did not tell anyone what had happened to him. He was in such\npain all the night that he was unable to sleep, and when the morning\ncame, he asked one of his wives to boil some water and bring it to him.\nShe did as she was told, and the chief went into the back-yard and\nbathed and dressed the wound.\n\nHe then sent one of his boys to call \u2019Nyambi to him. When \u2019Nyambi\narrived he did not go inside the house, but stood a few paces from the\ndoor, as he thought that Oga might try to do him some injury; but the\nchief said he did not intend to hurt him and that he might safely come\ninside. Chief Oga then implored \u2019Nyambi not to tell any of the young\nmen of the town what he had done to him, and begged him to keep it\nsecret until the day of his death. \u2019Nyambi promised, and went home and\ntold his wife.\n\nThe chief\u2019s wound took many days to heal, and at night, when his wives\ncame to him, he had to send them away, saying he was not well. This\nwent on for some time, until at last his wives got tired of being alone\nand began to desert him and go to other men, and very soon he was left\nwith only boys in the house.\n\nThe chief then sent for all his wives to hear his last words. When they\narrived, he said, \u201cMy dear wives, I am not angry with you for leaving\nme, for love of women has caused me to lose the dearest part of my\nbody. But I will ask one favour of you, and that is, when I die you\nwill all come and cry and mourn for me, as is usual. Then you will know\nwhy I did not sleep with you.\u201d\n\nThe women then asked the chief what was the matter with him, so he\npointed to his waist, and said he had great pain there, and was unable\nto move that part of his body. He then told them all to go away.\n\nChief Oga lived for a few more years and then died. His wives, who had\nby that time all married other men, got permission from their husbands\nto go and mourn for Chief Oga.\n\nWhen the people took the chief\u2019s body into the back-yard to wash it,\nthey found that a certain part of his body had been cut off. His wives\nwere very much surprised when they saw what had been done to their late\nhusband, as, during his lifetime, he had been quite all right. They\ntherefore went and told the chiefs of the town. The chiefs then came\nand inspected the body, and afterwards met in the palaver house to try\nand find out who had mutilated Chief Oga. The drum was beaten and the\nyoung men of the town were told to attend the meeting.\n\nDirectly \u2019Nyambi heard the drum, he called all his company to his\nhouse, and told them what he had done to Chief Oga. He also told them\nthat what he had done was for the good of all people, and asked them to\nsupport him at the meeting, and if it came to a fight, that they should\nall be on the same side.\n\nWhen they had heard the whole story, the members of \u2019Nyambi\u2019s company\nagreed to back him up, and as they were the principal fighting-men of\nthe town they went to the palaver house without much fear.\n\nWhen all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood up,\nand said, \u201cI have seen to-day what I have never seen before since I\nwas born. Chief Oga, whom you all know, died this morning, and I went\nto look at his body. I then saw that a certain part of his body was\nmissing. Now I want to know who did this thing, and what became of the\nmissing part of the late chief. I shall be glad if any young man of the\ntown who knows anything about this palaver will inform me.\u201d\n\nThen \u2019Nyambi stood up and questioned the chief, as follows: \u201cWhat\nwill be done to the man who did this? Will he be killed or will he be\nallowed to go free?\u201d The chief replied that the man would certainly\nbe killed, if he had mutilated Chief Oga by force without a very good\nreason, but that if they considered he was justified in his action, he\nwould be allowed to go free.\n\nThen \u2019Nyambi told the people that he had done this thing, and addressed\nthem as follows: \u201cWhen I married my wife Obim, while she was still in\nthe circumcision house, Chief Oga went to her and tried to persuade her\nto go to him. After that he frequently sent messages to her, asking her\nto sleep with him, but she always refused. Again, when I was absent,\nChief Oga went to my house to sleep with my wife, but I returned and\ncaught him lying asleep on her bed.\u201d \u2019Nyambi then asked the question,\n\u201cWhat do you do when you catch a thief in your stack of yams?\u201d And the\nhead chief replied, \u201cHe is tied up to a tree, and left there to die.\u201d\n\u2019Nyambi then said that he treated Chief Oga as a thief, but he took\npity on him, and instead of killing him, he gave him his choice whether\nhe would have his eyes put out or have a certain part of his body cut\noff. The late chief chose the latter alternative, so he performed the\noperation. He then called his wife Obim, who brought on a calabash the\npart of the dead chief\u2019s body, which had been cut off and dried in the\nsun, as proof of what he had said.\n\n\u2019Nyambi then asked the chiefs whether he was justified in the course he\nhad taken or not; and the chiefs, after consultation, agreed that he\nhad done right.\n\nA law was then passed that, if a husband caught another man in his\nhouse having connection with his wife, he could do whatever he liked\nwith him in the house, but once the man was outside the house, he\nshould not be molested, and the case should be decided before the\nchiefs.\n\nBut the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing\nadultery might defend himself as well as he could, and would not be\npunished for so doing.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[22.7.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXV.--HOW TWO BENDEGA YOUNG MEN CHANGED THEIR SKINS.\n\n\nBendega is a town on the right bank of the Afi River, which runs into\nthe Cross River opposite to Abaragha.\n\nIn this town many years ago there lived two young men called Abang\nand Oga \u2019Ngigor. Abang was famous for his personal beauty, and was\nrecognized as the best wrestler, dancer, singer, and drum-beater in\nthe country. Abang was never allowed to leave the town by his parents,\nas they thought he might be killed or get into trouble with other\nyoung men of his company, but in spite of this his fame as a singer\nand dancer, and stories of his manly beauty, had spread through all\nthe neighbouring towns, and many people wanted to see him, but as he\nwas a dutiful son he stayed at home and did not accept any of the\nnumerous invitations he received from the various countries to attend\ntheir plays and dances, although he was frequently offered quite large\nnumbers of rods and other presents to go. Needless to say, all the\nyoung girls of the country wanted to marry him, but he looked after\nhimself very well and kept away from the women in general, having his\nown particular friend to whom he was on the whole fairly faithful. Oga\n\u2019Ngigor had also been a good wrestler, singer and dancer, until he\ncaught a bad sickness which covered his whole body with sores. These\nsores were so bad that Oga could not walk about, and his body smelt so\ndisgustingly that the people would not let him come near them. He was\nvery poor, and consequently was often starving, as he was unable to go\nabout and beg for food. While Oga was sitting down in his house feeling\nsad and miserable, he sometimes thought of Abang, who belonged to his\ncompany, and envied him his good looks and his popularity. So one day\nOga went to Abang and asked him to change skins with him for a short\nwhile, as he would like to know what it felt like to be as strong and\nhandsome as Abang was. He did this as he had made up his mind to run\naway in Abang\u2019s skin and go round the country, where he knew the people\nwould be certain to give him many presents. After he had flattered\nAbang for some time, he took off his skin and placed it on the ground\nand asked Abang to do the same so that they could change skins for a\nshort time.\n\nAt first Abang refused, as he did not like the idea of putting on the\ndirty skin, so he asked Oga if the sores hurt. Oga at once replied\nthat the sores never hurt him, and he only sat down so that the people\nshould not look at him. Then Abang took his skin off and put on Oga\u2019s,\nand Oga got into Abang\u2019s skin as soon as he was able.\n\nNow when Abang got into Oga\u2019s skin he was unable to walk, and was\nobliged to sit down. Oga knowing this, directly he had got into Abang\u2019s\nskin, ran down to the beach, and, jumping into a canoe, paddled himself\nacross the Afi River, and ran off along the road to Akparabong as fast\nas he could go, leaving Abang sitting on the floor of the house calling\nto him to return at once and change skins. But Oga ran on without\nheeding his cries, until at last he arrived at the Akparabong farms.\nWhen he got near the town one of the natives of the country, through\nwhose farm the path passed, told him that Chief Ojong Egussa was dead,\nand that his funeral was being kept at \u2019Nkanassa compound, where a big\nplay was going on and much drinking and feasting.\n\nThis was good news for Oga, as he felt certain of a good reception,\nso when he came to the small stream just outside the town, where the\npeople always wash on their return from their farms in the evening, he\ntook off his cloth and had a good wash. He then washed the cloth he\nhad been wearing, and put on his best one, which belonged to Abang, so\nas to make a good impression on the people. As soon as he was ready he\nwent to the house where the funeral was going on, and told the people\nthat he was the celebrated Abang from Bendega, whom they had wanted to\nsee for such a long time. The people and chiefs were very glad to see\nhim, and asked him to play and sing for them, which he did. The people\nwere so pleased at having Abang to play for them, and admired him so\nmuch that when the funeral was over the chief presented him with some\ncases of gin, cloth and rods, and gave him some boys to carry his loads\non the road to Ikom.\n\nOga then started off, and arrived at Adaginkpor early in the afternoon.\nHe went to the head chief, who was an old man, and told him that he was\nAbang from Bendega, and that he was going round the country to visit\nthe people. The chief welcomed him, and said he had often wished to\nsee him, as many people spoke of his personal appearance and his good\nqualities. Oga stayed at Adaginkpor for a few days, during which time\ndances were held every night, as the moon was full, and all the people\ncame in from their farms to see Abang and hear him play and sing.\n\nWhen Oga left the town he received many more presents from the people,\nand the young men\u2019s company carried his loads into Ikom, which is not\nfar from Adaginkpor, and is a large town on the right-hand of the Cross\nRiver. The people of Ikom had heard from Adaginkpor that Abang was\ngoing to visit them, so they were ready for him, and gave him a big\nfeast, and held a play which lasted several days, Oga taking his part\nin the playing, dancing and singing, as before. When he left Ikom, Oga\nwas given more presents, and the chief lent him a large canoe and some\npaddles to take him to Okuni, a town a little lower down the river on\nthe other side. Oga did the same at this town, and then went on to\nOkanga, and after a few days walked along the river bank to Enfitop. At\neach of these towns he received presents, and when he got to the next\ntown, which is called \u2019Nporo Osilla, he crossed the big river again,\nand went through the Inde country, where all the people turned out to\nmeet him, and when he left they gave Oga many yams and other presents,\nso that when he started off for the next town, which is called Inkum,\nhe had a large number of carriers carrying his loads, which by this\ntime had become very numerous.\n\nUnfortunately for Oga, the chief of Inkum had heard from Abang\u2019s\nparents that Oga had changed skins with their son and that he was\ntravelling about the country collecting dashes in Abang\u2019s name. When\nthe chief heard that Oga had come, he at once sent a message to Abang\u2019s\nparents requesting them to come to Inkum as soon as possible and to\nbring their son with them. The chief then greeted Oga and persuaded him\nto stay on from day to day, and told him that a play was being brought\nfrom Bendega.\n\nWhen the people from Bendega came near the town of Inkum, Abang, who\nwas disguised in the dress of an Egbo and covered from head to foot in\na very fantastic costume, sent some boys to Oga with a message telling\nhim to come out and meet them. Oga was so proud at hearing that a play\nhad come all the way from Bendega to escort him to the town that he\nwillingly went out to meet them, not knowing that the real Abang had\ncome with them.\n\nWhen Oga arrived at the place where the people who had brought the play\nwere resting in the shade of some large trees which grew by the side\nof the path, Abang stood up, and having thrown the Egbo dress on one\nside, he took off Oga\u2019s skin and placed it on the ground, at the same\ntime telling Oga to do the like. At first Oga refused, and begged Abang\nnot to shame him before all the people, but Abang insisted upon having\nhis own skin back again, so Oga was forced to exchange. The people then\nknew that they had been deceived by Oga and that he had taken their\npresents wrongly. They told the real Abang that they were sorry they\ncould not give him any more presents, and that the best thing he could\ndo was to help himself from the things which had been given to Oga in\nhis name. Abang however, was kind-hearted, and allowed Oga to keep all\nthe presents he had received, as he was very poor and he was sorry for\nhim having such a wretched body and being all covered with sores. And\nnow whenever people are asked to change their skins they always refuse,\nbut sometimes they will lend their best cloth to a friend.\n\nTold by Abbassi of Inkum.--[22.7.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXVI.--CONCERNING THE JU-JU AGAINST ELEPHANTIASIS, OR HOW THE HARES\nLOST THEIR LONG TAILS.\n\n\nOkpa was a ju-ju man living at Okuni many years ago, and the name of\nhis ju-ju was \u2019Nda.[9] The old man continually made sacrifices to his\nju-ju of goats and fowls and all the young men of the town brought him\npresents as sacrifices so that they should not get the disease, which\nis very common throughout the country. Whenever a sacrifice was about\nto be made, all the people who belonged to the society used to meet\ntogether and sit down all round the ju-ju, but as the law of the ju-ju\nwas that no man should open his legs, the people always tied their\nknees and ankles together with tie-tie, because if anyone opened his\nlegs he would at once get elephantiasis.\n\nOnce while the people were feasting and playing round the ju-ju,\nthe hare came along with his fine tail, and seeing them all eating\ngoat\u2019s-flesh, fowls, foo-foo and yams, he asked Okpa if he might join\nin the feast, as the hare was very greedy and could never resist eating\nanything he saw. Okpa told the hare that he might join in the feast,\nbut that when he had finished eating he must make the usual present\nto the ju-ju, and that if he went way without paying something very\nbad would happen to him. The hare agreed to this, and sat down amongst\nthe people and took his share of all the food; but as he was enjoying\nhimself so much he did not notice that the people were sitting in\nrather a peculiar fashion, so he sat down in the ordinary way with his\nlegs open. When the food was finished the ju-ju man tied one of the\nyoung green shoots from the palm-tree round each of the members of the\nsociety. He then dipped his hand into the ju-ju pot, and having touched\nthem one after the other on the forehead and breast, he told them to\ndepart. But he did nothing to the hare, and when he came to where he\nwas sitting he called upon the newcomer to go and bring the usual\npresent of a goat or a fowl to sacrifice to the \u2019Nda ju-ju. The hare\nsaid he had nothing to give just then, and got up to go away, but found\nthat a certain portion of his body had swollen to such a size that it\ntouched the ground when he stood up. He then saw that he had caught the\nElephantiasis, and asked Okpa to cure him of the disease, but the ju-ju\nman said he could not help him until he had made his proper sacrifice\nto the \u2019Nda ju-ju.\n\nAs the hare was very poor he was in a great state of mind as to how\nhe should pay, and although he begged hard Okpa would not listen to\nhim; so at last he made up his mind to consult his wife, and started\noff, dragging the Elephantiasis with him. On the road he planned how\nhe should get rid of the disease and at last asked the Elephantiasis\nto leave him for a little time, as he wanted to relieve himself. The\nElephantiasis replied that the hare could relieve himself quite well\nwithout his going away, so the hare was compelled to do so; he then\nreturned to the path again.\n\nAfter he had gone a short distance further the hare thought he would\ntry another trick to get rid of the disease, so, seeing some rubber\nvines growing near with ripe fruit, he said to the Elephantiasis, \u201cI\nam still very hungry, are you not hungry also? I want to climb up and\nget that ripe rubber fruit, but cannot do so as you are so heavy. If\nyou will stop on the ground I will climb the vine and throw the rubber\nfruit down to you, and you can gather it and put it in the bag, and\nthen we shall have plenty to eat on the road.\u201d\n\nSo the Elephantiasis, who really was hungry, agreed to stop on the\nground, and the hare, relieved of the great weight, at once climbed\nthe rubber vine and commenced to throw down the fruit, which the\nElephantiasis gathered and put in the bag. As the hare gathered the\nfruit he threw it further and further away from the vine, and the\nElephantiasis rolled himself away after it until at last he had gone\nsome distance from the tree, so the hare slid down to the ground, and\nran towards his home as fast as he could go.\n\nWhen the Elephantiasis got back to the vine he called out to the hare,\nbut as he did not receive any answer he guessed the hare had run home,\nso he rolled himself along the path after the hare, but although he\nwas nearly round he could not travel nearly as fast as the hare, who\nwas a very swift runner indeed. The hare therefore reached his house\nsome time before the Elephantiasis, and at once called out to his wife\nand told her to go and stay with a neighbour of his for a few days as\nhe was running away from a man, and his enemies were following him to\nkill him or take him prisoner, and he feared that they might catch\nher. His wife then packed up her things and went off to their friend\u2019s\nhouse, and the hare having said that he would probably be absent for\nsome days, ran off in another direction, leaving his home deserted, so\nthat when the Elephantiasis arrived he found no one about the place.\n\nThe hare took a path which led through some farm, and after a time came\nacross some people who were clearing the ground for their new farm.\nHe went up to them, and having told them a long story about the cruel\nenemy he was running away from, begged them to hide him and cover him\nup with leaves and branches so that he should not be discovered. As the\npeople were sorry for the hare, they agreed to do what he asked, and\nput him in a heap of rubbish where he could not be seen; they then went\non with their work.\n\nShortly afterwards the Elephantiasis rolled himself up to where the\npeople were working and asked them whether they had seen the hare pass\nthat way, but the people told him that the hare had not called at their\nfarm. Then the Elephantiasis said, \u201cOh, I see you want to deceive me,\nfor I tracked him as I came along the path; but let me tell you the\nhare is a great friend of mine; unfortunately he has long legs and can\nrun fast, whereas I have no legs and can only roll along slowly, and\nthus got left behind.\u201d But the people still maintained that they had\nseen nothing of the hare. Then the Elephantiasis got angry, and said to\nthe people, \u201cIf you do not tell me at once where the hare is, I will\njump on you and you will have to carry me for the rest of your lives.\u201d\nAt this the people were frightened, as they knew the disease well, and\ndid not wish to have it with them always, so they pointed out the heap\nof rubbish where the hare was hiding, and the Elephantiasis rolled off\ntowards it.\n\nNow all this time the hare had been listening, and when he saw the\nElephantiasis coming towards him he jumped out of the heap and ran away\nas fast as he could go. He ran for some distance, and passed another\nfarm, but did not go in, as he thought the same thing might happen to\nhim there. He went on and on until he thought the Elephantiasis must\nbe a long way behind, and it would be safe to stop for a time, so\nwhen he came to a small compound where the people were having their\nevening meal he went in and told them that he was being chased, and\nthat the enemy were following him. When the people heard this they\nstopped eating, and having collected all their food they put it in the\nEgbo house and told the hare to stop there. They then armed themselves\nwith bows and arrows to protect their homes from the enemy. The hare\ntold them to go some little distance from the Egbo house, so that they\nshould not be driven back upon him at once. He then sat down and eat\nthe people\u2019s food.\n\nFor some time the people stood waiting for the enemy to appear, but\nthey saw no signs of anyone until the Elephantiasis rolled up to them,\nwhen the hare called out \u201cThe enemy has come.\u201d At this one of the men\nraised his bow and arrow and was about to shoot when the Elephantiasis\nsaid, \u201cDon\u2019t shoot, I am not your enemy; I am looking for my friend,\nthe hare, and I want you to show me where he is.\u201d The people said he\nhad not come that way, but the Elephantiasis replied that he had just\nheard the hare\u2019s voice, and again threatened to jump on one of the\nmen if they did not show him where the hare was hiding. The people\nthen called upon the hare to come out of the Egbo house, but instead\nof doing so, he ran away in the opposite direction, and went down to\na stream where he knew a land crab lived. When he got to the hole he\nfound the old mother land crab at the entrance, and told her his usual\nstory, asking her to help him, as the men always gave him up, and he\npromised to reward her if she drove his enemy away or killed him. The\nmother crab agreed, but told the hare that she had young ones in one\nbranch of the hole, and that he might go in and sit down in another\npart until the fight was over. So the hare went into the hole, and the\nold mother crab stood at the entrance with her large claws open ready\nand waiting for the enemy.\n\nNot long after this the Elephantiasis rolled himself down to the\nstream, where he met the mother crab, looking very fierce, and asked\nher if she had seen the hare.\n\nThe crab replied, \u201cYes, the hare is in my house, but I never give\nstrangers up to their enemies.\u201d\n\nWhen the Elephantiasis said he was a friend of the hare, the crab said,\n\u201cI don\u2019t care whether you are a friend or an enemy, I am not going\nto give the hare up.\u201d This made the Elephantiasis very angry, and he\nthreatened to jump on the crab. But the crab said, \u201cI am not at all\nafraid of you. You can try if you like, and then you will see what will\nhappen.\u201d\n\nAt this the Elephantiasis rolled himself back a few paces, and then\nwent for the crab. The old crab was ready for him, and nipped him so\nseverely with her sharp pincer-like claws that water came from his\ninside and he yelled with pain.\n\nThe hare then shouted out to the crab to fight well, and that when she\nhad killed the Elephantiasis they would both make a good meal off him.\nWhen the Elephantiasis heard this he became more furious than ever, and\nrolled back again, and then made another attack on the crab. The crab\nthen pinched him so severely that he burst and died, at which the hare\nwas very glad.\n\nWhen the mother crab told the hare that she had killed the\nElephantiasis he told her to drag the body to the stream and wash it.\nThen the mother crab called for her knife, which the hare gave her out\nof the hole. The crab then dragged the Elephantiasis to the stream,\nwhere she cut him up and washed him properly. She then carried the meat\nback into the hole.\n\nDuring the time the old crab had been fighting the Elephantiasis, the\nhare had been very busy, and had killed and eaten three of the crab\u2019s\nchildren, and then threw their shells behind the fireplace near to\nwhere the old crab used to keep her salt. When she returned the hare\ntold her that they should cook and eat his dead enemy, so he made up\nthe fire, and the flesh was put into a pot to boil. While the meat\nwas cooking the crab went to get some salt, and to her horror saw the\nshells of three of her children on the ground where the hare had thrown\nthem. Having put the salt into the pot she went into the next hole\nwhere she had left her children, to count them. But the hare, seeing\nthat trouble was likely to come, and not liking the idea of being\nnipped by the crab\u2019s strong claws, with which she had just killed his\nenemy, took the pot off the fire and ran away with the meat.\n\nWhen the mother crab returned vowing vengeance on the hare, she found\nhe had gone and had taken her pot with the meat in it; and although she\nshouted to him several times to come back she got no answer.\n\nThe hare ran on some distance with the pot of meat, on the road to his\nhouse, and when he thought he was safe from pursuit he sat down on an\nant-hill, with his tail down a hole. Having looked round everywhere\ncarefully to see that no one was following or watching him, he\ncommenced to eat the flesh of his late enemy. All this time the ants\nwere busy building their house, and while the hare was eating his food\nthe ants had covered half his tail and had bitten it through.\n\nWhen he had finished his meal the hare felt that something was wrong\nwith his tail, so he jumped away from the ant hill, and found to his\ndisgust that he had left half his tail behind him where the ants had\nbitten it through. When he saw what had happened he did not like to\nreturn to his wife at once, as she might deny him, so he waited until\nit was dark and then joined his wife. She was very glad to see her\nhusband again, and asked him about the war party he was running away\nfrom.\n\nThe hare said, \u201cAll the trouble is now over, as I have gone through the\nceremony of the war ju-ju, and the chief cut me on the tail so that in\nfuture I shall never die from war or fighting in any way.\u201d And as it\nwas then dark the hare\u2019s wife lit the lamp,[10] but the hare hid his\ntail in the darkness so that his wife could not see it, as the wound\nhad not healed up.\n\nWhen the evening meal was over, the two hares retired for the night,\nbut when his wife had put the lamp out, the hare told her that if she\nwanted to get up during the night or light the lamp she must wake him\nup first, as otherwise his war ju-ju would be spoilt.\n\nNow the hare was tired after all his running, and very soon he was fast\nasleep, so when his wife was certain that he would not wake up easily,\nshe got out of bed very quietly and lit the lamp, as she was extremely\ncurious to know what the ju-ju man had done to her husband\u2019s tail. When\nshe saw that the hare had lost half his tail, she was ashamed of him,\nand began to cry. Then the hare woke up and began to abuse his wife,\nsaying that she had spoilt his ju-ju and would have to pay a great deal\nto make it right again. After a violent quarrel they eventually went\nto sleep; but in the morning at first cock-crow the hare\u2019s wife got up\nand packed up all her things, saying that she was going away to find\nanother husband, as she could not possibly live with a hare who had\nlost half his tail, whether it had been cut by the ju-ju man or not.\n\nThe hare then said, \u201cYou have no sense. It will not help you at all to\nleave me, as all the other hares have had the same thing done to them\non account of the war ju-ju. You had much better stay with me.\u201d But his\nwife was not satisfied, and told her husband that she should go out and\nsee for herself whether what he had said was true; so she started off\nalong the path to the nearest hare\u2019s house.\n\nDirectly she was out of sight the hare ran through the bush as fast as\nhe could to the house his wife was bound for, and as she was carrying a\nheavy load he got there some little time before her. He then told his\nfriend that his wife had left him because he had lost part of his tail,\nand was on her way to see whether he had also lost his. The hare then\nasked his friend to step into his back room and allow him to speak to\nhis wife from the door when she came. His friend gladly consented to\nhelp him, and soon after he had gone inside the hare\u2019s wife appeared\nand put down her load. The hare then stood up in the doorway, facing\nhis wife, and calling her by name said, \u201cEkanga, where are you going\nwith that load? Are you leaving your husband?\u201d And his wife said,\n\u201cYes.\u201d The hare then said, \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d and she replied, \u201cMy\nhusband has lost his tail, and told me that it had been cut on account\nof the war ju-ju, and that all the other men-hares have also had their\ntails cut, so as I do not like to live with a hare who has no tail, I\nhave come to see if he told the truth.\u201d\n\nThe hare then said, \u201cWe have all passed through the same ju-ju and had\nour tails cut off; look and see.\u201d He then turned round and showed her.\n\nHis wife then went on from one hare\u2019s house to another, but each time\nher husband went on in front of her and deceived her in the same way,\nuntil at last she got tired and turned back to go home. The hare then\nran quickly home, and jumped into bed, and when his wife appeared he\nsaid, \u201cSo you have returned. You are a foolish woman, and you can go\nor stay as you please, I do not care.\u201d But his wife said that she was\nsatisfied that her husband had spoken the truth, as all the hares she\nhad seen had had their tails cut off, so she had resolved to turn back.\n\nThe next day the hare called all his company together, and told them\nthat he had nearly lost his life the previous day on account of his\nlong tail, as he had sat down on an ant heap with his tail down one of\nthe holes, and some animal inside had caught hold of it and tried to\npull him inside to kill him, but to save his life he had cut his tail\noff with a knife, and he strongly advised them to do the same. To this\nthey all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to escape from\nany enemy who might try to catch them by the tail, and ever since the\nhares have had no tails, as when the men-hares went home they made\ntheir wives and children follow their example, telling them that it\nwas done for their good by the war ju-ju to prevent them from dying in\nbattle. On account of the hare\u2019s wife lighting the lamp to look at her\nhusband\u2019s tail and thus spoiling his war ju-ju, it has been a custom\never since that when men are going to fight they will never trust their\nwives with their war ju-ju, and they will not sleep with them or eat\nany food which they have cooked with their hands until the fighting is\nover.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[26.7.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXVII.--HOW A CRUEL INKUM CHIEF WAS POISONED BY HIS SLAVES, AND HOW HIS\nSON HANGED HIMSELF ON ACCOUNT OF THE EXPENSES OF HIS BROTHER\u2019S FUNERAL.\n\n\nAt Inkum in the olden days there dwelt a chief called Erim. He was very\nwealthy, having many slaves, both male and female, and a large farm.\nHe was known throughout the country as a cruel man and a hard master.\nMost of Chief Erim\u2019s wealth was made by selling camwood and the large\nyams grown on his farm. The chief made a rule that each woman slave\nshould bring him at the end of every seven days twelve balls or cakes\nof camwood. If any of them failed to do so, he tied them up to a tree\nand they were given fifty lashes on the back with a heavy whip made of\ntwisted skin. They were also made to pay the value of the number of\nballs of camwood which they had failed to make. This meant that all the\nwomen slaves had to work very hard indeed, and they could get no help\nfrom their husbands in any way, as at first cock-crow all the men were\nsent off to the farm to work, and were not allowed to return until the\nevening. Very frequently the men slaves were severely flogged by order\nof the chief, if he were not satisfied with the amount of work done\non the farm, or if they annoyed him in any way. In consequence of his\ncruel treatment of them, all his slaves hated Chief Erim, and although\nthey were much in fear of their master they often planned to kill him.\n\nNow Chief Erim had only two wives; one was an Okuni woman, by whom he\nhad a son called Odoggha Eyu, and the other was a native of Inkum,\nwhose son\u2019s name was Oga Erim. The chief was very fond of both his\nsons, and never allowed them to do any work on the farm. He gave them\nplenty of food and good cloths, and they grew into strong young men.\nThere was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that\nOdoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha\nEyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother\u2019s birthplace. The chief\ntherefore made up his mind that his youngest son, Oga Erim, should\ninherit his property, and for several years taught him how to rule the\npeople with a strong hand and to punish them severely if they did not\nwork, as that was the way he had become rich.\n\nWhen the two sons had grown up, the slaves made a plan to kill Chief\nErim, whom they hated so much. The head slave waited until the day came\nfor the women to bring their camwood to be counted, and then told his\nwife to keep back three balls of camwood, so that if the chief flogged\nher, he would be able to give a good reason to the other slaves why\nthey should kill their master. When all the women slaves had brought\ntheir camwood, the chief told the head slave to count the cakes as\nusual. He did so, and told Chief Erim that his wife had only brought\nnine cakes of camwood instead of twelve, as she had been very busy in\nthe house and had had a lot of other work to do. The head slave also\nsaid that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought\nthe right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had\nfailed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. But Chief Erim\nwas angry, and said that the head slave\u2019s wife ought to know better and\nshould set a good example to the other slaves. He then had her tied up\nto a tree, and she was given fifty lashes, the blood running down her\nback on to the ground, the woman becoming unconscious from the pain.\nShe was then released and water having been thrown over her she was\ncarried to her house, where she was placed on the sleeping-mat.\n\nThe next day the woman was made to pay for the three missing cakes of\ncamwood, and the chief told the other women slaves that the punishment\nthe woman had received should be a warning to them and make them work\nharder.\n\nThe head slave washed the wounds on his wife\u2019s back, and put some\nmashed-up leaves on the sore places to stop the bleeding and heal the\ncuts. When he saw what a terrible flogging his wife had received, his\nheart was full of rage against Chief Erim, so that very night he went\nto every slave, and they all agreed to kill their master. The head\nslave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought\ntwo powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju\nwas made the \u201cdry cough\u201d (consumption), and the other would give him\nparalysis. He then hid the ju-jus, as they had decided to wait some\ntime after the woman had been flogged before they gave the poison to\nthe chief, so that no suspicion should be attached to them of having\npoisoned their master. All the slaves went about their work as usual\nuntil the time arrived for the new yams to be dug, at which season it\nwas customary for the people to give presents to their chiefs. The head\nslave then went into the bush and made a calabash of strong tombo. He\nthen called Chief Erim\u2019s name, and having put the two ju-jus into the\ntombo, told the ju-ju to kill Chief Erim and not to harm anyone else.\nHaving bought twenty-five yams and one cock, he took them, together\nwith the calabash of tombo, and gave them to Chief Erim as his present.\nThe chief thanked him for his dash, and told his small boy to pour out\nthe tombo. The first glass was given to the head slave, who had brought\nthe tombo, and he threw it on the ground, asking Ossorwor (God) to\nbless Chief Erim with plenty of wealth and long life. The \u201cpourer-out\u201d\ndrank the second glass, and Chief Erim drank the next, the tombo was\nthen passed round until it was finished, but the head slave poured the\nlast glass, which had the remains of the poison in it, on the ground in\nfront of the ju-ju, which was in the middle of the compound; this he\ndid when the Chief Erim\u2019s back was turned so that he could not see.\n\nAbout a month afterwards the ju-ju began to work, and Chief Erim felt\nsick; he coughed all day, and one side became useless so that he could\nnot walk. He wanted to go to the ju-ju man to ask him what was the\ncause of his sickness, but being unable to move about he sent for his\nhead slave and told him to go to the ju-ju man and tell him to come to\nhis house so that he could consult him.\n\nWhen the head slave came, he said to Chief Erim, \u201cI have been your\nslave ever since I was a small boy. Surely you can trust me. Let me\ngo and consult the ju-ju man on your behalf, and he will tell me what\nyou should do in order to get well again. You have only to give me\nyour loin-cloth, and then when he has seen it he will know what is the\nmatter with you after he has cast lots.\u201d\n\nChief Erim agreed to this, and told his head slave to take two boxes of\nrods and some fowls as a present to the ju-ju man. The head slave kept\nthe fowls and rods for himself, and did not go near the ju-ju man, but\nthe next day he went to his master and said that he had consulted the\nju-ju man, who had said that the chief\u2019s life was in danger, and that\nhe had been poisoned by his Okuni wife, who wanted her son to inherit\nher husband\u2019s property. If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should\nat once send the wife and her son to Okuni, as they were both witches,\nand that in three months\u2019 time he would be quite well again. The ju-ju\nman also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju in the middle\nof Chief Erim\u2019s compound, who had been fighting the witches for him,\nhe would have been dead long before. The chief should therefore make a\nsacrifice of a white cock and a goat to the ju-ju for his help.\n\nChief Erim then told his wife to go back to Okuni and take her son with\nher. He also told the head slave to sacrifice the white cock and the\ngoat to the ju-ju. This was done, but instead of getting better, chief\nErim died in less than a month, and his son Oga Erim inherited his\nfather\u2019s property.\n\nWhen the chiefs of Inkum heard of the disease which Chief Erim had died\nfrom, they made an order that the body should be buried in a deep grave\nin the bush, that the funeral should not be kept as usual, and that no\none was to mourn for the dead chief, as the sickness he had died from\nwas a very dangerous one, and if anyone cried for him they would get\nthe disease. The chief\u2019s body was therefore buried without any of the\ncustomary funeral rites, which saved Oga Erim a large amount of money.\n\nIt did not take the slaves long to realize that they were very little\nbetter off for the death of their late master, as Oga Erim carried\non much in the same way as his father had. The first woman slave who\nfailed to bring her twelve cakes of camwood was given forty lashes\ninstead of fifty, but Oga Erim said that he was young yet, but that as\nhe got older he would be much more severe and punish the people far\nmore cruelly than his father had ever done, as he intended to be very\nwealthy, and they would have to work much harder than they had done\nduring his father\u2019s lifetime unless they wished to be badly punished.\n\nOne day when he was vexed with a slave, he tied him up to a tree and\nled the driver ants to him, so that he died in great agony. After a\ntime things became so bad that the slaves decided that they must kill\nOga Erim, but they did not like to do so at once, as they thought that\nthe Inkum people might suspect them, in which case they would be\ntortured in many different ways, so they resolved to wait two years\nbefore they revenged themselves upon their cruel master.\n\nAs the time went on Oga Erim became harder on his people, and some of\nthe slaves were flogged and tortured almost every day; he seemed to\ntake great delight in their sufferings, and spent much time in devising\nnew forms of torture.\n\nWhen Chief Erim had been dead two years, the head slave called all\nthe other slaves together, and said that the time had arrived when\nOga Erim must die, as he did not think that they would be suspected\nif they were careful. The slaves then discussed the best way to kill\nOga Erim. One of them said, \u201cLet us make him blind in both eyes,\u201d but\nthe others would not agree, and said he should be killed at once, as\nif he were only blind he would know what was going on and would still\nbe able to punish them. At last it was decided to poison Oga Erim, so\nthe slaves brought a very strong poison made from the horns of a ram\nand some of the hair from the mane cut into small pieces. They then\ncalled Oga Erim\u2019s name and told the ju-ju to kill him and not to harm\nanyone else. The poison was then placed in Oga Erim\u2019s food and a few\nhours after he had eaten it he began to vomit and spit blood; so when\nthe sun was going down he called for the head slave and asked him to\nget him some medicine to cure him. The slave advised his master to\nleave the compound and go to his farm-house until he got well, as he\nthought that someone must have put a ju-ju in the ground where he was\nlying, which caused him to be sick. As Oga Erim was unable to walk,\nthe head slave ordered four slaves to carry their master to his farm.\nIn the middle of the night Oga Erim died in great pain, and one of the\nslaves at once ran off and told the head slave what had happened. He\ntold all the slaves to be quiet and not to tell anyone until he gave\nthem permission, as the head slave knew that directly Odoggha Eyu\nheard of his brother\u2019s death he would at once come to Inkum to keep\nthe funeral and take all the goods which were formerly his father\u2019s.\nThe head slave then went to the body of Oga Erim and got the keys of\nthe houses where all the rods and other valuables were kept. When he\ngot back to the town, he opened the store where all the rods were, and\nhaving called all the slaves together, he divided the rods amongst\nthem all, and then locked the door again. He then went to the house\nwhere Oga Erim kept his walking-sticks, brass pans, pots and other\nexpensive articles, and having opened the door, divided these things\nup and locked the door. After this the head slave divided up the cows,\ngoats, sheep, pigs and fowls between them all, but he left five cows in\nthe compound so that the funeral might be properly kept. He then told\nsome of the slaves to carry their master\u2019s body to the town, but before\nthis was done he warned all the slaves to be very careful not to keep\nany of their dead master\u2019s property in their own houses, as they might\nbe accused of stealing, so he advised them all to send their things\nto their different friends\u2019 houses where they could be kept for them\nwithout anyone knowing. A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to\ntell him that his brother was dead. The chiefs were also informed, and\nmany people came to mourn, the women throwing themselves on the ground\nweeping.\n\nWhen Odoggha Eyu heard that his brother Oga was dead, he called his\ncompany together to go with him to Inkum, and remembering how wealthy\nhis father had been, he hired many slaves to carry the property back to\nOkuni. He also borrowed a large number of rods to provide a big feast\nat the funeral and to give his friends and the slaves he brought with\nhim plenty to eat and drink.\n\nWhen Odoggha Eyu arrived at Inkum, he asked the head slave to hand the\nkeys of his brother\u2019s house to him, so that he could satisfy himself\nthat everything was in order. But the head slave told him that it was\nthe custom for him to bury the dead body first, and that after the\nfeast the keys would be handed over; he also added that everything in\nthe house was as his brother Oga had left it, and that all the doors\nwere locked. Odaggha Eyu then bought five slaves, promising to pay\nfor them after the funeral; these slaves he killed and placed in the\ngrave with his brother. The five cows which remained in the compound\nwere also killed, and their heads were put in the grave. The bodies\nof the cows were given to the people to eat. Many men and women came\nto the funeral, as it was known that Oga Erim was rich, and Odoggha\nEyu provided food and drink for them all, and the feasting, dancing\nand singing was continued for five days and nights. The grave was then\nfilled in and beaten down, and the outside was polished. The head slave\nthen handed the keys to Odoggha Eyu, who went first of all to the house\nwhere his father always kept his rods; when he opened the door and went\ninside there were no rods to be seen. Odoggha Eyu stood there silent\nfor some time, wondering what had become of all his father\u2019s wealth and\nhow he could manage to pay all the debts he had incurred on account of\nthe funeral expenses. At last he asked the head slave what had become\nof all the rods which his father formerly possessed, and whether his\nbrother had spent them all. The slave replied that he had received\nnothing himself, but suggested that the spirit of his late father had\ntaken all the rods away.\n\nAfter this Odoggha Eyu sent to the house where the brass pans, jugs,\nplates and other valuables used to be kept, and opened the door, only\nto find that it was as empty as the other house. Then he threw the keys\ndown on the ground in despair and went away. He told his company what\nhad happened, and advised them to go home at once, as he was unable to\nprovide any more food and drink for them. Then the owners of the five\nslaves who had been killed went to him and demanded payment, and the\nother people to whom he owed money worried him all day, until at last\nhe resolved to kill himself rather than go home in shame and debt.\nOdoggha Eyu then asked where his father was buried, and when he was\nshown the place he went back to the house and sat down, waiting until\nit became dark. That night he got a rope and hanged himself on the\nbranch of a tree overhanging his father\u2019s grave. His debtors, who were\nlooking everywhere for him, could not find him, and thought he must\nhave run away, but two days later his dead body was discovered hanging\nto the tree.\n\nEver since that time it has been a custom, whenever a person is absent\nwhen a sick relative dies and wishes to bury him, he first of all finds\nout how much property there is before he buys things for the funeral,\nso as to be quite certain that there will be enough to pay for all the\nexpenses of the burial. If a man was poor, very few people would attend\nthe funeral, but if he were rich many people would come. Hence the\nsaying, \u201cA small ju-ju has a small sacrifice, and a big ju-ju has a big\nsacrifice.\u201d\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[1.8.7.]\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII.--HOW THE FROG BEAT THE BUSH BUCK IN A RACE, AND WON HIS\nDAUGHTER AS A WIFE.\n\n\nLong ago, when the men, animals, and birds were living together, there\nwas a bush buck who was fine and strong; he was also a very quick\nrunner. This bush buck had a daughter whose skin shone like a bright\nred stone. She was much admired by all the men and animals, and many of\nthem wanted to marry her, and spoke to her father on the subject, but\nhe placed such a high dowry on his daughter that no one was rich enough\nto pay it.\n\nAt last some of the young men, who were very anxious to possess the\npretty daughter of the bush buck as a wife, asked the father to reduce\nthe amount of dowry to such an amount as they would be able to pay.\nAs the bush buck was very fond and proud of his daughter and did not\nwant to part with her, he refused to reduce the dowry, but told the\nyoung men and animals that he would give them all another chance of\nwinning his daughter, and that was, if any one could beat him in a\nrace he would hand his daughter over to the winner as his wife without\nany dowry at all. In making this offer the bush buck thought he was\nperfectly safe, as it was well known that he was a faster runner than\nanyone in the country.\n\nA day was appointed for the races to be held, and a long straight\ncourse was cut. It was decided that the races should be run from one\nend of the course to the other and back again to the starting-point,\nand the first one to get back would be declared the winner.\n\nWhen the day for the race arrived a large number of men and animals\nmet, and the course was lined with spectators on both sides as far as\nthe eye could see. Several young men who were noted for their speed and\nmany swift-running animals competed for the bush buck\u2019s daughter, but\nthey were all beaten by the bush buck. After several races of this kind\nhad been held, the fame of the pretty daughter of the bush buck spread\nfar and wide, and many other men and animals came from distant parts to\ntry and win her, but without success.\n\nOne day, when the bush buck\u2019s daughter went down to the spring to get\ndrinking-water, she met a young frog, who fell in love with her and\ndecided to ask her father\u2019s consent to their marriage. But before\nhe did so the frog called all his company, who were very numerous,\ntogether, and told them that he intended to try and win the bush buck\u2019s\ndaughter, and that he would race her father. At this all the other\nfrogs laughed, and said that the bush buck would have finished the\ncourse before the frog had jumped one pace.\n\nThe young frog allowed his companions to enjoy their laugh, and when\nthey were quiet again he said, \u201cI have a plan, and if you will all\nhelp me I am certain to win the race, and when I have got the bush\nbuck\u2019s daughter for my wife I will give you a big feast, and it will\nbe a great score to us to win her where everybody else has failed.\u201d He\nthen said to his company, \u201cAre we not all alike?\u201d And they answered\nall together, with one croak, \u201cYes.\u201d The young frog then told them his\nplan. As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two\ncompetitors were to start together and run to the end of the course,\nand then return to the starting-point, and the one who returned first\nwould be the winner. All the young frogs were to go out in the early\nmorning and hide themselves in holes at intervals along the whole of\nthe course and one frog was to be at the turning point. Whenever the\nbush buck called out, one of the frogs was to answer him and pretend he\nhad been running all the time.\n\nAll the frogs agreed that the plan was a good one, and promised to\nhelp their companion to win the race. When he had thus arranged\neverything to his satisfaction, the young frog went to the bush buck\nand challenged him to race for his daughter. But, although the bush\nbuck laughed at the idea, he had to consent to run, and the race was\narranged for the following day along the usual track, and the first\nhome to be the winner.\n\nEarly in the morning all the frogs took up their positions along\nthe course, and the young frog jumped on to the course where the\nstarting-place was and waited for the bush buck to arrive. By this\ntime many people had arrived to watch the race, and soon the bush buck\njoined the frog, and the signal to start having been given they both\njumped off together. But the frog returned to his hole, and the bush\nbuck raced off alone as fast as he could go. When he had gone about\nhalf the distance the bush buck called out, \u201cWhere are you, frog?\u201d\nand one of the frogs at once answered, \u201cI am here, are you tired of\nrunning?\u201d And the bush buck said, \u201cYes, I am tired. Let us run back,\nand the first in shall be the winner.\u201d So he turned round and started\noff again. When the bush buck got near the starting-place the frog\ncame out of his hole, and directly the people saw that he had got back\nbefore the bush buck they declared the frog to be the winner, much to\nthe disgust of many of the young men, who were watching the race, and\nwho cursed the frog for his luck in winning such a fine wife. When\nthe bush buck arrived he was much out of breath from running, and was\ngreatly surprised at being beaten by the frog, but as he had passed his\nword that he would give his daughter to the winner, he handed her to\nthe frog.\n\nThe frog then took his beautiful wife to his house near the spring,\nwhere they had a big play; and after the dancing was over the frog\ngave all the members of his company who had helped him to win the race\nquantities of food and tombo, which had been prepared for them. The\nyoung frog then went into the water, and called upon his wife to follow\nhim. She went into the stream until the water came up to her neck,\nbut, being naturally very timid, she was afraid to go further, and\nstruggled back to the bank, where she said to her husband, \u201cIf you wish\nto live with me you will have to come on to the land, as I cannot live\nin the water.\u201d So the frog came out and joined his wife, but he only\nlived with her for a very short time, as the pretty bush buck walked so\nfast he could not keep up with her. Very soon she strayed away into the\nforest, where she met a fine young bush buck, and, forgetting all about\nthe frog, went off with her young lover. One day when she went to the\nspring to draw water the frog called out to her to return to him, but,\nas she refused to do so, the frog lost his wife for ever whom he had\nwon so cleverly.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 11.8.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXIX.--WHY A PYTHON NEVER SWALLOWS A TORTOISE.\n\n\nIn the days when the elephant was king over all the beasts of the\nforest, it was the custom for all the animals to go once a year and\nmake the elephant\u2019s farm for him. They cleared all the bush and\nplanted his yams and plantains. On these occasions the elephant always\nentertained the animals, and when the work was finished the elephant\ngave them food. Now, although the python never did any work on the\nfarm, he always attended the feasts and, being very greedy, eat more\nthan his share of the food. This annoyed the tortoise so much that he\nstood up at the feast and abused the python before all the people,\nsaying that he did not work, and then came and eat a large quantity\nof the food which had been provided by the king for the people who\nmade his farm and planted his yams. The python was therefore compelled\nto leave the food and go home as he was unable to work, but he made\na vow to revenge himself upon all the people. When the next season\narrived and it was time for the farms to be made, all the people went\nas usual to make the elephant\u2019s farm and plant his yams, &c., but as\nthe elephant had had such a very bad crop the previous year, he told\nthe people he was very sorry, but that he was unable to supply them\nwith food that year as he had no yams or plantains to give them. But\nin the evening, when the work was done, he gave them tombo to drink,\nand then told them to go. When the python heard this he said, \u201cNow\nthe time is come when I can revenge myself upon the tortoise and the\nother people who would not let me eat the king\u2019s food last year.\u201d So\nhe went off into the bush, taking his wife with him, and together they\ngathered large numbers of soft palm nuts. They also collected other\nnuts and fruit and made them into heaps by the wayside where they\nknew all the people would pass on their way home from working on the\nelephant\u2019s farm. Just before it got dark the animals began to arrive\nat the spot where the python had collected his nuts and fruit, and,\nbeing very hungry, they asked the python to allow them to eat some of\nhis palm nuts. The python said, \u201cCertainly, you can help yourselves,\nbut remember if you do, when I am hungry I shall follow you and\nswallow you up when I catch you.\u201d When the animals heard this they were\nfrightened, and although they were very hungry, they passed on and left\nthe fruit untouched. The tortoise was the last to arrive, and when he\nsaw the palm nuts he shouted out, \u201cHallo, python, I am hungry, may I\nhave some of your fruit?\u201d The python then reminded him how he had been\ninsulted at the king\u2019s feast, but added, \u201cIf you are hungry you may\ntake some palm nuts, but when I am hungry I shall swallow you.\u201d\n\nSo the tortoise, not liking the idea of being swallowed by the python,\npassed along as the other animals had done. But he had not gone far\nwhen his hunger tempted him to return and eat the fruit. When he saw\nthe python the tortoise said, \u201cI want to eat the fruit as I am hungry,\nbut, if you swallow me, my body is small and mostly shell so that your\nhunger will not be satisfied. If you will give me the palm nuts I will\nallow you to eat all the other animals except our king the elephant.\u201d\nSo the python replied, \u201cHow can you give me all the animals for food,\nseeing that they do not belong to you?\u201d The tortoise then told the\npython that he would go and stay with the different animals, and he\nwould expect him every morning after rain had fallen during the night;\nhe would then go off into the bush, so that when the python came to\nswallow him he would not be there, and he could satisfy his hunger\nwith the animal he, the tortoise, had been staying with. The python\nagreed to this arrangement and allowed the tortoise to eat the palm\nnuts. When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python\nhe was going to stay the night with his friend the bush buck, and then\nwent away. That night there was heavy rain. So in the morning the\ntortoise went off into the bush, leaving the bush buck to be eaten by\nthe python. After this the tortoise went from one animal to another,\nand many of them were swallowed by the python, but the tortoise always\nescaped. And that is why pythons do not eat tortoises now.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 11.8.10.]\n\n\n\n\nXXX.--THE GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK AS PLAYED BY THE HAWK AND THE BUSH COW.\n\n\nIn the days when all the animals and birds lived together they were\nalways on friendly terms, even the eagles and hawks did not molest the\nhens and ducks. At that time the eagle was king over all the birds,\nand a very small grey-coloured antelope was made king of the animals.\nThis antelope was appointed king because he was so cunning, and always\nknew when danger was near, having a very fine sense of smell and keen\neyesight. The hunters were never able to kill him, because when they\nsaw him, which was very seldom, it would be when he went to a pool to\ndrink; then they would wait for the antelope to put his head down to\nthe water, but this he never did, as he drank through small holes in\nhis feet. He would then smell the hunters while they were watching him,\nand run away before they could kill him.\n\nThe eagle was elected king of the birds because he lived higher up in\nthe air than any of the other birds, and could thus direct them better.\nOne day the eagle went to the antelope and challenged him to play at\na game of hiding between the birds and animals. He chose the hawk to\nrepresent the birds, and the antelope selected the bush cow on the\nanimals\u2019 side. They arranged that one should hide himself in the bush\nand the other should try to find him, but that if he failed to do so,\nthe one hiding would be considered the winner and the loser would have\nto pay a large number of rods as a forfeit.\n\nThe first day the hawk was told to hide in the forest and the bush cow\nhad to find him. So in the early morning the hawk flew off to where\nhe knew there was a very tall tree covered with creepers. He then hid\nhimself in the densest part and went to sleep. All day long the bush\ncow wandered about trying to find the hawk, but without success, and\nwhen the evening came he was quite tired and went home and reported his\nbad luck to the antelope. Later in the evening the eagle took the hawk\nto the antelope\u2019s house and said that as the bush cow had been unable\nto find him, he was the winner, to which the antelope agreed and paid\nover the rods to the eagle. The antelope was not satisfied, so they\narranged to have another match; but the same thing happened and the\nantelope had to pay again.\n\nOn the third day the antelope said to the eagle, \u201cIt seems to be very\neasy to hide; let the bush cow go and hide and the hawk look for him.\u201d\nThe eagle agreed to this, and the match was for the same number of\nrods. As soon as it was light enough to see, the bush cow went off\ninto the forest until he came to a favourite swamp of his where he lay\ndown and wallowed in the mud, leaving only a little of his head and\nback exposed to view. The hawk circled round and round and, knowing\nthe habits of the bush cow and having very sharp sight, he very soon\ncaught sight of the bush cow, so he swooped down and took a mouthful\nof hair and flew back to the eagle and reported that he had found the\nbush cow, and produced the hair as proof. That night the antelope had\nto pay again, and by this time he had lost quite a lot of money, so\nhe arranged with the eagle that the hawk should hide the next day and\nthe bush cow should try again. When the eagle had gone, the antelope\ntold the bush cow that he was very angry indeed with him, and that if\nhe failed to find the hawk again he would make him repay all the money\nhe had lost to the eagle. The hawk flew off the next morning, and very\nshortly afterwards the bush cow dashed off into the forest to look for\nhim. As the hawk had always won so easily, he thought he would have\nsome fun with the bush cow, so he left the shelter of his tree and\ncircled up high in the air. The hawk very soon caught sight of the bush\ncow rushing about through the forest, so he flew down very quietly\nbehind the bush cow and perched himself on the horns of the bush cow\nquite softly. For some time the bush cow ran about in all directions\nsearching for the hawk, until at last, as he could not find him, he\nthought the hawk must have gone home, so he charged back again through\nthe bush to the hawk\u2019s house and at times the hawk had to follow him\nby flying as the bush was so thick, but when the country was open he\nquickly settled quite softly on the bush cow\u2019s horns again. As the\nbush cow went through the town he saw several different birds, and\nasked each of them as he passed whether they had seen the hawk about\nanywhere, but although they could all see the hawk perched on the bush\ncow\u2019s horns, no one answered him. When he reached the hawk\u2019s house, the\nbush cow searched everywhere for him, but finding he was not there, he\nrushed out again and went round another part of the town to see if he\ncould find him. On his way he passed several cocks and hens, and asked\nthem where the hawk was, but they only laughed at him. The bush cow\nthen asked them again, but they continued to laugh. At last he became\nso angry that he threatened to trample on them if they did not tell\nhim. So the cock said, \u201cWhat you are looking for is sitting on your\nhead; if you wave one of your arms over your head you will find what\nyou want.\u201d The bush cow would not believe the cow at first, and all\nthe birds continued to laugh at him. At last, however, the bush cow\ndid as the cock suggested, to find out if what he had said was true,\nand at once the hawk flew up and was seen by the bush cow who at once\ngalloped off and told the antelope that he had found the hawk and had\nvery nearly caught him with his hoof. The eagle was then sent for, and,\nalthough he grumbled very much, had to pay the amount of the bet.\n\nThat night the hawk told the eagle that it was the cock and hens who\ntold the bush cow to wave his arm over his horns, otherwise he never\nwould have been found. So the eagle sent for them and said, \u201cIt was you\nwho told the bush cow where the hawk was hiding and in consequence I\nhave had to pay a large amount to the antelope as a punishment; for the\nfuture I shall allow the hawk to always kill your children whenever he\ncan catch them.\u201d Now at this time the cocks and hens, who were related\nto the bush fowls, used to live with them in the same place, and when\nthe eagle told them that the hawk would kill their chickens, they made\nup their minds to go and live with the men. When the bush fowls heard\nthis they begged the cock and hen not to do so, and told them that the\nmen would kill and eat them, but the cocks and hens replied that they\nwould rather take their chance with the men than have their chickens\nkilled by the hawk in the bush. The following morning, therefore, the\ncocks and hens set off with their children, carrying a piece of bark\nwith them and told the other people they were going to get some fire.\nWhen they got to the men\u2019s houses they looked about and found that\nthere was so much to eat and they were so comfortable that they at once\ndecided to stay, and have lived with the men ever since, while their\ncousins the bush fowls live in the bush. The hawks still continue to\nkill the chickens, but the cocks and hens always run and take shelter\nwhen they see the hawk coming. In the early morning before the sun\nrises you can always hear the bush fowls calling to the cocks and hens\nto come back and live with them, and shortly afterwards you can hear\nthe cocks answering them, saying that they prefer to live in safety\nwith the men.\n\nTold by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 4.1.11.]\n\n\n\n\nXXXI.--CHIEF KEKONG\u2019S DAUGHTER \u2019NDERE WHO MARRIED A PYTHON.\n\n\nChief Kekong was a very rich Okuni chief. He lived many years ago at\nthe time when the Okuni people never eat the cat-fish, as they thought\nit was a part of the water ju-ju, having such a smooth skin.\n\nChief Kekong had a wife named Nyam, who was a fine woman, and they had\na daughter called \u2019Ndere, who was much sought after by the Okuni chiefs\nand other rich men in marriage, partly on account of her beauty, and\npartly for her father\u2019s wealth. \u2019Ndere was very vain of her personal\nappearance, and although her parents frequently tried to get her to\nmarry, she always refused.\n\nAbout this time a python lived at Okuni. He was a very fine fellow, and\nwanted to marry \u2019Ndere so that he might inherit her father\u2019s property,\nbut having no hands and feet he knew he would stand no chance of\nwinning a girl who had refused so many offers. He therefore consulted\nanother python, who advised him to go into a far country and try to\nborrow from different men a head, feet and hands, white teeth, and a\nfine face and nose, but that he should keep his own eyes. The friendly\npython told him that if he did this and returned to Okuni and asked\n\u2019Ndere to marry him, it was very likely that she would do so.\n\nThe next day the python set off to a distant country, where he was\nunknown, and went to a chief called Kaku. The python said that,\nalthough he was a stranger, he hoped the chief would help him as far\nas he could. Then Chief Kaku asked the python what he wanted and how\nhe could assist him. So the python said, \u201cI want to marry \u2019Ndere, the\ndaughter of Chief Kekong of Okuni, but, as I have no hands or feet, she\nwill not look at me. I therefore want you to lend me a face, teeth,\narms and legs, so that I would appear to her as a stranger, and she\nwould then marry me.\u201d\n\nNow the python was not aware that Chief Kaku had already asked \u2019Ndere\nto marry him, and that she had refused to do so, as if the python had\nknown this he would have gone to somebody else. The python promised\nthe chief that if he would lend him the different parts of the body\nwhich he required he would return them all to him after he had married\n\u2019Ndere. Chief Kaku thought the matter over, and as he was very anxious\nto obtain \u2019Ndere as a wife for himself, he decided to do as the python\nasked, having determined that when the python returned the borrowed\nlimbs he would have him killed and take \u2019Ndere as his wife, whether she\nliked it or not. The more Chief Kaku thought of the plan, the easier\nit seemed; so he sent for all his young men, and took a head from one,\narms from another, legs from a third, and fine white teeth from a\nfourth, and so on, until at last the python was complete.\n\nChief Kaku gave the python one young boy to accompany him back to\nOkuni, and the following day the python set off on his journey, wearing\nall his borrowed limbs. When he arrived at Okuni he looked nicer than\nany of the other Okuni young men; his long neck and small eyes, white\nteeth and the fine colour of his body appealed to \u2019Ndere when she saw\nhim, and she at once took a great fancy to him.\n\nVery soon after his arrival the python asked Chief Kekong to allow\nhim to marry his daughter \u2019Ndere, and when the chief asked him who\nhe was and where he came from, the python replied, \u201cI am the son of\nChief Kaku, who lives over there,\u201d pointing to where the sun rose at\nthe back of the house. Then Chief Kekong, who knew Chief Kaku, as he\nhad tried to marry \u2019Ndere but failed, called for some palm wine, which\nwas brought and given to the python. Chief Kekong said he would think\nover what the python had said, but warned him that \u2019Ndere had already\nrefused his father. He said, however, that if his daughter agreed to\nmarry him, he would allow her to do so. The python was then given food\nto eat and a room to sleep in during the night.\n\nThat night, when everyone had gone to sleep, Chief Kekong woke his wife\nup and called \u2019Ndere to come. He then told her that the python wanted\nto marry her, and asked \u2019Ndere what her wishes were. Although \u2019Ndere\nintended to marry the python, she did not wish her parents to know what\nher thoughts were, as she was an obstinate and disobedient girl. \u2019Ndere\nthen said to her mother, \u201cTell me what you think I should do.\u201d \u2019Nyam\nreplied, \u201cI do not wish you to marry this man, and would prefer that\nyou should marry an Okuni man, because if anything happened to you we\nshould be near, and in the case of sickness we would try to help you,\nwhereas if you marry this stranger you will go far away, and we shall\nnot be able to do anything for you.\u201d \u2019Ndere said, \u201cYes, my mother, I\nhear what you say. Now what does my father say?\u201d Chief Kekong replied,\n\u201cIf you love this young man, whom you have never before seen, and go\naway with him as his wife, you may be sold as a slave, as you are such\na fine girl, or you might possibly be killed; and although I am Chief\nof Okuni, I have no power in Chief Kaku\u2019s town, and should not be able\nto help you. As you are my only child, I do not want you to marry this\nstranger, but I want you to remain at Okuni with me.\u201d\n\n\u2019Ndere then answered her parents as follows:--\u201cI have always refused,\nup to the present, to marry all the men you have asked me to marry, but\nI am going to marry this man. You must therefore hand me to Kaku\u2019s son\nas his wife, and I will go off with him to his country. If you refuse\nto do this, I will go outside into the bush and hang myself.\u201d\n\nHer parents tried their best to persuade \u2019Ndere to change her mind, but\nshe was obstinate, and continued to threaten to hang herself if they\nrefused to do what she wanted; they therefore left her until the next\nmorning.\n\nWhen the morning came, the python went to Chief Kekong and asked him\nfor his decision with regard to his daughter. The chief called \u2019Ndere\nto him and asked her what her wishes were on the subject. \u2019Ndere said,\n\u201cI am willing to marry this young man, and will go with him to his\ncountry.\u201d\n\nThe python then sent the small boy who had come with him to Chief Kaku,\nasking him to send the dowry, and after a few days the boy returned,\nbringing with him rods, cloth, camwood, and palm-oil. The chief then\nhanded his daughter to the python, and after she had been rubbed all\nover with camwood and oil she was taken to the python\u2019s room. She was\nthen circumcised and kept in a room for three days; after that she was\nable to walk, so \u2019Ndere told the python that she was then willing to go\nwith him to his country, and the following morning they set off from\nthe town, walking very slowly.\n\nIt was not until after they had walked for two days that they reached\nChief Kaku\u2019s town, and when he saw them he was so glad that he at once\nhad a goat killed in front of \u2019Ndere and sprinkled the blood over her\nfeet. The chief then had a plentiful supply of food brought, which was\ngiven to the python and his wife, and a room was appointed for their\nuse.\n\nWhen the evening came, all the men and women were called together to\ndance and sing, the chief giving them plenty of palm wine to drink and\ndoing everything he could think of to show \u2019Ndere that the python was\nhis son. As soon as the play had commenced, Chief Kaku told the python\nto come to his house, so that \u2019Ndere was left in the house which had\nbeen set apart for the use of her husband and herself. The chief then\nasked the python to return all the different limbs and other parts of\nthe body which he had borrowed from the different young men of the town\nas he had promised to do. But the python begged to be allowed until\nmidnight before he returned the things he had borrowed, saying, \u201cMy\nwife and I have only just arrived, and it would be a shameful thing if\nI have to join her crawling on my belly.\u201d The chief agreed to allow the\npython until midnight, and the python then went off to join his wife in\ntheir house.\n\nWhen midnight came the python got up and went to the chief\u2019s house and\nreturned the different portions of the young men\u2019s bodies which he had\nborrowed. He then returned to \u2019Ndere in his natural form of a python,\nbut when she saw him she denied that he was her husband. During the\nremainder of the night the python tried to convince \u2019Ndere that he was\nthe man she had married, but she sat up the whole night and refused to\nhave anything to do with him.\n\nAs soon as it was light \u2019Ndere went with the python to the chief\u2019s\nhouse, and asked him whether the python was his son whom she had\nmarried. The chief answered her that the python was his son, and that\nshe was his wife. He also said that his son was going to return to\nOkuni the following day, and that she would have to accompany her\nhusband. \u2019Ndere was not at all pleased to see her husband going about\non his stomach, and refused to sit near him all the day. When night\ncame she went into a separate house and would not let the python in.\n\nThat night Chief Kaka gave orders to four of his young men to arm\nthemselves with sharp matchets, and to lie in wait on the road to\nOkuni. He told them to kill the python and to bring \u2019Ndere back to him.\nThis the young men promised to do, and set off before it was light,\ntelling no one where they were going.\n\nAfter the python and his wife had had their early morning food, they\nstarted off for Okuni, but when they arrived at the first water\noutside the town where the road branched off to the farm, the python,\nremembering that \u2019Ndere had refused to marry Chief Kaku, thought it\nvery probable that the chief would cause him to be waylaid and his\nwife taken away from him. He therefore determined to follow the farm\nroad, which, although much longer, he thought would probably be safer;\nhe thus missed the four men who were lying in wait for him.\n\nTowards the evening the four young men returned to the town and\nreported to the chief that \u2019Ndere and her husband had not passed along\nthe road which they were guarding. Chief Kaku then guessed that they\nmust have taken the farm road, and had probably arrived safely at\nOkuni. Although the python had escaped the trap which the chief had set\nfor him, he had no intention of letting him go, and now that he had\nseen \u2019Ndere again he was more determined than ever to possess her for\nhimself, and at once began to plan how he should kill the python and\ninduce \u2019Ndere to marry him. As he could not send his young men to Okuni\nto kill the python and take \u2019Ndere away by force, as that would mean\nwar between the two countries, for which he was not prepared, seeing\nthat the Okuni people were very powerful, he determined to wait and\nlay another trap for the python. The chief knew that \u2019Ndere was very\ndissatisfied at having a snake as a husband, and would probably be glad\nto marry him, although he was rather old, rather than continue to live\nwith the python, providing the python could be got rid of. He therefore\ndecided to wait until the dry season came round, when the python would\ngo to his farm, and might be killed without causing any trouble. But\nthe first thing he had to do was to get \u2019Ndere to agree to come to him,\nso he sent off two of his young men to watch the python\u2019s house, and\ntold them to pretend they came from a distant country. He sent messages\nby these men to \u2019Ndere, telling her to do everything her husband told\nher to do, and that when the time arrived for making the new farms he\nwould have the python killed, and she could then come and marry him.\n\nThe young men went to Okuni as they were ordered, and, after watching\nfor some time, at last met \u2019Ndere alone at the spring, where she was\ngetting water, and gave her the messages from the chief. \u2019Ndere, who\nhated the python, agreed to help, and said she would be glad to marry\nanyone who would get rid of the python; so the young men returned and\ntold the chief what she had said.\n\nWhen the time arrived for making the farms, the python took all his\npeople out into the bush, but as they had no matchets or arms to use\nthem with, all they could do was to roll themselves about in the grass\nand then burn it. Every morning when the python and the rest of his\npeople went to the farm, \u2019Ndere followed later, bringing the foo-foo\nand soup in calabashes. The python would not allow her to go so far\nas the farm, as he told her she was such a fine girl that if the\nother pythons saw her they would certainly be so envious of him that\nthey might kill him in order to get her for themselves. He therefore\nshowed her a place where she was to bring the food; here he had made a\nstring of snail shells hung on sticks, and told \u2019Ndere to rattle them\nwhen she brought his food, and that he would come to her. The first\nday the pythons went to work on the farm \u2019Ndere brought the food and\nrattled the snail shells as she had been directed to do, and very soon\nafterwards the python came and took the calabashes away to the place\nwhere they were working, telling \u2019Ndere to wait until he had finished\neating. When he had eaten all the food he returned to the place where\nhe had left his wife, and found her waiting for him. He then said, \u201cMy\ngood woman, you have done well, you hear my voice properly,\u201d and having\ngiven her the empty calabashes, \u2019Ndere returned to her home.\n\nThis was done for two days, and on the third day \u2019Ndere said she would\nlike to go to the farm to see the people working, but the python would\nnot let her, so she sent a word to Chief Kaku that the python went to\nthe farm every day. The chief then sent four of his young men, who hid\nthemselves at the place where \u2019Ndere brought the food for her husband.\nWhen she had shaken the string of snail shells, the python soon\nappeared, and the men who were ready sprang up, whereupon \u2019Ndere ran\naway, in order to deceive her husband. The four men then attacked the\npython with sticks, and soon killed him; they then cut off his head and\nhis tail, and carried them back to Chief Kaku, leaving the food on the\nground where \u2019Ndere had placed it. The other pythons who were working\non the farm, missing their companion very soon, went to see what had\nbecome of him, and found his dead body with the head and tail missing,\nnear the food. As they could not discover who had killed the python,\nthey met together and decided that for the future they would not make\nany more farms or live in the towns, as the men were jealous of them on\naccount of the python having married \u2019Ndere. They therefore now live in\nthe bush and hide themselves.\n\nWhen \u2019Ndere appeared before Chief Kaku, he received her quite calmly,\nwithout any feasting or dancing, as he did not wish his people to\nsuspect that he had murdered her husband. But after a few days had\npassed, Chief Kaku sent privately to Chief Kekong and told him that he\nhad caused the python to be killed, and intended to marry \u2019Ndere. He\nalso sent a large amount of dowry to the chief. Now in Chief Kaku\u2019s\ncountry there was a stream full of cat-fish (Akpambi), but no one ever\ncaught them, and when the people went to the stream to get water the\nfish would look at them without any fear. \u2019Ndere, hearing of this,\nwent to the stream with a basket, and the fish seeing her, came close,\nso she began to sing softly to them, when more fish came. Then \u2019Ndere\ncaught two of the fish with her basket, and took them home and cooked\nthem for food, but none of the girls in the house would eat them, as\nthey all said that if they did so they would die. \u2019Ndere, however, was\nnot afraid, and eat the fish, which she found to be good food, and the\nsoup was very sweet. She also took some to Chief Kaku, and said, \u201cIf\nyou love me, you will eat my fish; but if you refuse, then I shall know\nthat you do not care for me, and I shall not marry you, but will return\nat once to my father at Okuni.\u201d But the chief said, \u201cNo one ever eats\nthat fish, as it has a smooth skin and is part of the water ju-ju. If\nanyone eats that fish, he will surely die.\u201d Then \u2019Ndere said, \u201cYes, my\nparents also will not eat this fish, but there is always one man who\nstarts back first from the farm, and then the other people follow. I\nhave eaten the fish and found it good, and have not died. If you eat\nit with me you will not die, and if we live to see the next sunrise\nto-morrow, all the people will follow our example and will eat the\nfish.\u201d The chief then agreed, and said, \u201cI will eat the fish with you,\nand if we die we shall be treated as husband and wife in the spirit.\u201d\nThey then sat down together and eat the cat-fish.\n\nWhen the chief had finished his share he prepared himself for death,\nand having called his people together, told them what should be done in\ncase he should die. \u2019Ndere and the chief then retired for the night,\nand the chief slept quietly, without any trouble, until the morning.\nWhen he woke up and found that he was quite well, he sent \u2019Ndere out\nagain with her basket to catch more of the fish, as the soup was so\nsweet. So \u2019Ndere went down to the stream once more and caught a lot of\nfish, which she brought back to the house and cooked as before. Then\nthe chief called his friends together, and told them about the cat-fish\nand what good food it was. When the people heard that the chief had\neaten the cat-fish and had not died, they thought they would like to\ntry some for themselves, so they all had some of the fish which \u2019Ndere\nhad cooked. When they had eaten it they found it so good that when they\nreturned home they at once sent their wives out with baskets to catch\nsome of the fish. And thus it became the custom for the women to go out\nin the dry season with their fishing-baskets to catch the cat-fish.\nThis custom was started by \u2019Ndere.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[E.D., 5.1.11.]\n\n\n\n\nXXXII.--HOW AGBOR ADAM BROKE THE HUNTING LAW OF OKUNI, AND HOW HE WAS\nPUNISHED.\n\n\nIn the dry season, many years ago, Chief Akum Alobi of Okuni ordered\nall his people to go out hunting. They were to surround a certain\nportion of the forest and set fire to the bush, then, as the animals\ncame out, they were killed. At the same time, the women were sent to\nbale out the pools in the streams and to catch the fish.\n\nThe hunting law was that, during the hunting time, the men might eat\nthe meat of the animals they killed, but they were not allowed to eat\nany fish, and the women might eat fish only, and not eat any meat from\nanimals killed hunting.\n\nWhile the hunting was going on, a man called Agbor Adam went to his\nwife, Iza Kakem, and asked her to give him some fish to eat, as he was\ntired of nothing but meat. The woman refused to do so, saying that the\nhunting law was so strong that, if they broke it, they would certainly\nbe killed. But Agbor Adam, seeing that there was no one within sight,\ntold his wife that it would be quite safe, as no one would know, and\nthat, if she gave him some of her fish, he would give her one of the\nanimals he had killed. The woman then gave her husband a fish, and he\ntold her to go to the place where he kept the animals he had killed and\ntake whichever she fancied. So Iza Kakem, having looked over all the\nanimals, selected a monkey, and took it to the bush shelter where she\nwas sleeping, and cooked and eat it. Her husband also eat the fish.\n\nNow, all that had passed between these two people had been observed\nby a bird called Aictor, who was sitting in a tree and could see\neverything that happened.\n\nAictor was a native of the Ingor country, and could not speak the Okuni\nlanguage, and, at that time, the Okuni people could not understand\nIngor, as they were not on friendly terms with them, so that, when the\nbird sang in the Ingor language, no one could understand what he said.\n\nAfter Agbor Adam had eaten the fish, he returned to the hunting\nshelter, where the men were all sitting down, not noticing that the\nbird had been following him all the time.\n\nAictor then perched himself on the chief\u2019s shoulder, and called out in\nthe Ingor language, \u201cAgbor Adam, Agbor Adam, you have broken the law\nmade by Chief Akum Alobi between hunting-men and fishing-women, and you\nknow that whoever breaks this law will be killed.\u201d\n\nAictor shouted so loud that the men, who had never heard a bird talking\nin their hunting camp before, began to ask among themselves what he was\nsaying, but as they did not understand Ingor, they could not tell one\nanother. They could only hear Agbor Adam\u2019s name being called out. They\ntherefore went to the chief and asked him to tell them what the bird\nwas saying, but even the chief himself was unable to explain, and told\nthe men not to trouble about what the bird said, but to continue with\ntheir hunting, and that when they returned to the town he would call\nupon the lot caster for an explanation.\n\nThe men then went out hunting again, but all day long Aictor followed\nthem, calling out Agbor Adam\u2019s name, and saying he had broken the law.\n\nWhen the hunters returned to the camp in the evening, they cut up the\nanimals which had been killed during the day, and placed the meat in\nthe smoke of the fires to dry. The skins were pegged out on the ground,\nand covered with wood ashes.\n\nLater in the evening, the chief called Agbor Adam to him, and asked him\nif he could explain what the bird had been saying, but he could not do\nso, and said he would like the lot caster to be consulted when they\nreturned to Okuni. The chief agreed, and said that they would all go\nback in three days\u2019 time.\n\nEarly the next morning, Aictor perched himself on the topmost branch of\nthe highest tree in the hunting camp, and started to call Agbor Adam\u2019s\nname as loudly as he could. This so frightened Agbor Adam that, while\nthe other men were hunting, he withdrew himself quietly from the party,\nand, having found his wife, told her that the whole of the previous day\nthe bird had called his name and had started to call him again that\nmorning. Agbor also said he was so frightened that he had come to ask\nher to run home with him, and he would then consult the lot caster as\nto what should be done before the chief arrived, as he felt certain the\nbird must have seen what they had done and would tell everybody.\n\nHis wife then began to pack up her smoked fish, but, before she\nhad finished Aictor came and sat on a tree near to where they were\nstanding, and called out \u201cAgbor Adam! Agbor Adam! Yesterday I caught\nyou breaking the chief\u2019s hunting law by eating fish, and now I find you\nrunning away from the hunting party.\u201d\n\nAlthough Agbor Adam could not understand what the bird said, he\nsuspected something of the truth, so, having fitted an arrow to his\nbow, he aimed at the bird, thinking that if he could only kill him the\ntrouble would be finished, but Aictor flew away.\n\nWhen Iza Kakem had packed the fish into a load for carrying, her\nhusband helped her to place the load on her head, and they started off\nwith the woman in front, Agbor Adam following close behind.\n\nThey walked on for some distance, until they arrived at a stream called\n\u201cKeruba Ketor\u201d (\u201cdeep hole, near the town,\u201d a place where women wash\ntheir bodies) and then Agbor suggested that they should rest for a\nwhile and wash. The woman placed her load in the forked branches of a\ntree near the stream, and, stepping into the pool, commenced to drink\nout of her hands. She had not finished drinking when they heard the\nbird calling out, \u201cAgbor Adam! Agbor Adam! You are running away, but\nyou will be found out.\u201d When Agbor heard the now familiar voice of the\nbird, he looked round everywhere, but, as he could not see Aictor, he\nwas frightened, and told his wife to pick up her load at once. Then\nthey waded across the stream and began to run. They continued to run\nuntil they reached the second water, called \u201cOgboga Kedegha\u201d (\u201cthe\nwater with deep places\u201d). Here the woman said she was going to wash, as\nshe was so hot and tired. Aigbor also said he would wash, so they took\noff their cloths and stepped into the water, but they had only just\nstarted to wash themselves when the bird called out again, \u201cAgbor Adam!\nAgbor Adam! Now you are half-way home, and, if you do not kill me, you\nwill be found out.\u201d\n\nBoth Agbor and his wife were now thoroughly frightened, and, jumping\nout of the water, snatched up their cloths, and ran naked along the\npath until they reached the shade of a large tree, where they stopped\nand tied their cloths on.\n\nThen the woman began to abuse her husband, saying, \u201cYou have been the\ncause of all this running and trouble,\u201d but Agbor told her that when\nhe eat the fish and broke the hunting law he never thought he would be\nfound out.\n\nThey then started off again, and walked as far as the third water,\ncalled \u201cOfat elikatt,\u201d (\u201cthe slippery water\u201d; so called because the\nstream runs so fast over the stepping-stones that it causes a person\u2019s\nfoot to slip).\n\nHaving rested for a little while, they started off again, but had only\ngone a few steps when the bird once more attracted their attention by\ncalling Agbor\u2019s name. This time Aictor was saying, \u201cTurn round and look\nat the little stream as it will be for the last time.\u201d As they did not\nunderstand what the bird said, they started off to run again, and did\nnot stop until they reached the small stream quite close to the town,\nwhich is called \u201cEzi Ifom\u201d (\u201cthe water where the cows drink\u201d).[11]\n\nHere at last they managed to wash without any interruption from the\nbird, and when they were ready they walked on into the town, which they\nfound almost deserted, as all the men and women were absent hunting and\nfishing.\n\nWhen they arrived at their house, however, they found that Aictor\nhad got there before them, for they saw him sitting on the top of a\npalm-tree, and when they came near they could hear him calling out,\n\u201cAgbor Adam! Agbor Adam! Here shall I stay in the town until Chief\nAlobi and the hunters return, when I will tell them that you have\nbroken their hunting law and you will be killed.\u201d\n\nAgbor and his wife then ran into their house and shut the door\ncarefully behind them. Agbor told his wife that when night came he\nwould go and get a supply of food, but that she was not to let anyone\nin and not to answer anybody who called. He also said that when he got\nfood he would return, and that if there was no one about outside trying\nto catch him, he would knock at the door and she could then let him in.\n\nDuring the next two nights, Agbor went out as soon as it was dark and\ngot as much food as he could into the house and then fastened himself\nsecurely in.\n\nWhen the chief returned to the town with his hunters, he sent some men\nto call Agbor, but although they knocked at his door for a long time\nand called both Agbor and his wife by name, they received no reply.\n\nWhen the morning came, the chief sent for the animals to come in, and,\nas the elephant was the biggest and strongest, he chose him. He then\ntold the elephant that he was to get hold of Agbor Adam, but he did\nnot wish him to be killed, as he only wanted to find out why the bird\nAictor had been calling his name and why he had left the hunting party.\nSo the elephant went to Agbor Adam\u2019s house and, having broken the door\nopen, dragged him out with his trunk, and brought him before the chief.\n\nDirectly Aictor, who was sitting near the chief on a palm-tree, saw\nAgbor, he began to call his name, and said he had broken the hunting\nlaw.\n\nAs no one could understand the bird, the chief sent to Uman compound\nfor a woman named Iman, who was a native of Abijon, and could,\ntherefore, speak Ingor.\n\nWhen she arrived, she told the chief and the people what the bird was\nsaying, which was \u201cAgbor Adam! Agbor Adam! Chief Alobi passed a law\nthat women should not eat animals killed by the men in hunting, and\nthat the men should not eat the fish caught by the women. But your\nwife eat a monkey which you had killed and you eat a fish caught by\nyour wife, and then, when I called your name, you ran away with your\nwife and left the hunting party, but I followed you all the way, and\nalthough you tried to kill me, I am here to give evidence against you,\nas I promised.\u201d\n\nWhen Chief Alobi heard this he rose up in anger, and stamped his foot\non the ground, saying, \u201cSurely Agbor Adam shall die this day. For,\nfirst of all, he disobeyed my hunting law, and then he deserted the\nhunting party. Is there anyone present who does not agree?\u201d But no one\nanswered.\n\nThen Chief Aboli pointed to the palm-tree on which Aictor was perched,\nand told Agbor Adam that he should be hanged there, but, first of all,\nhe should climb up and down the tree six times, and when he got to the\ntop for the seventh time he should place his head in a noose and hang\nhimself.\n\nWhen Agbor\u2019s wife heard this, she ran and threw herself at the chief\u2019s\nfeet, and, beating her breasts and tearing her hair, she implored him\nto spare her husband, but the chief walked away from her.\n\nAgbor then climbed up to the top of the tree and came down again. This\nhe did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree for the\nseventh time, and was just going to hang himself, Chief Ossima \u2019nkom of\nYammi appeared, and called upon him to stop, saying, \u201cI am the oldest\nand biggest chief in the town, and am going to beg for you.\u201d\n\nHe then went to chief Alobi and said, \u201cIf a man kills another man he\nshould be hanged, but if he breaks the hunter\u2019s law he disobeys a\nchief\u2019s order; he should be fined and not killed, and I think 260 rods\nwould be a proper fine.\u201d\n\nTo this Chief Aboli agreed, and thus Agbor Adam\u2019s life was saved, so he\nclimbed down the tree again and paid the fine.\n\nFrom that time the people who disobeyed a chief were made to pay a fine\nin tombo, goats, or sheet, according to the order.\n\nTold by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[E.D., 6.1.11.]\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII.--HOW ESSAMA STOLE HER FATHER\u2019S GOAT IN THE FATTING-HOUSE, AND\nHER BROTHER WAS PUNISHED FOR IT.\n\n\nIn the olden days at Okuni, when the women were circumcised, they were\nkept in the fatting-house for a long time and given plenty of food to\neat. There was a wealthy chief at that time living in Okuni, called\nOkim. He had a daughter named Essama and a son called Ode. The chief\nwas very fond of both his children, and when Essama grew up he bought\na male goat and had it cut to make it grow bigger, so that when his\ndaughter was circumcised and kept in the fatting-house he would be able\nto give her the goat to eat. Both the goat and Essama grew up together,\nuntil the time arrived for the girl to be circumcised and kept in the\nfatting-house. Then Chief Okim told his son Ode that he was to be his\nsister\u2019s attendant while she was kept in the house, and that he was to\nlook after the goat.\n\nEssama stayed in the fatting-house for several months, until one day\nseveral of the girls of her company came to visit her. As she had\nnothing to give them to eat, she at last thought of her father\u2019s goat,\nwhich was being kept for her, but she dared not kill it while her\nbrother Ode was in the house. She therefore sent him down to the river\nwith a basket, and told him to fill it with water and bring it back to\nher. Ode did as his sister told him and took the basket down to the\nriver, but he found that the water ran out of the basket almost as\nquickly as it went in; he therefore remained at the water-side some\ntime. This gave Essama a chance to kill and cook the goat, which she\nate with her company. Essama reserved a leg, some of the soup, and a\nyam, which she placed in a pot and hung over the fire to keep warm for\nOde when he returned from the river.\n\nIt was late when Ode came back to the house, and he told his sister\nthat he was sorry he could not fill the basket with water. He then\nasked her where the goat was. Essama replied that she had not seen the\ngoat walking about anywhere since he had gone down to the river, and\nadvised him to search everywhere for him. Ode did so, but failed to\nfind the goat. When he came back and told his sister, she pointed to\nthe pot and said, \u201cThere is your food,\u201d so Ode took the pot down, but\nas he did so some of the soup fell over him out of the pot, as it was\nquite full. He then sat down and began to eat. While he was eating,\nhis father returned from the farm, and, missing the goat, asked Ode\nwhat had become of it. When he heard that the goat could not be found,\nthe chief made a great palaver with Ode, who began to cry. His father\nthen said he was convinced that someone must have stolen the goat, and\nthat all his people, including his son and daughter, would have to go\nthrough the ordeal of crossing over the river on a rope, to find out\nwho had stolen the goat. So the next day all the people assembled, and\nthe spider was called upon to settle the palaver, as he was the chief\nman who settled these trials.\n\nThe spider went across the river, spinning his web as he went, and then\nreturned to the side where the people were standing. The spider then\ntold each man and woman to say before they started to cross the river,\n\u201cIf I stole Chief Okim\u2019s goat, let the rope break with me when I get to\nthe middle; but if I am not a thief, let me cross over in safety.\u201d\n\nOne after the other the people crossed over the river on the spider\u2019s\nweb quite safely, until at last there were only left Essama and her\nbrother. Ode went before his sister, and when he reached the middle of\nthe river the web broke, and he fell into the water, disappearing at\nonce.\n\nThe chief then began to lament, saying his goat had been stolen, and\nnow his son was drowned. He then told the people to go into the river\nand try to recover Ode\u2019s body. The young men at once dived in and\nsearched everywhere, but could not find any trace of Ode.\n\nAs his son had been drowned, the chief would not allow his daughter to\ncross the river, and returned home with his people very sorrowfully.\nChief Okim then ordered his people to tie up a bundle in a cloth to\nrepresent his son, and all people were ordered to mourn. A deep grave\nwas then dug, and ten men were killed to accompany the Chief\u2019s son to\nthe spirit-land. The bodies of the ten men were then put in the grave,\nand the bundle representing the dead Ode was placed on top. The grave\nwas then filled in, whilst drums were being beaten and farewells to\nthe chief\u2019s son were being shouted by the people. Several goats were\nkilled, and a big feast was held, and the chief commanded all people to\nmourn for one year.\n\nWhen the year of mourning was over, Chief Okim decided to build a new\nhouse, so he sent his boys to the river-side to get tie-tie. While\nthey were engaged in drawing the tie-tie from the trees, one man named\nOyonga heard a voice calling out, \u201cWho is drawing the tie-tie there?\u201d\nHe stopped pulling and looked round everywhere, but as he could not see\nanybody, he went on pulling again at the tie-tie. The voice then called\nout again, saying, \u201cTell my father to bring a white goat, a white ram,\na white cock, and a white chicken to the river-side and sacrifice them\nto the river ju-ju, and tell him that if he does this I shall be set\nfree.\u201d Oyonga then asked the voice who it was speaking, and the voice\nreplied, \u201cI am Ode, Chief Okim\u2019s son who was lost, as when I took the\npot down some of the soup made from my father\u2019s goat, which my sister\nhad stolen, fell over me, so that when I tried to cross the river on\nthe spider\u2019s web it broke by the ordeal and I was lost in the water.\u201d\n\nOyonga then ran back to the town and told the chief what he had heard.\nWhen Chief Okim heard what Oyonga had to say, he was vexed, as he did\nnot believe him, so he ordered him to be tied up to a tree and given\nfifty lashes. Oyonga pleaded with the chief in vain, and he was flogged.\n\nWhen Oyonga had sufficiently recovered from the flogging he had\nreceived, he begged the chief to go with him to the river where he\nhad heard the voice; at first the chief refused to go, but after much\npersuasion he consented. When they got to the place Oyonga pulled at\nthe tie-tie, and the voice at once called out, \u201cWho is pulling there?\nHave you told my father to bring the white goat, ram, cock, and chicken\nto sacrifice to the ju-ju?\u201d\n\nWhen the chief heard his son\u2019s voice he went back to the town and got\nall the animals and birds as quickly as possible, and having brought\nthem down to the water-side, sacrificed them to the river ju-ju. When\nthe sacrifice was completed, the chief told all his young men to go\ninto the river with a net; in case his son should not be able to get\nout of the water, they could then fish him out.\n\nVery shortly the river ju-ju threw Ode up, and he tried to swim, but\none of the men in a canoe pulled him out of the water and brought him\nto the bank. The people then beat drums and escorted the chief and his\nson back to the town, singing as they went.\n\nAs soon as they arrived, the whole of the townspeople came out with\npresents of various articles and gave them to Ode. Chief Okim then gave\na great feast, and killed many cows and goats, and there was a big play\nand dancing in the town. When the play was over Chief Okim asked his\nson what he had found out while he was with the river ju-ju, and Ode\nreplied that the river ju-ju made him understand that it was his sister\nEssama who stole the goat, but, as the ordeal found the scent of the\ngoat on him, he disappeared in the water. Then Chief Okim called out\nEssama\u2019s mother and told her what her daughter had done, nearly causing\nhim to lose his son altogether. The chief and his wife had a quarrel,\nwhich ended in his fining her 1,200 rods, which was the price of a\nslave, and said that the whole of her family would have to help to pay.\nThe rods were brought to the chief, and half the amount was given to\nOde. The people then decided that it was because Essama was kept so\nlong in the fatting-house which caused her to kill the goat, and they\nagreed that for the future girls should only stay in the fatting-house\nfor a few days, as they would then not be tempted to steal and bring\nshame upon their families.\n\nTold by Ennenni, a dancing-woman of Okuni.--[E. DAYRELL, 14.1.11.]\n\n\n\n\nQUOMODO EVENIT UT PENIS PRIMUM CUM VAGINA COIIT.\n\n\nPenis autem olim rure solus habitabat, hand procul a Testiculis, amico\nejus, qui magus erat valde peritus, atque fundum proximum incolebat.\nUltra tamen praedia Penis villam parvam habebat Vagina. Penis forte ad\nvillam Vaginae vagatus, et fame afflictus, illam palmae nuces, quas\nnuper in horto collegerat, rogavit, scilicet quod ipse totam diem in\nagro laborasset nec sibi cibum parare potuisset. Nec abnuit Vagina,\nsed se pauperem esse dicebat, et Penem debitum reddere alio tempore\nopportere. Quo pacto Penis cum nucibus abiit. Paullo postea Vagina haud\nprocul ab aedibus Penis ligna capite ferebat, et, debiti memor, domum\nejus aggressa, \u201cEsurio\u201d inquit \u201cO Penis, cum totam diem haec ligna\ncollegi, nec mihi cibum parare potui. Redde igitur nuces quas debes.\u201d\nPenis tamen noluit, et Vagina iterum vehementius nuces postulabat;\ndeinde, cum se nihil profiteri sentiret, ligna in terram irata dejecit,\nseque insuper prostravit. Unum autem e lignis quod peracutum erat\nVaginam inter crura altius vulneravit, gravique dolore afflixit.\nQuod visum Penis aegre ferebat, atque ligno extracto et vulnere aqua\nperluto Vaginam domum duxit. Haec tamen interdum, magno dolore pressa,\nlamentari non desinebat, quod maxime Penem pigebat, qui eam penitus\namabat, etiamsi nuces debitas reddere noluerat. Itaque Penis domum\nregressus servum jussit in villam Vaginae properare atque vulneri\nmedicamenta adhibere. Quo facto servus, cum Vagina nihilominus inter\ngemitus vociferabat se vehementer dolentem sanari a Pene opportere,\nqui causa malorum fuisset, ad Penem regressus ea quae dixerat Vagina\nnuntiavit. Quae audita Penis diu meditatus statim ire amicum suum,\nTesticulos, consultum statuit, qui maxime sapiens diceretur. At\nTesticuli, de Vaginae vulnere certior factus, dixit Penem Vaginam\nsanare posse si verbis suis obtemperet; et Penis laetus se velle\nomnia facere quae necesse essent asseverabat. Eo autem tempore Penis\nnunquam erectus fiebat. Itaque Testiculi \u201cLiquore\u201d inquit \u201cte implebo\nita ut erectus fias; deinde i ad Vaginam teque in vulnus insere; quo\nfacto te paene foras extractum iterum atque iterum in vulnus impelle,\ndum tandem liquorem quo te implevi in vulnus vomes.\u201d \u201cAt si quidam\u201d\ninquit Penis \u201cinimicus mihi gladio instabit jam in vulnere condito,\ninopinantem interficere poterit.\u201d \u201cBono animo es\u201d inquit Testiculi\n\u201cego enim a tergo vigilabo pro te ne quid infaustum accidat.\u201d Itaque\nPenis ad Vaginam properavit et omnia quae amicus jusserat perfecit. At\nVagina medicinam sibi magnopere profuisse dixit, et Penem precata\nest ut omni quaque nocte veniret eodem modo vulnus sanaturus. Paucis\nitaque diebus Vagina convaluit, sed rima alta in corpore manebat. Ex eo\ntempore etiam Testiculi et Penis in uno juncti sunt, ita ut Testiculi,\nquoties Penis Vaginam videat, eum liquore implet per quem validus\nfit. At si quid incommodi Vagina habeat, vel alio sit qui vehementius\nrixetur, tum Penis erectus non fit, nec rimam intrare potest.\n\n(Told by Ennenni, a singing and dancing girl of Okuni. May 18th, 1911.)\n\n[Illustration: _Plate I._\n\nFIG. 1.--CARVED WOODEN DRUM AT INKUM. (THE MAN-EATING DRUM.)\n\nFIG. 2.--CARVED WOODEN TABLE USED IN JU-JU DANCES FROM INKUM.\n\nFIG. 3.--STONE JU-JU AND CARVED WOODEN PILLAR: EGBO HOUSE IN\nBACKGROUND.]\n\n[Illustration: _Plate II._\n\nFIG. 1.--CHIEF INDOMA OF INKUM, SON OF THE POWERFUL CHIEF INDOMA, ABOUT\nWHOM SEVERAL STORIES ARE TOLD.\n\nFIG. 2.--CHIEF INDOMA\u2019S COMPOUND.\n\nFIG. 3.--SKULLS IN HEAD CHIEF\u2019S HOUSE AT ABRAGHA. THE CHIEF ALWAYS SAT\nWITH HIS FEET ON THE SKULLS. HE WAS THE HEAD OF THE INFAM JU-JU.]\n\n  LONDON:\n  HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY,\n  ST. MARTIN\u2019S LANE, W.C.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] _Author\u2019s Note._--Okukum is the juice extracted from a fungus like\na very small mushroom. It is painted on to the skin with a small stick,\nand is a fight brown liquid paste. Curious designs are made all over\nthe body, the lines running parallel. The paste is then allowed to dry\nfor about a day, and eventually rubs off. By this time the acid has\neaten into the skin, and the dark marks remain, showing the pattern\nfor several months. They cannot be washed off by water. The Okuni and\nInfoit people call this fungus _oboma_ and the Boki people _katium_.\nThe indigo black markings last less than a week, and the Okuni people\ncall it _ebim_.\n\n[2] A sort of burrowing bush rat.\n\n[3] _Author\u2019s Note._--Koko yams are cooked for several hours. They are\nboiled in three different waters, and so that each water is steamed\naway before the fresh water is added. The yams are then left in the pot\nuntil the following morning. The ordinary yam is cooked and eaten at\nonce.\n\n[4] The \u201cnight\u201d calabash was used by the witches when they were going\nto kill anyone for their feasts, as it prolonged the night, and the\nOkuni people still believe when the nights are unusually long that the\nwitches are out with the \u201cnight\u201d calabash and are killing people.\n\n[5] These shelters are made out of palm leaves and are quickly put\ntogether, but they do not keep out the rain. They are, however,\nsufficient for the wants of the natives in the dry season.\n\n[6] The native hunters say that if you shout at an iguana he does not\nmove or take any notice, but if you point at him and whisper, \u201cLook,\nthere is an iguana,\u201d he will run away at once. An iguana never runs\nmore than about fifty yards at a time; he then stops to get his breath.\nIf you find him again he will be killed easily, as he cannot run so far\na second time; there is, therefore, a second saying amongst the hunters\nthat \u201cA first run is a run for life, and when you are in danger you\nshould run as far as you can before you stop to rest, as when you run\nthe second time you will not be able to go so far.\u201d\n\n[7] The natives believe that when a man whose first-born child is a boy\nhappens to hit a toe on his right foot against a stone on his way to a\ntown, that he will be badly received at that town, but if the toe which\nis hit by the stone is on his left foot, then the people will welcome\nhim and treat him kindly.\n\n[8] The origin of this saying is, that a man seeing a fine bird sitting\non the branch of a tree threw a stone at it, but the stone hit the\nbranch, and as the man was standing underneath the stone came back and\nhit him.\n\n[9] \u201c\u2019Nda\u201d in the Infor and Inde languages means \u201celephantiasis.\u201d\n\n[10] The native lamp was of earthenware, with a fibre wick in palm-oil.\n\n[11] The four streams mentioned in this story are still called by the\nsame names, and are well known to the inhabitants of Okuni.\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber's Notes:\n\n  Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.\n\n  Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.\n\n  Perceived typographical errors have been changed.","title":"Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":62755}