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WOMAN'S MYSTERIES 
 OF A PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 
 
• . .• • • .... . • . • 
 
 FATTING-HOUSE" WOMEN 
 
'Woman's Mysteries 
 of a Primitive People 
 
 The Ibibios of Southern Nigeria 
 
 BY 
 
 D. AMAURY TALBOT 
 
 With forty-four Illustrations 
 from Photographs 
 
 CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD 
 
 London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 
 
 1915 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHA)'TBE 
 
 1. Introductory ..... 
 
 2. Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 3. Birth Customs {continued) . 
 
 4. Affinities or " Bush Souls " 
 
 5. Childhood .... 
 
 6. Maidenhood to Marriage . 
 
 7. Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 8. Domestic Life 
 
 9. Marriage Problems 
 
 10. Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 11. Witchcraft 
 
 12. Jujus ..... 
 
 13. Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 14. Woman in W^ar Time . 
 
 15. Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 16. Widowhood and Burial Customs (continued) 
 L'Envoi .... 
 
 PAGB 
 1 
 
 15 
 31 
 43 
 
 62 
 
 76 
 
 96 
 112 
 128 
 138 
 162 
 176 
 189 '-- 
 205 
 218 
 
 225 
 
 238 
 
LIST OF PLATES 
 
 " Fatting-House " Women 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 4 
 
 Types of Ibo Women 
 
 Chief Daniel Henshaw, with his Family 
 
 A Hunting Scene .... 
 
 Ibibio Chiefs, with Attendants 
 
 A Juju Shrine, with Juju leaves in the Foreground 
 
 A Beach on which Twins were formerly offered up 
 
 The Path over the Magic Water which shrank underground 
 to avoid the Pollution of a Twin Woman 
 
 Oron Man with Twins whose Lives he saved . 
 
 Ndiya Beach ........ 
 
 View on the Cross River, in the Eket District 
 
 An Ibibio Market . . . • . • • 
 
 A High Idiong Priest ...... 
 
 Climbing Palms, " in which dwells the Soul of a Woman 
 
 An Ibibio Girl, with Waist Beads .... 
 
 Juju "Image" with Mask and Dress of Woven Fibre 
 
 A Typical Sacred Pool in Ibibio Land 
 
 Juju Tree of the Compound shown in the Background 
 
 " Fatting-House " Girls after the First Time of Seclusion 
 
 (Mbobi) 
 
 "Fatting-House" Women . 
 
 Ikotobo Market-Place 
 
 A Town Playground .... 
 
 Pool of Isemin, to which the Women go in Procession 
 
 naked at Dawn .... 
 
 8 
 12 
 12 
 16 
 24 
 
 28 
 30 
 32 
 
 38 
 48 
 52 
 56 
 64 
 66 
 76 
 80 
 
 84 
 
 88 
 
 96 
 
 104 
 
 108 
 
VIU 
 
 List of Plates 
 
 FA CINQ 
 
 Shuine of Isemin ..... 
 
 Type of Road in the Eket District 
 
 Ekoi Woman and Girls from Nchopan . 
 
 A Typical Egbo House .... 
 
 An Ibo Woman ....... 
 
 Juju TO WHICH Human Victims are offered up 
 Chief Okonnor of Ikotobo .... 
 
 A Nigerian Landscape: Mud Flats left dry by the Tide 
 An Ibibio Chief ....... 
 
 A Brewer of Love Philtres ..... 
 
 Juju Ita Brinyan ....... 
 
 A Juju which protects a Family from Witchcraft 
 Gully down which the suspected Witch was thrown 
 Leaf " Image," in a Juju " Play " 
 A River discovered by P. A, Talbot 
 Egbo " Images" ..... 
 
 The " Mother of Ghosts and Devils " 
 Type of Ekoi Woman 
 A Woman's Memorial 
 
 Path near Akaiya, passing through " The 
 Who may not be Buried " . 
 
 Forest of Those 
 Water Lilies on a Creek discovered by P. A. Talbot 
 
 PAQE 
 
 110 
 114 
 116 
 118 
 118 
 120 
 128 
 130 
 130 
 142 
 146 
 162 
 170 
 176 
 184 
 192 
 200 
 208 
 216 
 
 220 
 232 
 
WOMAN'S MYSTERIES OF A 
 PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 FOR many years good fortune has granted to my 
 sister and myself the happiness of Hving amid 
 scenes of indescribable beauty and peoples of peculiar 
 interest. The novelty of being the first white women 
 to visit any particular spot has indeed long worn 
 off by reason of the frequency of the experience, but 
 the thrill of penetrating to places as yet unvisited 
 by any European is still a matter of unmixed joy. 
 Time and again our little party has been so fortunate 
 as to happen upon peoples never studied before, who 
 have been induced to confide to us traditions, beliefs, 
 and legends of unexpected charm. 
 
 That all this came into our lives, a golden gift 
 from the gods, without hardship worth the name, 
 is due to the fact that, unlike Mary Kingsley and 
 the small band of women travellers who followed 
 in her footsteps, my sister and I were not alone. A 
 never-failing watchful care has always surrounded 
 us, smoothing each difficulty, and, as far as is humanly 
 possible, providing against every discomfort and 
 
 B 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 danger — at what cost of personal sacrifice one hardly 
 dares to think. 
 
 During this time we were naturally anxious to 
 do something in return for all that was done for us, 
 and soon discovered that the chief way in which we 
 could be of use was by making clear copies of rough 
 notes jotted down in spare moments by my husband, 
 and by writing out information which there was no time 
 to collect save orally, thus putting upon paper page 
 after page of description, incident or legend, which 
 pressure of official work must otherwise have kept 
 unrecorded. 
 
 When therefore a kind request came from England 
 for a paper embodying " the woman's point of view " 
 of scenes and happenings so different from those to 
 which most of us are accustomed, the idea of separate 
 authorship seemed to one who, up till then, had only 
 acted as an unofficial secretary, almost as startling 
 as if a pen from the inkstand had been asked to start 
 ^vl'iting on its own account. On thinking the matter 
 over, however, it really appeared that, since the women 
 of these regions had never yet been studied by a white 
 woman, a paper dealing with the question from this 
 side might have a certain interest. 
 
 It was not, however, until the mail brought 
 a letter from one of the kindest and most brilliant 
 literary men of our acquaintance, pointing out that, 
 although men have taught us much of late years 
 concerning primitive man, primitive woman is still 
 unknown save through the medium of masculine in- 
 fluence, that the importanci^ really struck us of making 
 use of the chance which a kind fate had given us. 
 
 2 
 
Introductory 
 
 Only a few weeks before this letter was sent, 
 IMr. Walter Heape, F.R.S., had written : 
 
 " From the biological point of view the crux of 
 the whole matter hes in Dr. Frazer's convinced belief 
 that the Central Australian women do not know 
 anything of the part played by the father. . . . 
 This is indeed a case when a woman's help would 
 be of the greatest value. I venture to think it is 
 not improbable a woman would have discovered 
 something more from the female members of these 
 Central Australian tribes."* 
 
 On this suggestion, therefore, and that of the 
 friend already mentioned, we determined, in default 
 of those better fitted for the task, to take up this 
 branch of research. Yet, when we realised then for 
 the first time that, for the friendly controversy at 
 present waged between ethnologists — concerning exo- 
 gamy, for instance — not one word of information is 
 available from the woman's point of view, on a matter 
 so nearly concerning her — " without some man inter- 
 vening either as inquirer or interpreter " — my sister 
 and I seemed at a loss. We felt much as two 
 sixteenth - century women might have done, who, 
 hitherto following easily along paths made smooth 
 for them by their men-folk, suddenly found themselves, 
 at a turn of the road, standing alone — Nunez like — 
 " Silent upon a peak in Darien," gazing out over the 
 waves of an unknown ocean. 
 
 As is usual in such cases, once the study had been 
 begun, difficulties, which at first loomed so large as 
 to appear almost in the light of impossibilities, faded 
 
 * " Sex Antagonism," p. 80. 
 3 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 away of themselves. Although during the ten months 
 of our sojourn among the Ibibios of Southern Nigeria, 
 my sister and I were able to pick up but the merest 
 fragment of the language, yet careful inquiry brought 
 out the fact that a few native women in the 
 district were capable of speaking intelligible English, 
 and were willing, for a certain compensation, to act 
 as interpreters. Among the Il^ibios, surely, if anywhere, 
 there is a chance to study primitive w'oman living 
 to-day in all essentials as she lived, moved and 
 had her being while Greece and Rome lay in the 
 ^vomb of Time. 
 
 This strange race, consisting of some three-quarters 
 of a million souls, inhabits the south-eastern part 
 of Southern Nigeria. Before our arrival in the Eket 
 District, which forms the southernmost stretch of the 
 Ibibio country, we had been informed, on all hands, 
 that the natives of these regions were of the lowest 
 possible type, entirely devoid of ethnological interest, 
 and indeed, to quote the expression of our informant, 
 " mere mud-fish." Saving the more civilised Efiks, 
 it is indisputable that the Ibibios occupy a low rung 
 on the ladder of culture, and are perhaps as blood- 
 thirsty as any people throughout the length and 
 breadth of the Dark Continent. Yet, to our minds 
 at least, it would appear that their present condition 
 is due to gradual descent from a very different state 
 of things. Fragments of legend and half- forgotten 
 ritual still survive to tell of times shrouded in the 
 mists of antiquity, when the despised Ibibio of to-day 
 was a different being, dwelling not amid the fog and 
 swamp of fetishism, but upon the sunlit heights of 
 
 4 
 

 TYPES OF IBO WOMEN 
 
Introductory 
 
 a religious culture hardly less highly evolved perhaps 
 than that of Ancient Egypt. 
 
 Indeed, if, as is held by so great an authority 
 as Dr. Wallis Budge, much of the magic lore of 
 Egypt may have originally come from the West, it 
 is most probable that these very Ibibios formed a 
 link in the long chain by which such knowledge was 
 passed across the continent. In this case, the likeness 
 in ritual or legend still occasionally to be traced 
 between those of present-day West Coast tribes and 
 of ancient Egypt would not appear to have been 
 borrowed from the latter and borne across the Con- 
 tinent from east to west, but rather, contrariwise, 
 from the Niger to the Nile. In any case, the Ibibios 
 would seem to be a people of hoar antiquity, and so 
 long have they dwelt in this region, that no legend 
 of an earlier home can be traced among them. 
 
 By one of those strange coincidences which are 
 always happening, it had come to our knowledge, some 
 little time before the arrival of the letter asking us 
 to undertake an independent study of the women, 
 that here, at least, many customs of great ethno- 
 logical interest still obtain which are not only un- 
 known to men, but must always remain beyond the 
 ken of male inquirers. For, by the unwritten law 
 bequeathed to Ibibios from times so remote as to 
 be almost forgotten, it is forbidden for any man to 
 be allowed even a glimmering of mj'^steries which 
 custom has decreed should be confided to women 
 alone. 
 
 To mention one instance — when a man is slain 
 in fight, only married women of his kin or town may 
 
 5 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 bear the corpse to its last resting-place. There, in 
 a part of the " bush " set aside for the purpose, and 
 screened from all eyes, the last strange rites are carried 
 out ; but nothing that passes within those mysterious 
 shadows may be revealed to man or maiden, whether 
 white or black. 
 
 So much my husband had learned, and, as the 
 matter seemed likely to prove of interest, I under- 
 took further investigations, since it was probable 
 that information denied him by ancient law might 
 be given to me. After some difficulty, and on the 
 promise that the name of my informant should never 
 be given, an ancient woman consented to reveal to 
 me rites surely as strange as any on eartli. These 
 jwill be dealt with more fully later, but it seems 
 'well to mention the matter here, because it was owing 
 to this discovery that we first learned of the exist- 
 ence of the so-called " w^omen's mysteries," and thus 
 stumbled upon the knowledge that, in West Africa 
 at least, and possibly among primitive peoples the 
 world over, a vast field for research, untrodden as 
 yet, lies open to women which to men must ever 
 remain hopelessly barred. 
 
 On this point, Herr Gunter Tessmann, who was 
 fortunate enough to witness the rites of the principal 
 male secret societies among the Pangwe, writes in 
 his excellent monograph : * 
 
 " Die Schwierigkeiten, welche allgemein zu uber- 
 winden waren, ehe ich audi nur einen fluchtigen Einblick 
 in das Kultzvesen der Manner bekam, die sich auszudenken 
 
 ♦ Die Pangwe. Volkerkundliche Mnnographie eines weslafrikaniscfien 
 NegersUiinmes. Von Gunter Tessmann. Vol. ii. 
 
 6 
 
Introductory 
 
 habe ich dem Leser uherlassen. Hinsichtlich der Weiher- 
 kulte hduften sich diese Schwierigkeiten eben durch den 
 Ausschluss des mdnnlichen Geschlechts und die natiirliche 
 Scheu der Frauen der art, dass es mir nicht moglich war^ 
 personlich zu ihnen Zutritt zu erlangen.''^ * 
 
 Since our eyes have been opened to the value of 
 data collected from such women with no intervening 
 male influence, it is a matter of deep regret to my sister 
 and myself that we made no independent attempt 
 on a former tour to learn the inner secrets of the 
 great Ekoi cult of Nimm — the woman's secret society, 
 which in the Oban District is strong enough to hold 
 its own against the dreaded Egbo Club itself, and- 
 the secrets of which, though closed to all men, might, 
 and probably would, have been revealed to us. It 
 is the more unfortunate that, so far as we could learn, 
 among Ibibio women only two exclusively feminine 
 societies still exist, those of *' Ebere " and " Iban 
 Isong," both comparatively small and insignificant. 
 The knowledge of what we had formerly missed, 
 however, naturally made us the more anxious to 
 lose no scrap of information which yet remains to 
 be gleaned concerning those feminine mysteries which 
 have survived to the present day. 
 
 In attempting to put upon paper some account 
 of what was thus garnered, the first difficulty con- 
 fronting so unpractised a writer, was to decide at 
 which point of the life cycle to begin. At first wc 
 
 * " The diflicullies to be overcome in general before I obtained even a 
 glimpse into the secrets of male cults I have left to the imagination of the 
 reader. With regard to feminine cults, these difficulties were so increased, 
 through the exclusion of the male sex and the natural timidity of woman 
 that it was impossible for me to gain personal access to such." 
 
 7 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 thought of starting this Httlc study of primitive woman 
 at the time ^vhen, as a tiny piccan, so fair as to seem 
 ahiiost white, an Ibibio girl-babe first opens her eyes 
 upon the hght. Soon, liowcver, we found that the 
 true beginning must be made still farther back. So 
 far, indeed, that little more than a faint eeho has 
 floated down through the ages from those remote 
 and distant times. 
 
 One evening my husband was seeking information 
 as to the existence of sacrificial altars from a man 
 belonging to the household of Chief Daniel Henshaw, 
 who is head of one of the seven ruling families of 
 Calabar and Native Political Agent for the Eket Dis- 
 trict. The man questioned on this particular evening 
 was well known for his knowledge of secret things 
 forgotten by, or hidden from, the common herd. He 
 chanced to mention that the only case, in which, to 
 his knowledge, altars were actually built, was on the 
 occasion of sacrifices made to the Great Mother, Eka 
 Abassi (Mother of God). 
 
 Offerings to this goddess are always laid upon 
 altars built of logs set crosswise in alternate layers 
 one above the other. When less than breast high, 
 dry twigs are piled above, and upon these the body 
 of a white hen is placed. This must be such a one 
 as has laid many eggs, but by reason of age can 
 lay no more. Fire is set to the twigs and the whole 
 consumed, forming a burnt offering " sweet in the 
 nostrils of Eka Abassi." Subsequent inquiries 
 brought out the fact that the last-named deity is 
 the mother not alone of the Thunder God, Obumo, 
 whom we had hitherto been assured was the head 
 
 8 
 
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 < 
 
 U 
 
 w 
 
 < 
 
 Q 
 
 W 
 u 
 
Introductory 
 
 of the whole Ibibio pantheon, but also of all created 
 things. 
 
 From out the strange vague twilight of the gods 
 therefore, beyond Obumo's self, looms, mystic and 
 awful, the great dim figure of " The Mother " — recalling 
 with startling vividness those dread presences met 
 by Faust on his journey through the realms of the 
 dead in search of the shade of Helen ; the " Great 
 Mothers," whose power was so vast as to overawe 
 Mephistophelcs himself — recalling, too, whole crowds of 
 myths, lovely or awful, at the root of ancient religions. 
 For Eka Abassi is at once mother and spouse of 
 Obumo, and between her and the other gods there 
 is a great gulf fixed. To quote the Ibibio phrase, 
 spoken in hushed accents, as was every mention of 
 her — " She is not as the others. She it is who 
 dwells on the other side of the wall." 
 
 Nameless, therefore, this Mother of gods and men 
 looms, misty and vast, at the very fount of Ibibio 
 religion. To none now living would the true name 
 of the goddess appear to have been entrusted. Possibly 
 only to a small band of initiates was it ever revealed, 
 in accordance with the old belief that the names of 
 supreme gods may only be confided to a chosen few, 
 lest, by means of these dread names, men, and even 
 lesser gods, might be tempted to conjure. Thus Ra 
 explained the reason why the name given him by 
 his great parents " remained hidden in my body since 
 my birth, that no magician might acquire magic power 
 over me." So Lilith, to avoid the consequences of 
 disobedience to her husband Adam, is said to have 
 uttered the " INIost Great Name," by virtue of which 
 
 c 9 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 she was enabled to flee away to a place of safe refuge, 
 and indeed gained sueh power that even Jehovah 
 Himself was unable to coerce her. 
 
 Eka Abassi may not be spoken of among the other 
 gods because she is so far beyond them all. From 
 her has sprung all which exists— from Abassi Obumo 
 *' the Thunderer," her son and consort, to the least 
 of living things and every twig, stone or water-drop. 
 In all there dwells some fraction of her. According 
 to those to whom the esoteric teaching has been handed 
 down from times when her cult was as yet unobscured 
 by the fungus growth of fetish and juju worship 
 which has since grown up to hide it, of her might 
 be quoted the words, long hidden beneath the sands 
 of Oxyrhynchus: 
 
 *' Cleave the log and thou shalt find me. Break 
 the stone, and there am I." 
 
 Perhaps most nearly of all does Eka Abassi mani- 
 fest herself in the unhewn stones set amid sacred 
 waters which are to be found scattered over the 
 length and breadth of the land, or in the great trees, 
 " the givers of babes." Her supreme attribute is 
 " Bestower of Fertility," for, since from her all things 
 have sprung, to her appointed dwelling-places creep 
 barren women, to pray that their curse may be taken 
 from them ; while those with hearths left desolate by 
 the silencing of lisping voices, lay before her curls 
 clipped from dead heads, praying that the small feet 
 may soon be set once more upon the earthward road 
 to gladden the hearts of parents untimely deserted. 
 
 All babes born in this part of the world are sent 
 by her; while, of the dead, save those who met a 
 
 10 
 
Introductory 
 
 violent end, men say " Eka Abassi has taken our 
 brother." 
 
 Her eldest-born, Obumo "the Thunderer," once 
 dwelt upon earth, but later went to join "the Sky \ 
 People." Earth folk have lost the road by which he 
 went, so cannot climb thither, but the Sky People 
 sometimes, though rarely, come down to mix with the 
 children of men. One such story is told of a family 
 in Kwa Town, near to Calabar, who claim to be 
 descendants of no earthly forbears. 
 
 "Long ago," so the legend runs, "a big play was 
 being given. All the people were dancing and sing- 
 ing, when suddenly they noticed a stranger going up 
 and down among them. He was very tall and 
 splendid, but answered no word when questioned as 
 to v\^hence he came. All night long the festival lasted, 
 and at dawn a strange woman was seen to have 
 joined the guests. She, too, was finely made and 
 beautiful, but sad looking, and, when asked of her 
 town and parentage, kept silence for a time, but at 
 length after much questioning said : 
 
 " ' This " play " sounded too sweet in my ears, in 
 the place where I dwelt on high ; so I climbed down 
 to hear it more clearly. Half way, the rope broke, 
 and I fell. Now I can never go home any more, since 
 there is no other w^ay by which to climb thither — 
 and I fear ! I fear ! ' 
 
 " The townsfolk tried to comfort her, but she 
 woidd not listen ; only went up and down, wringing 
 her hands and weeping. After a while, however, she 
 saw the other stranger and, recognising him for a 
 countryman, was comforted. He, too, had come down 
 
 11 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 to view the ' play,' but had lost his road and could 
 not go back. So he set to work building a home for 
 the Sky woman, where they two might dwell together, 
 liater, children began to come to them ' softly, softly ' 
 (i.e. gradually and gently), and these were the an- 
 cestors of the present family." 
 
 * :|c :(: 4( 4e 
 
 In many ways the belief of Ibibio women as to 
 the origin of the souls of their babes is much the same 
 as that of Central Australians, whose theory, accord- 
 ing to Sir James Frazer, is that a " spirit child has 
 made its way into the mother from the nearest of 
 those trees, rocks, water-pools or other natural features 
 at which the spirits of the dead are waiting to be 
 born again." That some such belief is held by Ibibios 
 is clearly shown by the action of bereaved parents 
 who, as already mentioned, bring curls, clipped from 
 the heads of dead babes, to be placed in a hole in 
 the rock, dedicated to Eka Abassi, here known as 
 Abassi Isu Ma, i.e. '' the goddess of the Face of Love " 
 — or, since by a beautiful connection of thought the 
 word for love and motherhood is the same, the name 
 may also be translated "the Face of the Mother" — 
 praying that she will speedily set the feet of their 
 little ones upon the road back to life. In the sacred 
 fish, too, with which all holy pools and streams abound, 
 the souls of dead ancestors are thought to dwell, waiting 
 for reincarnation. Unlike Central Australians, how- 
 ever, as reported by Sir James Frazer, Ibibio women — 
 like their far-off sisters of Banks Island — are well aware 
 that without mortal father no earth-child can be 
 born. Yet, while the body of the new-comer is clearly 
 
 12 
 
A HUNTING SCENE 
 
 IBIBIO CHIEFS. WITH ATTENDANTS 
 
Introductory 
 
 attributed to natural causes, its spirit is thought to 
 be that of the " affinity," either animal or vegetable, 
 with which one or other of its parents was mysteriously 
 linked ; or of an ancestor, returned to earth in this 
 new guise. 
 
 Among those few, however, who still keep in their 
 hearts, jealously guarded, the secret which has come 
 down from times when woman, not man, was the 
 dominant sex— that not Obumo, but Eka Abassi 
 herself, is the great First Cause— one ancient crone 
 was persuaded to explain to me, after considerable 
 hesitation and obvious nervousness at the thought 
 of confiding so intimate and sacred a matter to a 
 stranger, that the laws which bind mortal women could 
 not apply to the Great Mother of All. 
 
 " My grandmother once told me," she said, " that 
 the Juju Isu Ndemm ("the Face of the Juju "), which 
 lies in our town of Ndiya, is the mouthpiece of Eka 
 Abassi. So great is the latter, that no husband was 
 needed for the birth of her babes. By her own might 
 alone, did the first of these, Obumo, spring forth ; 
 but to none of her descendants was this power trans- 
 mitted. When, therefore, she saw that all the first 
 earth-women were barren, long she pondered ; then 
 sent down to them a great white bird, which, on 
 reaching earth, laid a gleaming egg— (the symbol of 
 fertility). 
 
 " Old women tell that, after showing the people 
 how, by honouring eggs and oval stones, and making 
 sacrifice to the Great Mother, the gift of fruitfulness 
 might be won, the magic bird flew back to its home 
 in the sky ; whence, with folded wings, soft brooding, 
 
 L3 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 she still watches over the cliildrcn of men. ^Mortals 
 call her * JVIoon ' and sometimes, when people are 
 sleeping, the Moon-bird floats down from her place 
 in the sky and pecks up grains or other food, which 
 she finds lying about. She looks round to see that 
 all is wxU with the earth-folk, and that the tabu on 
 fowls and eggs is still observed ; for in our town neither 
 may be eaten, and, were this command broken, sudden 
 death would fall upon the offender, by means of the 
 great Juju Isu Ndemm. Should the hens have any 
 complaint to make on this subject they would tell 
 the ^loon-bird, and she would bear their plaint before 
 Eka Abassi, who would not only exact the death 
 of the actual offenders, but withdraw her gift — thus 
 sending barrenness upon all the countryside." 
 
 (It is because of this service that the goddess, 
 as already mentioned, forbids the offering to her of 
 any fowl, save such as has borne many eggs in its 
 day, but, by reason of age, has ceased from bearing.) 
 
 The ancient woman naively added : 
 
 " That this is the simple truth and no fable, can 
 be proved even to white people. For when you look 
 up into the sky on a clear night, many or few, but 
 plain to be seen, are the little star eggs— and how coidd 
 these get there, if it were not that the great white 
 Moon-bird had laid them ? " 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PRENATAL INFLUENCES AND BIRTH CUSTOMS 
 
 » 
 
 FOR Ibibio women motherhood is the crown of 
 Hfe, and therefore " jiijus " thought to have the 
 power of granting fertihty or removing the curse 
 of barrenness are held in greater reverence than all 
 others. 
 
 Juju is beyond all else the force which dominates 
 the lives of people such as these. The word itself 
 is said to be taken from the French joujou, and was 
 given to the fetish images everywhere seen because 
 early traders of this nationality looked upon them 
 as a kind of doll. 
 
 Many West- Coasters use the terms juju and fetish 
 as if they were interchangeable, yet there would seem 
 to be a distinct difference between the two. The 
 latter appears to apply only to objects inhabited by 
 the indwelling power of juju, which " includes all 
 uncomprehended mysterious forces of Nature. These 
 vary in importance from elementals so powerful 
 as to hold almost the position of dcmi-gods, to the 
 ' mana ' — to use a Melanesian term —of herb, stone, 
 or metal. In another sense the word also includes 
 the means by which such forces may be controlled 
 or influenced ; secrets wrung from the deepest recesses 
 of Nature by men wise above their fellows, or merci- 
 
 15 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 fully imparted to some favoured mortal by one or 
 other of the deities." * 
 
 The word fetish is " derived through the Portuguese 
 y feitico from the Ivatin facticiiis—facere, i.e. to do. 
 This shows the original conception at the root of the 
 word." .... (It) " was probably first applied 
 to images, idols or amulets made by hand, and later 
 includes all objects possessing magical potency, i.e. 
 bewitched or ' faked.' " t 
 
 Holy pools and rocks, many of which are regarded 
 as the earthly manifestation of Eka Abassi, and are 
 often connected with the rites of her son and spouse, 
 Obumo the Thunderer, hold first place among jujus, 
 in the opinion of the greater number of Ibibio 
 women. True it is that her fame and glory have 
 — save to a few initiates — long since been eclipsed 
 by his. Yet " water, earth and stone, the three great 
 ' Mothers,' are almost always to be found within the 
 grove of the All-Father. Each of these is thought to 
 symbolise a different phase of motherhood. The first, 
 for instance, may perchance be taken as a represen- 
 tation of the Ibibio Aphrodite. She is all that is 
 soft and alluring, while the fish which teem in her 
 waters are the sign of boundless and inexhaustible 
 fruitfulness. She never grows old or parched, neither 
 may she be roughly used, burnt by fire, nor torn and 
 cut by hoe and spade, as is the case with her homelier 
 sister the Earth. This second member of the trilogy 
 may perhaps be described as the working mother. 
 She it is who produces the crops to nourish her children 
 
 *"Inthf Shadow of the Bush," p. 49. P. Amaury Talbot, 
 t " Magic and Fetishism," pp. 66-7. Dr. Haddon, F.R.S. 
 
 16 
 
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Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 in life, and provides their last long resting-place when 
 work is done." * 
 
 A term in common use for expressing the approach 
 of death is to speak of the time " when my mother 
 shall take mc," because all men are laid to sleep in 
 her gentle arms. It is for this reason, above all 
 others, that Ibibios cling with such jealous tenacity 
 to their land and so fiercely resent the least hint at a 
 change of tenure. The proudest landowners of our own 
 northern climes, who, at no matter what cost of poverty 
 or hardship, hold to ancestral acres, can hardly be 
 moved by so intense a passion at the thought of their 
 loss as are these poor sons of the soil at the merest 
 hint of a change in the land laws. Such a thought 
 seems like outrage aimed at a loved one ; for to them, 
 Isong, the Earth Mother, is, in a way, nearest and 
 dearest of all. 
 
 Stones and rocks again are also looked upon as 
 givers of fertility ; mostly in conjunction with Obumo 
 himself. The genius of the stone is sometimes named 
 Abassi Ma, and is looked upon in a special sense as 
 the consort of the Thunder God. She it is who, more 
 than all other manifestations of Eka Abassi, is thought 
 to have the power to remove the curse of sterility 
 from barren women, or send new babes to desolate 
 hearths. It is naturally hard to induce primitive 
 peoples to explain fundamental ideas such as these, 
 yet, from what could be gleaned in the matter, it 
 seems not over-fanciful to think that the trilogy of 
 motherhood symbols may be taken to represent three 
 aspects of womanhood —mistress, attracting and allur- 
 
 * Edinburgh Review," July, 1914. P. Amaury Talbot. 
 D 17 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 ing ; house-mother, drudge and provider ; and consort, 
 the sharer of dignities and honours. 
 
 Of the sacred pools, some two score in number, 
 which we were privileged to be the first " white men " 
 to view, that of Abassi Isu Ma, near Ikotobo — a 
 rumour of which was first brought to my Imsband's 
 notice by Mr. Eakin of the Kwa Ibo Mission, who, 
 later on, induced a guide to lead us thither — is perhaps 
 the most famous. In his company, one Sunday after- 
 noon, we set out, and at length, after passing along 
 a narrow path through thick " bush," reached the 
 farthest point to which ordinary mortals had hitherto 
 been allowed access. Beyond this only the head 
 priest had been permitted to penetrate, in order to 
 lay offerings within a hole in the sacred rock which 
 faces the entrance and is the outward visible sign of 
 the Great Mother herself. 
 
 " Low down on the face of the stone, beneath its 
 veil of moss, and about a foot above the surface of 
 the water, loomed a circular hole, partially filled by 
 offerings laid there by the Chief Priest." 
 
 "A strange superstition has grown up around the 
 rock. To it, or rather to the place of sacrifice just 
 below, for, as has already been mentioned, the spot 
 itself is too sacred for the near approach of ordinary 
 mortals, come wedded couples to pray that babes 
 may be born to them. Barrenness is regarded, not 
 only as the greatest curse which can fall to the lot 
 of man or woman, but also as a sign that the bride 
 was a disobedient daughter. When a maid refuses 
 to obey her mother, the latter says : 
 
 " ' Because you have been a bad daughter to me 
 
 18 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 no child shall be bom to you, that thus atonement 
 may be made for your undutiful behaviour.' " * 
 
 This idea is surely near of kin to the warning 
 voiced in the " Maxims of Ani " : 
 
 " Give thy mother no cause to be offended at thee, 
 lest she lift up her hands to the god, who will surely 
 hear her complaint and will punish thee." f 
 
 A little earher in the same interesting document 
 a man is bidden ''to be most careful how he treats the 
 mother who suckled him for three years and carried 
 bread and beer to him every day when he was at 
 school." 
 
 When an Ibibio woman has transgressed in such 
 a manner, and punishment has in consequence be- 
 fallen, her husband leads her down to the sacred 
 pool. At the place of sacrifice they give offerings to 
 the priest. Thence the woman wades up stream 
 almost to the entrance of the sacred pool, where she 
 makes obeisance and prays : 
 
 " O Abassi Ma ! Keeper of souls I What have I 
 done to anger Thee ? Look upon me, for from the 
 time I left the fatting-room in my mother's house I 
 have never conceived, and am a reproach before all 
 women. Behold ! I bring gifts, and beg Thee to have 
 pity upon me and give me a child. Grant but this 
 prayer, and all my life I will be Thy servant ! " 
 
 The priest then takes an earthen bowl, never 
 before used, dips it into the sacred water, and pours 
 some over the woman, who bends down so that face, 
 arms and body may be laved by the stream. 
 
 « <i 
 
 By Haunted Waters." P. Amaury Talbot— to be published shortly, 
 t " Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection," p. 216. Dr. E. WaUis Budge. 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 When she rises again the Httle party cHmb up 
 the steep bank to the place where the rest of the 
 offerings He. These are cooked and eaten by husband, 
 wife and priest ; after wliicli the supphant returns 
 home, strong in the hope that Isu Ma will take away 
 her reproach. . . . When a child is granted in 
 answer to such a prayer, custom ordains that he or 
 she shall be named 'Ma,'"* in gratitude to the Great 
 Mother. This fact alone would appear sufficient refu- 
 tation of the charge that love and gratitude play no 
 part in West African religions. 
 
 So soon as an Ibibio woman discovers that she 
 is about to bear a babe, old wise women of the race 
 gather round her to teach the thousand and one 
 things which she must or must not do in order to 
 secure the well-being of the new-comer. 
 
 All over this part of the country grows a herb 
 with blue flowers, the spikes of which bear blooms 
 in shape like those of a giant heliotrope, but of 
 vividest cobalt, while the stems look as if stained 
 with indigo. The under sides of the leaves, too, are 
 often blue veined, and, from a distance, stretches of 
 this plant, which springs up upon old farm-land or 
 any cleared space, look like a splash of summer sky 
 caught in the green of the bush. Large posies of 
 this flower are picked by the friends of the mother- 
 to-be and rubbed over her body that her pains may 
 be lightened. 
 
 The greater number of tabu imposed at such times 
 relate to food. For instance, no snail, especially the 
 great Acatina marginata, may be eaten, lest the babe 
 
 • "By Haunted Waters." P. Amaiiry Talbot. 
 
 20 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 should be afflicted with a too plentiful flow of saliva. 
 Nor may an expectant mother eat pig, lest the skin 
 of her child should become spotted in consequence, 
 nor of the fat white maggots to be found in palm 
 trees, lest its breathing powers should be affected. 
 The tabu on pig, which is strictly observed here for 
 mothers, is much like that reported from Guiana as 
 imposed upon fathers, whose " partaking of the agouti 
 would make the child meagre, or eating a labba would 
 make the infant's mouth protrude like the labba's 
 or make it spotted like the labba, which spots 
 would ultimately become ulcers." * So far as could 
 be learnt, however, an Ibibio father is not under 
 the necessity of abstaining from any kind of food. 
 
 When a woman on the verge of motherhood chances 
 to pass along a path crossed by a line of ants, she 
 may not step over them, lest her unborn babe should 
 be marked with a bald line round the head, sup- 
 posed to resemble the '* ant road." To avoid such a 
 catastrophe she must first pick large leaves and lay 
 these over the spot where she means to cross. Next 
 she should collect sand and strew it over them, for 
 only when the leaves are thus almost covered may 
 she step across. 
 
 Mr. Elphinstone Dayrell informed us that among 
 the natives of the Ikom District, of which he was 
 Commissioner, the curious superstition obtains that 
 should a man or woman chance to tread upon a 
 millipede no further children would be born to them. 
 Among Ibibios, too, these creatures are regarded as 
 the harbingers of misfortune. 
 
 * "Magic and Fetishism," p. 13. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. 
 
 21 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Amid both Efiks and Ibibios the ancient custom 
 still obtains that locks should be undone and knots 
 untied in the house of a woman who is about to bear 
 a babe, since all such are thought, by sympathetic 
 magic, to retard delivery. A case was related of a 
 jealous wife, who, on the advice of a witch doctor 
 versed in the mysteries of her sex, hid a selection of 
 padlocks beneath her garments, then went and sat 
 down near the sick woman's door and surreptitiously 
 turned the key in each. She had previously stolen 
 an old waist-cloth from her rival, which she knotted 
 so tightly over and over that it formed a ball, and, 
 as an added precaution, she locked her fingers closely 
 together and sat with crossed legs, exactly as did 
 Juno Lucina of old when determined to prevent the 
 birth of the infant Hercules. 
 
 Sir James Frazer, in the " Taboo " section of his 
 wonderful book " The Golden Bough," gives many 
 examples of similar beliefs. To quote a few instances : 
 
 " In north-western Argyllshire superstitious people 
 used to open every lock in the house at childbirth. 
 The old Roman custom of presenting women with a key 
 as a symbol of an easy delivery perhaps points to the 
 observance of a similar custom." 
 
 " Thus, among the Saxons of Transylvania, when 
 a woman is in travail all knots on her garments are 
 untied, because it is believed that this will facilitate 
 her delivery, and with the same intention all the locks 
 in the house, whether on doors or boxes, are unlocked." * 
 
 " The Lapps think that a lying-in woman should 
 
 • " VolkslhQmlicher Branch and Glaube bei Geburt und Taufe im Sieben- 
 burger Sachsenlaiide," p. 15. J. Hillncr. 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 have no knot on her garments, because a knot would 
 have the effect of making the dehvery difficult and 
 painful. In ancient India it was a rule to untie all 
 knots in a house at the moment of childbirth. Roman 
 religion required that women who took part in the 
 rites of Juno Lucina, the Goddess of Childbirth, should 
 have no knot tied on their persons." * 
 
 The temptation to quote from Sir James Frazer, 
 which besets one at every turn, must, however, be 
 resisted as far as possible, since, did one but yield to 
 it, even to a comparatively small extent, such is the 
 charm of style and vast learning of this great anthro- 
 pologist that one could no longer venture to claim 
 for this little record that it was written " without 
 intervening male influence." 
 
 if ^ * 3ic * 4e 
 
 Throughout the whole of her life no Ibibio woman 
 may eat of a double yam or double plantain lest 
 she bear twin children — the dread of which misfortune 
 looms so large as to darken the existence of Ibibio 
 women. Wretched indeed, in the old days» was the 
 lot of any unfortunate mother of twins, since, though 
 most of the men now deny this, averring that twin 
 babes were only hated and feared as something mon- 
 strous and unnatural, a considerable number of women 
 confessed that they, like those of many neighbouring 
 tribes, believed that one of the pair at least was no 
 merely mortal offspring but that of some wandering 
 demon. 
 
 Till a comparatively short time ago such a birth 
 was followed by the death of both mother and babes, 
 
 •" Taboo and the Perils of the Soul," p. 294. J. G. Frazer. 
 
 23 
 
/ 
 
 Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 and, except where the fear of the white man is too 
 strong, twins are not allowed to live even now. The 
 custom is either to fling both little ones into the bush 
 to be devoured by leopards or other fierce wood-folk, 
 to offer tlicm up on the beacli to be eaten by 
 vultures, or to kill one of them outright and starve 
 the other, the bodies being then flung into bush or 
 river. 
 
 Of late years this cruel custom has been modified 
 to the extent that, after bringing about, or at least 
 consenting to, the death of her babes, the woman is 
 allowed to seek refuge in a town set apart for twin 
 mothers. There she is still obliged to undergo " puri- 
 fication " for a period of twelve moons before being 
 allowed to mix again with her fellows. In such cir- 
 cumstances it is customary, in some parts, for the 
 husband to build a hut for her and take food thither 
 once a week. 
 
 On one occasion not very long ago a wretched 
 twin mother, driven out of her town, made her way 
 to the nearest " twin village." It happened that 
 most of the inhabitants had almost " cleansed " them- 
 selves, that is to say, had passed through the greater 
 part of the twelve moons during which they were 
 forbidden to mix with their fellows. Contact with 
 another woman who had but just borne twins would 
 have rendered them unclean once more, so thty drove 
 forth the wretched mother, who, weak and almost 
 despairing, managed to reach the town where Mr. 
 Eakin, of the Kwa Ibo Mission, was staying at the 
 time. The unfailing charity of this good friend pro- 
 vided all that was necessary for the moment ; then, 
 
 24 
 
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 PQ 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 as soon as the woman was sufficiently recovered, they 
 set out together for the nearest " twin town." 
 
 It was midnight when they arrived, and none of 
 the inhabitants would open their doors to this sister 
 in misfortune. So soon, however, as they understood 
 that she was no longer alone, but accompanied by 
 one whose word they had long since learned it was 
 best to obey, a great clatter arose. A woman, whose 
 time of " purification " was almost at an end, turned 
 out every pot, pan and chattel from her dwelling, 
 lest they might be contaminated by the new-comer, 
 and bore them to the house of a neighbour whose year 
 of seclusion was also all but over. The sick woman 
 was then allowed to take possession of the deserted 
 dwelling. 
 
 At stated intervals markets are held by the un- 
 happy outcasts, to which, under certain restrictions 
 and precautions, others may come to buy or sell. 
 On the way to one of these markets, should a " twin 
 woman " meet one not defiled like herself, she must 
 spring into the bush and remain hidden till her 
 more fortunate sister has passed by, so that the 
 '' clean " woman may not be soiled by contact with 
 one so befouled. Perhaps one of the saddest effects 
 of this cruel superstition is the dread with which 
 " twin mothers " regard their own offspring. Mr. 
 Eakin told us that once, on entering a house to which 
 he had hastened on learning of the event which had 
 just taken place there, he found a pair of new-born 
 twins lying in a little basket. The wretched mother 
 shook with fear whenever her glance fell upon them. 
 It is difficult indeed to persuade such women to 
 
 B 25 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 nourish their unfortunate babes, which are often only 
 kept aUvc by the charity of Christian natives, or of 
 women from other tribes who have come to settle in 
 the neighbourhood. Such a case happened near Awa, 
 in the western part of the district, where Mrs. Etete, 
 a Christian woman from the Gold Coast, brought up 
 to us twins and their mother, whom she had saved 
 from death the year before. 
 
 Sad indeed is the lot of girl twins rescued from 
 the fate ordained by the law of their race ; for, unless 
 some fortunate chance takes them away from their 
 own country, they are shunned through life. No 
 matter where they may strive to hide their secret 
 it somehow gets known that they are " twin women," 
 and no man would dream of approaching such with 
 thoughts of love or marriage, save those who have 
 absolutely no regard for their reputations. Only a 
 short time ago a libel case was brought before my 
 husband in one of the native coui-ts. In this the 
 plaintiff claimed heavy damages for defamation of 
 character. During the course of the evidence it trans- 
 pired that the words so bitterly resented had been — 
 " He said that I was such a man as would be willing 
 to marry a ' twin woman ' ! " 
 
 The gravity of this statement from the native 
 point of view can readily be imdcrstood when one 
 remembers that, by Ibibio law, any man found guilty 
 of intercourse with a " twin woman " could be put to 
 death. Even now it would be looked upon as sufficient 
 cause for granting divorce to a wife if she could 
 prove that her husband was keeping a " twin woman " 
 as his sweetheart. 
 
 26 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 Also, should such a charge be proved against a 
 member of the Idiong Society — one of the most powerful 
 secret cults of the region — he was immediately ex- 
 pelled. On August 21st, 1913, a case in point was 
 brought up before the Native Court at Ikotobo. In 
 this, Ekkpo Akpan, son of the head priest of Idiong, 
 stated on oath : 
 
 " The Idiong Society has a law that if any member 
 should take a ' twin woman ' as sweetheart he must 
 be expelled. It was found out that Nwa Adiaha Udo 
 Ide was a ' twin woman,' and therefore we decided 
 that her husband should be turned out for having 
 married her. In revenge for his expulsion the woman 
 came and said that I also had been her sweetheart. 
 She made this charge because my father is the head 
 priest of Idiong, and she wished to be revenged upon 
 him, through me. Formerly she had accused my 
 brother of the same offence. The case was tried in 
 this Court, and the members decided that her state- 
 ment was false. Judgment was therefore given in 
 my brother's favour." 
 
 With great difficulty and after much persuasion 
 a woman of the tribe was induced to impart to me 
 the secret reason which lies at the root of this dread 
 of taking a girl twin in marriage. Shaking with fear 
 at the thought of even mentioning so abhorrent a 
 thing, my informant said in a voice so low as to be 
 barely audible : 
 
 " Since the girl herself is not as other women, 
 but part offspring of a demon, so the souls of children 
 born to her go, sooner or later, to join their kindred, 
 the evil devils. When the husband dies also, and 
 
 27 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 comes to the ghost town, he finds the spirits of his 
 accursed brood waiting to claim him as their father, 
 and shame him in the sight of all the shades." 
 
 In this there would seem to be an echo of the 
 ancient Babylonian and rabbinical belief *' that a 
 man might have children by allying himself with 
 a demon, and although they would naturally not be 
 visible to human beings, yet when that man was 
 dying they would hover round his bed, and, after 
 his death, would hail him as their father." * 
 
 No " twin mother " may pass through, or even 
 near, a sacred water. This prohibition would seem 
 also to apply to their offspring, but, as so few of these 
 latter have hitherto been allowed to live, no case of 
 actual transgression by them has come to our notice. 
 
 Once, in passing through the Okkobbor country 
 near the town of Ube, we came to a little dell crossed 
 by a raised path from the higher land beyond. On 
 either side of the road was marshy ground, and, towards 
 the middle of the glen, a stream of water flowed right 
 through the earth beneath the path. 
 
 We were looking at this and wondering how it 
 had been formed, when a group of women and children 
 passed by on their way back to Ube, their native 
 town. When questioned about the water, they threw 
 out their hands with the graceful gesture usual among 
 this people in disclaiming knowledge, and answered, 
 " Mi ifiokka," i.e. " I don't know." 
 
 It was quite obvious that they knew but would 
 not tell. The prettiest and most richly dressed among 
 
 • " The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia." R. C. Tliompson. Vol. i., 
 p. xxvi. See also " Burial Customs." 
 
 28 
 
THE PATH OVER THE MAGIC WATER WHICH SHRANK UNDER- 
 GROUND TO AVOID THE POLLUTION OF A TWIN WOMAN 
 
Prenatal Influences and Birth Customs 
 
 them was wearing four silver bangles, each bearing 
 the emblems of Faith, Hope and Charity ; so her 
 reason for disclaiming knowledge was easily read. 
 
 My husband asked if she were a Christian ; 
 whereon she at once, and proudly, answered in the 
 affirmative. He then said, smiling and holding up 
 an admonitory finger, " But Christians may not tell 
 lies ! " Whereon they all burst into laughter, and 
 she began to speak : 
 
 " In the old old days long ago, a magic water 
 lay between the little hills, and through this no ' twin 
 woman ' might pass. Mbiam Ube was the name of 
 the spirit of the pool, and to him the people of Ube 
 used to bring offerings of palm-wine and rum, white 
 hens and black cocks ; for this was a strong juju for 
 the granting of prayers. 
 
 " One day there came a ' twin woman ' who was 
 proud and of a bad heart, and paid no heed to the 
 old laws. Right through the water she walked, but 
 it shrank away from the touch of her, and since then 
 has only flowed through the earth, beneath the road, 
 that it may no longer be polluted by the feet of such 
 as she. To this day no one drinks of the stream lest 
 he should die, but offerings are still made to the in- 
 dwelling juju, for fear that he might otherwise grow 
 angry and harm our town." 
 
 Fortunately missionary effort and the influence 
 of white rule are now beginning to make headway 
 against this dread of twins. 
 
 Once, near the end of our tour, on returning to 
 Eket, the son of the head chief of a neighbouring 
 town came to bring us the news that his wife and 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 sister-in-law had each given birth to twins on the 
 same day, only a few hours before our arrival. He 
 is a Christian, and knew himself and his family 
 secure in the protection of Government ; but his 
 dancing eyes and happy air showed that, in his case 
 at least, the old horror of twins was a thing of the 
 past. 
 
 How different were matters before the coming of 
 white men, is proved by the fact that one of the first 
 acts of the "African Association" after building their 
 factory at Eket was to establish, on their own grounds, 
 a place of refuge for " twin mothers." Tliis afterwards 
 grew into the Eket " twin town." 
 
 30 
 
.^*1^, 
 
 ..3 
 
 ORON MAN, WITH TWINS WHOSE LIVES HE SAVED 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 BIRTH CUSTOMS (continued) 
 
 THE rumour of another " twin town " of a very 
 different kind has lately reached our ears. It 
 is given on the authority of Akpan Abassi of Ndiya, 
 who asserts that he visited the place with five com- 
 panions. Certainly his fame as a magician has been 
 greatly augmented since this visit. The following is 
 his story : 
 
 " About three months' distance from Ndiya on 
 the far side of the Kwa Ibo River, when one has 
 journeyed past Opobo and past Bonny which lie 
 to the leftward, after marching for many miles to 
 the north-west, one comes at length to a part of 
 the land where white rule is unknown. Here there 
 is a town called Ekeple Ukim, where none but women 
 live. It is a famous town, and the women who dwell 
 there know ' plenty medicine too much.' That is 
 why strangers go thither, because they seek to learn 
 both magic and healing from its inhabitants. Our 
 people call the place by another name, namely, Obio 
 Iban-Iban, i.e. the Town of Women. 
 
 " By the side of the road grows high bush, 
 which, as the town is neared, arches over till the view 
 is quite shut out. So thick are the bushes, that 
 towards the end of the way one cannot walk upright, 
 
 31 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 but must bend down and in places even creep, especially 
 where the bamboo clumps grow thick and high. When 
 we had passed through this leafy tunnel, the prospect 
 suddenly opened before us, and we saw the town, 
 girt round with hundreds of giant cotton trees. 
 
 " Near to the main entrance bubbles a spring, 
 the water of which is white like milk, because it 
 flows over chalk. This the townswomen drink; but 
 we refused it. I^uckily, near by grew clumps of a 
 cane, something like sugar-cane to look at, but with 
 acid juice. This we cut and sucked, and its sap served 
 us instead of water. 
 
 '* When we entered the town the women left 
 their occupations and ran up, crowding round us 
 and asking by signs, ' What do you want ? ' Adding, 
 ' No man may come here ! ' 
 
 "As we did not know the language of the country 
 we could only talk by signs like deaf and dumb people 
 at home. When we tried to explain why we had 
 come, an old wife said further : 
 
 " ' If you would live among us, even for a short 
 time, each of you must sacrifice a fowl to our juju, 
 otherwise you will die.' 
 
 " To this four of us agreed, but the other two 
 said to themselves, ' What these people say is mere 
 foolishness. We are strong and well, and have our 
 own jujus ; therefore we will not sacrifice to theirs.' 
 
 " On behalf of the four who made the offering 
 ordained the women prayed to the gods of the town 
 that their lives might be spared ; and this prayer 
 was granted. For a month all of us were permitted 
 to stay because the women saw that we were foot- 
 
 32 
 
Birth Customs 
 
 sore and weary, so they said that wc might tarry for 
 that space to refresh ourselves for the fatigues of 
 the return journey. Longer than this we were not 
 allowed to linger, so at the end of the time all six 
 set forth once more ; but the two who had refused 
 to sacrifice died on the homeward way. Every day 
 during our visit the women beat fu-fu and cooked 
 soup, and set it out in a certain place. It seemed to 
 be the custom for visitors to eat this, so we did so, 
 and left money in exchange on the spot where the 
 ' chop ' had been found. 
 
 " At one place in this town was a great juju, the 
 name of which we could not learn. On the top of 
 it was a man's skull, and many skulls lay around. 
 Hundreds of sheep and chickens wandered up and 
 down in the streets, but not a single goat was to be 
 seen, nor one solitary head of cattle. 
 
 " It was a very big town, and we wished to find 
 out the reason why it was inhabited by women only. 
 After a time we learnt as follows from neighbouring 
 tribes : 
 
 " ' Once, long ago, at a town hereabouts, a woman 
 bore twin children— a boy and a girl. Now, it was 
 unlawful for twins, or the mother of twins, to dwell 
 in these towns ; so the inhabitants drove them off. 
 
 " ' It happened that the husband of the woman 
 loved her very much. So he said, " If my wife may 
 not live in this place neither will I. I would rather 
 dwell with her in the bush." He therefore followed 
 her, and built a home where they might all live 
 together. 
 
 " ' In course of time the boy died, but tlie girl grew 
 
 F 33 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 strong and big. Again the mother conceived, and 
 bore twins once more, a boy and a girl. A second 
 time the boy died and the girl lived. A third time 
 also the same thing happened. 
 
 " ' Now, all these girls grew up to be fine and 
 tall, and when men passed by that way they wished 
 to wed them. Each time, however, that a male babe 
 w^as borne to any of these he died, and only girls were 
 left. After awhile, therefore, the habit was formed 
 of sending boy children away when they were still 
 very small ; while the girls remained and grew up, until 
 at length they formed a big town. Even now, though 
 they welcome lovers who please them, they will never 
 let these stay for long. Boy babes are sent away 
 to be brought up in the homes of their fathers, but 
 girls must always remain with their mothers in Ohio 
 Iban-Iban.' " 
 
 Perhaps it is wrong to suspect our informant 
 and his companions of other motives in visiting this 
 mysterious town save that of the thirst for know- 
 ledge alleged by themselves. An air of retrospective 
 pleasure ran through the man's account, how^ever, 
 possibly due to satisfaction in relating a rare— and 
 indeed for tliis part of the world unique — experience. 
 Unless my memory deceives me, certain similarities in 
 his description and in that of the town of the Amazons 
 given by Spruce in his book " A Botanist on the 
 Orinoco," would, I think, strike the most casual 
 reader. At any rate, the lot of these far-off " twin 
 town " women is much to be envied by their unfortunate 
 Ibibio sisters. 
 
 One day, when after a very long march we arrived 
 
 34 
 
Birth Customs 
 
 at Okon Ekkpo, or Jamestown, as it is more usually 
 called by white men, we learned from the two lady 
 missionaries stationed there in connection with the 
 Primitive Methodist Mission that an event, rare amid 
 races such as these, had just taken place— namely 
 the birth of triplets to a woman of the town. No 
 sooner was news of this occurrence brought to the 
 Institute than the devoted missionaries set out for 
 the house of the unhappy mother in order to make 
 sure that the new-born should not be sacrificed ac- 
 cording to the ancient custom of the tribe. They 
 found the woman in a state of utmost terror, 
 and it was only through constant visiting, and them- 
 selves holding and tending the unwelcome new-comers, 
 that the mother was somewhat reassured and induced 
 to nourish her offspring. They noticed that one of 
 the three was stronger and bigger than the others, 
 and to this the mother devoted herself to the neglect 
 of its fellows, which were therefore not long-lived. 
 So far as we could learn this is the first case recorded 
 among Ibibios in which even one out of a triple birth 
 has been allowed to grow up. 
 
 To show how rare is such an event among primitive 
 peoples, it may perhaps be well to mention here that 
 among the Ekoi and neighbouring tribes, so far as 
 we could learn, the arrival of triplets had never been 
 heard of, nor would such an occurrence appear to be 
 regarded as within the bounds of possibility. Dr. 
 Mansfeld, a well known German Commissioner in 
 the South Kamerun, told us that once, when question- 
 ing a native on the subject, the man had smiled with 
 a superior air and answered : 
 
 35 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 " Aber, mein Hcrr, mit drei Kindern Nieder- 
 kommen ist nicht moglich ! Einc Fran hat ja nur 
 zwei Briistc ! " 
 
 Had it not been for the presence of the missionaries 
 and a fear that rumours of the deed might reach the 
 ever-open ear of Government, tlie mother and her three 
 babes would, in all probability, have been sacrificed. 
 The power for good wielded by such white women 
 as these missionaries can hardly be exaggerated. 
 Young, almost childlike in appearance, the one with 
 wide-open blue eyes and long braids of golden hair 
 falling below the waist, the other with eyes of 
 steady brown set in a face grown pale with overwork 
 and strain, these two heroic women lived alone in 
 a part of the district, which, although we personally 
 have rather a partiality for it, is generally regarded 
 as a kind of Alsatia for the whole region. The " Girls' 
 Institute," for which at the time of the occurrence 
 above related Miss Fisher and ^liss Elkins had made 
 themselves responsible, was founded some years ago 
 by Miss Richardson, a member of the same mission, 
 who later returned to resume charge of the educa- 
 tional department, wliile Miss Fisher (now Mrs. Dodd) 
 has accompanied her husband to another spliere of 
 missionary work. To our pleasure Miss Elkins still 
 remained. 
 
 In that part of the district which lies round Awa 
 a reason is given for the killing of twins which is 
 quite unconnected with any idea as to demoniacal 
 origin. The following is the local account of the cause 
 of the custom : 
 
 " The lirst pair of twins sent to Earth, so our 
 
 36 
 
Birth Customs 
 
 mothers tell, unfortunately came to the dwelling of 
 a family poor and of little account. When news 
 of their arrival reached the neighbouring chiefs and 
 members of great houses, these gathered together in 
 much anxiety at such an unprecedented occurrence, 
 and consulted as to what should be done. ' Behold,' 
 said thev, ' this woman first bore one child. Now 
 she has given birth to two together ; should she con- 
 tinue to go on in the way in which she has begun, 
 next time she may bear four, and after that six or 
 even eight, and so on imtil her family surpasses any 
 of ours. If poor people are allowed to grow " strong " 
 at such a rate, ^vhat will become of us ? We shall 
 have no chance to seize their property on the death 
 of the head of their house, nor to force them to serve 
 us as before when their family was small and of little 
 account and there was none to take their part.' 
 
 " That, so our grandmothers tell, is the reason why 
 the murder of twins was started in the Awa country. 
 Had the first twins come to a rich or powerful family 
 there would have been no killing. 
 
 " Not long afterwards the king's head wife also 
 gave birth to a boy and a girl, and a meeting of the 
 townsfolk was called to discuss the matter. The 
 king and his relatives tried their utmost to save the 
 lives of the babes, but the poor folk combined and 
 said, ' They shall be killed, as were those of our woman.' 
 The more the rich strove to save the chief's twin children, 
 the more did the poor insist upon their death, crying, 
 ' As you did to us and our babes, so will we do also 
 unto you and yours.' That is the reason why twin 
 children were killed even unto our own day. In the 
 
 37 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 country round Awa, however, no ' twin mother ' is 
 ever put to death, only driven forth from her town." 
 
 With this fear before their eyes, it is natural that 
 women about to become mothers should consult a 
 native doctor some time before the expected birth 
 of their babes in order to learn from him if there 
 is any probability of the arrival of twins. Should 
 he answer in the affirmative, medicine is given by 
 which the danger may be averted. 
 
 Next to the dread of becoming a mother of twins 
 looms that of bearing a child into whose body some 
 evil spirit has entered. This may be that of ancestor or 
 kinsman undesirable on account of bodily or mental 
 deformity, or because they come from a family tainted 
 wjth " witchcraft." 
 
 So-called " birth-marks " seem to be quite common 
 among this people, although such are here attributed 
 to causes different from those assigned them in northern 
 climes. An Ibibio baby is eagerly scanned for any 
 sign which may reveal the identity of the indwelling 
 Ego. Parents often notice some likeness to a dead 
 friend, or trick of speech or movement in a child 
 which to their minds shows that it is an old spirit 
 reborn in some new body. A striking example of 
 the way in which such deductions are made happened 
 at Ndiya about ten years ago, and was told as follows : 
 
 *' A man named Osim Essiet married a wife, and 
 a little while before the birth of their first child he 
 was attacked by an enemy and left lying in the bush 
 with his head severed from his body. When he did 
 not return, friends set out to look for him. After 
 some time they found the corpse, bore it home and 
 
 38 
 
• » ' '. • 
 
 
 w 
 
 > 
 
 73 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 u 
 X 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
Birth Customs 
 
 laid it upon a native bed. When the young wife saw 
 this horrible sight, she cried out and flung herself 
 down by the side of the body, calling upon the name 
 of her husband and entreating him not to leave 
 her. 
 
 *' Some weeks afterwards the child was born. 
 Round his neck was the mark as of a line at the place 
 where his father's head had been severed, and, indeed, 
 his neck is still shorter than that of most people. The 
 townsfolk noticed this peculiarity, and felt sure, because 
 of it, that the boy was really Osim Essiet himself come 
 back to life again because he loved his wife very 
 dearly and in answer to her entreaties that she might 
 not be left alone. They therefore gave him, in his new 
 incarnation, the same name as he had borne before." 
 
 A somewhat similar case happened at Ikott Atako, 
 near Eket, and is thus related : 
 
 " There was once a woman of this town, Etuk 
 Nkokk by name, who, not long after she had left the 
 Fatting-house, bore a boy. At first the babe was like 
 other children save that he was very weak, but as 
 the years went on he hardly seemed to grow at all, 
 and by the age of twenty was not quite four feet high. 
 One day his mother went out and noticed the fine 
 strong children born to her neighbours. When she 
 came home, she looked loweringly at her sickly son 
 and said, ' No other woman has a child like you ! I 
 wish you might die that I may be no more shamed 
 by the sight of you ! ' Not long afterwards the boy 
 sickened and died, and before they brought the coffin 
 in which to lay him for burial the mother said to 
 herself : * This piccan gave me too much trouble ! 
 
 39 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 I wish to find some way of punishing him and pre- 
 venting him from returning to hfe.' So she took 
 thought, and at length cut off liis right hand, saying 
 to herself, ' Now he will surely be ashamed, and not 
 come back into my family any more.' 
 
 " A few months later another child was born, 
 but lo ! it was the same boy come back again, as was 
 plain to be seen because he had only one hand. When 
 the people went to see the mother and the new-born 
 babe, they recognised him at once for the one who 
 had died, and, seeing the handless wrist, asked ' How 
 could you do such a cruel thing to your firstborn ? ' 
 She answered, ' It was because I did not want him 
 to come back again, and thought he would be ashamed 
 to show himself among us thus maimed.' The people 
 said, ' It is a misfortune, but it cannot be helped ! 
 This is your punishment, and you must just do your 
 best for him.' So the woman took their advice and 
 did everything possible for the child, in consequence 
 of which he grew up and is still alive, a little taller 
 than during his first earth-life, but smaller than other 
 
 men." 
 
 The mother of Chief Henshaw of Oron regards 
 him as an example of reincarnation. The name 
 Nyung, by which he is everywhere known among 
 black people, means "thrice born"— an appellation 
 which she gave him because her two first babes had 
 died, and she believed that at his birth the same 
 spirit came back once more ; this time, not in 
 vain. 
 
 The dread of the return of " wandering souls," 
 who reincarnate only to bring trouble upon the family 
 
 40 
 
Birth Customs 
 
 into which they have chosen to come, is common 
 over the greater part of West Africa. Mary Kingsley 
 thus describes the way in which parents seek to protect 
 themselves against the infliction of these annoying 
 spirits : 
 
 " When two babes in a family have previously 
 died in suspicious circumstances the father takes the 
 body of the third baby which has also died in the same 
 way and smashes one of its leg bones before it is thrown 
 away into the bush ; for he knows he has got a wanderer 
 soul— namely a sisa. ... He just breaks the 
 leg so as to warn the soul he is not a man to be trifled 
 with, and will not have his family kept in a state of 
 perpetual uproar and expense. It sometimes happens, 
 however, in spite of this that when his fourth baby 
 arrives that too goes off in convulsions. Thoroughly 
 roused now, paterfamilias sternly takes a chopper, 
 and chops that infant's remains extremely small, 
 and it is scattered broadcast. Then he holds he has 
 eliminated that sisa from his family. 
 
 " I am informed, however, that the fourth baby 
 to arrive in a family afflicted by a sisa does not usually 
 go off in convulsions, but that fairly frequently it 
 is born lame, which shows that it is that wanderer soul 
 back with its damaged leg." 
 
 Mothers seek eagerly for the first sign of resemblance 
 to deceased relatives shown by a babe, and should 
 no likeness be traceable, they watch to see which 
 of the surrounding objects will first attract the 
 notice of the new-comer. This custom is also re- 
 corded by Miss Kingsley in her characteristically lively 
 
 manner. 
 
 G 41 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 " The new babies as they arrive in the family are 
 shown a selection of small articles belonging to deceased 
 members . . . . ; the thing the child catches hold of 
 identifies him. ' AVhy, he's Uncle John ! Sec, he knows 
 his own pipe ; ' or * That's Cousin Emma ! See, she 
 knows her market calabash,' and so on." 
 
 42 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 AFFINITIES OR " BUSH SOULS " 
 
 THE time at which Httle ones first begin to creep 
 must be an anxious one to those Ibibio mothers 
 to whom no sign has as yet been vouchsafed as 
 to the identity of the soul which has entered into 
 their babes. For should the child be possessed by an 
 " affinity," either animal or vegetable, the fact begins 
 to manifest itself during the crawling stage. 
 
 The term *' affinity " is in use among educated 
 natives throughout the West Coast to express the 
 mysterious link believed to exist between human \ 
 beings and the plant or animal into which they are 
 thought, under certain conditions, to have the power 
 of sending forth their souls. 
 
 To white people, at first sight, such ideas seem 
 so strange that it is almost inconceivable that they 
 could have gained so firm a hold over the imagination 
 of natives in such far distant parts of the world. When, 
 however, we remember the belief in were-wolves and 
 other terrible half-human folk, which persisted till 
 comparatively lately in our own northern climes, the 
 idea of the so-called Calabar " bush soul " becomes 
 less incredible. 
 
 True it is that at home amid the matter-of-fact 
 surroundings of the present day it seems, as one of our 
 
 43 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 friends lately remarked, " impossible for human beings 
 to believe that they actually take upon themselves 
 animal form." Out here, however, ^vhethe^ camping 
 in the vast dimness of the bush, or sitting, as now, 
 in a little mud and wattle rest-house beneath which 
 the dark, swift waters of the Cross River slip sound- 
 lessly by, such ideas take on a new aspect. The 
 silence seems pregnant with mysteries, fascinating but 
 terrible, the secrets of which, voices — half drowned 
 in rustle of leaves or lap of water — seem ever about 
 to reveal to the listening ear. For those, who live 
 close to the heart of nature, there undoubtedly exists 
 a link between man and the forest creatures, long 
 since lost to dwellers in cities. 
 
 Even white men are, now and again, admitted 
 to a strange intimacy with the jungle folk, and in 
 some ways the uncanny tic, thought by some primitive 
 peoples to exist between man and animal, seems hardly 
 more strange than does the affection lavished by some 
 bush creatures on those white intruders upon their 
 solitudes into whose power chance may have caused 
 them to fall. Once, at evening time, for instance, 
 when sitting before our tents in a little clearing made 
 in the heart of the bush, a tiny lemur sprang to 
 shelter inside my husband's shirt from the snake or 
 bush-cat which was chasing him. Months later, when 
 the strange little beast lay down to die, as a result 
 of a surfeit of coco-nut milk, after every conceivable 
 remedy had been tried in vain, he cried like a baby 
 on being abandoned because it was thought more 
 merciful to leave him to die in peace ; but settled down 
 contentedly the moment one of us returned, and at 
 
 44 
 
Affinities or "Bush Souls" 
 
 length passed peacefully away, his tiny black-gloved 
 hand clasped trustingly round one of our fingers.* 
 
 Again, there is the case of the splendid lion cub 
 Fort Lamy, sent to us as a present from Ober- 
 Leutnant von Raben, German Resident at Kusseri 
 in the North Kamerun, with a letter in which the 
 hope was somewhat quaintly expressed, " that the 
 little lion might enjoy the ladies ! " (presumably a 
 translation of ' Die Damen erfreuen '). This beautiful 
 creature, who, with his brother Kusseri, long welcomed 
 visitors at the Zoo, was sent to England at about 
 the age of six months, up to which time he had been 
 constantly with us. A year's tour in Southern Nigeria 
 and several months in England intervened before 
 we were able to visit him. At last, one Sunday after- 
 noon, we went with a friend. It was just before feeding 
 time and the lion house was crowded, but Fort Lamy 
 sat indifferent, alone in his cage, and with his back 
 to the spectators. A single call, and he sprang to 
 the bars — two great paws thrust through to clutch 
 our hands, which he proceeded to drag inside, and 
 stuff, with as much arm as he could manage, into his 
 mouth. Then, still holding on, regardless of damaged 
 gown or coat sleeve, the great beast flung himself upon 
 his back and lay lashing the ground with his tail and 
 exhibiting every sign of joy at meeting us once more. 
 Perhaps natives would explain this unforgetting affec- 
 tion by saying that in past ages the spirit of the lien 
 had been mysteriously linked with that of some mortal ! 
 Certain it is that for many years to come, the effort 
 
 * He proved to be a new species, and was named galago talbotii, by the 
 British Museum authorities. 
 
 45 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 to disabuse the negro of his behef in " affinities" will 
 prove useless. Hardly does one imagine that a little 
 headway has been made in this dircetion than co- 
 incidence alter coincidence happens to render the 
 belief more deep-rooted than ever, and convince the 
 black man of the mental blindness of the white in 
 refusing to own even to the possibility of this and 
 kindred subjects. 
 
 Then, too, the influence of dreams seems hardly to 
 have been allowed sufficient weight as a factor in 
 this and similar beliefs. In lands, where the divid- 
 ing line between the so-called "real" and "unreal" 
 shrinks to vanishing point ; where water- sprites lurk 
 beneath the surface of every pool or stream, and 
 dryads flit through the shadows, visions of the night 
 seem as real as the sights of waking hours. 
 
 To primitive man the beasts are not, as to us, 
 inferior creatures, but often superiors in force and 
 cunning. The mystery and strength of huge, wise 
 old elephants, the swiftness and force of the lion's 
 spring, made these jungle folk objects of reverence, 
 to be propitiated and, if possible, induced to act 
 as patrons and protectors of the less powerfully built 
 human denizens of the forest. In dreams the beasts 
 play their part, beneficent or malignant, often, as 
 with ourselves, changing and shifting shape ; and 
 primitive man made no distinction between sights 
 seen awake or asleep. If he dreamed of a great snake 
 or crocodile laying itself, bridgewise, across a stream, 
 that he might pass over in safety, then it seemed to 
 him that some such reptile must surely be the protector 
 of his family, shielding it from danger as a father 
 
 46 
 
AfiSnities or *' Bush Souls " 
 
 shields his children — possibly, therefore, the actual 
 ancestor from which the tribe had sprung. To such 
 men it must seem only natural to have the power 
 of assuming the form of the brothers with whom they 
 arc mysteriously linked, and thus disguised sally 
 forth as were-beasts, to snatch food in times of dearth, 
 or wreak vengeance on an enemy. 
 
 A distinct likeness seems to exist between the 
 present day " affinities " or " bush souls " of the West 
 Coast and the idea which lay at the root of early 
 Egyptian religion. 
 
 " Transmigration from one body to another, indeed, 
 never presented any difficulty to the Egyptian mind. 
 It could be effected by the magician by means of his 
 spells ; and there were stories, like the folk-tales of 
 modern Europe, which told how the life and individu- 
 ality of a man could pass into the bodies of animals 
 and even into seeds and trees. The belief is common 
 to most primitive peoples, and is doubtless due to 
 the dreams in which the sleeper imagines himself 
 possessed of some bodily form that is not his own. 
 
 " Egyptian orthodoxy found a ready way in which 
 to explain the animal form of its gods. The soul, 
 once freed from its earthly body, could assume what- 
 ever shape it chose, or, rather, could inhabit as long 
 as it would whatever body it chose to enter. And 
 what was true of the human soul was equally true 
 of the gods . . . The soul of Ra, which was 
 practically Ra himself, could appear under the form 
 of a bird if so he willed. 
 
 " It was only the cultivated classes to whom 
 . . . the sacred animals were symbols and em- 
 
 47 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 bodiments of the deity rather than the deity itself. 
 The masses continued to be fetish worshippers Hke 
 the earher inhabitants of the country from whom 
 most of them drew their descent . . . While 
 the walls of the temple were covered with pictures 
 in which the gods were represented in human or semi- 
 human form, the inner shrine which they served to 
 surround and protect contained merely the beast 
 or bird in which the deity was believed to be incar- 
 nated for the time." * 
 
 * * ♦ 4e « 
 
 With regard to West Coast " affinities," many 
 are thought to be hereditary in families, but at times 
 a babe is born to a house, no member of which has 
 ever before been known to bear the " mark " of any 
 animal, yet the likeness of some such can be clearly 
 discerned upon the new-comer. 
 
 The explanation for this was somewhat confusedly 
 given me by a woman, who herself had borne a babe 
 belonging to the baboon totem, although, as she 
 sadly said, no " monkey soul " had ever before been 
 known in her family. The endeavour to put into 
 words ideas so mysterious and deep-rooted seemed 
 to cause a painful mental effort, and even the greatest 
 care in questioning left the matter still unclear. To 
 those who have never attempted such a tiling, it is 
 hard to realise the difficulty of putting questions 
 which will elicit the information which one is seeking 
 without giving any indication which might bias the 
 reply. It is of the utmost importance to avoid any- 
 thing in the nature of a leading question, since native 
 
 ♦"The Religion of Ancient Egypt," pp. 108-9. Sayce. 
 
 48 
 
« • • < 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 
 CQ 
 
 s 
 
Affinities or "Bush Souls" 
 
 good manners, like those of old Ireland, necessitate a 
 " pleasant answer," irrespective of veracity, should 
 the least hint be given as to the tendency of the reply 
 desired. It would appear, however, that the root 
 idea of '* affinities " is closely connected with totemism, 
 but so near-linked in native thought with the belief 
 in were-animals are both of these that the people 
 seem incapable of making any clear distinction between 
 the two. 
 
 My informant seemed to hold that the likeness 
 to a baboon, clearly discernible in her son, though in 
 no other member of the family on either side, so far 
 as could be traced, was due to the fact that a " baboon 
 soul " chanced to be awaiting reincarnation in the 
 precincts of the sacred pool at the time when she 
 went down thither to pray for the speedy coming of 
 a babe. Under the term " baboon soul " she included 
 both the ghost of a man who in a former existence 
 had belonged to this totem, and of one who, during 
 a long series of earth-lives, had been in the habit of 
 sending out his soul into the form of a baboon " affinity," 
 and so, by constant wearing of the were-shape his 
 human body had gradually taken upon itself signs 
 of likeness to its " affinity." 
 
 No very young child can send out its " bush soul." 
 Only after about the age of ten years does the desire 
 to do so begin to assert itself. Should the " affinity " 
 be hereditary, the parents will be sure to notice signs of 
 restlessness, and will then explain all that is necessary. 
 Otherwise the " Drang " — to use a German word 
 which gives the meaning of the Ibibio expression more 
 nearly than any of our own— grows with the physical 
 
 H 49 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 growth. First, in dreams, those possessed by animal 
 souls see tliemsclves wandering in were-form, and 
 after awhile the desire to do so at will becomes so 
 strong as to drive boy or girl to seek out someone to 
 whom the secrets are known, in order to learn the 
 rites necessary for the conscious taking on of animal 
 shape. Afterwards they practise sending forth the 
 soul into its were-body with ever increasing success, 
 until they have at length acquired the power to bring 
 this about at will. 
 
 Another way of becoming a member of an animal 
 affinity is by purchase. This is usually brought about 
 through negotiation with one of the Ekoi people, or 
 some Kamerun tribe, among whom such strange 
 secrets are said to have their home. These bought 
 "affinities" will, however, be treated of in another 
 place. 
 
 The most ordinary were-forms are those of leopards, 
 crocodiles, snakes and fish. The following story was 
 reported to Mr. Eakin of the Kwa Ibo Mission by 
 one of his schoolboys named Etok Essien of Ikotobo : 
 
 " One day, a few years ago," he said, " I was sitting 
 on the veranda of my house when I heard loud cries 
 proceeding from another compound. I ran with others 
 to the place whence the cries came, and saw a woman 
 rocking to and fro, holding her hand to her throat 
 and calling, ' I must die. I must die, for Akpan 
 Nwan has shot me in the neck.' 
 
 " A crowd of people had gatlicred together, drawn 
 like myself by the cries. Among them was a native 
 doctor, Mho, at the woman's entreaty, cut open the 
 place which she pointed out to him, and there, before 
 
 50 
 
Affinities or " Bush Souls " 
 
 us all, a lead bullet fell from it to the ground. When 
 the woman was asked to explain how it came there, 
 she said : 
 
 " ' My soul dwells in a leopard, and, when I first 
 cried out, Akpan Nwan shot this my ' affinity.' 
 
 " Enquiries were made, and it was found that the 
 man mentioned had indeed shot at a leopard, which, 
 at the very hour when the woman cried out, entered 
 his compound to steal a goat. He succeeded in hitting 
 it in the neck, but it managed to escape to the bush." 
 Countless such stories might be quoted. We our- 
 selves came across many people who claimed that, 
 against their will, at certain seasons of the year their 
 spirits went forth to wander in animal guise ; but 
 none was willing to own to consciously sending forth 
 his soul,* because such a power is thought to savour 
 of witchcraft. In every town, however, there are 
 some inhabitants suspected by their fellows of using 
 this uncanny power in order to wreak vengeance on 
 enemies, or for the unlawful acquiring of riches. Many 
 such instances were brought to our notice, and are 
 recorded in another place. 
 
 Sometimes there is no outward sign to show that 
 those with whom one lives in familiar intercourse 
 are capable of projecting their bush souls in animal 
 form. Such was the case of four children, the story 
 of whom is thus told by Udaw Owudumo of Ikot 
 Atako. 
 
 " There was once a man named Eka Ete, who had 
 three sons and a daughter. 
 
 ♦ Among Ibos, however, whom we are at present studying, no such reluctance 
 appears to be shown. A man, who believes himself possessed of the power 
 to take on animal form, appears proud of this uncanny prerogative. 
 
 51 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 . ** One morning, very early, when the mimbo people * 
 were going toward their grove to collect palm-wine, 
 they saw four pythons hiu'riedly crossing the road. 
 As usual the men were walking in single file, and, on 
 seeing the snakes, the first ran back to his house to fetch 
 a gun ; begging his companions to watch the quarry 
 meanwhile, so that it should not escape. 
 
 '' On returning, he found that tlie pythons had 
 only gone a little way into the bush. He therefore 
 followed the tracks and soon overtook them. At 
 once he lifted his gun and was about to fire, when the 
 biggest snake raised his head from the ground and cried, 
 with a man's voice : 
 
 *' ' Do not kill us. We are the children of Eka 
 Ete.' 
 
 " The hunter did not fire, but lowered the gun 
 and asked : 
 
 " ' How is it possible for you to be his child, seeing 
 that you are a snake ? ' 
 
 *' To this the reptile answered, ' Go to our father, 
 and ask for whatever you may wish of his in exchange 
 for our lives, and he will give it to j'ou.' 
 
 " Then the man left his friends to watch the strange 
 quarry, and himself went back to the house of Eka 
 Ete and said : 
 
 " ' Awhile ago I saw four long snakes and wanted 
 to kill them, but as I was about to do so one of them 
 lifted up iiis head and said that they were all children 
 of yours. Can you explain the matter ? ' 
 
 " On hearing this, the old man was very much 
 astonished, and asked to be led to the place where 
 
 ♦ Mimbo = palm wine. 
 52 
 
\ ■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 A HIGH IDIONG PRIEST 
 
Affinities or "Bush Souls" 
 
 the reptiles lay ; for he had no knowledge of the 
 strange power possessed by his children. No sooner 
 did he arrive than all four lifted up their heads and 
 cried to him : 
 
 " ' Father ! Father ! Save us ! We are your 
 children. Last night we came out, in snake form, 
 and enjoyed ourselves so well that we paid no heed 
 to time, and did not notice that day was dawning. 
 When the sun rose we tried to hasten home, but the 
 mimbo men found us while crossing the road, and 
 since then they have watched us so that we cannot 
 escape. Now we greatly fear that someone may 
 kill us.' 
 
 " Eka Etc was quite confounded by what he had 
 heard, but he called his people and set a guard about 
 the snakes that none might harm them. Then he 
 himself went to the Idiong diviner and asked : 
 
 " ' How is it possible that these snakes can be 
 the children who have hitherto dwelt with me in the 
 house ? ' 
 
 " To this the priest of Idiong made answer, ' The 
 souls of your three sons and of your daughter have 
 of a truth gone forth in this form, and, should the 
 snakes be killed, your children would die also.' 
 
 " On hearing this, Eka Ete asked, ' What can I 
 do to make them come back home ? ' To which the 
 Idiong man replied : 
 
 " ' Get goats, fish, and palm oil, and offer these 
 before the Juju Anyang. Should the spirit accept 
 the offering, the souls of your children w^ill be able 
 to leave their snake form and come home once more.' 
 
 " Eka Ete did as he was bidden ; then waited 
 
 53 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 anxiously to see what would happen. During all 
 this time his four children had appeared languid and 
 mazed, as though their spirits were wandering far 
 away. About a week after the saerifice had been 
 offered according to the command of the Idiong priest, 
 the snakes crept back home during the night time, 
 and after this the four children recovered, and became 
 just as they had been before their souls went forth. 
 
 " When the father saw that all was well again, 
 he was very glad and gave a great ' play ' to all the 
 countryside. Afterwards a feast was prepared with 
 ' chop ' in plenty and much palm-wine, so that all the 
 people rejoiced with him that the souls of his children 
 had returned.'* 
 
 Another story of a *' snake child," the likeness of 
 whose " affinity " was plainly to be seen, was told us 
 as follows : 
 
 " There was once a woman who bore a girl piccan. 
 For many years she carried the child in her arms, 
 because it could not walk, since it was a snake soul, 
 and therefore had no strength in its feet. When this 
 woman wanted to keep anything safe, she had only 
 to set it upon a shelf or even leave it on the hob, for 
 the child could not stand up to reach it. 
 
 " One day, before going to market, the mother 
 cooked ' chop ' and placed it, as usual, on the low 
 mud wall by the fireside, so that it should be ready 
 for her husband on his return from the bush. That 
 evening when she came back she asked her daughter, 
 * Is my husband here ? ' And the girl answered 
 ' No.' 
 
 " The mother went to see if the food had grown 
 
 54 
 
Affinities or " Bush Souls " 
 
 dry during her absence, but, when she looked, lo, 
 there was nothing but an empty plate ! So she asked : 
 
 " If my husband has not come back who can 
 have taken his ' chop ' ? To this the girl answered, 
 * I do not know.' 
 
 " The woman was very angry, and accused other 
 people in the compound of having stolen what she 
 had so carefully prepared ; but could learn nothing 
 further. 
 
 " Another day the same thing happened, and this 
 time she was even more vexed, and went all round 
 the courtyard crying : 
 
 *' ' Who is it who comes to a person's house and 
 steals the food which she keeps for her husband ? ' 
 
 " To this an old neighbour replied, ' I beheve it is 
 your child who cannot walk ! ' To which the mother 
 answered ; 
 
 " ' From her birth my daughter has been unable 
 to stand upon her feet. How then can she go and 
 take things from the fireplace where I have set them ? ' 
 Nevertheless she told her husband : 
 
 " ' One old woman says perhaps it is our child who 
 is the thief.' To which the man replied : 
 
 *' ' Let us hide ourselves and watch.' 
 
 *' Next day, therefore, the woman bought a fine 
 fish, cooked it very delicately, and set it in the usual 
 place. Then she told her daughter that she was going 
 to market. The husband had already gone out, and 
 was hidden in a little outhouse built against the kitchen 
 wall, through which a small spy-hole had been made. 
 There his wife joined him. 
 
 " Not long after they had settled themselves to 
 
 55 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 watch, the girl who could not walk crawled into the 
 veranda, and looked carefully round to see if anyone 
 were in sight. Then she went all over the house to 
 make sure that she was indeed alone, and afterwards, 
 believing herself safe, came back into the kitchen. 
 Suddenly she reared herself up till her head was 
 high above the hearth, then easily lifted the * chop ' 
 from the place Where it stood, and sat down to enjoy 
 it. 
 
 " At once the parents ran in and caught her, crying : 
 
 " ' We did not know that it was you who did this 
 thing. When the old woman told us, we would not 
 believe her ; but now we have trapped you ourselves.' 
 
 " Then the father beat his drum to summon the 
 townsfolk, and when they came told them all that 
 had chanced. In silence they listened to the story, 
 then said : 
 
 " ' Such a girl as this is not good to keep in the 
 house.' The father answered, ' I think so myself. 
 I will go and throw her in the river.' To which 
 all present replied : ' Yes, that is the best thing 
 
 to do.' 
 
 " So the man put the snake-girl into a canoe, and 
 when they reached mid-stream threw her overboard. 
 He then paddled back to the bank, where all the 
 people were waiting, and watched to see what would 
 happen. 
 
 " Not long afterwards they saw a very long snake 
 
 come out of the water and creep into the bush. The 
 
 father wanted to go after it and kill it, but his friends 
 
 prevented him, saying : ' Do not go. Perhaps some 
 
 harm might happen to you.' 
 
 56 
 
« ti I 
 
 ■. ':.•',:'- 
 
 CLIMBING PALMS. '"IN WHICH DWELLS THE SOUL 
 
 OF A WOMAN" 
 
5> 
 
 Affinities or "Bush Souls 
 
 " From that time onward no one saw cither the / 
 snake or the girl again." * 
 
 Beside " animal souls," the bodies of new-born 
 children may be occupied by spirits of the great trees, 
 such as camwood or cotton trees ; or of climbing 
 palms, lianes and even flowers. Among the Ibibios, 
 however, we did not find so many, or so beautiful, 
 legends of this nature as among the Ekoi of the Oban 
 District— such, for instance, as "The Herb Daughters," 
 " The Son of a Fruit," or '^ The Flower Child." * 
 
 As a general rule, only those belonging to the 
 families of powerful chiefs can join the " affinity " 
 of the great trees. The mother of one of the principal 
 men of Afa Atai near Eket was thought to embody 
 the " spirit " of a climbing palm ; and at death 
 her soul is said to have gone to dwell in a splendid 
 specimen of this strange growth, which springs by a 
 sacred water not far from the town. Thither, each 
 year an offering is borne by her son, who consults 
 her upon all points of difficulty, and obtains answers 
 through the rustling of the leaves amid which her 
 soul dwells. 
 
 Beside the power attributed to human beings of 
 thus sending forth their souls into animal or vege- 
 table form, accident brought to light the belief that 
 some beasts are also thought capable of assuming 
 another shape. For instance, when tlie anthropoid 
 apes called by the natives " Idiokk " have grown so 
 old and feeble that they know their end is near, it 
 is asserted that they can renew their youth by send- 
 ing forth their spirits into the bodies of new-born 
 
 ♦" In the Shadow of the Bush," pp. 133, 134, 136. P. Amaury Talbot, 
 
 I 67 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 baboons, a species of which, for this reason, also bears 
 the name of " Idiokk." 
 
 The discovery of this point, hitlierto unknown, 
 I beheve, on the West Coast, ilhistrates the import- 
 ance of taking down all available stories and legends, 
 irrespective of whether or no such may appear 
 interesting at first sight. It came to our knowledge 
 through Udaw Owudumo, of Ikot Atako, who one 
 day told us the following tale : 
 
 " Once a woman went to fetch vegetables for 
 the evening meal. It was very near her time to 
 become a mother, and, as she neared the farm, she 
 felt that the babe was about to be born. She looked 
 round and saw no one who might help her, so she 
 prayed to her juju, saying, ' Let someone come to 
 aid me and guide my piccan.' Yet no one came; 
 only, just before the birth of the child, a very tall 
 ' Idiokk ' stepped forth out of the bush and said : 
 
 " ' I will help you, and would gladly bear the 
 piccan home for you, but fear that, should I do so, 
 you would tell someone to kill me ! ' 
 
 " To this the woman answered, ' Only do as you 
 say, and no one shall harm you.' 
 
 *' So Idiokk aided her, and afterwards took the 
 babe and they set forth together. As they drew near 
 the house, Idiokk said : 
 
 " ' Do not let us go by the front way, lest someone 
 should see us. Rather let us enter by the back.' 
 
 " To this the woman agreed, and the beast went 
 within and tended mother and babe. Then, when 
 all was finished, he turned to the woman and said : 
 
 " ' If you will name this piccan after me, I will 
 
 58 
 
Affinities or "Bush Souls" 
 
 bring you as much " bush meat " as you need.' To 
 which she answered, ' I agree ' ; and, on this account, 
 the child was called Akpan Idiokk Ikot (i.e. First- 
 born Baboon of the Bush). 
 
 " Morning and evening the ape killed * beef ' which 
 he brought and laid before the door ; then, entering, 
 used to take the child from the arms of its mother 
 and look sadly upon it. One day, while holding it 
 thus, Idiokk said, gazing mournfully down : 
 
 " ' I am sorry for you, because no stranger will 
 cause your death. It is your father and mother alone 
 who will bring this about ! ' 
 
 " That night, after the ape had gone, the woman's 
 husband came home, and, finding the ' beef,' thought 
 that it must be the gift of a lover, so asked jealously, 
 ' Where did you get all this ? ' 
 
 " The wife answered, ' It is a strange beast named 
 Idiokk who brings it.' 
 
 " On this the husband asked, * If the Idiokk 
 comes back again can I get a chance to kill him ? ' 
 To which the woman replied : 
 
 " ' Yes. He comes every morning and evening 
 to bring me " beef." ' 
 
 " Next morning, when the poor ape came, he took 
 the piccan in his arms as usual. Then the woman 
 called softly to her husband who was hidden near 
 by, ' Hist ! He is here ! ' On which the man sprang 
 forth armed with a cutlass to kill the great beast. 
 At once the ape held out the babe to its mother that 
 it might not be harmed, but the man slashed at 
 the beast so cruelly that both ape and child died 
 together." 
 
 59 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Two or three days later the following story was 
 told us by a native of Ikot Abia : 
 
 " There were many hunters in our town. One 
 day a party of these killed a young baboon of the 
 kind named Idiokk. This they brought back to the 
 Egbo house, and sat down to skin it, after whieh 
 they took some of the meat and cooked it before the 
 fire. While they were doing this the Idiokk mother 
 smelled the scent of roasting flesh from the bush and 
 came out to learn what had befallen her piccan. 
 When she saw what was being done, she drove all 
 the people before her into the Egbo house, then 
 snatched the remains of her son from off the fire, 
 picking up meat, bones and skin, and carrying all 
 away into the bush." 
 
 These baboons bear the same name as the great 
 apes, because old men tell that tlie spirits of the latter 
 can be born again in the shape of the former. 
 
 This belief seems to be confined to a very few old 
 men in one part of the district. When Chief Henshaw 
 was questioned on the subject he answered 
 that no such idea had reached his ears, and 
 continued : 
 
 " Also it seems to me contrary to reason, for, 
 though it is well known that men have the power 
 to send out their souls into the bodies of beasts, how 
 can it be possible for animals to do such a thing, seeing 
 that we are taught by the Bible that these have no 
 souls ? It is true that we see some creatures have 
 the power to change the form of their bodies, as, for 
 instance, caterpillars become butterflies and tadpoles 
 frogs ; but that great apes should send out their 
 
 60 
 
Affinities or "Bush Souls" . 
 
 spirits to be reborn as lesser baboons I regard as a f 
 mere superstition of ignorant natives " ! 
 
 A similar idea as to the power of some animals 
 to transform themselves into other shapes is said 
 to obtain among Malays, some of whom " refuse to 
 eat the freshwater fish called Ikan Belidah on the 
 plea that it was originally a cat. They declare that 
 it squalls like a cat when harpooned, and that its 
 bones are white and fine like a cat's hairs. Similarly 
 the Ikan Tumuli is believed to be a human being 
 who has been drowned in the river and the Ikan Kalul 
 to be a monkey transformed. Some specially favoured 
 observers have seen monkeys half through the process 
 of metamorphosis —half monkey and half fish."* 
 
 * Maxwell in Straits Branch, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 7, p. 26. 
 
 61 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 CHILDHOOD 
 
 THE child cult is by no means so much in evidence 
 among Ibibios as with the gentler natured Ekoi 
 of the Oban District, where unkindncss to little ones 
 is practically unknown, and parents vie with one 
 another in tender care of these small atoms of humanity. 
 Yet even among the Ibibios, despite the almost ceaseless 
 drudgery of their lives, the women at least seem never 
 too weary to lavish care upon their little round-limbed 
 brown piccans, and no single case of a neglectful 
 mother has come to our notice. 
 
 Under these circumstances it is only natural that 
 mother-love should prove deeper rooted than all else 
 in the hearts of Ibibio children. A somewhat pathetic 
 instance of this was shown by a murderer of seven 
 years old, whose case came before my husband in 
 the spring of 1913. 
 
 Two small boys were playing together, the one 
 richly dowered with worldly goods, for he owned a 
 clasp-knife and a piece of string, while the other, a 
 child of poverty, had nothing. In course of time 
 the poor boy chanced to lay predatory hands upon 
 the string, whereon the capitalist, resenting this 
 attack upon the rights of property, struck him a blow 
 with the knife. As ill-luck would have it, the blade 
 
 62 
 
Childhood 
 
 pierced straight through ' the heart, and the small 
 victim fell back dead. 
 
 The relatives of the murdered lad came to the 
 Commissioner demanding a life for a life, and the 
 question as to the fate of the aggressor became a 
 somewhat difficult one. In the end a missionary 
 of great experience was persuaded to undertake the 
 reformation of the little malefactor, who chanced 
 to be brought to him on May 24th, when the principal 
 chiefs and people of the District had been gathered 
 together for Empire Day celebrations. 
 
 The small criminal walked quietly up to his new 
 friend, and in a voice low, but strangely pleading, 
 begged leave to go back to his town, and bid a last 
 good-bye to the mother he had left. 
 
 " Why ? " asked the puzzled missionary. " Did 
 you not do so before you came ? " 
 
 " I did," answered the boy, " but then we thought 
 only that I was to be separated from her by a few miles. 
 Now, I see clearly, from the crowd which is gathered 
 here, that the people have come together to see me 
 die, so I beg to be allowed to go back once again to 
 say good-bye, since afterwards I may never see her 
 more." 
 
 Such an attitude is typical of the race. It is 
 seldom that one of this people attempts to struggle 
 against destiny, should the odds be overwhelmingly 
 heavy. Rather, they seem soberly to acquiesce in 
 the inevitable, meeting fate with the stoicism of 
 despair, which often lends them unexpected dignity 
 and courage when face to face with death. 
 
 As a general rule fathers, too, seem to treat their 
 
 63 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 offspring kindly, thougli, unfortunately, cases of cruelty 
 to children arc not infrequent. Two instances, which 
 liappened within a few days of one another may be 
 cited as typical. 
 
 In the first case the husband was incensed against 
 his wife, wliom he suspected of infidelity, though 
 without proof. After brutally maltreating the woman, 
 he broke their baby's thighs as a means of still 
 further punishing her. In the second, the little one, 
 who had just begun to toddle, was pushed on to the 
 fire by its father, with like intent. 
 
 The first ornament given to a baby is a string of 
 beads tied round the waist, and, a little later, it may 
 possibly be further adorned by the addition of a snail 
 shell, thought to possess magical properties, which 
 is suspended round the neck. 
 
 In many ways the lot of small brown piccans born 
 in these climes is an enviable one, in comparison at 
 least with that of the children of our own poor. Ibibio 
 babies are almost always well nourished, and roll 
 and creep contentedly enough in the warm sand, 
 playing together like a happy litter of little bush cubs. 
 They take considerable part, too, in the life of their 
 elders, proudly riding to market astride the hip 
 of a busy mother, safe girdled in the curve of her^ 
 arm. 
 
 At an incredibly early age these little folk begin 
 to take notice of w hat is going on around them, crawling 
 out at the sound of the tom-tom, or striving to follow 
 the " plays " given by their elders. 
 
 In every Oron town there is a young men's society, 
 the name of which is Ekung. The avowed purpose 
 
 64 
 
AN IBIBIO GIRL, WITH WAIST BEADS 
 
Childhood 
 
 of the ceremony is to bring more children to the town. 
 It was thus described to us by Chief Henshaw : 
 
 " At the beginning of the dry season, after the 
 feast of the new yams, a great ' play ' is given by this 
 society, to which boys and girls of the town come 
 robed in their best. For days beforehand little maids 
 cry to their mothers, ' We must have fresh dresses 
 for the Ekung play,' while the boys also beg for new 
 singlets, shirts and loin cloths. 
 
 '' On this occasion one woman vies with another 
 as to who can lavish most care upon the children. 
 Each daughter's hair is elaborately dressed. Anklets 
 and bracelets are slipped over feet and hands, and 
 even the Fatting-house girls are allowed to come out 
 and join in the celebration. 
 
 " When the ' Image ' is seen approaching, with 
 the drummers going before, young boys pour out to 
 meet him, singing also and rejoicing. Some run in 
 front, some behind, some on either hand — shouting 
 for joy. Little crawlers, who had never walked, try 
 to follow when Ekung passes. The mothers would 
 stop them but cannot, so eager are they. Thus 
 little ones often walk for the first time on this day. 
 Still smaller tots, who have never even crawled, are 
 said to try to follow, thus creeping for the first time 
 on Ekung' s day. 
 
 " The people think that this ceremony brings 
 ' plenty piccans ' to the town, and, indeed, if you 
 watch the 'play,' so sweet and gay it is, that you 
 cannot but believe it may draw down some such 
 blessing." 
 
 Possibly the soft curves of native babies, and the 
 J 65 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 strength of their dimpled hmbs, are due to the faet 
 tliat they are not weaned before they are two years 
 old ; sometimes even, like the ancient Egyptians, as 
 we learn from the *' Maxims of Ani," they are suckled 
 imtil the age of three. 
 
 When about four years old little maids of the tribe 
 are given a curious ornament called ''Nyawhawra^v." 
 This is made of twisted brass dangles, looped at the 
 upper end, and ending in a small ball of metal. It 
 is worn from the ceinture in front, and looks much 
 like a row of very elongated little bells, which clash 
 together with a musical tinkle at every movement of 
 the wearer. We were anxious to buy a set of these, 
 and, as they were not exposed for sale in the market- 
 place, asked a friend if he knew where they were to 
 be procured. His efforts to secure some proved useless, 
 and after awhile it was explained that it is forbidden 
 by the " Woman's Law " to sell Nyawhawraw to any 
 man, lest his possession, however temporary, should 
 affect these in a way which would be felt by the sub- 
 sequent wearer. Later, an old woman was induced 
 to purchase a set on our behalf. 
 
 The prohibition would seem to have come down 
 from a time when the maidens of the tribe were more 
 carefully guarded than at the present day. It was 
 confided to me by one of my women informants, with 
 the explanation that this also was among the mysteries 
 which must be kept from male knowledge ; since, 
 should a man of lowly birth who wished to secure 
 for himself alliance with tlie family of some powerful 
 chief learn the secret, he would only have to single 
 out an infant bride from among the daughters of 
 
 66 
 
JUJU -IMAGE," WITH MASK AND DRESS OF WOVEN FIBRE 
 
Childhood 
 
 such a house, and after having secured a set of 
 Nyawhawraw perform certain rites over them and 
 rub them with a particular kind of " medicine." After- 
 wards he must bribe a woman of the household to 
 see that they were worn by the little maid, and from 
 that time forward it would be impossible for any 
 other man to gain her love. 
 
 These little brass ornaments were, until a few 
 years ago, worn up to about the age of ten, when 
 the first real article of dress, namely a narrow sash, 
 was usually given. A few years later an over garment 
 was added. Of late the Efiks, and those Ibibios who 
 have been brought most in touch with civilisation, 
 have begun to give their children garments of European 
 manufacture at a much earlier age. 
 
 The Ekung " play " already described, and those 
 which are usually regarded as preparatory to it, and 
 which small boys and maidens " practise " before 
 they are allowed to join the more important society, 
 would seem originally to have been given in honour 
 of the spirits of vegetation. The "Image" of Ekung 
 himself always wears a fringe of palm leaf or long 
 grasses round his loins ; while for the lesser festivals 
 the youthful performers must dress themselves in 
 palm or plantain leaves. 
 
 The story of such a play was once told me by an 
 Eket woman. It has certain points of interest, as 
 illustrating the life of an Ibibio girl, so is given in 
 full. It is called " Plaintain Leaf" : 
 
 " Once a woman went to market, but before setting 
 forth she told her daughter to sweep out all the com- 
 pound during her absence, to fill the jars with fresh 
 
 67 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 water and to prepare coco-yams and other food in 
 readiness for the evening meal. The girl said, ' All that 
 you bid me I will do,' and at once set about the work. 
 
 " Not long afterwards two other girls came to 
 the house and said : 
 
 *' ' We have heard that there is to be a fine play 
 to-day in a town on the far side of the river. Come 
 with us to see it.' But the good daughter answered^ 
 ' No. My mother bade me fetch water and food 
 and clean all the house during her absence. Were 
 I to come with you, I should not be able to do as she 
 told me.' 
 
 " To this the two others replied, ' We will help 
 you with the work, so that all may be finished before 
 we go.' So the girl said, ' If you will first help me, 
 then I will gladly come.' 
 
 " On this, all set to work. The visitors began to 
 cook coco-yams and said, ' They are done,' when 
 they were not done. Also they said, ' We have 
 finished cleaning the yard,' when only a little piece 
 had been swept ; and, while the good daughter went 
 to and fro fetching fresh water from the spring, they 
 filled up the other jars with rainwater from old pots, 
 which had been standing about for two or three weeks 
 and was no longer pure. On their companion's return 
 they said : 
 
 " ' We have worked so hard that all is now finished. 
 Let us therefore go.' 
 
 *' The good girl asked, ' What should one wear for 
 this play ? ' And the others answered : 
 
 " ' It is a very special play for which every one 
 must wear plantain leaves.' So they went out and 
 
 68 
 

 Childhood 
 
 cut these, then fastened them together skirt-wise 
 round their waists, and so set forth gaily. 
 
 *' Now when they had gone a long way, and the 
 two visitors knew that there would be no time for 
 the good daughter to return and fetch other garments, 
 they ran into the bush and brought out the little waist 
 strips that young girls used to wear, and also dresses 
 to be worn over these — all from the hiding-place 
 where they had concealed them in readiness some time 
 before. 
 
 The good girl said : 
 You told me that we were only going to wear 
 plantain leaves. Now you are robing yourselves in 
 fine garments ! ' At this they only laughed and an- 
 swered nothing. The girl continued : ' ^ly mother's 
 house is too far off. I cannot go back now to fetch 
 other clothes. As I am, I must go with you to see 
 this play.' 
 
 " Not long after they had crossed to the other side 
 of the river, they saw a man cutting mimbo high up 
 in a palm tree. For some time he gazed at them 
 and then called down, ' Of these three girls, the one 
 who only wears plantain leaves is more charming 
 than both the others.' When the two gaily dressed 
 maidens heard this they were filled with envy, and 
 said : 
 
 " ' Give us the plantain leaves to wear, and we will 
 give you our clothes in exchange.' The Plantain 
 Girl answered, ' Very well.' So she took their dresses 
 and gave them her leaves instead. After they had 
 changed they went on once more until they saw 
 another man coming towards them on the road. As 
 
 09 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 he passed he looked baek and said to himself, but so 
 that they could hear him : 
 
 " ' Of these three girls, the one who wears a proper 
 dress is far prettier than the two with plantain leaves.* 
 
 '' On hearing this the otliers went aside and con- 
 sulted with one another saying, ' I tliought it was 
 only the leaves which made her more admired than us, 
 but, although we have changed, she is still preferred 
 above us. What can we do therefore ? ' At length 
 one of them said, ' We must change again,' and 
 they did so. 
 
 " When they reached the place where the people 
 were playing, the three stood and looked on. When 
 the first dance was over all the finest young men in 
 the town came and crowded round the girl of the 
 plantain leaves, asking her to come to their houses 
 and eat and drink with them. The other two were 
 left quite alone and unnoticed, since no one cared to 
 invite them. Plantain Girl, however, said, ' Let us 
 all go together, otherwise I will stay here with you.* 
 So they went, and when they were seated a cup of 
 mimbo was brought to the beautiful visitor. She 
 drank some, then passed the bowl to her two com- 
 panions, but they refused it. 
 
 " On seeing tliis, Plantain Girl was much astonished, 
 and said : 
 
 " ' You two brought me to see the play. Now the 
 people here offer drink to me, and I wish to share 
 it with you, yet you refuse. What is the matter ? ' 
 
 '' They answered, ' Nothing ' ; but after awhile one 
 stood up and whispered to the other, ' Come outside, 
 I wish to speak to you.' So they went into a far-off 
 
 70 
 
Childhood 
 
 corner and spoke together. Then they came back 
 and said to Plantain Girl : 
 
 " ' We are going away for a few minutes. When 
 we are ready to go back home we will come for you 
 and all return together.' 
 
 " Plantain Girl smiled, and said, ' Very well,' 
 for she believed them, knowing no guile ; but at once 
 these false companions set out for home, leaving her 
 there alone. 
 
 " On their way back the two girls came to a stream 
 across the road which all had passed together earlier 
 in the day. It was a juju water, and on the brink 
 they bent down with hearts full of envy and hatred 
 of the companion whom they had deserted, and lifting 
 up their hands called upon the name of the juju and 
 said : 
 
 " ' We bade this girl wear plantain leaves that 
 we might outshine her, yet all the people prefer 
 her before us. When, therefore, she comes back and 
 stretches out her foot to cross your stream, do not fail 
 to seize her, so that we may be avenged.' 
 
 " Plantain Girl waited for her companions to 
 return as they had promised, but when she saw that 
 night was coming on, she could tarry no longer, but 
 said to her new friends ' The other two must have 
 forgotten me and gone home.' So she left the place 
 and set forth alone. 
 
 " When she came to the small water which, on 
 her way to the play had hardly reached ankle high, 
 she thought that it would be the same now, so, 
 though darkness had fallen, she stepped bravely in, 
 thinking to cross safely. No sooner had she left the 
 
 71 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 bank, however, than the water rose and rose till it 
 overflowed her head, because of the cruel spell which 
 had been wrought by those two envious ones, when 
 they called upon the juju and begged it to seize her. 
 For three long days she was kept a prisoner beneath 
 the water. Then the same man who had seen her 
 going to the play and was again cutting mimbo near 
 the place, heard her voice crying very pitifully from 
 out the stream. The juju would not let her go free, 
 because of the cruel prayer that had been made. 
 Only sometimes he raised her up to the surface, by 
 the side near the bank, that she might look out for 
 a moment, and see the green trees and the white sky 
 
 agam. 
 
 " The mimbo man heard her weep and cry : 
 " ' I was in the house of my mother, happily work- 
 ing, when two wicked girls called me to go with them 
 and see a play in a far-off town. I asked what 
 dress they would wear, and they said, " Only plan- 
 tain leaves." So I put on these at their bidding. 
 When we reached the place where the play was held, 
 the people invited me to go and drink. I asked the 
 girls to go with me and offered them part of my mimbo 
 cup, but they refused. There they left me, saying 
 that they would come and fetch me when they were 
 ready to go home. Long I waited, but they never 
 came, so at length I set out alone on my homeward 
 way. Tlie small water rose and covered my head. 
 Since then it has kept me fast held. When the water 
 is full it raises me up so that I can gaze once more 
 upon the white sky, but it will not let me get free, 
 though I try my best both by day and by night.' 
 
 72 
 
Childhood 
 
 " When the mimbo man heard this, he came down 
 from the tree and ran as fast as he could, till he came 
 to the house of the girl's mother, and told her all 
 that he had learned. At once the woman went round 
 the town begging those who were strong swimmers 
 to go with her down to the juju water and save her 
 child. All of them tried to do this, but though they 
 dived and swam their hardest none could free the girl, 
 because the juju held her beyond their reach. At 
 length they came back quite exhausted and told the 
 mother, ' It is of no use. We have tried our best, 
 but cannot save your daughter.' On this the woman 
 wept more bitterly than before, while the girl's voice 
 was heard crying from out the stream. 
 
 " Now in that town there was an old wife whose 
 body was so diseased that her feet were nearly eaten 
 away. So feeble was she that she could only creep 
 along by means of the bent stick which women some- 
 times use as a staff." 
 
 (It may be not without interest to mention that 
 these staves are made from the flat curved roots of 
 the mangrove tree. The bark is stripped from them, 
 and they are then pointed and sharpened along the 
 edge, after which they are used for drying fish, being 
 placed in long rows across a rack over the fire with 
 the fish strung upon them. When they have served 
 this purpose, and the dried fish has been sold, the 
 pointed ends are cut off, and they are used as walking- 
 sticks. According to all accounts these form no mean 
 weapon of offence. In shape they are much like the 
 wooden throwing weapons of the present day Bagirimi 
 of Central Africa, or those occasionally found in the 
 
 K 73 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 sand of the desert, or dug up now and again from 
 ancient Egyptian tombs. The cutting edge of many 
 of these staves is so hard and sharp as to inflict 
 wounds almost as dangerous as machet strokes. 
 Whether as weapon or staff, they appear to be ex- 
 chisively feminine possessions ; for, save in process of 
 making or while in service for drying fish, we have 
 never seen one in the hands of a man.) To continue 
 the story : 
 
 " The sick woman crept up to the girl's mother 
 and said : ' These strong ones have failed, yet by 
 the power of Abassi I think that I may be able to 
 bring your daughter up out of the juju water.' 
 
 " On this the mother cried out : 
 
 " ' If you are able to do this I shall be more glad 
 than I can say, and will do all that I can to repay 
 you.' The others, however, said : 
 
 " ' Do not pay any attention to this feeble woman. 
 We who are strong men have tried our utmost and 
 failed. Do not therefore believe this foolish one.' 
 The mother took no notice of them, and only said to 
 her who had offered to help : 
 
 " * Let us go and try as you say.' 
 
 " Together they went to the water's edge, and 
 when they reached it the sick woman began to plead : 
 
 " ' I have suffered for many years, and no one 
 could be induced to take care of me. Now, there- 
 fore, I pray you, O juju, send out this girl. Perhaps 
 if I free her by means of my prayer her family will 
 look after me for the rest of my days.' 
 
 " The juju heard, and lifted the girl up to the 
 surface of the water so that the sick woman could 
 
 74 
 
Childhood 
 
 take hold of her hand and draw her out until she lay 
 high and dry upon the shore. After that, with much 
 rejoicing, all went home together. 
 
 " When the house was reached the mother of 
 Plantain Girl asked the sick woman, ' Tell me now, 
 what do you want me to do for you in return for 
 what you have done ? The old crone answered : 
 
 " ' Please keep me here and look after me.' The 
 mother asked, ' Will nothing else content you ? ' But 
 the woman answered : 
 
 " ' If you want to do something else instead of 
 this, I will only ask one thing. Kill and bring me 
 seven large baskets full of bitincp flies.' To this the 
 mother replied, shaking her head, ' I do not believe 
 that anyone could do so much. I think, therefore, I 
 had better keep you, and perhaps I can find medicine 
 to cure your sickness.' So she did according to her 
 promise, fed her and bought medicine for her, tending 
 the sick woman till her life's end." 
 
 75 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MAIDENHOOD TO MARRIAGE 
 
 THE first great event in the life of an Ibibio girl 
 is her entrance into the " Fatting-house," on 
 the occasion of Mbobi —i.e. "The Coming of Small 
 Breasts." 
 
 This so-called "Fatting-house" is a room set 
 apart in the home of the parents for the seclusion of 
 daughters while undergoing the process of fattening 
 up, which among West Coast tribes is thought 
 necessary for their well-being. During this time girls 
 are not allowed to go outside the compound walls 
 save on very special and extremely rare occasions. 
 Theoretically they are not supposed to pass the 
 threshold of the " fatting-room." They do no work, 
 and are fed up and pampered on every side. 
 
 Before undergoing tliis seclusion for the first time, 
 young girls are led down to the edge of some sacred 
 pool or stream or that from which the village drinking 
 water is drawn. A sacrifice is offered to the indwelling 
 naiad, and the following prayer recited over each 
 maid : 
 
 " Behold ! Here comes your child who is about 
 to enter the Fatting-house. Protect her that no evil 
 thing may have power to harm her while she dwells 
 therein." 
 
 .76 
 
A TYPICAL SACRED POOL IN IBIBIO LAND 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 There is a beautiful appropriateness in this choice of 
 the spirits of streams and pools as the special guardians 
 of maidenhood. So close, indeed, was the tie that 
 among Efiks, and indeed all Ibibios, as well as amid 
 the Ibenos, a small tribe of Ibo race driven by perse- 
 cution to leave their homes and settle in the south- 
 western part of the Ekct District, a special day in every 
 week was set apart on which none but pure maids 
 might go down to the springs reserved for the drinking 
 water of the village. This day is called in Efik " Akwa 
 Ederi " or " Greater Sunday," to distinguish it from 
 the lesser holiday called " Ekpiri Ederi." Should wives, 
 or those no longer maids, have failed to provide a 
 sufficient supply for the use of their household on the 
 eve of the festival, they must either persuade some 
 maiden to fetch it for them, or thirst till dawn of the 
 following day. 
 
 A story in illustration of this ancient tabu was 
 told us first by Mr. David Ekong, son of the former 
 head priest of the chief Ibeno juju, Ainyena, and native 
 minister of the church established by the Kwa Ibo 
 Undenominational Mission in his native town. He 
 stated that he had heard the tale from a very old 
 man of Ibeno. In it the feminine water sprite, a 
 male tree spirit — for among his people the genii of 
 the great trees are thought to be male — and the leopard 
 guardian of sacred spring and grove, all play their 
 part. It was afterwards told us by an Efik woman, 
 the sole difference being that in her account the tree 
 spirit was feminine. It runs as follows : 
 
 *' There was once a man who had two wives. The 
 daughter of one of them was very sick, and in tending 
 
 77 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 her the mother, wliose name was Adiaha Anaw, forgot 
 to go down to the spring and fetch enough water to 
 last them over the sacred day of Idemm (fresh water). 
 When the child thirsted and begged for a drink, the 
 mother took some water from out a jar provided by 
 her fellow wife, since she had none of her own. When 
 the latter discovered what had been done she was very 
 angry, and ordered the poor woman to go and fetch 
 some with which to repay her ; although, by so doing, 
 she knew very well that the law of the juju would be 
 broken. Since there was no other way to provide 
 drink for her child, the poor mother was forced to 
 take her water-jar and go down to the spring on the 
 forbidden day. On the way she passed a place where 
 a great tree stood, and, as she drew near, the spirit 
 of the tree stretched out long branches over the road 
 and blocked it so that she could not pass. In great 
 terror and perplexity she waited a while, and would 
 have gone back home again, but that the need of her 
 child urged her on. Then she made a little song, 
 stating her case before the genius of the tree and 
 entreating help and protection. This was the song 
 that she sang : 
 
 " ' I know that to-day is the day on which only maids may 
 
 go to the water ; 
 But yesterday I could fetch me none, because of my small 
 
 sick daufjliter. 
 I begged my friends for even a cup, but none would grant 
 
 such a thing ; 
 So now, I ])ray you, open the road, and let me pass to the 
 
 sj)ring.* 
 
 " When the tree spirit heard the singing, he swept 
 
 7S 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 his branches aside and allowed her to pass on; but, 
 a little farther along, she met a great leopard, who 
 stood before her, blocking up the road, so that her 
 heart again sank with fear. Indeed, so terrified was she 
 this time, that she turned and ran back along the 
 homeward path, but again the thought of her child 
 gave her courage to face the terrible beast. To him 
 also she sang, in a sweet, soft voice, bemoaning her 
 hard case ; and he too, moved with pity, let her go 
 by. At last she came to the spring, and there, at 
 its brink, she lifted up her voice and sang a third time, 
 entreating forgiveness for thus breaking the rule of 
 the juju. As she finished, the naiad rose from out 
 the pool and spoke gently to her, bidding her take 
 what water she needed without fear. Before she 
 left, the spirit also gave her rich gifts to bear home 
 to her child. So with these she came back laden. 
 
 " The first thing which she did after her return 
 was to give back the water taken from the other 
 woman. When the latter saw the presents which her 
 fellow wife had brought back, so envious was she of 
 the other's good fortune that she determined to go 
 herself to the spring, although she very well knew 
 that this was forbidden. 
 
 " As the second woman walked along no obstacle 
 blocked her road. The tree spirit did not reach out 
 so much as a twig to stay her, while the guardian 
 leopard let her pass unhindered. Only as she stood 
 on the brink of the spring and bent down to fill her 
 jar did the water-sprite call upon the stream to rise 
 around her. Over all the place it swirled, ever higher 
 and higher, till it overflowed the lips of the terrified 
 
 79 
 
/ 
 
 Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 woman. In vain did slie strive to free herself, for 
 she was held l^y a force there was no resisting, and at 
 length sank and was drowned in the spring whieh she 
 had polluted — not, like her fellow wife, from dire 
 need, but only through greed, because she was envious 
 of the rich gifts bestowed upon the other." 
 
 It is on account of the cleansing and fertilising 
 powers ascribed to water tliat maidens are led down 
 to pool or stream before entering the Fatting-house. 
 
 In those families which regard a tree as their 
 special guardian, young girls, before entering upon 
 this period of seclusion, are led down to stand 
 beneath the shadow of the mighty trunk while prayers 
 are offered to induce the indwelling Drvad to look 
 favourably upon this " child of the tree " and shed 
 upon her the blessing of strength and fruit fulness, 
 that she may grow up strong and tall, fair to the eye 
 and fitted for motherhood. 
 
 As among the Ekoi of the Oban District, so in 
 almost every Ibibio town of any age, there stands 
 a gnarled specimen of Dolichandrone. This was 
 brought as a young sapling and planted when first 
 the town was founded, and ever since its great 
 mauve-pink flowers have showered their fragrant 
 beauty upon generation after generation of sturdy 
 piccans, slender maids, round-limbed young mothers, 
 and aged crones, who have come to pray beneath its 
 shadow. It is called *'The Mother of the Town" 
 (i.e. the largest flower). 
 
 One of the best examples of such a tree is to be 
 found at Ikotobo, in the midst of the town playground. 
 So old it is, that the trunk is little more than a shell, 
 
 80 
 

 JUJU TREE OF THE COMPOUND SHOWN IN THE 
 
 BACKGROUND 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 though still bearing aloft brave branches of dark waving 
 leaves, and great tufts of blossoms of a tint only to 
 be described by the line in which Dante depicts the 
 apple blooms of his own land : 
 
 " Less than of rose and more than violet." 
 
 From the gnarled branches of this ancient tree 
 hang great trails of creamy white orchids, the fragrance 
 of which lay like a benediction on the early morning 
 air as we passed by. Within the hollow trunk stood 
 native pots, filled with offerings ; for this tree is the 
 " Mother of the Town," and to it come wives, young 
 and old, to pray that " plenty piccans " may be sent 
 to bless their hearths. Hither, too, come ancient women 
 to beg a like boon for their children and grandchildren. 
 Should lightning shiver the aged trunk or tornado 
 strike it down, loud would be the wailing of those who 
 have grown up beneath its shadow. 
 
 In most Okkobbor towns stands a great tree, named 
 " Ebiribong," to which offerings are made twice a 
 year — at the planting of new farms, and during the 
 yam harvest. This is done with the special purpose 
 of drawing down the blessing of fertility upon the 
 women of the place, as also upon farm and byre. 
 
 That something of the beauty of the nature symbols 
 which they worship enters into the character of the 
 race, however dimly felt or understood, is shown, I 
 venture to think, by many an unexpected trait, and 
 more especially by the touching gratitude evinced 
 by some of the women, as well as by the humbler 
 members of the community generally, at my husband's 
 efforts to soften, as far as may be, the hardness of 
 
 L 81 
 
V 
 
 Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 their lot and give practical proof that British justice 
 is indeed no respecter of persons. Time after time 
 attempts made upon his life in revenge for the dis- 
 covery and punishment of evil practices were frus- 
 trated by warnings given, at the peril of their own 
 lives, by such humble members of the race. It would 
 be more than ungrateful, too, not to mention here 
 the loyalty shown by some of the principal Oron chiefs, 
 two of whom publicly risked their lives to save ours. 
 
 Such actions are beyond praise — especially when 
 one takes into account the underlying antagonism to 
 white rule ever present among peoples where witch- 
 doctor and fetish priest are untiring in their efforts 
 to stem the power of the white man, and prevent the 
 suppression of those hideous rites which still obtain 
 in little-known parts of the earth such as these. 
 
 In this part of the world it is easy, for those to 
 whom the secret has been confided, to know how many 
 maidens are undergoing the fattening process, for, at 
 the entrance to each town, before the market-place, 
 bundles of little frames — such as are used for the 
 carriage of fresh or dried fish — may be found tied 
 together. Each bundle has been placed there by 
 the family of a girl who is just entering the Fatting- 
 house as an intimation to prospective wooers of the 
 number of brides preparing in the town. 
 
 Among the Efiks, and those Ibibios rich enough 
 to bear the expense, free-born girls of good family 
 go twice, and sometimes even thrice, into the Fatting- 
 house before the full marriage ceremony is performed. 
 As already mentioned, the first occasion is called 
 Mbobi, " The Coming of Small Breasts." This usually 
 
 82 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 lasts for three months, during which tim e the girl 
 undergoes circumcision. 
 
 We chanced to be at Adut Nsitt, a town on the 
 upper reaches of the Ubium River, about the time 
 when the daughters of the principal inhabitants were 
 ready to leave the Fatting-house after undergoing this 
 first period of seclusion. One of the chiefs stated that 
 the girls were not due to emerge till a few days later, 
 but that they did so in honour of our presence in the 
 town. Some half-dozen of them came to visit us — the 
 most charming of whom, a small mite of eight summers, 
 unfortunately could not be persuaded to face the perils 
 of the camera. 
 
 All wore massive bangles and bracelets of beaten 
 brass or copper, and from a cord round the neck of 
 cadi dangled a live white chicken, feebly fluttering 
 against the bare brown breast of its bearer. It may 
 be noticed that in the Efik ceremony on the death 
 of a great chief, each of the women is said to wear 
 a similar decoration.* 
 
 The round brown limbs were painted over with 
 elaborate patterns, in black pigment, made either 
 from the fruit of one of the many Randias which 
 abound in this district, or from the rhizome of the 
 little wild hyacinth-like Ibiri Nsi, to be found in 
 great quantities all over the neighbouring district of 
 Oban. 
 
 The second time spent in the Fatting-house is the^ 
 period in the lives of Ibibio women during which 
 they may be looked upon as most indulged — and, indeed, 
 spoiled to the top of their bent. This second seclu- 
 
 * Journal of the African Society, April, 1914, p. 248. 
 
 83 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 sion is fixed at the point where "brook and river 
 meet." For a period varying, according to the wealth 
 of the family, from a few weeks to two years, girls of 
 good position, and even those not " free born " who 
 are looked upon as likely to repay the expenditure — 
 by means of dowry money— are sent once more into 
 the Fatting-house. During this time they again 
 do no work, but are kept in one room, and fed up 
 and pampered in every way. The result is that they 
 emerge, to the admiration of their adoring relatives, 
 and of tlie townsfolk at large, perfect mountains of 
 flesh — naked, in most parts of the district, save for a 
 few strings of beads and bells, or else decked out with 
 an extravagant array of native ornaments, but always 
 with an air at once arrogant and querulous. 
 
 A day is set apart for the first appearance of the 
 girls of each town who are ready to emerge from the 
 Fatting-house. On several occasions we have been 
 present when these swollen specimens of femininity 
 strutted through the market-place enjoying their brief 
 hour of importance ; while the men, who at every 
 other period of a woman's existence are looked upon 
 as of superior race, draw back admiringly, to give them 
 passage. 
 
 On such occasions the whole charm of these women 
 has temporarily disappeared —at least in the eyes of 
 white people. Of the kindly, gentle air and friendly 
 greeting to be found at all other times, there is no 
 trace in this their little hour of triumph. Only an 
 overweening vanity and bloated self-importance are 
 now manifested. 
 
 The wooers, who stand during this parade ap- 
 
 84 
 
O 
 
 m 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 ►J 
 o 
 
 oi 
 
 b 
 O 
 
 w 
 
 
 X 
 
 w 
 < 
 
 J 
 
 5 
 
 w 
 
 D 
 O 
 X 
 
 6 
 
 < 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 praising the merits, and value, of the various debutantes, 
 afterwards hurry to the parents with offers of dowry. 
 A marriage is speedily arranged for each, and the 
 young bride quickly finds her place amid the new sur- 
 roundings; no longer petted, spoiled and pampered 
 —the centre of attention, for whom her family stint 
 and deny themselves —but, only too often, the slighted, ^ 
 hard- worked drudge of her new lord. 
 
 Among most Ibibio tribes all such rites arc under- 
 gone in order to draw down the blessing of Eka Mbopo, 
 the " Mother of the Fatting-house." Among Efiks, 
 however, this is not the case. The second occasion 
 on which a girl of the last-named tribe enters the 
 Fatting-house is called " Abiana Abiana Nkuawhaw," 
 '' The Coming of the Full Breasts." The ceremony is 
 also in preparation for marriage, and, should the girl 
 be already betrothed, as is mostly the case, the bride- 
 groom must now pay the first instalment of dowry, or 
 bride price, called " Nkpaw Nkuawhaw Eyen Owon," 
 i.e. " Small Gifts of Fatting." 
 
 About Christmastide an Efik bride usually sallies 
 forth to visit her future husband and all his family. 
 There is said to be a special significance in the time 
 chosen for thus emerging from seclusion. It is just 
 before the planting of new farms, and it is thought 
 that the ceremonies proper to the season, which are 
 offered with the object of drawing down the blessing 
 of fertility upon the new crops, will not be without 
 favourable influence upon the maiden who, in this 
 case, stands with anything but " ' reluctant feet,' where 
 the brook and river meet." The great ambition of 
 such a one is to become a mother at the earliest 
 
 85 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 possible moment. As one of the tribe naively ex- 
 pressed it : " Young girls just out of the Fatting- 
 house are always looking round the corner, eager to 
 see their first babe." 
 
 Indeed, the ceremonies carried out throughout the 
 Ibibio country in honour of Abassi Isua, the God of 
 the Year, with the object of inducing the granting of 
 plentiful crops, are so like those resorted to by the 
 Ekoi to ensure fruitfulncss in a wife, that the two 
 ideas would seem to be closely connected. 
 
 After a short visit to the bridegroom's household 
 the future bride goes back, loaded with gifts, to live 
 in the house of her mother as before. Should the head 
 wife of the prospective husband belong to a great 
 family, ricli and powerful, and should she be suffi- 
 ciently kindly disposed toward the new bride as to 
 invite the latter to stay with her, the invitation may 
 be accepted for two or three days. Among the gifts 
 borne back to the parents' house on return should 
 always be a thousand wires — in value about one pound 
 sterling — given, to use the Efik expression, *' To wash 
 juju." This is sent as a sign on the bridegroom's 
 part of his recognition of the marriage tie. 
 
 After this visit rich Efik girls often go back to 
 the Fatting-housc, sometimes for as long as two years. 
 During this time they never come out at all, but only 
 walk round within the compound walls. 
 
 Should the parents notice that the girl is grow- 
 ing so fat as to endanger her health — to quote the 
 words of my native informant — "they slack off with 
 the ' chop,' and afterwards increase the quantity 
 
 again." 
 
 86 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 Just before a daughter leaves the Fatting- house, 
 after this third seclusion, the father and bridegroom 
 consult together and fix upon a date, saying : 
 
 " We will hold Etuak Ndum (i.e. * Chalk Ceremony') 
 on such and such a day." 
 
 On the date chosen the girl is dressed out in her 
 best, though the robing may seem rather scanty to 
 European eyes, and sits in state in the midst of one 
 of the inner courts of the compound. " Thither great 
 gifts are borne, sometimes as much as one to two 
 hundred pounds in cash, with string upon string of the 
 finest beads, great bars of coral threaded together, 
 and the costliest of native ornaments. Next the bride- 
 groom enters followed by a long stream of servants 
 bearing ' dashes,' which are laid before the bride. 
 Not for herself alone must such be provided, but for 
 every member of the family down to the little maids, 
 who sometimes get a penny only. 
 
 " Several moons earlier a fine house has been 
 prepared in the husband's compound. A ' play ' is 
 given, and the bride is borne thither, the performers 
 following. Friends and acquaintances stay until mid- 
 night, then at the coming of darkness leave her alone 
 with her husband. Only the bride's mother lingers 
 yet a little, trying to make friends with one of the 
 * big women ' of the compound, begging the latter 
 to instruct the new wife in her duty to her husband 
 and in all native customs, teaching her everything 
 that may pleasure their common lord. 
 
 "After a good girl has thus been married she will 
 never leave the compound without her husband's 
 permission. Woman friends may enter to visit her, 
 
 87 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 but no man docs so save the male servants sent to 
 clean the rooms or sweep courts." 
 
 According to Ibibio ideas the actual marriage tie 
 is entered upon after the payment by the groom to 
 the bride's parents of the major portion of the so- 
 called " dowry money." The first instalment of this 
 constitutes betrothal, and is often paid when the Uttle 
 maid is still very young. 
 
 Infant betrothal and marriage are not uncommon. 
 In the latter case the baby bride usually lives with 
 her husband's family ; but, save in very rare instances, 
 her youth is respected by him. Should the contrary 
 be proved against a man his conduct is regarded as 
 reprehensible, and the girl's family can claim her 
 back without returning the dowry. 
 
 In many cases child betrothal and marriage inflict 
 undoubted hardships upon the unfortunate bride, who 
 thus has no word to say as to her own fate. At the 
 present day many such youthful spouses, on reaching 
 years of discretion, claim the protection of Government 
 to free them from an arrangement in which they had 
 
 no choice. 
 
 A typical case is recorded from Ndun Ukaw 
 town, where a girl, Nko by name, had been be- 
 trothed as a very small child. On the day after 
 she came out of the Fatting-house her father said 
 
 to her : 
 
 " The time has now come to carry out the marriage 
 which I arranged for you long ago. Prepare, therefore, 
 to go to the home of the husband to whom I 
 have given you." 
 
 The girl pleaded that she did not like the man, 
 
 88 
 
! • • *. » 
 
 
 
 "FATTING-HOUSE"' WOMEN 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 and earnestly begged that she might not be forced to 
 wed him ; but the father answered : 
 
 *' This is the one whom I have chosen for you. 
 I will not allow you to refuse. Him you shall marry, 
 and no other." 
 
 To which she replied, " Sooner than wed such 
 a one I would rather die.'* 
 
 On hearing this, the father shouted in great anger, 
 " If you do not accept the man whom I have chosen 
 for you, I wish that you may die." 
 
 The daughter replied, very gently and with sad 
 dignity, " I have nothing more to say. By your 
 order, sir, I die." 
 
 With that she went quietly out, and next morning 
 was found lying dead by her own hand. 
 
 The hardships to which unmarried girls among 
 the Ibibios are sometimes subjected may be illustrated 
 by another case, which was brought up before my 
 husband on his first visit to the Native Court at Awa. 
 On this occasion a young girl, daughter of one of the 
 head chiefs of the town, claimed the Commissioner's 
 protection against her father. 
 
 It appeared that two suitors were asking her hand, 
 each of whom was in a position to pay the usual " bride 
 price " or dowry of thirty goats. She herself seemed 
 to have set her affections on a third wooer, whom, 
 from some cause or other, her father did not favour. 
 When, therefore, the latter ordered her to take as husband 
 the man whom he had chosen, she refused, and pleaded 
 that if she might not be given to the man of her choice 
 she should at least not be forced into marriage against 
 
 her will. 
 
 M 89 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 In answer, the ehief seized her and said : 
 
 *' If it were not that this bad Commissioner is always 
 going up and down in his district, appearing at all 
 times when and where he is least wanted, I would kill 
 you at once with my own hands for daring to disobey 
 me. 
 
 Perhaps it should be remarked that the adjective 
 *' bad " has a secondary meaning of " strong," but 
 in this case the circumstances forbid us to hope that 
 the word might have been intended in the more com- 
 plimentary sense. 
 
 Tlie unnatural father bound the girl and thrust her 
 toward the two suitors w^hom he favoured, saying : 
 
 " Take this w'oman and do to her whatsoever you 
 may choose, that thus she may learn the penalty for 
 having disobeyed me by refusing the man wiiom I 
 had chosen for her husband." 
 
 Delivered over in this way to the mercy of men 
 furious at her rejection of their suit, the wretched 
 girl was dragged along the road to a waste place in 
 the bush. There she was stripped of every garment, 
 and with arms lashed behind forced to endure in- 
 describable outrage. By a fortunate chance, before 
 the last extremity had been reached, a court messenger 
 happened to appear upon the scene. These men are 
 natives employed by Government to serve summonses, 
 make arrests, and generally assist in the carrying 
 out of law and order. This particular one showed 
 considerable courage, for, wlicn drawn to the spot 
 by the girl's cries, he not only ordered the men to 
 desist from their ill-treatment of her, but arrested 
 
 them when, on the plea that they were justified by 
 
 90 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 the father's permission, in all that they had done, they 
 refused to set the girl free. 
 
 The court messenger took them, with the girl, 
 before the chief, and asked whether it was true that 
 the latter had intended the men so to maltreat his 
 daughter. On which the cruel father is reported to 
 have said : 
 
 " You cannot touch these men. All that they have 
 done was by my authority. May not a father now 
 do as he chooses with a disobedient child ? " 
 
 When the case was tried in court the advisory 
 council of chiefs agreed that all had been done as 
 stated, and that they were willing, as a concession 
 to white prejudice in such matters, that some punish- 
 ment should be inflicted upon the two men. When it 
 came, however, to the question of penalising the chief 
 himself, they pleaded, with a mixture of astonishment 
 and indignation, that a father surely had the right 
 to do as he would with his child, and must, therefore, 
 on no account be punished! Later, when it was 
 explained that whatever might have been native 
 custom in such matters, these abuses could not be 
 tolerated under white rule, the spokesman pleaded 
 again and again— long after his request had been 
 declared impossible —first, that an infinitesimal fine, 
 and afterwards a slowly increasing sum, might be 
 inflicted ; but no imprisonment. 
 
 Another case, brought up before the Native Court 
 at Oyubia in August, 1913, casts further light on 
 Ibibio ideas of marriage. 
 
 A man had lately died, and two people came 
 forward to claim his property, the value of which 
 
 91 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 was computed at about £150. The first of these, 
 Ensinini by name, demanded the whole sum plus 
 the five wives, on the ground that the dead man had 
 not been free born, but was a " member " of the 
 family of whieh he himself was the head. The second 
 claimant was chief wife of the deceased, and asserted 
 that her late husband had been free born. Since, 
 singularly enough, neither son nor brother of the dead 
 man existed, she demanded that, in default of nearer 
 kin, the goods should come to her. The second wife 
 gave corroborative testimony to the statement that 
 their common husband had been of free birth, and 
 the third was called as a further witness on the matter. 
 In answer a small girl of some eight years appeared. 
 Afterwards the Commissioner asked to see the other 
 two, and a little later a diminutive person of not more 
 than five summers walked shyly up. The chief wife 
 begged to be excused from producing the fifth on 
 the ground that the latter was only just able to walk, 
 and had been presented by herself, after her own 
 payment of dowry, to her late husband only a few weeks 
 before his death. 
 
 By native law the whole question turned upon 
 the point as to whether the deceased was free born, 
 or a " member " of the first claimant's family. An 
 equal number of witnesses came forward to swear 
 to positive knowledge as to the truth of each conflicting 
 statement. In the end the bewildered " assessors " 
 suggested that the property should be divided into 
 two equal portions — one for the male claimant and 
 the other to be distributed between the five wives. 
 
 Both sides vehemently objected to such an arrange- 
 
 92 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 ment, the woman adding, " Why, at any rate, should 
 the other four have a share ? " The judgment was, 
 however, upheld by unanimous opinion of the Court, 
 and a lonji and diffieult case seemed at an end, when 
 a chief of great weight rose to propound a question 
 which to native ideas was of first importance, but 
 which, in all probability, would never have struck 
 the white man who was acting as judge. 
 
 " To whom," queried the chief, *' will the dowry 
 of the five wives be paid on their re-marriage ? " 
 
 At first sight, to twentieth-century eyes, this 
 question seemed so simple of solution that the Com- 
 missioner answered, " Why not to the parents as usual ? " 
 
 One of the jurors rose, horror visibly struggling 
 with respect, to ejaculate, " Why should the father 
 enjoy a double dowry ? Were such a thing allowed 
 the husband's family would lose from both sides ! " 
 
 By native law in such a case one of two courses 
 was open to the " widows." Either to remain in the 
 family, " bearing children to the dead man's name," 
 as was also decreed by old Jewish custom, or to pay 
 back the dowry, and be free to leave their late 
 husband's family and marry any man whom they 
 might choose. 
 
 Although in the case above cited, a member of 
 the Court rose to expostulate against the idea that a 
 father should be allowed to " enjoy " double dowry 
 on account of the same daughter, yet instances are 
 not unknown in which parents have so arranged 
 matters that the marriage affairs of an only child 
 provided them with a veritable gold mine. 
 
 Such was the case of Ama Awsawdi of Okuko, 
 
 93 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 who, so soon as his daughter had left the Fatting-house, 
 gave her in marriage to Ohio Esio of Ubodo, receiving 
 as dowry thirty "articles" and one cow — valued 
 together at about £25. A short time afterwards this 
 imprincipled parent inveigled the girl away. The 
 two went on a journey, in the course of which the father 
 arranged a second wedding with one Ukpon Uwe. 
 From this new son-in-law he received eighty articles 
 and one cow, the total value of which was about £50. 
 After a few days, Ama coaxed the girl to leave her 
 second husband and go away with himself to Calabar. 
 She was undoubtedly attractive, and the father con- 
 sidered that a few shillings laid out on a gown and bead 
 ornaments for her were likely to prove a good invest- 
 ment. For considerably less than one pound sterling 
 he succeeded in attiring the girl so sumptuously that 
 a well-known citizen named Asukwaw Etin Avas in- 
 duced to offer a hundred articles and one cow% i.e. 
 about £60, as bride price. Since this third son-in-law 
 was a man of greater weight and position than the otiiers 
 of whom he had so easily rid himself, Ama probably 
 thought it necessary to be a little more careful in his 
 dealings on this occasion. He therefore went to con- 
 sult one or two friends as to the next step in his 
 career of crime. 
 
 " I am thinking of taking away my daughter to a far 
 country," he said, " and there hiding her until I can 
 arrange a fresh marriage. I do not want anyone to 
 know that I am running away with the girl, lest she 
 should be pursued and brought back ; so please help 
 me to hide our tracks." 
 
 The men consulted were too conservative to receive 
 
 94 
 
Maidenhood to Marriage 
 
 such revolutionary ideas with favour. They therefore 
 protested against the plan, but Ama replied : 
 
 " I know what I am doing, and would not act thus 
 in defiance of custom without pressing cause ; but 
 my debts are really too heavy, and I can see no other 
 way of paying them! That is my reason for wanting 
 to run away with the girl." 
 
 Since the friends on whose help he had counted 
 would have none of his plan, Ama shrugged his shoulders 
 and, being an energetic soul, proceeded to carry it 
 out by himself. The daughter was abducted and 
 concealed in what the father thought a safe retreat. 
 Matters were progressing most favourably in the 
 direction of her fourth nuptials when a cruel fate 
 intervened with the news that the three defrauded 
 husbands had joined forces and were on the way to 
 demand a return of their dowries. Such a contingency 
 was unforeseen and unprovided for. The excellent 
 parti with whom the new alliance had been all but 
 arranged, at a higher rate than ever before, had to 
 be abandoned, and the pair disappeared in the direc- 
 tion of Mbukpo, where they were lost sight of, but are 
 still in all probability, pursuing their profitable career 
 amid " fresh woods and pastures new." 
 
 Viewed in the light of a provider of dowries, the 
 story of the mother who, when faced by the necessity 
 of giving up one of her children, chose to keep the 
 daughter rather than the son on account of the high 
 bride price promised by the former, becomes quite 
 comprehensible. 
 
 96 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WEDDED LIFE AND MOTHERHOOD 
 
 PROBABLY most white men on first coming to 
 Ai'rica are inclined to look upon black women as 
 prone to suffer beneath the oppression of their men 
 folk. 
 
 It was with much this idea that my husband 
 went to the Oban District, and the glee of its sturdy 
 amazons, who had long ago reduced the male Ekoi 
 to a state of becoming humility, on recognising this 
 attitude on the part of the first Commissioner 
 sent them by Government, can be better imagined 
 than described ! No one is quicker than these 
 "unsophisticated" peoples to recognise any such bias, 
 and the consequent pose adopted by the militant 
 ^vives was pathetic in the extreme, and the more con- 
 vincing in that their meek male folk hardly ventured 
 upon a word of defence. When the "hideous cruelty" 
 of which one wife complained was, however, found to 
 consist in her husband's refusal to marry any other 
 woman save herself, so that no secondary wife was 
 available to help in the housework, and the tyranny 
 of a father over his daughter, a child of eight, was 
 discovered only to have been shown in making use, 
 without her permission, of a cooking-pot which he 
 had himself given her some time before, the Com- 
 
 9G 
 
u 
 
 < 
 
 a. 
 w 
 
 < 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 H 
 O 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 missioner's point of view naturally changed some- 
 what. 
 
 Taught by such experience, we arrived in the 
 Eket District with an open mind as to the relation of 
 the sexes ; but this philosophic attitude was to be 
 rudely dispelled. The land of the Ibibios may be/ y 
 taken as typical of those where fetish and witch doctor "b"^^' 
 reign supreme, and where woman is looked upon as a . ^ 
 mere chattel of father or husband. ' 
 
 Left to themselves, the Ibibios may perhaps be 
 considered, along certain lines, as a moral people ; 
 although the old idea, which lingered in mid-Europe 
 until comparatively recent times, that a host should 
 place all in his house, even to the honour of his wife, 
 at the disposal of a guest, yet obtains here. To quote \ 
 the naive statement of my informant : 
 
 " When a friend comes to visit him the husband rfl 
 
 will often go out of the house, leaving the new-comer ft 
 
 alone with his wife, so as to give them a chance. . . . ' 
 Afterwards the two men drink together in token of ^^^ * 
 friendliness, and to show that no claim for compensa- 
 tion will be made by the husband." 
 
 In the old days crimes of unfaithfulness would 
 appear to have been far more uncommon than at 
 present, probably owing to the terrible penalties in- 
 flicted. At times the death of both guilty parties 
 was exacted ; while, as a comparatively mild punish- 
 ment, the lover was often forced to sell himself into 
 slavery in order to raise sufficient money to meet 
 the heavy fine imposed. 
 
 The chiefs expressed themselves as unanimous in 
 wishing the penalties for infidelity to be made more 
 
 N 87 
 
 ..i^ 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 severe than the comparatively light damages exacted 
 at present ; but their attitude is very one-sided. 
 All of them desire that, as in the old days, no woman 
 should be allowed to claim divorce save on the grounds 
 of grave ill-treatment, while many wish for the still 
 older rule to be enforced, that it should not be allowed 
 to women for any cause whatever. As one of them 
 explained : 
 
 " Should a man beat his wife veiy cruelly she can 
 always run away to her father, who will give her good 
 advice, such as : ' Obey your husband in everything, 
 and always strive to please him. Make his will yours ; 
 then you will no longer be ill-treated.' " 
 
 That many husbands still regard their wives as 
 mere chattels is proved by case after case, of which 
 the following, brought before my husband in the 
 Native Court at Eket only a short time ago, may 
 serve as typical : "^ 
 
 Offong Udo Akpa Imo thought that he had reason 
 to suspect his wife Unwa of infidelity. In order to 
 induce her to confess to this he tied her hands to 
 two stakes firmly driven into the ground and so 
 far apart that she lay with arms extended as if crucified. 
 He then proceeded to torture her by forcing native 
 pepper into her eyes and in other ways, which, though 
 recounted in Court as mere matters of everyday occur- 
 rence, are such as it is impossible to describe. Yet 
 the man only acted within the rights given him by the 
 law and custom of his tribe. 
 
 According to some accounts, it would appear that 
 the usual torture inflicted under such circumstances 
 was, after stripping and binding the woman in the 
 
 98 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 way just described, to cover her with thousands of 
 the fierce black ants which abound in the bush, 
 and which the husband had previously collected for 
 the purpose. 
 
 Such cases are not confined to the Ekets, but might 
 be repeated ad nauseam in connection with every tribe 
 in the district. The Orons, as nearest to Calabar, 
 and therefore most in touch with civilisation, should 
 show some advance in the treatment of their women, 
 yet the following case brought before the Native 
 Court in August, 1913, is quite typical. During the 
 course of the evidence Eyo Okon Mbukpa, stated 
 on oath : 
 
 " Mbit Ese Ewan was my husband, but I wish to 
 be divorced from him. Last year he wounded me, 
 but afterwards took a lot of trouble to cure my wound. 
 Later he asked me to come back. At first I refused 
 to do so, but afterwards agreed. Through his rough- 
 ness he broke one of my bones, on account of which, 
 when my child was born, I nearly died. For two 
 months afterwards I could hardly walk. A third 
 time he came, but I refused him. On that he 
 knocked me down and dragged me, naked, before the 
 townsfolk. . . . Next morning he flogged me very 
 cruelly." 
 
 There was no question by the husband. 
 
 Ating, a fellow townsman, stated on oath : 
 
 " I am no relation of Eyo Okon's, neither am I 
 her ' friend.' I saw Mbit Ese come to her. He stripped 
 her, lifted her feet in the air and beat her head upon 
 the ground, then dragged her along it. The girl kept 
 shouting to me, so at last I went to her help. My 
 
 99 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 cousin's wife told me that the bone was broken, and 
 Eyo was very clever to have got her child safely born." 
 
 Mbit Ese Awan, the husband, sworn, stated : 
 
 " I did not hold her feet in the air nor beat her 
 head upon the ground. I only dragged her along it." 
 
 There were, however, too many witnesses against 
 him, and the charge was proven in all respects. 
 
 While many women have taken advantage of the 
 protection afforded by white rule to break away from 
 the old stern code as to marital fidelity, many are 
 still faithful to their husbands, as has been proved 
 by no inconsiderable number who have resisted to 
 the last extremity outrages sought to be forced upon 
 them. Not only this, but that a distinct desire for 
 monogamy does exist among Ibibio women is shown 
 by the frequency of cases in which wives have adminis- 
 tered love philtres to their husbands in the hope of 
 thus capturing the whole affection of their dusky 
 lords. This will be more fully treated of later, in the 
 section devoted to magic. 
 
 In those few cases when a much-married man of 
 the tribe has been denied the blessing of children, 
 the " medicine doctor " consulted as to the cause of 
 the misfortune has been known to advise the putting 
 away of all wives save one. The following story, 
 illustrating such a case, was told me by one of my 
 women informants — a Christian convert — as a proof 
 of the advantage of monogamy over polygamy. In 
 all save names, it bears a striking resemblance to a 
 tale recounted by Mr. Elphinstone Dayrell in his 
 collection of " Ikom Folk Stories." * 
 
 * Second Scries, No. 12. 
 100 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 *' Once a very great chief named Ekpenyong Abassi 
 dwelt among us. He was so rich that his house was 
 filled with treasures. His flocks and herds multiplied 
 beyond those of other men. His palm groves produced 
 their golden clusters in such numbers that the gatherers 
 grew weary of cutting, and when he sent out his slaves 
 to fish in the rivers they brought back catches so 
 heavy that they staggered beneath the weight. 
 
 " While still young, Ekpenyong married many wives ; 
 but in spite of his great wealth he was not happy, for 
 no babe was sent to bless his hearth. His days were 
 therefore spent in sadness, lest he should die without 
 a son to bury him with due honour and pour libations 
 to his ghost. 
 
 *'To and fro in the land went the chief from one 
 famous juju man to another, seeking a ' medicine ' 
 which might take away his curse and cause a child 
 to be born. To each he gave great gifts, but no matter 
 what was paid for charm or magic rites, all proved of 
 no avail. At length word came of a medicine man, 
 said to be very strong in the knowledge of secret things, 
 who had come down from the Kameruns, where much 
 magic dwells, and was now staying in a part of the 
 district far away from the home of Ekpenyong. 
 
 " No sooner had the chief heard of the fame of this 
 stranger than he set forth, taking with him a great 
 ' dash ' of wires and cloth. Spears, too, he took and 
 cattle, with other fine things borne by a train of 
 slaves. When he reached the house of the juju man 
 he told the latter all his trouble, and asked what he 
 must do in order that a son might be granted 
 him. 
 
 101 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 " The priest consulted his oracle and at length 
 announced : 
 
 " ' All your wives you must put away from you 
 save one only, Adiaha by name. Then you must 
 raze to the ground the houses in which the other women 
 used to dwell. Press down and smooth the earth over 
 the place till none may see that dwellings once stood 
 there. Then build a quite new home for Adiaha and 
 offer in sacrifice before it a white goat, a white fowl 
 and many eggs. From the door-lintel of the new house, 
 on the inside, let a piece of white cloth be hung. Then 
 go yourself to the riverside, and, casting away the 
 clothes which you have formerly worn, go down into 
 the water, taking care that it laves every part of your 
 body and flows even above the crown of your head. 
 After this, dress yourself from head to foot in new 
 garments and, returning, sleep alone in your house. 
 
 " ' Meantime, let Adiaha go to the pool where the 
 great juju dwells, and, after likewise casting from 
 her her garments, let her slip into the water until it 
 flows above her head. After which bid her put on a 
 white gown never before worn, so that she should 
 be an entirely fresh woman, and, thus robed, let her 
 go silently into the house prepared for her and there 
 await your coming.' 
 
 " On hearing this, Ekpenyong thanked the medicine 
 man, and after leaving his offering went home with 
 new hope in his heart. No sooner did he reach the 
 compound than he sent to call all his wives before 
 him. From farm or cooking-hearth they came trooping 
 forth to welcome him home ; but when they heard 
 the news which he brought their joy was turned into 
 
 102 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 wailing. Some pleaded that they should not be driven 
 forth ; some reviled Adiaha, and said that it was but 
 the trick of a jealous wife, who had bribed the juju 
 man to give her husband this advice, so that they 
 might all be humbled while she alone reigned in their 
 stead. Adiaha wept bitterly at their hard words, 
 for, indeed, she was fond of many of them and sorry 
 to lose their companionship, but she comforted herself 
 at the thought that at length a son was about to be 
 born to her. 
 
 " Ekpenyong sent to his farms to fetch yams 
 and plantains in great quantities, and took from out 
 his storehouse chains and anklets, with bracelets and 
 other rich gifts, all of which he gave to the discarded 
 wives ; so that they went forth well dowered and 
 could easily find other husbands. When all had left 
 the compound, everything was done according to the 
 advice of the wise juju man. The houses where the 
 old wives had dwelt were pulled down, and the place 
 smoothed over and planted, so that none might see that 
 a dwelling had been there. Then a new home was 
 made for Adiaha, after which husband and wife went 
 down to bathe, and did, to the very least thing, as 
 they had been bidden. Before many moons had passed 
 the woman felt a stirring beneath the breast, and told 
 her husband, whereon they both rejoiced greatly. 
 
 " Next day husband and wife went together before 
 the juju which dwelt under the sacred water in which 
 Adiaha had bathed. With them they took a goat as 
 offering, and prayed to the spirit of the pool to watch 
 over the unborn babe. The blood of the victim was 
 then poured over Adiaha's forehead, while Ekpenyong 
 
 103 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 sacrificed white fowls and eggs that she might not 
 suffer greatly when her child should come.* 
 
 " On the birth of the boy the chief gave a ' play ' 
 for all the young men and women of his town, that 
 they also might rejoice in his good fortune. A few 
 months later he got together a great ' dash ' and sent 
 it to the wise juju man, thanking him for the advice 
 which had proved of such advantage, and asking 
 that the oracle might be consulted as to whether this 
 child would live, and also how many further children 
 would be granted him. The answer was returned that 
 the first son would certainly thrive, and that twenty- 
 one children in all might be hoped for. 
 
 *' On learning this good news the chief gave another 
 great feast. Afterwards he summoned all his slaves 
 before him and bade them cut bush and clear the 
 land in readiness for the planting of very large farms, 
 since now he must begin to make provision for so 
 numerous a household. 
 
 "In course of time other children were born to the 
 couple, until they were surrounded by a large family 
 of sturdy sons and daughters. Always Chief Ekpenyong 
 guarded Adiaha tenderly and saw that she was well 
 served, for he feared that some of his old wives might 
 be jealous and seek to do her a hurt. 
 
 "After many years the twenty-first child arrived, 
 and the chief knew that no more were to follow. So 
 he said to his wife, ' You must be weary from bearing 
 so many babes. Now, therefore, rest, for the juju so 
 wills.' 
 
 * A similar ceremony is carried out by Eflk women in a holy water near 
 Creek Town, which is thought to be sacred to a juju very powerful for the 
 protection of women in childbirth. 
 
 104 
 
Q 
 2 
 
 D 
 O 
 Di 
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 >- 
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Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 " Always when the chief went on a journey to a 
 neighbouring town, or even but a small way to visit 
 his farm or make sacrifice in the juju house, all his 
 children accompanied him. In their midst he walked, 
 rich and happy, and many of the townsfolk envied 
 his good fortune. 
 
 " Now, in the same town there dwelt a lesser chief 
 whose heart was very sore when he considered the 
 prosperity of Ekpenyong. Long he pondered as to 
 how he might best wreak vengeance upon his prosperous 
 neighbour, and sometimes in crocodile form — for he 
 was full of witchcraft and could send forth his soul 
 in this guise — he used to creep up a little stream which 
 lay near the back of Ekpenyong's compound spying 
 out how he might best injure the man whom he hated. 
 Only he never dared go very near to the house because 
 he feared the juju which was hung therein, since it 
 was very powerful, and he dreaded lest it should kill 
 him on account of his evil witchcraft. 
 
 "Now among the 'witch company' to which this 
 man belonged was one of Chief Ekpenyong's former 
 wives. To her, therefore, he opened the matter, asking 
 if she had never heard of a way by which the power 
 of this particular juju might be circumvented. The 
 woman demanded why he wished to know, and he 
 answered that he, together with many of the towns- 
 folk, was weary of seeing the continuous prosperity 
 of Ekpenyong, and therefore wanted to get rid of him 
 and all his family, so that the latter's great possessions 
 might be divided up among themselves. To this the 
 woman answered that she also was jealous of Adiaha, 
 because the latter had been preferred before her, and 
 
 o 105 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 also because so many children had been born to this 
 woman, while she herself remained barren. They 
 
 therefore consulted together and made a plan ." 
 
 But that is another story.* 
 
 In the foregoing story both Ekpenyong and Adiaha 
 were bidden to go down to the water and bathe so 
 that their bodies might be laved from head to foot. 
 This would appear to have been ordered, not only on 
 account of the fertilising powers ascribed to water in 
 this region, but also as a means of breaking the curse 
 of sterility under which both were suffering. 
 
 Such an idea seems not unconnected with the 
 ancient Babylonian belief in the power of water as 
 an antidote to evil spells, mentioned by Mr. R. C. 
 Thompson in dealing with charms and magical pre- 
 parations. He says : 
 
 " Of these the simplest was pure water, which 
 was sprinkled over the possessed person at the conclu- 
 sion of an incantation, and this had a double meaning, 
 symbolising as it did the cleansing of the man from 
 the spell, and the presence of the great God Ea, whose 
 emanation always remained in water and whose aid 
 was invoked by these means." 
 
 To a similar belief in the purifying power of water 
 the ancient Roman lustral ceremonies may also be 
 ascribed. 
 
 * * ♦ ♦ * 
 
 An Efik woman once expressed her ideas on the 
 advantage of monogamy in quaint, halting English as 
 follows : 
 
 *' Among our people, if a man gets plenty wives 
 
 • See p. 168. 
 106 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 and then goes outside and brings in yet another, the 
 first ones get vexed at this, so trouble comes in that 
 family. Perhaps one wife goes out and finds another 
 man. For this the husband flogs her. She then 
 takes out a summons against him and says, ' I will not 
 stay with that husband any more.' The custom of 
 marrying many wives brings trouble for all women in 
 our country. Women themselves sometimes keep as 
 many as four ' friends,' ' well hidden.' If the husband 
 finds out, he goes bring palaver. Sometimes he flogs 
 the offending men. Sometimes he summonses them. 
 Sometimes a big man has many wives, and one of 
 them wants him to love her past all others. Then 
 she makes medicine and gives him. He says she wants 
 to kill him, and therefore brings her before Court. 
 Some men get wife for house, but no be fit to buy clothes 
 for her. Then another man brings clothes and gives 
 her and the woman takes some of these and * dashes ' 
 to her husband, on which he accepts them and lets 
 her go her own way. At times a husband says he will 
 go walk. Then he goes out, but turns back when 
 out of sight and goes to another place. On his return 
 the wife asks, * Whence do you come ? ' He answers, 
 ' I only walk.' Wife says, ' What time did you come 
 back from walk ? ' He says, ' No ask that. I no 
 be boy.' On which the wife begin to vex. Sometimes 
 a wife is good woman, but no get piccan. Therefore 
 husband says, ' No want you any more.' Some men 
 say, ' If wife goes church will not have her again.' Some 
 women for this part refuse to marry man if he no go 
 church. Say, ' No want to marry you.' To which 
 man reply, ' Very well, no want you — another man 
 
 107 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 can marry you.' Men like to have plenty wives because 
 each can do certain things and then more work is 
 done. 
 
 " Sometimes if husband flogs wife she summonses 
 him. Then he goes prison and she goes for another 
 man. When husband comes out of prison he goes 
 kill the woman. Takes the other man's other wife 
 in exchange, and goes to his house. He does not 
 kill the man, because it was the first woman's fault ! 
 
 " If a man gets plenty money women like to marry 
 him, but when the money finishes wife runs away and 
 says, ' Do not want you now.' To which the man 
 replies, ' Cannot go. You married me, and must stay 
 whether I have money or not.' 
 
 " One woman, her husband went for some place 
 to another man's house, because he loved other man's 
 wife. Leopard caught him and killed him. Then 
 wife began to cry. Said, * If husband had stopped 
 with me he would not have died so.' " 
 
 * » ♦ ♦ ♦ 
 
 Among some Ibibios a custom still obtains through 
 which it is hoped by sympathetic magic to ensure 
 fruitfulness to a bride. When for the first time the 
 new wife enters her husband's house he leaves her 
 so soon as she has crossed the threshold and goes to 
 the compound of some friend to whom a " fine piccan " 
 has been granted. He then hastens back with the 
 babe in his arms, and, entering the bride chamber, 
 says, " Look ! This is my piccan." This is done in 
 order that many children may be born to them also. 
 
 Again, when the young wife is about to bear her 
 first babe, the husband often goes out and invites 
 
 108 
 
* • i • 
 
 ='' .'**^.\, 
 
 wt^:^ 
 
 ? •4*'^ 
 
 
 -3^ 
 
 POOL OF ISEMIN, TO WHICH THE WOMEN GO IN 
 PROCESSION NAKED AT DAWN 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 other small folk into the house. A meal has been 
 prepared, and while the little guests are busily feasting 
 he calls to his wife, *' Just as many piccans are now in 
 our house so may you bear plenty for me, that in 
 time it will be filled with our children ! " 
 
 A juju of special renown as the protector of women 
 and the bestower of fertility is that called Isemin. 
 Pools sacred to this spirit are to be found in all the 
 country round Awa. One of the most celebrated of 
 these lies near the border of the town of Mkpokk, 
 and thither one early September day we went, about 
 the time of the new yam harvest. Through the town 
 playground we passed, then turned to the right beneath 
 a screen of boughs which had to be held aside for us 
 to enter a path, almost invisible at first, but later 
 showing a track deep- worn by the feet of worshippers, 
 who for centuries had followed this road to the sacred 
 water. Beneath a continuous archway of overhanging 
 boughs we passed, low bending of necessity, under 
 leafage so thick as to produce a soft green twilight, 
 till the edge of the holy pool was reached. 
 
 Thither, at the new yam festival, all the women 
 and girls of Mkpokk go in procession at dawn. " Naked 
 as the breeze " they pass to bathe in the stream. All 
 men must keep in the houses during the performance 
 of this rite, and should one be found hiding in the 
 bush during this, one of the most sacred of the 
 feminine mysteries, the old native law condemns him 
 to death. Even now a fine of one goat and a hundred 
 manillas would be exacted by the angry women ; 
 while the chances of that man living to see the dawn 
 of another Isemin day would also jiot be very great, 
 
 109 
 
 I 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 for even the protection of Government would hardly 
 avail to save him from the thousand and one subtle 
 poisons which are still unknown to white men. It is 
 believed that, should male eye gaze upon these women 
 as they go by unveiled to show themselves before 
 Isemin, the object of the rite would be brought to 
 naught, and tlie blessing of fruitfulness which it is 
 designed to draw down would in consequence be 
 denied to the town. 
 
 Later, one of my women informants explained the 
 matter to me more clearly than such things would 
 seem usually to be formulated in the minds of primitive 
 people such as these. She confided the matter with 
 a charm and delicacy of expression hardly to be ex- 
 pected from a woman typical of those of this region. 
 
 " As a bride on her wedding night," said the 
 narrator, " yields herself in all ways to the will of 
 her new-made lord, so at harvest time maids and 
 matrons present themselves before the great juju 
 Isemin, unrobed and awaiting his will, that perchance 
 he may enter within those whom he chooses, thus 
 shedding the blessing of fertility upon our town." 
 
 The eldest of the band, low bending, presents a 
 sacrifice of corn and fish, symbolising fertility on earth 
 and beneath the waters. In every town throughout 
 this part of the district a shrine of this juju may be 
 found, and when a girl marries away from her native 
 place she joins the Isemin of her husband's people. 
 
 Great pythons are thought to guard the dwelling- 
 place of the deity — a little hut overlooking the stream. 
 Many snakes, as we can testify from our experience, 
 have their homes near by, and these no man may 
 
 110 
 
• • • . »: • 
 
 SHRINE OF ISEMIN 
 
Wedded Life and Motherhood 
 
 kill. To the inhabitants of Mkpokk and the neigh- 
 bouring village of Okat snake flesh is tabu " because 
 snakes are sacred to Isemin," and were this law 
 broken the juju would avenge himself by withholding 
 the blessing of fertility from the town, while a de- 
 vastating pestilence would fall upon the sacrilegious 
 inhabitants. For these great serpents, set as guardians 
 to the mysteries of Isemin, like the famous snakes of 
 iEsculapius, also bestow health upon the countryside. 
 Some half-mile off is to be seen the shrine of the 
 juju Okwu Okat, before which girls of the afore- 
 mentioned place must show themselves on entering 
 the Fatting-house. On this occasion custom ordains 
 that they should wear ornaments made from young 
 palm leaves. 
 
 Hi 
 
\ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 FOR some reason or other Ibibio women seem to 
 be, on the whole, of higher type than the male 
 portion of the community. So marked, indeed, is 
 the difference in appearance that at first sight they 
 might be taken to be of^ Ai^pther race from the men. 
 Professor Keith,T.R.S., informs us that this difference 
 is very strongly shown in those skulls submitted to 
 him for examination. 
 
 The men are fairly industrious as regards occupa- 
 tions which custom has decreed should fall to their 
 share ; such, for instance, as cutting bush for the 
 new season's farms, tending palm trees, and collecting 
 nuts and kernels. They also build the houses, raise 
 the heavier fishing nets, and, as a general rule, paddle 
 the canoes. On the women, however, falls by far the 
 greater proportion of labour. They do the principal 
 part of the farm work, much of the fishing, often 
 undertake the smoking, and always the marketing 
 of the " catch," together with the making and selling 
 of the great water jars and other native pottery. 
 
 To give a typical day in the lives of these overworked 
 drudges : 
 
 At dawn the wife chosen to share the couch of 
 her lord during the past night rises and brings him 
 
 112 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 water in which to wash. It is in this water, by the 
 way, that she sometimes pours a few drops of the 
 love-potion which she trusts may steal away his affec- 
 tion from the other wives and rivet it upon herself. 
 
 Next she goes to the small shrine where stand the 
 row of rude fetishes, often no more than rough sticks 
 driven into the ground, with possibly a slit cut across 
 near the top to represent a mouth. These are the 
 " gods of the week." Before the one which represents 
 the guardian of this particular day she lays an offering, 
 praying that the indwelling spirit will be with her 
 till the morrow's dawn, shielding and prospering her 
 throughout all her undertakings. After this she begins 
 her share of the day's toil, fetching water and firewood, 
 cooking the morning meal and other house or farm 
 work. 
 
 Later she loads herself with the palm nuts, oil, 
 yams, cassava, native pots, or other merchandise got 
 ready for the purpose, and sets off either for the 
 native market or the European factory. After a march 
 of anything up to fifteen miles, or even more, she must 
 dispose of her wares and return on her weary tramp, 
 laden sometimes, according to statements made by 
 agents of some of the principal firms on the coast, 
 with a load occasionally as much as sixty pounds in 
 weight, for which she has exchanged her produce. 
 She arrives at home in time to prepare the evening 
 meal for her lord, whom she finds, more often than 
 not, idly awaiting her return amid his gossips in the' 
 village *' palaver shed." 
 
 When it is remembered that in many districts all 
 merchandise is borne by hand, for not even the roughest 
 
 P 113 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 of carts exists for the conveyance of goods, and that 
 by far the greater proportion of native produce is 
 carried on the heads of women, the opening up and 
 improvement of roads becomes a matter of the greatest 
 importance. On our first visit to the eastern part of 
 the Eket district the main roads were found to be 
 blocked before the entrance to every village, as well 
 as to the more important of the farm plantations, by 
 stockades which stretched right across the thorough- 
 fares. The only means of surmounting these was to 
 climb by two trunk sections set on end and firmly 
 driven into the ground. The lower of these was about 
 one and a half feet, and the second almost double 
 that height. When one stood upon the latter, one had 
 to step over the fence on to a similar block on the 
 other side, and so down — only to be met by a like 
 obstacle at the other end of the town. The difficulty 
 which these stockades added to the task of weary, 
 over-burdened women - traders can be imagined. 
 Happily the roads are now open and so improved 
 that, according to the testimony of merchants at the 
 principal commercial centre of the district, trade 
 has shown a very large increase in consequence. 
 
 In spite of the drudgery of their lives many of 
 the women seem bright and kindly, and nearly always 
 have a pleasant smile and word of greeting as one 
 passes them on the road. 
 
 To the feminine portion of the community, as 
 has already been mentioned, is owed the one Ibibio 
 fine art — that of pottery. Without a wheel, or any 
 aid save their own hands and a fragment of broken 
 sherd, these women build up, from the blue clay of 
 
 114 
 
TYPE OF ROAD IN THE EKET DISTRICT 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 the locality, richly ornamented bowls and giant jars, 
 which in beauty of line and decoration rival those 
 which we discovered at Abijang and Nchopan on the 
 Cross River, made by Ekoi women potters. In the 
 Duke of Mecklenburg's book, " From the Congo to the 
 Niger and the Nile," the pottery of the Mangbatu 
 is mentioned as far superior to that of any other negro 
 race. I venture to think that this opinion would 
 hardly have been maintained had the surely far more 
 graceful examples to be found among Southern Nigerian 
 tribes been brought to the notice of the distinguished 
 author. 
 
 Among Ibibios this talent is given widest' play 
 in the creation of new forms for the vases and bowls 
 placed upon burial mounds or within the erections 
 built as memorials to dead chiefs. It is true that no 
 trace of the graceful flying-buttress-like handles and 
 slender necks of the Ekoi water jars has come to our 
 notice here ; but the forms of the vessels themselves 
 and the care expended on the raised decorative motifs 
 are surely as fine as any in Africa. 
 
 The difference in the Ibibio estimate of the value 
 of life between men and women was poignantly illus- 
 trated on one occasion when we were passing along 
 the Oron-Eket road. 
 
 Suddenly on rounding a corner not far from the 
 eighth milestone we saw a body lying prone. The 
 feet were upon the grassy border, but the head lay 
 in the full glare of the pitiless sunshine, so near the 
 middle of the path that care was needed in passing 
 on the motor bicycle. As soon as it was possible to 
 stop we went back to give what help we could, and 
 
 115 
 
./ 
 
 Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 found the body to be that of a youngish woman, 
 but so shrunken by sickness or negleet that the hmbs 
 were httle more than sticks, while the breasts were Hke 
 those of an aged crone. Slie lay face downwards, shaken 
 by shuddering sobs ; but though a stream of wayfarers 
 was passing, none took the slightest notice — a fallen 
 log would have excited more, since that would in all 
 probability have been carried away for firewood. We 
 did what we could for the moment, and commandeered 
 two of the passers-by to get the loan of a native bed 
 from a neighbouring compound. On this the little 
 shrunken form was carried back to the sleeping-sickness 
 camp. There, as we well knew, the kindest care awaited 
 her, but alas ! it came too late to save this pitiful 
 piece of human jetsam, and she died at dawn. 
 
 By a strange coincidence, for never before in our 
 many journeys up and down had we found anyone 
 stricken upon the road, hardly a mile farther we came 
 upon the body of a man apparently felled by sunstroke. 
 He, however, had been carried beneath the cool shade 
 of a wayside clump of bamboo, and the passers-by, 
 both male and female, had set down their loads and 
 were eagerly doing all in their power to restore him. 
 
 Many Ibibio women are stunted in growth, while 
 some are positively dwarfs. This is possibly due to 
 the heavy loads which they carry in youth. Once 
 while staying at the rest-house at Ikotobo we noticed 
 a woman turn the corner of the Uyo road. On her 
 head she bore a section of tree trunk at least eight 
 feet in length and two in girth. The late Dr. Foran, 
 who was spending the evening with us, remarked as 
 to the extraordinary weight which these people seem 
 
 116 
 
'•: : V 
 
 ' ' • i • , ' ' 
 
 EKOI WOMAN AND GIRLS FROM NCHOPAN 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 capable of bearing. Not long before he said he had 
 met a man carrying a load of firewood which he com- 
 puted could hardly have been less than 150 pounds 
 in weight. Since the bearer was not of robust appear- 
 ance he stopped to caution him as to the risk he was 
 running by so doing, but the old man refused to listen, 
 and passed on. Before his destination was reached 
 he sank to the ground, and subsequent investigations 
 proved that he died from a broken neck caused by the 
 strain of his load. It is comparatively rare, however, 
 for men to undertake such services, the burden of 
 which almost invariably falls upon the women. 
 
 A particularly diminutive specimen ran up to us 
 one evening on our arrival at the seashore town of 
 Ibeno. The sunset glow still lingered in the sky, and 
 through the clear air the great peak of the Kamerun 
 Mountain was clearly to be seen ; while farther off 
 the islands of Fernando Po and San Thome were 
 silhouetted against the evening light. It is so unusual 
 for the atmospheric condition to make it possible to 
 see these points that my husband sprang ashore and 
 set up the theodolite in all haste that angles might 
 be taken towards the distant heights. These had, for 
 us, associations almost sacred, since they were so 
 closely connected with our friend, the late Boyd 
 Alexander. 
 
 When the small dusky figure first approached and 
 stood humbly waiting, we thought that she had only 
 come to bid us welcome, and, as each moment of light 
 was precious, would have dismissed her with the word 
 "Echiro" ("Greeting"). 
 
 The answer " Echiranda " was, however, given 
 
 117 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 in so faint a voice and with such a sobbing catch of 
 the breath, that we turned to see what was the matter. 
 
 It was a pitiful enough sight on which our eyes 
 fell. The woman's right ear was all but cut off ; while 
 her cheek, throat, and side were cruelly gashed and 
 clotted with blood. All for so small a thing ! Merely 
 a quarrel over a few feet of yam patch, which was 
 claimed both by herself and a fellow wife preferred 
 before her in the affection of their common husband. 
 
 By rights the following account should be included 
 under the heading of " Juju," but it illustrates so 
 poignantly the estimation in which women are held 
 among this people, that I have chosen rather to give 
 it here. It was told us by Idaw Imuk of Idua Eket. 
 
 " In olden days, before Government came to our 
 country, there was a great juju in our town, the 
 name of which was Abo Abom. 
 
 " Year by year sacrifices were made before it. First 
 of all the members gathered together in the Egbo 
 House and the chief priest of the cult announced : 
 ' Now is the time for sacrifice.' 
 
 " Then, from all the countryside, the people collected 
 yams and fowls and brought them before the juju 
 to induce him to protect them, so that none might 
 die within the year. Then, when the provisions had 
 been stored within the Egbo House and the members 
 were gathered together, the head priest sent forth 
 messengers to seek a man w4th neither father nor 
 brothers. It did not matter whether or no he had 
 sisters, because, should these come making a fuss and 
 weeping, the members had but to answer, ' Even if we 
 show you your brother's blood, what can you do ? ' 
 
 118 
 

 ^^. 
 
 ^^m'lt^ 
 
 A TYPICAL EGBO HOUSE 
 
 AN IBO WOMAN 
 
•M 
 
 Domestic Life 
 
 " When such a man had been led before the meeting, 
 with hands tied behind the back with cords well tested 
 as to strength, his body w^as rubbed all over with 
 dye from the camwood tree. Next he was placed 
 before the juju and there tightly bound by throat 
 and ankles to a stout stake. No further harm was 
 then done to him ; he was just left to die of thirst and 
 starvation. 
 
 " After making this offering, the members went 
 forth to that part of the sacred bush where the juju 
 dresses were kept. There they robed themselves, and 
 then came back, clad in full dress, to give their play 
 in the town. 
 
 " No woman might see this play, but all were 
 curious, even to the young girls, and talked it over 
 among themselves, saying, ' What is there in these 
 rites which it is forbidden us to see ? ' y/ 
 
 " Now, one woman of the place, Adiaha Agbo by 
 name, thought, ' If I hide myself in the bush, no one 
 will know of it, and then I shall learn this great secret 
 which the men keep from us.' 
 
 " So she hid, and spied upon the company as they 
 returned. 
 
 "When, however, the juju image passed the place 
 where she lay concealed, he called to his followers in 
 a terrible voice : 
 
 " ' I see one woman named Adiaha Agbo hiding 
 in the bush, in order that she may learn what it is 
 not lawful for woman to know.' 
 
 " On hearing this, Adiaha was so terrified that her 
 limbs failed her, and she could not even attempt to 
 escape. 
 
 119 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 *' Tlie JLiju called to his followers: 'Go to that 
 spot. Drag forth the woman, and bring her before 
 me.' 
 
 " All was done as he said. The juju members sur- 
 rounded the woman, brandishing their machets and 
 shouting. One cried, ' She must be killed.' But 
 another, who was a kinsman, answered : 
 
 " ' If you want to kill her, you must first ask per- 
 mission of her owner.' 
 
 *' (The woman was free born, but married, and, 
 according to our rule, a husband is the owner and 
 possessor of all his wives.) 
 
 " To this the juju answered : ' Since you speak 
 thus impertinently we will first kill the woman, and 
 then see Avhat further should be done in the matter.' 
 
 " On this the members began to consult together. 
 Those who wished her to be killed drew on the one 
 side, those who were in favour of asking her husband 
 as to her fate on the other. The first party said : 
 
 " ' We play this play as our fathers played it 
 hundreds and hundreds of years ago. So far as we 
 know, no woman has ever seen it before. We remember 
 those who have witnessed other jujus without per- 
 mission and were killed for it. Therefore she also 
 must die.' Whereon they fell upon the woman and 
 slew her on the spot. 
 
 ' When the other side saw that she was already 
 dead, they said : ' We will no longer belong to this 
 juju. It is wrong to kill a woman without her husband's 
 permission.' On that they fell upon the murderers 
 and slew seven of them ; after which they ran and 
 hid themselves in the bush. 
 
 120 
 
; ;• . . - . 
 
 . ' . • •• 
 
 
 JUJU TO WHICH HUMAN VICTIMS ARE OFFERED UP 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 " When a little time had passed, the fugitives talked 
 together over all that had happened, and said to one 
 another : 
 
 " ' Now that we have killed our brothers of the 
 juju, of what use to live any longer ? Let us rather 
 slay ourselves also.' To this they agreed, so each 
 man fell upon his machet and died in the bush by 
 himself. 
 
 " When the catastrophe was noised abroad, the people 
 of neighbouring towns came to Idua and asked the 
 surviving townsfolk : ' What is the cause of this that 
 we hear ? Never did we see such a thing before ! 
 If, therefore, you do not pay a fine of one cow to each 
 town all of us will join together and kill the remainder 
 of you ; because you Iduans have offended against our 
 rule. If there was a dispute about a woman who had 
 kinsfolk to take her part, you should not have killed 
 her, but have bidden her family ransom her at the price 
 of another who was kinless and about whom, there- 
 fore, there would have been no trouble. Had you done 
 so, all the men now dead would have been alive 
 to-day ! ' 
 
 *' So Idua was forced to pay a cow to each of the 
 neighbouring towns in order that the palaver might 
 be settled, for the Iduans were not strong enough to 
 withstand all those who had joined together against 
 them." 
 
 Ibibios are perhaps unusually bloodthirsty, for 
 crimes of violence were so frequent that for months 
 after our arrival scarcely a day passed without a man 
 or woman running in to claim the protection of 
 the District Commissioner —of ten witii hideous gun or 
 Q i21 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 machet wounds to show in pica. Should a day 
 fortunately have gone by without such incident the 
 morrow usually more than restored the average. 
 
 One evening just as dusk was falling a woman 
 crept up the steps which lead to the veranda of the 
 station bungalow. Her skin showed that curious grey 
 pallor which intense fear substitutes for the warm 
 brown of the native, and out of her drawn face the 
 dark eyes gleamed, large and terror-filled. Her name, 
 she said, was Unwa of Efa, in the Uyo District. She 
 was now on a visit to a friend at Ikot Atako some few 
 miles off on the far side of the river. To her, hot- 
 foot, had come a brother with the news that Chief 
 Ikombo of Efa had slain their sister Adia Inaw, who 
 was one of his wives, and had afterwards cut off 
 the head and arms of the corpse. According to the 
 testimony of a friend, Amaw Ima by name, Ikombo 
 had *' fled to bush " immediately after the murder, 
 and was lying in wait for Unwa herself in order to 
 slay her because she had formerly advised her sister 
 against wedding him. 
 
 The reason given for the crime was that the chief 
 had quarrelled with his wife about some small matter, 
 and then charged her with placing poisonous leaves 
 in his food and pipe. Well knowing the danger of 
 such an accusation, the unfortunate woman went 
 before the chiefs of the town and asked what she should 
 do. By their advice she took out a summons against 
 her husband, claiming divorce. His answer was to 
 slay and mutilate the woman who had dared appeal 
 to the protection of the law. Then, knowing himself 
 outcast, he took to the bush, determined to glut 
 
 122 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 himself with vengeance, and trusting that the difficulty 
 of capture might save him from paying the penalty 
 of his crime. 
 
 Unwa came in terror of her life to beg protection, 
 for she dared not return to her town so long as this 
 peril was abroad. She appeared grateful for permis- 
 sion to remain until it was possible to arrange with 
 the Commissioner for her safe return. Her story is 
 uninvestigated, and how the matter ended we never 
 learnt, owing to our unexpectedly early departure 
 from the District. 
 
 * * 9|E 4: 
 
 On another occasion when my husband was visit- 
 ing the Awa Native Court, a woman, splendidly built 
 and with a fine air of courage and resolution unusual 
 among those of her race, stood forth in Court and 
 called to him. 
 
 There was a stir among the men present, several 
 of whom busied themselves in persuading her to sit 
 down and keep silence. Among these a lean old man, 
 with one glittering eye — the other had been closed 
 by a machet stroke — and a most malevolent ex- 
 pression, was particularly prominent. Another case 
 was beginning : plaintiff and defendant were already 
 in the box, so the judge went on, apparently uncon- 
 scious of the woman, but keeping her in view all the 
 time. Many efforts were made to entice her outside 
 the building ; but she resolutely refused to stir, and, 
 at the end of the case in hand, sprang forward again 
 — this time right to the front of the Court. On her 
 hip, encircled by the right arm, sat a sturdy piccan, 
 while the left was flung out towards the Commissioner, 
 
 123 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 and from her lips demands and entreaties poured forth 
 in a flood of excited eloquence. 
 
 It transpired that the woman, Nwa Udaw Uko 
 by name, had been put into prison for no fault at 
 all, but merely on demand of the hawk-eyed old chief, 
 named Etcsin, who had busied himself in trying to 
 suppress her when she first strove to draw attention 
 to her case. His plea was that " Some white man 
 or other at some time had ordered her piccan to 
 be given up to him so soon as it w^as able to walk 
 alone ; and that, since she refused to do so, he had 
 induced the Native Court clerk to imprison her. He 
 was unable to give the least indication by which the 
 alleged judgment could be traced ; she, on the con- 
 trary, pleaded that the chief had no authority over 
 her or any of her people, save that he had seized several 
 of them and sold them into slavery, the last occasion being 
 only three years before. Since there were no witnesses 
 on either side, save the woman's husband, who came 
 forward, at her call, to corroborate what she said, the 
 case had to be adjourned ; but the woman was, of 
 course, freed, and a few weeks later the matter was 
 fully investigated. 
 
 In the course of the trial Nwa Udaw Uko stated on 
 oath : 
 
 " About three years ago Etesin sold my brother- 
 in-law, Umana Isong, to a man whose name I do not 
 know. IMany years ago he had already sold him to 
 someone in the Opobo District. Umana ran back to 
 our town, and three years ago accused sold him again. 
 We do not know where he is now. The reason accused 
 gave for selling him the second time was that Umana 
 
 124 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 had committed adultery with Etesin's brother's wife. 
 A long time ago accused also sold my first husband. 
 I do not know where the latter was sent. He lias 
 never been seen again." 
 
 Akpan Nkana (witness for prosecutor), sworn, stated: 
 
 " About three years ago accused sold Umana Isong 
 to some place. Since that time Umana has never 
 returned to his town. He was a relative of accused's. 
 A long while before he had been sold, it was said by 
 his own father, but escaped and came back to Iton, 
 his native place. During the time of the war at Ikot 
 Ebokk accused sold Nwa Udaw Uko's husband, Eduok 
 Adiaha Ekkpo by name. He has never returned. I 
 am a relative of the woman." 
 
 Etesin stated : 
 
 " Once, a long time ago, I went to another country 
 to get Idiong. On my return I heard that Umana 
 Isong' s father had sold him. I said nothing, but 
 went to my house. Umana escaped and came back. 
 The people who had bought him came and caught 
 him again. This was a long time ago. I cannot 
 mention the number of years. It was at the time 
 that his sister, Adiaha Isong, whom I am calling as 
 a witness, was in the Fatting-house. She has now 
 borne five children. I never sold Eduok Adiaha 
 Ekkpo." 
 
 Question by Nwa Udaw Uko : " Who sold my 
 husband ? " 
 
 Answer : " Essien did." 
 
 Adiaha Isong (called as witness for accused) stated 
 on oath : 
 
 It is three years ago since accused sold my brother 
 
 125 
 
 a 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Umana Isong. About a year before that accused had 
 also sold my elder brother Eduok Adiaha Ekkpo." 
 
 Question by accused : " Who sold Umana Isong 
 first of all ? " 
 
 Answer by Adiaha : " ]My father did." 
 
 Udaw Eka Etuk Ikpa (called as witness for accused), 
 sworn, stated : 
 
 " It is three years ago since Etesin sold Umana 
 Isong. He also sold Eduok Adiaha Ekkpo several 
 years ago. I am a relative of Umana Isong's. Nearly 
 everyone in our family was sold as a slave." 
 
 Question by accused : " Did not Isong Akpabio 
 sell your half-brother Akpan Isong ? " 
 
 Answer : " No. You sold him also." 
 
 Not a single witness could be brought forward to 
 testify in favour of the accused, and, as a result of 
 trying to extort Nwa Udaw Uko's latest piccan from 
 her, and inducing the clerk to imprison her until she 
 consented to give it up, he himself was awarded two 
 years' hard labour. 
 
 After Court, according to my husband's usual 
 practice, all prisoners were called before him to ask 
 if they had any complaint to make. Besides the one 
 whose case is given above, there were five women 
 prisoners, and of these all but one were found to have 
 been sentenced without due cause. 
 
 The case of the second on the list, Ekkpo Udia 
 of Ekott Ibokk, was perhaps the most characteristic. 
 She had been convicted before the Native Court by 
 a council of chiefs and sentenced to two months' im- 
 prisonment with hard labour for the terrible crime of 
 having put her daughter into the Fatting-house without 
 
 126 
 
Domestic Life 
 
 first obtaining her husband's permission, and for not 
 taking her out again immediately on learning his 
 opinion that she should wait for some months before 
 starting the course of feeding up, for which, by the 
 way, the mother provided nearly all the necessary 
 food. 
 
 127 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 MARRIAGE PROBLEMS 
 
 FROM a case brought before the Ikotobo Native 
 Court it would appear that among the Ubium 
 Ibibios the death penalty was inflicted upon a woman 
 who married a man from another town. In the course 
 of his evidence the defendant, Okonnor Asom, head 
 chief of Ikotobo, stated on oath : 
 
 " Three years ago Etuk Udaw Nwa Mbiam came 
 and told me that the plaintiff, Obot Udo, refused to 
 remain as a wife with her former husband Akpan Idui, 
 and had said to the latter, ' If you can find a new 
 husband for me to marry, I will wed him instead of 
 you ; for I would rather be a sort of sister to you 
 than remain as a wife.' 
 
 " On learning this I said to Etuk Udaw, ' If you 
 think that plaintiff would like to marry me, please 
 bring her to my house so that I can see her.' After 
 four days, he brought the woman to Ubium market, 
 and called me to come and look at her. I did so, 
 and she told Etuk Udaw, ' I should like you to take 
 me to defendant's house.' Three days later, therefore, 
 he brought her with her sister Ema and Udaw Etuk 
 Ukpon. When they came I gave them palm wine. 
 They drank, and plaintiff said, ' I am willing to marry 
 you.' I answered, ' Very well. I will come to your 
 
 128 
 
• > • • « 
 
 • r • p 
 
 » : '. i 'i •• •« 
 
 CHIEF OKONNOR OF IKOTOBO 
 
Marriage Problems 
 
 town, Ndukpo-Isi, and see your former husband and 
 your mother. If they agree, I will refund the dowry.' 
 
 *' I went according to promise. Akpan Idui said, 
 ' If the plaintiff agrees to marry you, you can repay 
 the dowry to me, and after that she will be to me as 
 a stepdaughter.' 
 
 " On the same day I went to the mother and spoke 
 of marriage, but she answered, ' The townspeople of 
 Ndukpo-Isi have a law that should a girl from their 
 town marry a stranger she must die.' 
 
 *' Next morning the mother came to my house and 
 said : ' Akpan Idui has quarrelled with me, asking, 
 " Why have you prevented the girl from marrying a 
 new husband, so that the dowry might be repaid to 
 
 us ? '" 
 
 *' Five days later a messenger came from Akpan 
 to call me to Ndukpo-Isi. On my arrival he said, 
 * Plaintiff's mother has now agreed for you to refund 
 the dowry.' 
 
 " I therefore took manillas to the value of thirteen 
 goats, and on that same day gave one fathom of cloth 
 and one gown to the girl's mother, saying, ' Take and 
 give these to your daughter as a sign that she is my 
 wife.' 
 
 *' After two weeks plaintiff and Ekkpo Manga 
 came to my house. The woman slept there for two 
 nights, after which she went back to her mother. Two 
 weeks later Udaw Etuk Udaw came to me and said, 
 ' Have you heard what has happened to your wife ? ' 
 I answered, ' No.' He said, ' Udaw Afaha Ama told 
 her that if she continued married to you she would 
 
 not be allowed to live.' " 
 R 129 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 From this case, and the still more horrible penalty 
 exacted, even to the present day, among the Okkobbor 
 people as related in another place,* it would appear 
 that the regulation as to endogamy was enforced 
 against women marrying out of their own town or 
 clan ; but no trace of any custom restricting men in 
 like manner has come to our notice. 
 
 Many indications seem to point to the probability 
 that among the tribes of this district communal 
 marriage was practised at no very distant date. 
 
 Once when we were about to leave Okon Ekkpo 
 (Jamestown) a deputation of chiefs under the leader- 
 ship of Efa Abassi of Ibaka came up to say that they 
 wished to go back to the old custom by which not 
 the husband alone, but his " age class " or " company " 
 might claim damages from the co-respondent in case 
 of unfaithfulness on the part of the wife of a member. 
 
 This custom of claiming common damages for 
 infidelity would seem to indicate a former state of 
 affairs in which wives of members were regarded as 
 the common property of the whole " society." In 
 such a case the idea which prevails, not in this district 
 only, but also among the Ekoi and many other tribes, 
 that a wife's unfaithfulness entails misfortune, sickness 
 and even death upon her husband, may in earlier 
 days have extended until it was supposed to affect 
 the '' age class " as a whole. 
 
 Should a husband fall ill, his first idea is to suspect 
 his wife as the probable cause. The case of Nka Anang, 
 heard in Awa Court, on August 1st, 1913, is typical 
 of many. In this the complainant stated that he 
 
 ♦ " By Haunted Waters," P. Amaury Talbot. 
 
 130 
 
.. . • • • 
 
 « r » 3 
 • » • 
 
 
 A NIGKRIAN LANDSCAPE: MUD FLATS LEFT DRY BY THE TIDE 
 
 AN IBIBIO CHIEF 
 
Marriage Problems 
 
 had fallen sick, and, thinking that the illness must 
 have been sent as a consequence of his wife's unfaith- ^ 
 fulness, taxed her with this: on which the woman 
 confessed to having three lovers. 
 
 As will be found related under " Burial Customs " (p. 
 232), the oracle was usually consulted after the death of a 
 chief in order to discover whether this had been brought 
 about through infidelity on the part of one of his wives. 
 When the answer was in the affirmative, the unfortunate 
 woman charged with the crime was either entombed 
 alive or impaled above the grave of her dead lord.* 
 ***** 
 
 Two things arouse the hatred of Ibibio women 
 beyond all else, namely when one steals from another 
 the love of a husband, or when one wife is fruitful 
 and another barren. In such a case the favoured 
 woman is always in grave danger ; for her childless 
 rival will usually go to. any lengths in order to destroy 
 her. Many such seek out a juju man or famous witch- 
 wife, and at the price of all their possessions buy 
 themselves into some terrible *' affinity," such as croco- 
 dile or water snake. Once capable of assuming this 
 were-form, the jealous woman is supposed to build 
 herself a house beneath the river, and when all is 
 ready, lure her rival to the spot on some pretext or 
 other, and there drown her. 
 
 A case showing the savage jealousy of a childless 
 wife to one more favoured was reported by an Efik 
 woman informant. Owing to our sudden removal 
 
 * Only a few years ago one of the present Provincial Commissioners, 
 Mr. R. A. Roberts, in passing through the Eket district, came across one of 
 these sad sacritlces set up by the roadside. 
 
 131 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 from the district the facts are unconfirmed, but even 
 so they are so typical of the state of feeling among 
 childless women that it seems worth while to give 
 them. 
 
 A man had two wives, the last married of whom 
 showed signs that a babe was about to be born to 
 her, before hope of such a thing was vouchsafed to 
 the elder wife. One night, therefore, the latter took 
 a small penknife, like the cruel mother in the old 
 northern ballad,* and crept into the room where her 
 happy rival lay sleeping. So savagely did she slash at 
 the victim of her spite that the unborn child was 
 killed and the prospective mother died not long after. 
 The murderess is reported to be still undergoing 
 punishment. 
 
 So rooted is this hatred on the part of barren 
 women that they are said to wreak it even upon the 
 children of dead rivals. Such a story was told by 
 a very old Ibibio woman : 
 
 " Once a man had two wives, one of whom bore 
 him a fine piccan, while the other was barren. After 
 a few years the fruitful woman died, leaving her son 
 to the care of her fellow wife. Now it chanced that 
 the latter, whose name was Afia, went out to her farm 
 to gather the ripening corn, but lo ! birds were eating 
 it. So she hired someone to make snares for her 
 and set them in the farm for the protection of the 
 crops. 
 
 " Next day she went to visit these and found a 
 bird caught in one of them. Its plumage was very 
 gay and fine, so she determined not to kill it, but 
 
 * " Fine Flowers in the Valley." 
 132 
 
Marriage Problems 
 
 made a cage of split palm stem, and therein bore it 
 home. 
 
 " When market-day came round, before setting 
 out she called to the small boy, her stepson, and 
 said, ' Look after the bird while I am gone.' No 
 sooner had she left the house, however, than the child 
 set the cage upon the grass, and took the bird in his 
 hand, whispering to himself, ' I wonder if such a 
 small bird is old enough to fly away.' So saying he 
 unclosed his hand a little, on which the bird flew up 
 and settled upon a plantain leaf outside. At first the 
 boy was frightened, but comforted himself saying, 
 ' I do not think it can fly far. It is so small. Surely 
 I shall soon be able to catch it again." Then he ran 
 out and tried his best to do so, but the bird spread its 
 wings and flew away into the bush, where it was 
 hidden amid the dark trees so that the boy could not 
 follow. 
 
 " When the stepmother came back, she went straight 
 up to the cage and looked at it, but saw no bird. So 
 she asked, ' Where is the bird which I told you to 
 guard during my absence ? ' 
 
 " Tremblingly the small child answered, ' I did 
 not think that he could fly away, so I took him 
 out to see if he had yet learnt to move his wings ! ' 
 To this the cruel stepmother replied angrily, ' Go 
 out and recapture my bird. Without him do not 
 dare to come back to the house.' Shaking with fear 
 the little one answered, ' The bird has gone so far ! 
 I cannot catch it any more.' 
 
 " On this the stepmother seized him and beat 
 him very cruelly, hitting him on the side so that he 
 
 133 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 died. She did not want her husband to know tliat 
 she had killed his son, and therefore took the little 
 body and hid it under the bed. Then she began to 
 cook ' chop,' not knowing that a neighbour had 
 witnessed what she had done. 
 
 " When the husband came back from mimbo- 
 cutting he said : ' Bring " chop " ' : on which the 
 woman brought what she had prepared and placed 
 it before him. Then he said, ' Call my son to come 
 and eat with me.' She answered, ' The boy has 
 already eaten.' On this the man fell to. After 
 his hunger was a little satisfied he said, ' My son 
 always " chops " with me. Call the boy. I will not 
 finish without him ' : to which she replied, * He has 
 gone out to play.' So the husband said, ' Very well, 
 I will keep some of the food until he returns.' 
 
 " A long time passed and yet the boy did not come, 
 so the man asked further : ' Where is it that my son 
 has gone to play ? ' To this the wife answered, 
 * I do not know.' After waiting yet some time the 
 man said, * I must go myself to seek him.' So he 
 set out and searched all around, but could not find 
 the child. On his way back he saw the old neighbour 
 sitting by her door, and asked her, ' Have you seen 
 my son ? ' She answered, ' Have you asked your 
 wife ? ' To which he replied, ' Yes, and she told 
 me that he had gone out to play.' 
 
 " The old woman said, ' I heard what she said 
 to the boy about the bird which he let fly. Also I 
 watched her kill him and hide him under the bed. 
 Go, therefore, and look at the bottom of your wife's 
 bed and see what you find there.' 
 
 134 
 
Marriage Problems 
 
 " In silence the man did as she bade, and there 
 found the Httle dead form. Gently he carried it out 
 to his own room, then called to his wife and asked, 
 ' Who did this thing ? Whoever has done it must 
 wake up my son again for me.' The woman replied, 
 ' If you want to have the boy again, give back my 
 bird which he let fly.' 
 
 " On this the man sent to fetch his wife's father 
 and mother, that they might see what their daughter 
 had done to the dead woman's child. On their coming 
 they said, ' Never have we known such a thing as 
 this. Do, therefore, what you choose with the woman.' 
 
 " On that the husband turned to his wife and 
 asked, ' Can you give me back my son ? ' To this 
 she replied, ' Get back my bird, and perhaps I may 
 think of bringing back the child of the woman whom 
 I hated.' This so angered the husband that he 
 slew her. After which he went out to the bush 
 and hanged himself : for he did not care to live now 
 that his only child w^as dead, since there was none 
 to bury him or pour out the ghost offerings over his 
 grave." 
 
 A terrible revenge sometimes taken by discarded 
 wives upon husbands who have rejected them was 
 confided to me by an Efik woman. 
 
 " When a man took a dislike to his wife without 
 cause," she said, " he used to drive her forth from 
 his house, giving merely, as sufficient reason, that 
 he did not want her any more. Often the woman 
 would cling to him, praying that he would relent and 
 not send her away. Sometimes the neighbours, know- 
 ing her to be innocent of any fault, would come and 
 
 135 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 beg him to take her back. Should entreaties still 
 prove vain, in the olden days, unless she cared to 
 seek another husband, she had no course but to go 
 sadly away, alone and outcast ; since by marriage she 
 had lost all part or lot in her father's property, and 
 was no longer considered of her former family, but 
 as belonging only to that of her husband. Driven 
 thence, therefore, she was without refuge, alone and 
 empty of heart, for the husband kept all children whom 
 she had borne him." 
 
 In such a case the only way "to bring repentance 
 to her lover, and wring his bosom " was " to die " — 
 not alone, since that would have been but a matter 
 of indifference to her callous lord, but in such a way 
 as might indeed "wring his bosom." Evening after 
 evening, therefore, the outcast wife would creep round 
 the compound whence she had been thrust, waiting 
 until chance came to inveigle one of her own piccans 
 out from its sleeping-place. When she had succeeded 
 in this, she bore the little one down to the river, 
 and, standing on the brink, gazed out over the swift- 
 flowing water. Cold, deep and black, it swept by, 
 tenanted by crocodiles, water snakes and a hundred 
 unknown terrors ; yet to the outcast less terrible than 
 the life which would henceforth be hers. So with a 
 bitter cry she fell forward, as a log falls, the babe 
 tight clasped to her breast, and the cruel current 
 sucked them under, to be washed up, perchance, on 
 some far-off beach, or seen no more of men. 
 
 Next morning when the husband woke and found 
 his piccan gone he mourned for its loss, and, perhaps, 
 for its sake, cast a thought of regret to the woman 
 
 136 
 
Marriage Problems 
 
 whom he had driven away, wishing that he had been 
 less harsh, so that their child might still have played 
 in the sunshine. Then, when his turn came to cross 
 that other river, and wife and babe were found await- 
 ing him upon its farther shore, he might, it is thought, 
 be moved to kindliness and take her once more for 
 his own, so that she need no longer dwell husbandless 
 and deserted in the world of shadows. 
 
 Not long ago a case occurred in which a man, 
 grown weary of his wife, decided to put her away. 
 The woman could not bear to leave him, and as she 
 was young and pretty the pitying neighbours advised 
 her to dance once more before her husband. She did 
 so, and when the dance was ended and he still stood 
 unrelenting, ran and threw her arms about him, crying : 
 " I will not let you go ! I will not let you go ! " 
 Alas ! Her frail arms had no power to restrain the 
 errant fancy or bring back to her the lost affection of 
 her fickle lord. 
 
 137 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 LOVE PHILTRES AND MAGIC 
 
 ONE morning, just as we were leaving Okon 
 Ekkpo (Jamestown), a deputation of chiefs 
 came to lay a case of some interest before my 
 husband. The head wife of one of them had accused 
 a fellow wife of attempting to administer a " love 
 potion " to their common lord, the effect of which 
 would be to draw his affection from all others to the 
 giver alone. The potion had been bought from a 
 noted witch-doctor of the neighbourhood. In this case 
 the magician in question was a woman, young and 
 singularly attractive in appearance. 
 
 At first sight the crime did not seem very heinous, 
 but it transpired that love potions are by no means 
 harmless, since they contain small portions of a powerful 
 poison, repeated doses of which are said not only to 
 affect the brain and render _the recipient incapable 
 ^ , gf normal judgment^_but_even.to_ bring_death _ in Jthe 
 end. The principal ingredients in these philtres are 
 the^ hearts of chickens pounded up to a smooth paste, 
 tofTcther with leaves thought to contain magical quali- 
 ties. It is not without significance that among the 
 Ibibios, save when administered in " medicine " in- 
 tended to weaken the will or destroy the courage of 
 the recipient, the hearts and livers of chickens are 
 
 138 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 carefully avoided as food, since it is thought that 
 those Avho partake will become " chicken-hearted " 
 in consequence. 
 
 In order to render the charm efficacious it is 
 necessary to draw forth the soul of some person and 
 imprison it amid fresh-plucked herbs in an earthen 
 pot never before used. The vessel is then hung above 
 a slow fire, and, as the leaves dry up, the body of the 
 man or woman chosen for the purpose is said to 
 wither away. 
 
 In the present case, a fellow wife, Antikka by 
 name, was the victim chosen, and when my husband 
 asked whether any evil consequences had been thought 
 to result, the complainant drew forth the woman, 
 remarking : 
 
 *' Our District Commissioner can see for himself. 
 Formerly Antikka was a very fresh woman, plump 
 and beautiful. Now that her soul has been drawn 
 into the pot and withered by slow fire it is plain to 
 see that she has become dry and sapless." 
 
 The woman was very pale, of mixed blood, and 
 it was easy to see from her drawn face and terror- 
 stricken air that, however foolish such a story sounds 
 to twentieth-century ears, it was no idle tale to her. 
 
 In view of the importance attached to such cases 
 by no less an authority than Dr. Wallis Budge, of the 
 British Museum, it may be well to give the proceedings 
 in full. 
 
 During the course of the trial a fellow wife named 
 Ikwaw Eyo stated on oath : 
 
 " I was in my house when Ikwaw came and said, 
 * We are all three the wives of one husband. Let us 
 
 139 
 
 1^ 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 make medicine that our husband may not love his 
 other wife, Antikka.' Afterwards I went to him and 
 reported : ' Ikwaw has asked me to join her in preparing 
 a love philtre so that you will not be able to care for 
 any other wives.' 
 
 " Another time the same woman came to me and 
 said, ' Aret knows all about magic leaves.' After this 
 she asked me to come into the house where the 
 magician was, but when the latter saw me she said, 
 ' It is not a good thing to have called Ikwaw Eyo 
 into the presence of the medicine. She may tell her 
 husband about it.' 
 
 " All this also I reported, and told, too, that Aret 
 had bidden Ikwaw buy a little clay bowl in the market- 
 place of the value of four wires. This she did, and 
 later, when all was prepared, they asked me, ' Whose 
 soul do you think we should call into the pot ? ' I 
 answered, ' I do not know.' On this Aret said, 
 ' Let her alone. To-day we will grind the medicine 
 and afterwards we can settle whose soul it will be 
 best to call.' 
 
 " Next Ikwaw was sent out to get an egg. She 
 begged me to bring one also, and I went to Antikka 
 and asked her for one, which she gave, and I in turn 
 handed it to Ikwaw. Then Aret and she made the 
 medicine, and called Antikka's soul. Long they called, 
 very softly, and in words which I could not under- 
 stand. After a while they sent me out, bidding me 
 fetch some yellow ogokk powder, and on my return 
 Aret said, * We have alreadv called Antikka's soul 
 into the pot.' Ikwaw then begged Aret to call our 
 husband's soul also before the juju, but the medicine 
 
 140 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 woman said, ' If I should do this the soul of your 
 husband would go wandering, and he himself would 
 fall sick of his body.' 
 
 " Ikwaw told me that Aret had also stated, ' We 
 may not beat this medicine in one of the fu-fu mortars. 
 Should we do this the vessel could not be used again.' 
 Ikwaw then sent me to bring one of the old mats from 
 before Antikka's house. I refused, but afterwards 
 fetched one in secret from her own house instead of 
 that of Antikka. Aret gave me a piece of root to 
 hang up over my hearth, but Ikwaw advised her not 
 to let me have it, as should our husband come to my 
 house and see it hanging in the fireplace, he would 
 be sure to ask about it, and I should then very likely 
 tell him of the secret thing they had done. In my 
 presence Aret also said to Ikwaw : 
 
 " ' When you bring your husband water in which 
 to wash in the morning take a little of the liquid from 
 out the pot of medicine, and mix with the fresh water. 
 Also spread some upon the side of the bowl, and at 
 night before you go to lie in his bed, rub some of 
 this juju over your own arms, feet and neck.' 
 
 " Later Ikwaw bore the pot of medicine into her 
 bedroom and I went away, but that same day our 
 husband went to visit her. He saw the medicine and 
 carried it off to his house. Next day he called a meeting 
 of the chiefs, then summoned Aret and Ikwaw before 
 them and asked, ' What sort of medicine is this which 
 you liave been making ? ' They answered, 'It is a 
 love philtre' So the chiefs said that the case must 
 be brought to Court." 
 
 Ikwaw stated on oath : 
 
 141 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 " One day I asked Aret to come and give medicine 
 to my little daugliter who was sick. About this time 
 Eyo said to me, ' Akon Abassi, our fellow wife, is making 
 love philtres for our husband. That is why he loves 
 her more than us. Let us therefore find someone 
 who can make such medicine for us also.' 
 
 " I answered, ' I have no money ' ; but she said, 
 * I will bring some.' Later she brought five shillings, 
 which she asked me to give to Aret. I showed the 
 money to the latter, who said, ' I cannot accept it, 
 as I do not know why it is given.' Afterwards Eyo 
 came secretly to the back of my house and said, ' Arrange 
 with Aret about the love philtre.' Later I asked Aret 
 to come and see me again. We met Eyo outside the 
 door of my house. She asked Aret, ' Have you brought 
 the medicine ? ' Aret answered ' Yes.' Eyo questioned 
 further, * What must one do with it ? ' Aret replied, 
 ' Bring a fu-fu mortar.' This Eyo did. The magic 
 bark was laid in it, and at her request I beat this to 
 powder. When all was prepared I asked Eyo to take 
 the medicine to her house. She said, ' I cannot, because 
 no one is sick there, and should our husband see it 
 and ask the reason for my having it I should have 
 nothing to say in excuse.' " 
 
 Only a short time ago an epidemic of such " love 
 poisoning " was said to have broken out in Calabar, 
 and to have caused the death of many chiefs. 
 
 The following case in which a love philtre also 
 figures came before the Native Court at Awa on April 
 25th, 1913. In this the prosecutor, Ayana Etuk Udaw, 
 sworn, stated : 
 
 *' About a year ago I went to Ikot Etobo where one 
 
 142 
 
^- . ' % " * 
 
 A BREWER OF LOVE PHILTRES 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 Udofia Nwa by name told me that Akpan Nka had 
 asked him to make a medicine to give to my wife 
 Owo, so that she might leave me and go to him. Udofia 
 also said that he had given the medicine to Akpan Nka." 
 
 Udofia Nwa stated on oath : 
 
 " About a year ago the accused asked me to make 
 medicine for him. I inquired to whom he was going 
 to give it, and he said it was for the prosecutor's wife 
 Owo, to cause her to leave her present husband and 
 come to him. I made the medicine. Afterwards 
 prosecutor came to my country and I asked him if 
 his wife was still with him. He said, ' No, she has 
 gone away.' On hearing this I reported that the 
 accused had bought medicine from me with the in- 
 tention of taking the woman from him by this means. 
 First the accused had said that he wanted it for his 
 sister, and afterwards that it was for prosecutor's 
 wife." 
 
 The accused stated : 
 
 " About a year ago I asked the witness Udofia 
 Nwa to make a medicine for me. He asked to whom 
 I was going to give it, and I mentioned my sister, who 
 is living at Afia Nsitt. I wanted her to take the 
 medicine so that she should return to me and I should 
 then be able to give her in marriage to anyone whom 
 I chose. I did not mention the name of prosecutor's 
 wife, nor have I given medicine to the woman." 
 
 A third case in which a love philtre played a part, 
 came before the Court at Idua Oron. This time it 
 was a jealous mistress who sought to administer the 
 potion. The account is given by a woman well known 
 to all those concerned. 
 
 143 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 George Offong, a former Native Court clerk, had 
 married two Avives at his own town, Okatt. When 
 he was transferred to Idua as clerk of court, he met 
 an Oron woman named Emiene whom he induced to 
 come to his house. After a short time he sent to 
 fetch his two wives, and one came while the other 
 remained behind. Now the one who answered his 
 call was his best-loved wife, Etuk Udaw by name, 
 and before long it was clear to the Oron woman that 
 Offong cared far more for the new-comer than for 
 herself. This angered her, and she determined to 
 steal away his affection so that he might be led to 
 divorce his wife. 
 
 With this end in view she got together her most 
 valued possessions, and went to a famous witch-doctor 
 to purchase a love philtre. The necessary potion was 
 given, and she was instructed as to the rites to be 
 carried out in order to ensure its efficacy. For this 
 she had to go alone to a waste place, and there, hidden 
 from all eyes, carry out the prescribed ritual. While 
 thus engaged a friend of her lover chanced to pass 
 through the bush, near the spot which she had chosen. 
 Attracted by light and sound in so lonely a place the 
 man crept near and hid behind some trees, where 
 unseen and unsuspected, he could witness everything. 
 Only when the last rite was finished and the woman, 
 exhausted by the frenzy of her petition, lay prone upon 
 the ground did he steal away to tell Offong what he 
 had seen. In consequence both men made investi- 
 gations and succeeded in learning all that was to be 
 known. 
 
 Not till long after dark had fallen did Emiene creep 
 
 144 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 back to her lover's house. When she appeared before 
 him he charged her with the carrying out of evil rites 
 in order to turn his love away from Etuk Udaw and 
 transfer it to herself. She denied all knowledge of 
 this, saying, '^ J[ never did any such things" To this 
 Offong replied, " Tliere is a man w4io witnessed all 
 that you have done. Also we know from whom you 
 bought the medicine, and the price which you paid." 
 
 On hearing this Emiene said, " Send for this man 
 that I may know who accuses me." 
 
 When the witness came forward and told of the 
 very place where she had practised the charm, and 
 of all she had said and done there, as also the name 
 of the witch-doctor from whom the love philtre had 
 been bought, she realised that further denial was useless ; 
 so hung her head and said never a word. After the 
 accuser had gone the poor woman held out her arms 
 toward Offong and pleaded that what she had done 
 was but because it was hard to live in his house 
 day by day and see another woman preferred before 
 herself. She entreated, therefore, that he would for- 
 give her and let her stay on as before, but he 
 answered, " That cannot be. I must bring the matter 
 before court." 
 
 So this was done, with the result that the members 
 pronounced her guilty and sentenced her to three 
 months' imprisonment. 
 
 Afterwards Offong would never see her again. 
 
 Other magic rites in frequent use are practised 
 by jealous men or women to wither up the vital powers 
 of those who have fallen under their displeasure and 
 prevent such from the procreation of offspring. Such 
 
 T 145 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 a case happened not long ago and is thus related by 
 Udaw of Ikot Atako. 
 
 *' A woman of Ikot Akpan Udaw, by name Adiaha 
 Ntokk, was given by her parents in marriage to a 
 fellow townsman named Udaw Nka Nta. For some 
 years she lived quietly in her husband's house and 
 bore him two babes. Afterwards she grew weary of 
 him, and seeing another man who pleased her better, 
 said to Nka Nta : 
 
 " ' I am tired of you, and have seen a man whom 
 I like better. He is willing to repay the dowry which 
 you gave to my parents, so I shall leave you and go 
 to him.' 
 
 *' Now Nka Nta loved this woman with so strong 
 a passion that, because of it, he cared for no other 
 wife ; so he begged her not to leave him. She, how- 
 ever, only laughed at his entreaties, gathered together 
 her possessions, and prepared to go to the house of 
 her new lover. 
 
 " When Udaw Nka Nta saw that she had deter- 
 mined to leave him he went before the juju and made 
 sacrifice, calling upon the spirit to hear his prayer. 
 Then he came back and stood before the woman and said : 
 " ' Since you will no longer be my wife you shall 
 henceforth be barren. Never shall you bear a babe 
 to another man.' 
 
 " For the moment Adiaha Ntokk was startled, 
 but she soon rallied and answered with a laugh and a 
 toss of the head, * You are not Abassi to give or with- 
 hold children.' 
 
 " To this the man replied, ' I know very well that 
 of myself I have no power, but the spell I have wrought 
 
 146 
 
JUJU ITA BRINYAN 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 is a very strong one, and in time you will see whether 
 or no my words are vain. Once again I tell you, if 
 you leave my house for that of another you will never 
 bear piccan more.' 
 
 " In spite of this Adiaha persisted, and went to 
 her new lover. Yet the curse held, and though she 
 lived with him for several years, Eka Abassi sent no 
 babe to their hearth. 
 
 *' After a time the faithless wife again grew weary 
 and thought : ' I will seek out a new husband by whom 
 I may bear a child, since this one is of no use to me.' 
 So she married a third man, named Anam Okut, and 
 still lives at Afa Eket ; but the juju which her first 
 husband put upon her yet holds. Never a babe has 
 been born to her, and no new husband will take to 
 his house a wife so accursed." 
 
 Another method of bringing barrenness upon those 
 against whom a grudge is harboured came out in a 
 case heard at Idua Oron on July 14th, 1913. In this 
 a man, Ekpenyon by name, accused his wife Isong 
 Edigi Owo of invoking the great Mbiam juju, Ita 
 Brinyan, or as it is sometimes called Atabli Inyan, 
 against him. 
 
 The plaintiff stated on oath : 
 
 " Three weeks ago I gave my wife thirty wires 
 and asked her to go and buy fish and palm oil for me. 
 She took the wires, but when later I sent to ask for 
 what she had bought she answered that she had nothing. 
 I therefore went to her house and inquired why she 
 had not purchased the fish. First she would not speak, 
 then answered tliat she had only bought oil. I caught 
 hold of her and drew her out of the house, telling her 
 
 147 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 to go and buy the fish. She refused, whereupon I 
 pushed her and she prepared to fight me. I struck 
 lier and she caught hold of me ... so I threw her 
 down, and my other wife ran out to part us. After- 
 wards Isong Edigi went out and cut leaves, praying 
 that no other child might be born from me, and that 
 Ita Brinyan might kill me. To make the curse more 
 sure she washed a certain part of her body, then threw 
 • the water before my door, crying out that I must 
 never more become the father of a babe. She asserted 
 that while we were fighting I had wounded that part 
 of her, and that this was why she called upon the juju 
 against me." 
 
 Thereupon the Court asked accused : " Did you 
 hold the leaves in yoiu- two hands ? " 
 
 Answer : " Yes." 
 
 Question : " When a person holds leaves in both 
 hands and calls upon the name of Atabli Inyan, what 
 is meant ? " 
 
 To this the accused refused to reply, whereon one 
 of the Court Members, deputed to speak for the others, 
 rose and said : 
 
 " Atabli Inyan is the strongest of all Mbiams. 
 He dwells by the waterside and beneath the water. 
 Had the woman not meant to invoke this juju against 
 her husband she would not thus have held the leaves 
 in her two hands while calling upon his name." 
 
 Another case in which a magic potion figures came 
 up before the same Native Court on July 15th, 1913. 
 In this the plaintiff, Anwa Ese, stated : 
 
 *' Defendant went to a medicine man named Umo 
 Ekkpe, and asked for a juju which would kill me or 
 
 148 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 destroy my reason, so that he might be able to marry 
 my wife. The chiefs of our town questioned him about 
 the matter in the presence of several people and he 
 never denied it." 
 
 Abassi Anse, brother of plaintiff, sworn, stated : 
 
 " The accused went to Umo Ekkpe, to get a medicine 
 with which to kill my brother or make him mad, so that 
 the latter's wife should become his own." 
 
 Ekpenyong At a stated on oath : 
 
 " I heard that accused went to buy a love medicine 
 to give to complainant's wife in order that the woman 
 might love him." 
 
 Okon Udaw stated : 
 
 " I admit that I went to buy a medicine from 
 Umo Ekkpe, but it is only a love potion. It cannot 
 kill anyone. I wished to give the medicine to com- 
 plainant's wife, because I love her and do not know 
 whether she loves me or not." 
 
 Some Ibibio women know the secret of a " magic " 
 which will attract a husband's love to them alone, 
 and guard the thoughts of their lords from straying 
 to rivals. The following information was gleaned from 
 women informants, one of whom stated : 
 
 " A very famous medicine is one that is only known 
 to witches, and must be purchased at a great price 
 from a witch-doctor. This is never used save when 
 a woman has grown tired of her husband and wishes 
 to rid herself of him in order to marry another man. 
 It is a terrible potion which, once administered, goes 
 straight to the head and destroys all will-power, placing 
 the victim under the control of her who has administered 
 it. So soon as a man has eaten or drunk of the fatal 
 
 149 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 mixture the faithless wife has but to say ' Now go,' 
 and, no matter how strong, young or wealthy he may 
 be the husband must rise at once, and, abandoning 
 all his possessions and everything that life holds dear, 
 go straight down to the river, there to drown himself — 
 leaving his cruel witch-wife free to marry another man. 
 
 " Some men know how to make a medicine which 
 will turn to them the heart of any woman whom 
 they may desire, and also kill her former husband, 
 should she be married. Some possess the juju Ibokk 
 Ima, which they place in a little niche in the mud 
 wall above the lintel. To this object, which is usually 
 in the form of a ball made of twisted tie-tie, a cord 
 is fastened, and at night-time the man goes and pulls 
 it gently seven times, calling upon the name of the 
 woman and crying, ' Come ! I want you ! Come ! 
 I want you ! ' until she rises in sleep, even from her 
 husband's side, and is forced to go to the house of 
 the one who thus summons her. Arrived at the door, 
 still in her sleep, she knocks softly, and her lover 
 opens and leads her within. . . . When she goes 
 back to her husband next morning perhaps he will 
 ask her, ' Where have you been ? ' She is quite dazed 
 and knows not what to say, so to avert suspicion, usually 
 answers, ' I come from my mother's place.' " 
 
 A very old woman, strongly suspected of possessing 
 uncanny powers, said one day : 
 
 " The juju Ikoruben can make doors fly open 
 before a man at night-time so that such a one can 
 enter unseen and unheard, and bear off any sleeping 
 woman in his arms. Afterwards he can carry her 
 back in the same way, and the womao will never know 
 
 150 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 what has been done to her. Should she chance to 
 wake and find herself in a strange room she will cry, 
 * Where am I ; afar from my house, in that of a stranger ? ' 
 Usually, however, she falls asleep once more and does y / 
 not wake up again until she finds herself back in her , ' 
 own home. Then, if she tells anyone of the strange 
 dream which she had in the night, the friend in whom 
 she confides raises a warning finger and says, ' Hush ! 
 Tell no one ! It is the juju Ikoruben or Ibokk Ima I 
 that has taken you, and it is not good for your 
 husband to know of the matter.' " 
 
 The juju Etuk Nwan is also said to confer the power 
 of passing invisibly through locked doors and thus 
 entering houses at midnight. By its help men are 
 said to obtain the favours of women who had scorned 
 them by daylight, and also to steal whatever goods 
 they may happen to covet. Such a case was brought 
 before my husband in the Native Court at Oron, where 
 an Akaiya man was accused of having practised the 
 juju to the great loss of all his townsfolk. 
 
 In order to ensure efficacy for this particular 
 " magic " the presence of a confederate is needed. The 
 latter must stand outside the house which is about to be 
 burgled, holding in his hands the skull of a sheep or of 
 an " Ebett," sometimes called the " sleeping antelope." 
 Should the attention of the watcher be distracted, 
 or should he lay down the skull even for a moment, 
 the spell would be broken, and the thief, no longer 
 invisible, is liable to be seized. Stranw as such a 
 belief may seem, it is no more remarkable than that 
 which survived until lately in our own land, namely, 
 that a candle fastened into a hand cut from the body 
 
 151 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 of a murderer as it swung from the gallows-tree would 
 confer the same immunity upon burglars. It is some- 
 what singular that a belief similar to that of the Ibibios 
 obtains among Zulus, only with these latter the skull 
 of another species of antelope is used. 
 
 The secrets of all " invisible jujus " were thought 
 to have been confided to mortals by evil spirits, wliose 
 underground dwellings, according to local belief, are 
 entered through the curiously shaped ant-hills which 
 abound in this part of the world, and before which 
 small sacrificial bowls and other offerings may usually 
 be seen. 
 
 The origin of the " invisible juju " is given in the 
 following legend which, in a slightly different form, 
 was also found among the Ekoi. 
 
 '* Once, long ago, a hunter went out into the bush 
 to snare animals. He set his traps, and then climbed 
 up into a tree to watch for prey. Near the place 
 was an ant-hill, which in this part of the country is 
 supposed to be the home of evil spirits. 
 
 " While the hunter sat w^atching, safely screened 
 from view amid the branches, he saw seven such spirits 
 come out. They all wore human form, and one of 
 them bore a vessel full of juju. This he sprinkled 
 over himself and his six companions, rubbing it well 
 over all their bodies, until one by one they became 
 invisible ; but before quite fading away, the last of 
 them hid the bowl of medicine in a secret place. 
 
 " After a while the hunter climbed down, took 
 out the basin, rubbed its contents over himself, and 
 then, assured of invisibility, followed the spirits. 
 
 " The way led to the market-place, and arrived 
 
 152 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 there he saw the seven genii and they saw liim. They 
 wondered greatly how this ' earth child ' had become 
 possessed of the invisible juju, so they said to one 
 another, ' Let us go back and see whether our medicine 
 is safe.' 
 
 *' When these evil beings reached their home once 
 more they searched for the bowl of juju, but could 
 not find it. On this they grew very angry and threat- 
 ened to kill the hunter, who by now had hastened back 
 to his hiding-place in the tree. After searching a 
 long time the spirits looked up and saw him there. 
 Then they called out : 
 
 " ' Is it you who have stolen our medicine ? ' 
 
 " The hunter owned to having found the bowl, 
 whereon the evil beings said : 
 
 " ' If you will come down and give it back to us 
 we swear to give you a portion for yourself.' 
 
 " On this the man climbed down, took the vessel 
 from the place where he had hidden it, and gave it 
 back to its owners. The latter put a part aside for 
 him saying : 
 
 " ' This will confer great power upon you, for by 
 its use you may become rich. Only take care not to 
 use it too often, lest you should get into trouble.' 
 
 " Before re-entering the ant-hill one of the genii 
 turned toward the hunter and added : 
 
 " ' Should you tell anyone the secret of the medicine 
 or of its use we shall come for you and kill you.' 
 
 " The man promised to keep the secret, and went 
 home well pleased. After awhile he began to grow 
 rich, for by means of the invisible juju he could enter 
 into any house and steal whatsoever he chose. 
 
 u 153 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 " At last the townsfolk rose up, called a meeting 
 of chiefs, and asked : 
 
 " ' Whence does this man get all his cows, goats 
 and sheep, with money and many rich things, while 
 we grow poor through continual thefts ? ' 
 
 ** The chiefs called the hunter before them and 
 asked him to give the reason for his changed cir- 
 cumstances. At first he refused to reply, but they 
 said : 
 
 " ' If you do not answer we will put you to death.' 
 
 " On this the man feared greatly, and at length 
 confessed how he had become possessed of the power. 
 Hardly had he finished than he fell down dead." 
 
 There is a very efficacious way by which a woman 
 may enlist the help of the evil spirits who dwell within 
 ant-hills. This also is one of the woman's mysteries, 
 which must be carefully guarded from the knowledge 
 of man. In order to carry out the rites a woman 
 should go herself, or send a magician of her own sex, 
 hired for the purpose, at about the time of the full 
 moon. Then, standing so that her shadow falls upon 
 the mound, she must recite certain incantations proper 
 to the occasion. After awhile some small creature will 
 be seen to creep out near the base of the hill. This 
 must be caught and enclosed in a little receptacle 
 prepared in readiness. After binding it round with 
 strips of cloth, preferably white, it should be worn 
 beneath the garments, and will confer magical powers 
 upon its owner, both for good and ill. 
 
 Though far less elaborate, this rite is in some ways 
 like that by which Kcdah ladies seek to obtain pos- 
 session of that strange little familiar the *' pclsit," so 
 
 154 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 inimitably described in the fascinating pages of " In 
 Court and Kampong." * 
 
 *' Polong and pelsit are but other names for bajang, 
 the latter is chiefly used in the State of Kedah, where 
 it is considered rather chic to have a pelsit. A Kedah 
 lady on one occasion, eulogising the advantage of pos- 
 sessing a familiar spirit (she said that amongst other 
 things it gave her absolute control over her husband 
 and the power of annoying people who offended her), 
 thus described the method of securing this useful 
 ally : 
 
 " ' You go out,' she said, ' on the night before the [^ 
 full moon and stand with your back to the moon and 
 your face to an ant-hill, so that your shadow falls on 
 the ant-hill. Then you recite certain jampi (incan- 
 tations), and bending forward try to embrace your 
 shadow. If you fail try again seven times, repeating 
 more incantations. If not successful go the next 
 night and make a further effort, and the night after 
 if necessary — three nights in all. If you cannot then 
 catch your shadow wait till the same day on the follow- 
 ing month and renew the attempt. Sooner or later you 
 will succeed, and as you stand there in the brilliance 
 of the moonlight, you will see that you have drawn 
 your shadow into yourself, and your body will never 
 again cast a shade. Go home, and in the night, whether 
 sleeping or waking, the form of a child will appear 
 before you and put out its tongue ; that seize, and it 
 will remain while the rest of the child disappears. In 
 a little while the tongue will turn into something 
 that breathes, a small animal, reptile or insect, and 
 
 * Sir Hugh CliHord. 
 155 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 when you see the creature has Hfc put it in a bottle 
 and the pelsit is yours.' " 
 
 A still more gruesome recipe for securing this 
 familiar is to " go to the graveyard at night and dig 
 up the body of a first-born child whose mother was 
 also first-born . . . carry it to an ant-hill in the 
 open ground and there dandle it {di-timang). After 
 a little while, when the child shrieks and lolls its tongue 
 out {terjerlir lidah-nya) bite off its tongue and carry 
 it home. Then obtain a coco-nut shell . . . carry 
 it to a place where three roads meet, light a fire and 
 heat the shell till oil exudes, dip the child's tongue 
 in the oil and bury it in the heart of the three cross 
 roads {hati sempang tiga). Leave it untouched for 
 three nights, then dig it up and you will find that 
 it has turned into a pelsit." * 
 
 It is to propitiate the evil spirits which dwell 
 beneath ant-hills that little huts are so often built 
 above them, usually hung round with pieces of white 
 cloth or other votive offerings. 
 
 As in so many stories of white magic among the 
 ancients whether carried out with the object of ac- 
 quiring wealth, regaining health, or inducing victory 
 to crown a warrior's arms, the aid of a faithful wife 
 is necessary for the success of most charms. 
 
 One of the most fantastic of jujus is called " Kuku- 
 barakpa." There are many magic rites for the ob- 
 taining of riches, but that of the python (asaba) is 
 more powerful than all. 
 
 These magic creatures live in creeks or rivers, and 
 are credited, according to popular belief, with bearing 
 
 • Sir Hugh ClilTord, " In Court and Kampong." pp. 230 and 244. 
 
 156 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 a great shining stone in the head, much as was '* the 
 toad ugly and venomous " among ourselves not very 
 long ago. Many legends exist as to the power of this 
 gem, by virtue of which riches beyond the dreams 
 of avarice may be conferred upon those who enter 
 the " python affinity," or purchase a share in its magic. 
 People who long for wealth go to a juju man known 
 to possess familiars such as these, and bargain with 
 him for the sale of one. 
 
 The first step is to swallow a thread seven fathoms 
 long " as a sign of the animal." Later, a tiny pad, 
 in all save size like those which carriers wear upon 
 the head beneath their loads, must also be gulped 
 down. It is upon this little cushion that, when the 
 rites are over and the thread has become metamorphosed 
 into a snake, the reptile rests, "so as not to injure 
 the body of its owner by pressing directly upon it." 
 
 One rule must be strictly observed. The first 
 money gained " by the power of the snake " may not 
 be used directly for the enjoyment of its possessors, 
 but must be brought before the priest. Should this 
 rule be forgotten, the man who thus made too great 
 haste to be rich would die at once. Nothing could 
 save him. 
 
 It was confided to us that the full law of the juju 
 is as follows : The man who bears the snake within 
 him goes home and tells the matter to that one of 
 his wives whom he can trust above all others. Then 
 together they build a small " secret court " within 
 their compound entered by two doors, one of which 
 opens into the room set aside for the private use of the 
 husband, and the other into that of the trusted wife. 
 
 157 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 In the midst of the hidden court a great earthen 
 pot or bowl must be set filled with fresh spring water. 
 Into this the couple throw leaves, together with roots 
 and bark of magic potency, provided by the juju man 
 for the purpose. Afterwards, with the point of a spear, 
 a hole is driven through the bottom of the pot by 
 which the water that is within might sink into the 
 breast of Isong, our mother. Down and down it sinks, 
 making by magic a channel right through to the river- 
 side. 
 
 It is fatal to attempt to carry out this juju during 
 the time of storms ; for thunder and lightning would 
 render it of no avail. December, January and February 
 are the best months for carrying out the rites, since 
 that is the season of Isu Akariku, i.e. the Face of the 
 Fog. Beware of lightning, for Obumo is much to be 
 feared in matters of magic ; since he is a god very 
 jealous of all powers which seem as if seeking to rival 
 him in might. 
 
 When the pot has been placed in position during 
 calm weather in the midst of the hidden court, after 
 a hole has been driven through the bottom, the husband 
 must wait patiently until the hour of low tide. So 
 soon as this is reached he goes to his room, locks the 
 door by which it communicates with the secret place, 
 and sends all his " boys " away, saying, " Should 
 anyone ask for me tell them I am away from home." 
 Then he lays himself down upon his bed and falls into 
 a deep sleep, while his trusted wife stays on guard 
 by tlie magic pot, a fresh egg poised in her hand. 
 
 The woman may not lift her eyes from the bowl 
 even for a second. So soon as the tide turns water 
 
 158 () 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 begins to flow up and swirl round at the bottom. This 
 is, however, not yet the time for the magic to work. 
 At the exact moment of high tide, as the water rushes 
 through, for one instant the liead of a pytlion is seen 
 within the pot. At once she must fling the egg so that 
 it strikes the reptile. Then the water rises and rises 
 till it pours over the earthen rim and overflows the 
 whole yard. When the woman sees this, she knows 
 that her part is done for the time ; so slips softly 
 away into her room, where she locks the door and 
 lies down to sleep. 
 
 This juju can only be carried out by a loving and 
 faithful wife, for should the watcher at any time have 
 had another lover her thoughts would certainly turn 
 to him and she would miss the moment for throwing 
 in the egg ; in which case the husband would never 
 more wake from his sleep. Not till next morning may 
 the door of the secret court be opened. When this 
 is done it will be found full of thousands of wires or 
 brass rods, whichever may have been asked from the 
 juju, piled so high as to reach far up the walls, and 
 glinting in the early morning sunlight. 
 
 Before the treasure may be touched, magic leaves 
 must be pounded into a fine paste and mixed with 
 water. This medicine is called tisuk, i.e. disinfectant, 
 and should be sprinkled over the gift, to destroy all 
 evil influences which might otherwise attach to wealtli 
 gained in so strange a way.* Even so, after the 
 '' first fruits " have been borne as an offering to the 
 
 * Cf. the Malay custom of sprinkling " tcpong tawar," which properly 
 means " the neutralising rice-dour water," neutralising being used almost in 
 a chemical sense, i.e. in the sense of " sterilising " the active element of poisons. 
 A. E. Crawley. " Mystic Rose," p. 326. 
 
 159 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 priest, the actual wires or rods should not be used in 
 direct purchase of anything for the personal use of 
 those who have wrought the spell. As soon as possible 
 the new treasure should be exchanged for coins or 
 produce, which can then safely be bartered for what- 
 ever is desired. 
 
 Some time ago a well-known chief of Calabar was 
 said to have obtained considerable wealth in this 
 fashion. He was careful to warn his wives not to 
 enter his room, or, at any rate, to take nothing thence. 
 One of them, however, chanced to peep within and 
 saw a heap of money lying in one of the corners, new 
 and shining. The temptation was too strong, so she 
 concealed a certain sum at the bottom of her market- 
 basket and set out. 
 
 It happened that a great catch of crayfish had been 
 brought in by the fisher-folk that day. The sight 
 tempted the woman, and she bought a plentiful supply, 
 which she took home, cooked, and set before her 
 husband. All unknowing he ate of the dish, but no 
 sooner had the first mouthful passed his lips than 
 he felt the juju seize him, and at once knew what had 
 happened. He cried aloud to the woman who had 
 served him so ill : " What have you done ? You 
 have disobeyed the word which I spoke, and now I 
 must die for your fault." Hardly had he finished 
 speaking when he fell down dead. 
 
 My informant is a man for whom we have the 
 highest esteem. Strange as it may appear he believed 
 absolutely in the truth of every word which he related. 
 The man whose death has just been described was a 
 great friend of his, and one of his own " age class " — 
 
 160 
 
Love Philtres and Magic 
 
 an association of those born within a few years of 
 one another, the members of which hold together 
 " closer than a brother." He finished his story very 
 sadly : 
 
 " There is a man in the Kamerun to whom all 
 such magic is known. He offered to teach my favourite 
 brother the rites necessary in order to make him very 
 rich. The latter came to me and said, * If you will 
 join with me in this business I will gladly enter upon 
 it, but I fear to do such a thing alone.' " 
 
 To this our informant answered, " If it were now 
 as in the old days, how gladly I would do so ! As it 
 is, I fear too much to enter upon any such thing, for 
 to-day our wives are light of mind and unstable of 
 heart, looking always here and there, from one man 
 to another. Of all my wives there is none upon whom 
 I can lean in full trust. The old order has passed 
 away, giving place to new, and should I lay me down 
 depending upon a wife's faithfulness, there would be 
 but little chance of ever again awakening." 
 
 It is hard to forget the sadness of the patient voice 
 as it uttered these words — not complainingly, but 
 merely as stating a fact beyond human power to 
 remedy. 
 
 ♦^ 
 
 16C 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 WITCHCRAFT 
 
 AS with ourselves in the Middle Ages, and, to the 
 , best of my belief, among all native tribes, 
 there are more witches than wizards in Ibibio land; 
 partly because there are more women than men, and 
 should she have children a witch always passes her 
 wicked knowledge on to one of her daughters, usually 
 to the youngest born ; partly also because it would 
 appear easier for women to place themselves en rapport 
 with the powers of the unseen world. 
 
 When a witch is either unwed or barren, she gener- 
 ally seeks out some child whom she may initiate into 
 her secrets. For this purpose she inveigles some little 
 one into her house and sets before it " chop " such 
 as children love, in which " witch medicine " has been 
 mixed. Several cases in which parents have charged 
 suspected persons with putting witchcraft potions 
 into their children's food were brought before my 
 husband in the Native Courts. One such occurred 
 just before we left Oron. The witch, a barren woman, 
 famous for her knowledge of drugs, was accused of 
 having administered " medicine " to a small boy in a 
 dish of plantains mixed with palm oil. The magic 
 having entered into him had caused him, against his 
 will, to sally forth at night and join the unholy revels 
 
 162 
 
 i 
 
d 
 
 A JUJU WHICH PROTECTS A FAMILY FROM WITCHCRAFT 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 of a witch company. How such things are brought 
 about is told in the conclusion of the story of Ekpenyong 
 and Adiaha, the first part of which was given on 
 pp. 101-6. It thus continues : 
 
 " Now when the enemy of Ekpenyong had consulted 
 with the latter's discarded wife as to how the power 
 of the guardian juju might be satisfied, she thought 
 for a long time and then said : 
 
 *' ' This juju is a very strong one and would surely 
 kill any of us who are possessed by witchcraft should 
 we try to enter the house in order to harm those within. 
 The safest way, therefore, is to seek to put witchcraft 
 into one of the children. Then, when the latter has 
 joined our company, we can send him to do our work, 
 for the juju will not harm such a one, seeing that he 
 is of the house. Let us therefore choose out the 
 youngest for this service, and having invited Ekpenyong 
 and all his family to a feast, mix witchcraft medicine 
 with the portion of his last born.' 
 
 " To this the wicked chief agreed, and sent to beg 
 Ekpenyong to bring Adiaha and all their children to 
 visit his house. Now, the youngest of the family 
 was named Offong, and for him at the feast a fine 
 portion was set aside, in which beforehand a strong 
 medicine had been mixed. Nothing was noticed at 
 the time. The guests ate with enjoyment, and after- 
 wards went home well pleased. 
 
 " A few nights later the wicked chief changed iiimself 
 by evil enchantment into the form of a night bird, 
 and flew hooting round the compound where Offong 
 lay sleepless, for it was impossible for him to rest, 
 because of the strange thing which had entered into him. 
 
 163 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 '* ' Come out,' hooted the evil bird. ' Come out, 
 and join those who are awaiting you.' 
 
 " On this the witchcraft that was within the boy 
 drove him forth, and to his astonishment he saw a 
 great crowd of people before the house flitting hither 
 and thither in the light of the moon. He cried out 
 in surprise at sight of such a multitude, but the bad 
 chief cautioned him never to tell anyone of what he 
 was about to witness. Then all went together, not 
 walking upon the ground, but floating a few feet above, 
 imtil they reached a great cleared space in the bush, 
 such as Offong had never seen before. In the midst 
 of it was a cauldron simmering over a fire, and into 
 this from time to time, to the lad's horror, gobbets of 
 human flesh were thrown by one or other of the witch- 
 company. After all had danced awhile in the light of 
 the flame, they seated themselves in a great circle and 
 the contents of the pot were distributed among them. 
 To Offong was given a large piece of flesh and some 
 yam. He ate the latter, but concealed the former, 
 which he took home, placed in his mother's ' smoking 
 basket,' and then hung over the fire. 
 
 " The poor boy dared not speak to anyone of what 
 he had seen, but went in terror of his life, fearing lest 
 any should notice the strange change that had befallen 
 him ; for, whenever the witches were playing, no 
 matter how much he strove to stay in the house, the 
 witchcraft that was within him carried him through 
 locked door or wall-chink to the meeting-place, with- 
 out so much as foot set to ground. 
 
 " Every time that he was thus summoned a feast was 
 held, and each time Offong hid his share of the human 
 
 164 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 flesh as before. All through the night they danced, 
 from nightfall to cock-crow, but just before dawn- 
 break the unhappy boy always found himself once 
 more safe in bed. By day he went in terror among 
 his own kin ; for, whenever Ekpenyong called his family 
 together to make sacrifice before the juju which pro- 
 tected the household from evil powers, Offong feared 
 that the spirit would catch him on account of 
 the witchcraft that was within him. When, there- 
 fore, the others crowded round to join in the sacrifice, 
 he kept to the outskirts of the circle, trembling lest 
 what had befallen him should be revealed. 
 
 " Thus many moons passed, till at length one night 
 the wicked chief said that it was now Offong' s turn to 
 provide a man for the feast. Shaking with terror 
 the boy pleaded that he was too young to have men 
 at his disposal, and that, indeed, he had no one to 
 give. 
 
 " On this the evil beings rose gibbering around him, 
 and with harsh voices and menacing hands cried that 
 he must bring father, mother, brother or sister for 
 them to devour; else, should he fail to do so, they 
 would rend him in pieces and fling him into the pot. 
 " Offong knew not to whom to turn in his trouble, 
 but at length decided to tell all to Akpan, his eldest 
 brother, by whose side he slept at night. To him, 
 therefore, amid bitter tears, he confided how he had 
 been drawn into the witch-company against his will, 
 and forced to attend meetings where human beings 
 were devoured, although up till that time no morsel 
 of the accursed food had passed his own lips. 
 
 " At first Akpan could not believe so strange a tale, 
 
 165 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 but Offong went out and brought in proof the meat 
 which he had concealed and preserved in his mother's 
 drying basket. When the elder brother had examined 
 this he could no longer doubt, but comforted the boy 
 as best he could, bidding him seem to consent to the 
 demand of those evil beings, and plead for a few 
 days' grace in which to provide a victim. Then he 
 himself went out to a lonely place in the bush and 
 sat down to consider the matter. After thinking 
 for awhile he decided to seek out the juju man to 
 whom his father had gone before his own birth. At 
 once he set forth, and after marching for many miles 
 reached the dwelling of this wise adviser. After laying 
 the whole trouble before him, the suppliant was given 
 a medicine so strong that no evil thing could with- 
 stand its power. 
 
 " Armed with this, Akpan returned home and bade 
 Offong go to the head of his witch-company and say 
 that he was now ready to sacrifice his elder brother, 
 but, as he himself was too small to carry so heavy 
 a body to the meeting-place, he begged that the chief 
 himself would come at the head of the witch folk 
 to bear it away. To this all gladly consented, sus- 
 pecting nothing. 
 
 " Then Akpan strewed the strong medicine upon 
 the ground and made sacrifice to the guardian juju, 
 by which its power was increased, so that when at 
 nightfall the evil creatures gathered round the com- 
 pound, the charm held them and they could not fiee 
 away. 
 
 " At break of dawn the lads woke their father and 
 l)ade him come forth with all his family. There, 
 
 166 
 
:'l.i''-i:< 
 
 GULLY DOWN WHICH THE SUSPECTED WITCH WAS THROWN 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 before the house, the witches were found naked and 
 trembhng. No sooner did these perceive that their 
 evil nature could no longer be hid than they 
 started screaming like bats and ill birds of night, 
 running round and round seeking a hiding-place, yet 
 could not escape because the juju held them. Then 
 Ekpenyong beat upon the great drum, and summoned 
 all the townsfolk together, and they bound those 
 evil creatures, both witches and wizards, and dragged 
 them forth to the juju house. There they sat in 
 judgment and pronounced sentence that all the 
 witch company should be burnt to death save their 
 chief alone. Him they bound to a tree, and, while 
 still alive, tore small pieces from his body, which 
 they roasted before his eyes, then forced him to eat, 
 crying : 
 
 " ' Because he was more evil than all the others 
 and has devoured the flesh of many innocent people, 
 now he shall eat his own meat ! ' 
 
 " After awhile he also died in great agony. Since 
 that day the townsfolk have shunned the spot, for 
 in the tree to which he was bound night birds have 
 made their nests and may often be heard hooting and 
 crying through the darkness with ill-boding voices." 
 
 Many witchcraft rites are carried out by jealous 
 fellow-wives, and especially by barren women in order 
 to steal away the babe which a rival is about to bear. 
 The means to this end are carefully guarded secrets, 
 but several such cases were related to me by women 
 informants, and the following may perhaps be quoted 
 as typical : 
 
 " A barren wife says to herself, ' Why should 
 
 167 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 I have this pain at my heart because our husband 
 gives his love and his gifts to another woman ! Why 
 have I no piccan to hold in my arms while this other 
 has already borne a babe and is about to bear again ? ' 
 " Then the unhappy woman goes to a powerful 
 witcli-doctor, usually some ancient crone who has 
 grown old in the study of secret things such as these. 
 There she buys a strong medicine, and at night-time 
 enters into the room where her happy rival sleeps 
 by the side of their common husband. By magic 
 arts she draws out the ' dream body ' of the piccan, 
 and bears it off to the bush, where a company of 
 witches, brought thither by the witch-doctor, are 
 waiting to devour it. Witches by their magic can 
 feed upon the essence of things, leaving the tangible 
 forms apparently unaltered. Next morning the babe 
 lies dead within the womb, because it has no soul. 
 Then the mother begins to cry * Who killed my piccan ? ' 
 The barren woman sits in her house laughing low to 
 herself, and her rival hears her laughter. 
 
 " After the small dead body has been laid in the 
 ground beneath the earthen bowl which custom has 
 decreed for such burials, the bereaved woman goes 
 in her turn to a juju man and asks ' Who killed my 
 piccan ? ' He is almost sure to know the circum- 
 stances, and usually answers, * If a barren woman 
 dwells in your house she it is who stole your babe's 
 dream shape to devour so that the child died.' 
 
 '* Then the mother comes home and goes round 
 the compound perpetually wailing, ' Who killed my 
 piccan ? Let whosoever did this come before mr ! ' 
 " No one answers. So she walks up and down, 
 
 168 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 to and fro, before the door of her rival, continually' 
 calling, ' Who killed my piccan ? ' At length the 
 witch-wife grows weary of the constant repetition, and 
 asks, * You speak to me ? ' Whereon the mother, 
 pointing against her an accusing arm, replies, * You 
 killed my piccan ! " 
 
 " Whenever they meet the accusation is repeated 
 until at lengtli the witch-wife can bear it no more, 
 so she takes money and goes to the Native Court, or 
 before the chiefs, saying, ' Stop this woman from 
 asking about the death of her babe/ Whereon they 
 answer, ' If you are guiltless, why should you try to 
 prevent her from crying ? ' Often a husband thus 
 learns who it is who has killed his unborn child, and 
 casts out the barren woman from his house." 
 
 One evening just as dusk was falling, one of my 
 women informants began of her own accord, to speak 
 of the behef in a ghoul, or elemental, whose principal 
 object it is to destroy babes in the womb. She spoke 
 in a low, nervous voice, glancing furtively every now 
 and then over her shoulder into the deepening shadows, 
 as though she feared that some evil thing might be 
 lurking within them, ready to spring forth and punish 
 her for revealing so dread a secret. To quote her 
 words : 
 
 " There is a kind of devil which never sleeps at 
 night time nor is seen by day. In the depths of the 
 bush or in waste places he may be met gleaming from 
 out the darkness with a pale light, but should one see 
 him it is best to flee away lest one die of terror. 
 
 " At first he seems no taller than a man, but after 
 awhile he swells and grows very big, as if made of 
 w 169 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 smoke which rises higiier and higher, and through 
 which at times flames can be seen to gleam. I myself 
 once saw such a one in the bush near Ndiya. There 
 was a light amid the trees and I asked my companion, 
 ' What is that ? ' But he answered, ' Let us run. 
 It is the evil thing seeking unborn babes.' So we 
 fled. 
 
 " After the smoke body has grown so high and 
 broad that it reaches even to the tops of the great 
 cotton trees, the spirit can condense at will till it be- 
 comes so small that it can creep through the narrowest 
 door-cranny or wall-chink. 
 
 " When a woman lies sleeping with a babe near 
 birth beneath her heart, this devil enters softly, 
 softly, in the night time when all is very still. He 
 draws from her that which was within, and bears it 
 into the depths of the bush to devour in part, and 
 partly to make a strong medicine from which his evil 
 power is obtained. 
 
 " The woman sleeps on and knows nothing oT 
 the loss which has befallen her, but when she wakes 
 at dawn pain rends her. Afterwards she finds out 
 her misfortune, so her heart is very sore." 
 
 At Ikotobo some time ago a man died under strong 
 suspicion of having perished as the result of a spell 
 wrought by a woman of the same town. The dead 
 man's friends sallied forth and captured the supposed 
 witch. They bound her by strong ropes round wrists 
 and ankles, then bore her forth to a place in the bush 
 where there is a deep gully, shouting at intervals, 
 *' Abassi will punish you for what you have done ! 
 You are going to die to-day ! " 
 
 170 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 When the top of the bank from which they meant 
 to throw their captive was reached, they made her 
 call upon the name of Abassi, saying, " If I killed the 
 man of whose death I am accused, may I die also ! 
 If I did not do so, may Abassi save me ! " 
 
 After this, bound and helpless as she was, they 
 flung the woman down the steep bank, watching till 
 the bush closed over and hid her from sight. Then 
 all went home again, saying that they had rid their 
 town of an evil thing. Next morning, however, as 
 they went on their way to farm work, lo ! the same 
 woman was seen going quietly about her house as if 
 nothing had happened. 
 
 Then all the people rejoiced, saying, " This was no 
 witch. She is cleared from all guilt. Abassi has 
 helped her, as she prayed, therefore she is proved 
 blameless." 
 
 Here, as in most parts of the world, the task of 
 weaving evil spells is greatly simplified to witch and 
 wizard if something closely connected with the in- ^' 
 tended victim can be secured. Such things are laid 
 before the shrine of some bad juju, while prayer is 
 made that the spirit will follow the trail of him to 
 whom the relic belongs and destroy him utterly. 
 
 This course was much resorted to in the old days 
 to prevent the escape of slaves, for many who would 
 have run the risk of capture by their earthly masters 
 dared not face the dread of being " caught " by the 
 juju, upon whose shrine a lock of hair, nail parings, 
 or a rag from a long- worn cloth had been laid as an 
 aid to possible tracking. 
 
 An excellent example of the power attributed to 
 
 171 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 such things is given in Dr. Haddon's *' Magic and 
 Fetishism " : 
 
 *' The potency of the hair," he says, *' is shown 
 in the behefs about the long, narrow beaded band 
 wliich is used to tie up the hair of a Musquakie woman. 
 This, though a tahsman when first worn, becomes 
 something infinitely more sacred and precious, being 
 transfused with the essence of her soul; anyone gain- 
 ing possession of it has her for an abject slave if he 
 keeps it, and kills her if he destroys it. A woman 
 will go from a man she loves to a man she hates if 
 he has contrived to possess himself of her hair string ; 
 and a man will forsake wife and children for a witch 
 who has touched his lips with her hair string. The 
 hair string is made for a girl by her mother or grand- 
 mother, and decorated with a ' luck pattern,' it is also 
 prayed over by the maker and a Shaman." 
 
 An almost identical belief clings round the long, 
 plaited bags w^hich we found among the women of the 
 Banana tribe on the Logone river, in French Central 
 Africa. For each girl babe one such is woven by 
 her mother or grandmother, and with it her life's 
 thread is thought to be mysteriously linked. No 
 bribe would induce a living woman to part with one, 
 since with its departure her soul must leave her, but 
 we were fortunate enough to purchase several which 
 had belonged to dead members of the tribe. 
 
 A curious superstition concerning rags as an in- 
 strument of witchcraft was confided to me by an Ibibio 
 woman, on the usual pledge that under no circumstances 
 should her name be disclosed, for this also is among the 
 women's mysteries which no man may learn. 
 
 172 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 " When one of us hates a rival very bitterly," 
 said my informant, " she desires above all things 
 either to take the life of her enemy or render her barren. 
 One of the surest ways of bringing this about is to 
 touch the body of the intended victim with a piece 
 from an old cloth long worn by one now dead, or if 
 that should be found impossible, to lay some fragment 
 of such a cloth among the garments or utensils used 
 by the woman whom it is sought to injure, or to bury 
 it just beneath the surface in some spot over which 
 she is sure to tread." 
 
 A kindred belief as to the power of such rags to 
 inflict the curse of sterility is recorded from our own 
 northern climes. To quote Dr. Haddon, " In Germany 
 and Denmark ... to hang rags from the clothing 
 of a dead man upon a vine is to render it barren." * 
 
 Such beliefs are hardly to be wondered at when 
 one considers that the dread of witchcraft is still so 
 powerful in out of the way parts of the British Isles, 
 that people suspected of having entered into league 
 with the powers of evil are even now occasionally 
 done to death. Comparatively recently, too. Father 
 Praniatis, the '' expert " called in to give evidence 
 in court during the Beiliss trial at Kieff, calmly stated 
 " That there was perhaps more witchcraft in the 
 twentieth century than there had been in the Middle 
 Ages." 
 
 Many superstitions which show a strong family 
 likeness to those of the West Coast of Africa are still 
 rife among us. In 1913, for instance, a verdict of 
 manslaughter was returned at the Ulster Assizes against 
 
 ♦ " Magic and Fetishism." 
 173 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 a man named Thomas Flynn, who had been charged 
 with the murder of John Prior near Ballyconnell, 
 County Cavan. Upon the neck of the corpse were 
 found two gashes inflicted after death, in consequence 
 of the superstition that were such wounds made upon 
 the body of a man killed by accident, his ghost would 
 not be able to return to plague those responsible for 
 his death. 
 
 Among the Ibibios, also, elaborate precautions are 
 taken to prevent the return of ghosts. Before burial 
 the bodies of those suspected of witchcraft have nose, 
 mouth, eyes and ears filled with native pitch extracted 
 from a cactus thought to be an object of dread to 
 beings possessed by evil powers. 
 
 More particularly do widows who have been con- 
 soled for the loss of their husbands, or such as had 
 wished to be freed from the marriage yoke, fear the 
 return of the shades of former spouses. 
 
 " Young men cut off before their time," so one of 
 my women informants explained, " are often forced 
 to leave their ' best wife ' behind." To quote her 
 words, spoken in quaint, halting English : 
 
 " The dead husband loved his wife so kind that 
 he did not want to leave her in this world, since with- 
 out her he was very lonely among the ghosts. So he 
 strove to kill her that she might follow him to Ohio 
 Ekkpo," i.e. the Ghost Town. 
 
 When the thoughts of a widow have already turned 
 to another wooer she is terrified lest the spirit of her 
 former husband should return and seek to draw her 
 after him to the ghost realm. Should she have reason 
 to suppose that such is the case, she goes to an Idiong 
 
 174 
 
Witchcraft 
 
 man who has a great reputation for second siglit. 
 By his advice, " chop " is cooked and placed in one 
 corner of her room. The priest takes up a position 
 immediately before this, and stands calling upon the 
 name of the ghost. Close to the place where the 
 food is laid some member of the family crouches, hold- 
 ing a strong pot, preferably of iron, tilted forward 
 ready to invert over the one in which the food is 
 served. When the Idiong man makes p sign that 
 the ghost is busy eating, and that, in enjoyment of 
 the feast, the latter has temporarily forgotten to look 
 after his safety, the second pot is clapped over the 
 first, and both are then bound firmly together, thus 
 keeping the spirit imprisoned between. 
 
 If, on the contrary, a widow loved her husband 
 very much, she will cook " chop " for him after his 
 death and place it secretly in a corner of her room so 
 that his spirit may be induced to return and enjoy it. 
 
 >/ 
 
 175 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 JUJUS 
 
 OF jujus there are two kinds, good and bad. 
 The former are usually termed idemm by 
 Ibibios and ndemm by Efiks, while the latter are 
 called mbiam. By a queer turn of native thought 
 all, or nearly all — for in spite of careful inquiry many 
 details were probably concealed from us — idemms 
 would appear to have female attributes, and most 
 of these beneficent jujus bear the additional title 
 " Bestower of Babes " ; yet no authenticated example 
 of an idemm priestess has reached our ears. The 
 cult would appear to be served only by men. Of 
 mbiam priestesses, on the other hand, the names of 
 several could be given, though it is better not to do 
 so, since the greater number of these appear as far as 
 possible to seek to conceal their identity from the 
 males of the tribe. To them, however, go women in 
 trouble, especially those who wish to invoke the aid 
 of the juju to remove a successful rival from their 
 path, or inflict the curse of barrenness upon a more 
 favoured fellow wife. Such a case came before the 
 Native Court when a woman, Unang Obo by name, 
 accused one Teahri of invoking vihimn against lier. 
 In the course of the evidence Esc Efiom, sworn, stated : 
 '' I am an mbiam priestess. The defendant never 
 
 176 
 
« • 
 
 LEAF "IMAGE," IN A JUJU "PLAY 
 (^From photograpU hy R. Rav, Esq.) 
 
Jujus 
 
 came to me to ask me to invoke mbiam on Unang Obo. 
 The accused and other women came to the juju house 
 and took an mbiam drum to beat round the town, 
 calHng people to assemble and give reason why a 
 calabash was broken." 
 
 This last-mentioned action was usually taken by a 
 wife who wished to divorce herself from her husband 
 on the ground that he was keeping a woman who 
 had already borne twins as wife or sweetheart. A 
 calabash, or native pot, is always regarded as the 
 feminine symbol, as is a spear that of the opposite 
 sex. To break a calabash, therefore, signifies that a 
 woman no longer regards herself as the wife of the 
 man to whom she has hitherto been married. 
 
 Another example of this custom came before the 
 Native Court at Ikotobo, in which the plaintiff stated : 
 
 " Defendant is my husband. I had no son. After 
 he married me one of his wives took an empty calabash 
 and ran round the market beating it with her hands, 
 and shouting, ' My husband has married this woman, 
 therefore I have nothing more to do with him.' By 
 our custom, if the old wives were not satisfied with 
 a new one whom their husband brought to the house, 
 they used to proclaim publicly, * My husband has 
 married such a woman. I will have nothing more 
 to do with him ' —knocking at the same time upon 
 the calabash. As she beat it she cried, ' The new 
 wife has already borne twins,' after which she went 
 away. Last year, however, she came back and was 
 his wife once more. On that I told defendant to 
 divorce me, but he replied, ' I cannot do so.' Some 
 time later he wished to become a member of the Idiong 
 X 177 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Society, and I liclpcd him to gather together the entrance 
 money, but after the ceremonies were over he said, 
 ' I can no longer be your husband.' 
 
 " Then, on account of the money which I had given 
 him, I refused to go away, but he said, ' I am now a 
 member of Idiong, and if you do not leave me Idiong 
 himself will kill you.' At that time there were several 
 Court Messengers present. I said, ' First you must 
 pay me back what I gave to help you join this 
 society ' ; but my husband said, * You must keep your- 
 self for the future, for if you do not go away from 
 me you will certainly die.' 
 
 " In revenge for this treatment the woman went 
 to an mhiam priestess and bought a bottle of juju 
 medicine, which she buried in the yard, believing that 
 this would bring about the death of her husband 
 and that of her rival." 
 
 Beside its functions as giver of babes and bestower 
 of prosperity on farm and byre, an idemm juju is 
 thought to exercise a beneficent influence not only 
 upon its worshippers, but even upon their descendants 
 to the third and fourth generation, should such be 
 reduced to poverty. 
 
 A story illustrating this gentler aspect of juju 
 worship is told of a man named Akpan Adia Agbo, 
 of Ikot Akpan, who died some fifteen years ago. While 
 yet a small boy he had the misfortune to lose both 
 his parents, first his father and then his mother, and 
 was left with nothing to eat and none to care for him. 
 When he went round to the houses of the townsfolk 
 they drove him away, so he crept off by himself and 
 slept in the Egbo shed. At dawn each day he left 
 
 178 
 
Jujus 
 
 his sleeping- place lest he should be driven forth, and 
 went out searching for something to eat. 
 
 When he came to the place where the juju offerings 
 were laid before the shrine, sometimes a small chicken, 
 and sometimes a few plantains were to be found. 
 
 Now his parents had been pious people who had 
 always given of their best to the juju. Before the 
 mother died she had gathered together all that she 
 iiad and offered it as a last sacrifice, praying that 
 the spirit might protect her son and be to him as a 
 mother, since there was none other to care for him. 
 So the boy took what he found and ate fearlessly, 
 cooking the food in a secret place, and trusting that 
 the juju would do him no harm for the theft. 
 
 For several years he lived thus, but at length a 
 sister of his dead father, who some years before 
 had married and gone to a distant town, came back, 
 and finding the boy deserted, took him to her home. 
 
 There she fed him well, and showed him every kind- 
 ness, but when he was grown up the longing came 
 to go back to his own people. So the woman said, 
 ** Very well, if you are able to feed yourself you can 
 
 go." 
 
 On reaching his native town the lad asked to be 
 shown the place where his father's mimbo farm was. 
 When the people saw how big and strong he had grown 
 they agreed to do as he wished, and led him thither. 
 At once he began to cut mimbo, and they found that 
 his palm trees bore sap more plentifully than those 
 of all the other townsfolk. He sold the wine for a 
 good price, and with the money bought goats and 
 sheep. These latter bore kids and lambs in great 
 
 179 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 abundance, so that he soon grew rich and was able to 
 marry a wife strong and tall, who bore him many piccans. 
 
 Whatever he undertook succeeded, so that those 
 who had driven him forth as a boy began to come 
 under him, and in the end he became head chief of 
 Ikot Akpan. In his house dwelt threescore wives, 
 and sons and daughters so numerous that he never 
 counted them. All this prosperity came to him because 
 the juju helped him, and blessed everything that he 
 did from the time when he was lonely and deserted 
 and had no sustenance save that which he took from 
 the sacrifices. 
 
 A very different story, embodying the attributes 
 more usually connected with the idea of juju worship, 
 was told us by Idaw Imuk, half-brother of the head 
 chief and most famous juju priest of the town where 
 the events are said to have taken place. It may 
 perhaps be called : 
 
 An Ibibio Iphigenia. 
 
 " In the old days there was a very famous juju at 
 Idua Eket. The name of this was Edogho Idua, and 
 it was the dominant juju for many miles round. 
 
 " Only a little time before Government came to our 
 country, one of the principal chiefs of Idua, Ukpon 
 by name, wanted to join the cult, for the spirit 
 was said to be strong to protect, and rich to bestow 
 blessings upon its worshippers, as well as swift to 
 avenge wrongs done them by enemies. In prepara- 
 tion for the initiatory feast many goats were brought, 
 oows also, with yams and plantains innumerable ; 
 palm wine too and all that is necessary to make glad 
 
 180 
 
Jujus 
 
 the hearts of guests. So soon as everything was in 
 readiness Ukpon sent round to all the countryside 
 to bid the people come and rejoice with him over his 
 entry into the cult. 
 
 " In great numbers they came and ate up all 
 the good things provided for their entertainment. 
 Seven days they feasted, playing the play of the juju, 
 and dancing and singing continuously both by day 
 and night. When some of the dancers grew weary 
 and went to rest, others took their places, so that the 
 sound of rejoicing rose ceaselessly in the ears of the 
 juju during all that time. 
 
 " On the eighth day they left off dancing and gathered 
 round to witness the last and greatest sacrifice. A man 
 who had been bought for the purpose was led forth 
 and slain before the shrine. As the blood of the victim 
 bespattered the fetish, Ukpon cried out boastfully, 
 ' See, Edogho ! This is but a dog ! If you protect 
 me well I will bring you far better offerings ! ' 
 
 " At once the juju answered, ' So ho ! It is but 
 a dog which you have sacrificed to me. If you do 
 not at once therefore fetch me a man I will not help 
 you at all.' 
 
 " On hearing this Ukpon repented of his boastfulness 
 and was very sorry, for he had not counted upon the 
 extra expense of a second offering; but the wrath 
 of the juju was too terrible to be braved, so he went 
 forth obediently and bought another victim, thinking 
 that Edogho would be satisfied at last. 
 
 " To his grief, however, the juju announced, * Because 
 of the word you have spoken you must bring me a 
 human sacrifice every year for seven years, and the 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 one which I choose first of all is your first-born 
 piccan.' 
 
 " To this Ukpon answered, ' Rather than sacrifice 
 the little daughter who is my only child I will forfeit 
 all the gifts which have already been spent upon you 
 and leave your cult to-day'; but the juju answered : 
 
 " * Not so. If you leave me I will destroy the whole 
 town this very night.' 
 
 " On hearing this cruel saying Ukpon turned round 
 and called upon the townsfolk, crying : 
 
 "*The juju asks for my only child. I beg you, 
 therefore, help me to collect the other sacrifices which 
 he demands, so that this dear one may be spared.' 
 
 " On hearing this the people consulted together, 
 and at length arranged that seven compounds should, 
 each in turn, provide a man every year, till the seven 
 years were over. 
 
 " Thus they did, but after that time was up they 
 came to Ukpon and said, ' We are not able to pay 
 this toll any more. For a long time now we have 
 given a man each year, but now we can do so no more.' 
 
 " So Ukpon went before the priest and put the case 
 to him, begging that his foolish speech might be for- 
 gotten, and that all might now be well. Tlirough 
 the mouth of his servant, however, the spirit made 
 answer : 
 
 " * You called upon the townsfolk to help you, but 
 in vain. In spite of all that you have done I will 
 take your piccan in my own way.' 
 
 " Now in the meantime the girl had grown up to 
 be a maiden so beautiful that she was sought in 
 marriage by many youths. She was still the only 
 
 i82 
 
Jujus 
 
 child of her house and the pride of both her parents. 
 Yet, knowing that it was useless to struggle further, 
 when the time came round for the annual sacrifice 
 Ukpon led her before the juju. 
 
 " Bitterly the girl wept as she went to the shrine, 
 and bitterly wept the mother, but it was all of no avail. 
 Her young blood gushed forth and the reek of it was 
 sweet in the nostrils of Edogho Idua. 
 
 " In despair at the sight of his pitiful dead, Ukpon 
 cried out, ' If I had only known the ways of this 
 juju I would never have had anything to do with it! 
 Should the juju keep on like this I will take it and 
 throw it into the water ! ' 
 
 " Then the spirit announced in a terrible voice, 
 through the mouth of the priest his servant, ' Before 
 you throw me into the water I will destroy you utterly 
 with all your house.' 
 
 " That night the compound of the unfortunate man 
 burst into flame, and himself, his wife and all within 
 were utterly consumed. 
 
 " After that the other townsfolk feared ' too much ' 
 to place themselves in the power of so terrible a juju. 
 No fresh members joined the cult. It lost its power, 
 and since Government came to our country, it has 
 had no more authority within the town." 
 
 Chief Ansa Ekang Ita Henshaw told us of a place 
 called Eise, which, according to his account, lies 
 opposite to Akuna-Akuna on the Cross River. Here 
 there is said to be a very powerful crocodile juju, in 
 connection with which is a priestess. There appears 
 to be no mystery about the celebration of the rites 
 of this cult. Anyone, so we were told, either white 
 
 188 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 or black, may witness them, which is fortunate, since 
 otherwise it would be difficult to believe that Chief 
 Ansa's story was of actual present-day happenings, 
 rather than a page torn from some as yet unpublished 
 novel by Sir H. Rider Haggard. 
 
 Coming across this tale in a place so reminiscent 
 of scenes through which in the days of our youth we 
 hurried breathless, led by the author's magic, the thought 
 forced itself upon us as to the ingratitude with which 
 we regard many writers who, all unknown to us, had 
 so great an influence in determining the course of our 
 lives. To the great authors of old we are forced to 
 yield some tithe of their due, because they have marked 
 us so deeply with their mark that we see to a certain 
 extent at least through their eyes, and even when 
 coming suddenly upon a scene of surpassing beauty 
 find ourselves repeating their very words, because 
 none other seem fitted to describe it. We could 
 not forget them if we would, for from Homer and 
 his great brothers of song, from Virgil, Herodotus, 
 and many a less-known Roman and Greek, sayings, 
 forgotten till the moment, suddenly come to mind 
 at some fresh sight as if spoken anew in one's ear. 
 So it is too with Beowulf and the Maldon Poem, with 
 the sweet haunting rhymes of old ballads and the 
 great moderns : Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Keats, 
 and Shelley — all demand a gratitude which we could 
 not withhold if we would ; but as for men of the 
 present day —to how many of these do we offer adequate 
 tribute for having first turned our thoughts to adventure 
 or research, to the glory of man's work on the edges 
 of Empire, to the fascination of seeking for old-world 
 
 184 
 
O 
 
 PQ 
 
 < 
 
 a, 
 
 Q 
 W 
 Pi 
 W 
 > 
 
 o 
 u 
 
 C/5 
 
 W 
 > 
 
Jujus 
 
 treasures, hidden in forgotten glades and amid long- 
 buried cities, or the joy of penetrating secrets behind 
 the back of beyond ? 
 
 With something of all this in mind we accepted 
 the offer of one of our kind friends at Oron to take 
 with us on a six hours' canoe journey a copy of " The 
 Yellow God." 
 
 In a country where every tree and stone hides a 
 story which is simply crying out to be written down, 
 it seemed almost wrong to give any time at all to the 
 reading of one safely printed ; but the temptation 
 to see how a writer, who to one's youthful fancy 
 seemed to breathe the very essence of Africa — the 
 terrible and mysterious — would stand the hard test 
 of reading in an open canoe, amid scenes so near to 
 those which he describes, was irresistible. The accuracy 
 of description and the convincingly real language of 
 the wonderful Jeekie came as a surprise. It was 
 pleasant to slip back again into the atmosphere of 
 childhood, even at the cost of finding a description 
 of the fall of one of the great trees, witnessed by us a 
 little while before, given almost word for word as 
 we had written it down on reaching camp some half 
 hour after the occurrence. A pencil stump soon erased 
 the passage from our manuscript, and a few days 
 later Chief Ansa's story was told us. It is given 
 as nearly as possible in the words of my informant. 
 
 " To the left of the town of Eise lies a river in 
 which live crocodiles of many kinds— big, mighty ones, 
 and others very small. The people honour these as 
 their juju, and of this cult a woman is always chosen 
 to be the head. When the priestess grows too old 
 
 Y 185 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 to serve fittingly any more, the King Crocodile himself 
 chooses out a new one. The way in which the choice 
 is made is as follows : 
 
 " In the night-time the lord of all the crocodiles 
 goes himself or sends a messenger into the town. 
 Through the quiet streets the great reptile creeps, 
 straight for the house of the woman who has been 
 chosen. Arrived there he lays him down by the wall 
 behind which glow the ' seeds^ of fire ' kept alive for 
 the cooking of the morrow_!s_JDeal. 
 
 " When people come forth at dawn they see the 
 great beast lying before the house, and know at once 
 the meaning of the sight. Where there is but one 
 woman in the family she is forthwith acclaimed as 
 the new priestess ; but as this is hardly ever the case, 
 the townsfolk go round and try to find out which 
 of the women in the house is the one chosen for the 
 service. All are led before the diviner, and trial made 
 of each in turn, until one is named for the honour. 
 
 " When this has happened the old priestess knows 
 that her time has come, for it is the will of the lord 
 crocodile that she should die. Uncomplainingly, there- 
 fore, she hands over everything to her successor, 
 teaches her all the lore of the cult which has been 
 handed down to herself from a long line of predecessors, 
 and, when all is ended, quietly lies down never again to 
 
 rise. 
 
 *' W^henever anyone in the town has offended 
 against the law of the juju, a sign is given so that 
 the evil-doer may be sought out and punished. So 
 sure as the chief crocodile is angered he sends forth one 
 of his breed as a messenger, who goes up into the town 
 
 186 
 
Jujus 
 
 and catches a dog in his jaws. This he carries to the 
 water, and then swims up and down with his prey held 
 aloft, so that all the people may see and take notice. 
 
 " Then the townsfolk know that one of their number 
 has transgressed against the law of the juju, and that, 
 because of this, trouble is about to fall upon them. 
 So they consult the oracle, and try to find out which 
 is the sinner, and begin to get together a sacrifice 
 in order to appease the wrath of the sacred reptiles. 
 
 " Only the priestess may offer sacrifice. At the 
 edge of the water she stands, calling upon the name 
 of the juju, a live chicken held aloft in her hand. 
 After awhile one of the holy crocodiles is seen swim- 
 ming slowly towards her. He lays his head on the 
 bank by her feet, waiting until the prayer is finished, 
 after which she bends down and sets the chicken close 
 by his cruel jaws. Sometimes he swallows it at once, 
 sometimes lets it run a little way, then dashes after, 
 but always catches it in the end, and dives with it 
 beneath the water. Next, rum or palm wine is poured 
 into a horn or into one of the long cucumber-shaped 
 calabashes. The priestess chants a new invocation 
 and the beast comes to the surface again. Then she 
 cries aloud, ' Behold ! I bring you your drink offer- 
 ing,' at which he opens his mouth and receives the 
 libation. After that he waits until the last rite is 
 over, on which land-dwellers and water-dwellers alike 
 all go back to their homes. 
 
 " One of the strangest things about this strange 
 cult is that the crocodile is said never to accept any 
 chicken which has once been owned by a ' twin mother.' 
 No matter how cunningly people may seek to deceive 
 
 187 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 him in the matter by passing the bird through many 
 hands, or however long a time it may have been kept 
 in other compounds, should it ever have been in the 
 possession of a ' twin woman ' the crocodile w^ill know 
 this and refuse to appear at the call of the priestess 
 to receive the polluted offering. 
 
 *' On great occasions a ram or goat is sacrificed. 
 This is too heavy for the priestess to hold up by herself 
 alone, so two men usually help her, standing one on 
 either hand. 
 
 *' So soon as her cry is heard ringing out from 
 beneath the uplifted ram, nine crocodiles are said to 
 be seen hastening down stream. In the midst of 
 them swims their chief, the King Crocodile, a big 
 mighty beast, very old, with the others stretching 
 out, four on either side, as if to guard him. Straight 
 to the feet of the priestess swims the central figure, 
 while the rest stay a little way off. Then the ram- 
 bearers step to the edge of the water into which 
 they fling their burden. This the great reptile seizes 
 in his jaws and drags under, while his eight companions 
 dive beneath the surface in order to share the sacrifice 
 with him. 
 
 "Such were the rites of this juju ordained to our 
 fathers before the great trees of the forest were yet 
 formed as small seeds in the heart of the flowers which 
 bore them, and such are the rites which last unchanged 
 till to-day." 
 
 This account is quite unconfirmed, but we hope some 
 day to visit Eise and make the acquaintance of its 
 priestess. 
 
 188 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WOMAN AND SECRET SOCIETIES 
 
 THERE are still one or two secret societies among 
 Ibibio women, though none so powerful as the great 
 Ekoi cult of Nimm, or the famous Bundu of Sierra 
 Leone. One of these is Ebere, a play which was started 
 among the Ubium Ibibios, but was thought so beautiful 
 that it was copied by other tribes. The principal rule 
 of this society concerns the dress of the members, 
 which is rather costly, so that only the wealthy are 
 able to join. A large number of silk handkerchiefs 
 must be bought and pleated. The corners are gathered 
 together in a rosette and knotted along the ceinture 
 so as to overlap slightly, while the lower end floats free. 
 Bands of tanned skin, three to four inches broad, are 
 then cut, and on these cowries and coloured beads are 
 so thickly sewn as almost to hide the foundation. 
 Two such bands are bound on each leg, usually above 
 the ankle and below the knee. Sometimes a like 
 adornment is worn on each of the forearms, while 
 round the firm brown throats and over the breasts 
 hang chains of bright-hued beads. Beneath the ankle- 
 band hang dozens of the little twisted brass orna- 
 ments called nyawhawraw, such as are worn by small 
 girls in front from a string round the waist. These 
 ornaments are sometimes spoken of as *' bells,'' but 
 
 189 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 they arc really more like little clappers. Ebere women 
 say that they wear them round their ankles, " so 
 that they should clash together and sing sweetly in 
 the dance." 
 
 Such associations strike a note midway between 
 Freemasonry and Trade Unionism, and form the only 
 safeguard of Ibibio women against the tyranny of 
 their men-folk. Should a member consider herself 
 wronged the matter is laid before the heads of the 
 society, and action taken according to their decision. 
 
 Not long ago a case was brought before the Native 
 Court at Idua Oron, in which a woman, Nse Abassi 
 by name, took action against Odiong Etc, as repre- 
 sentative of the local Ebere Society, for unlawfully 
 demanding money from her. 
 
 The plaintiff stated on oath : 
 
 " Accused came to my house accompanied by 
 Eyo Inyan and also Eurpe and Atati. With them 
 they bore the Ebere drum, and when they came in 
 they sat down and placed it upon the table. They said 
 they were going to fine me one goat and one demi- 
 john of rum because my goats had spoiled Nteyo's 
 farm. I gave them one small dcmi-john and two 
 small bottles of rum on the first day. Four days later 
 I bought a goat and paid it over to the accused, also 
 another demi-john." 
 
 Nku Ita, called as witness, stated on oath : 
 
 " I was not present when the accused demanded 
 the goat and rum, but plaintiff came to me and bought 
 rum, saying that it was to pay a fine inflicted by accused 
 as head of the Ebere Society." 
 
 In every town both among Efiks and other Ibibios 
 
 190 
 
\ Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 there is a branch of the Iban Isong Society, i.e. the 
 Women of the Land. For the rites of this cult members 
 gather together at certain times of the year, and not 
 one man may be present. At Calabar it is called 
 Ndito Iban, and it is in connection with this that 
 warriors' wives dress in male attire and go about gaily 
 dancing and singing, while their men-folk are on the 
 war path. 
 
 The rites would seem to bear some faint, far-off 
 echo of those of the Alruna wives who, with locks 
 arranged beard-like, prayed All-Father Odin from 
 over the Swans' Bath to bless their men's arms. 
 
 The Pangwe woman's secret society, Mawungu, also 
 shows points of resemblance with the Ibibio Iban 
 Isong. Not only is the dance with which the festivities 
 close called " Eban," according to Herr Gunter Tess- 
 mann, but the performers dress in male attire, while 
 their leader marches gun in hand and sword girded. 
 
 As night fell on the day when Efik warriors left 
 the town, the wives who remained behind used to go 
 to their sleeping-rooms and there don the garments 
 of their absent lords. With his clothing the head 
 wife also took the name of her husband, and while the 
 ceremony lasted might call herself, or be addressed, 
 by no other. Once clad in this strange attire, the 
 women sallied forth to visit the chief compounds of 
 the town, drinking palm wine, laughing and jesting 
 at each. No matter how heavy and anxious might 
 be the hearts beneath this manly guise, they dared not 
 show the least sign of sadness or anxiety, but must 
 appear happy and brave, that by sympathetic magic the 
 courage of tlieir absent husbands should be upheld. 
 
 191 
 
 ! 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Tlie ceremony was called '' Ikom Be," and it was 
 most strictly forbidden that any man should witness 
 it ; for this also was among the women's mysteries, 
 and destruction would have fallen upon the race 
 should any male have profaned the rites by his pre- 
 sence. All night long the women danced round the 
 town to prove their courage and endurance. Only 
 after dawnbre^k might they creep back to rest, and 
 even then tears were forbidden lest indulgence in such 
 weakness might magically affect their absent lords — 
 turning to water the hearts within their breasts and 
 causing their strength to melt away. 
 
 Somewhat similar precautions are recorded from 
 Borneo, where " When men are on a war expedition, 
 fires are lighted at home, the mats are spread, and 
 the fires kept up till late in the evening and lighted 
 again before dawn so that the men may not be cold ; 
 the roofing of the house is opened before dawn so 
 that the man may not lie too long and so fall into 
 the enemy's hands. Again when a Dyak is out head- 
 hunting his wife, or, if he is unmarried, his sister, must 
 wear a sword day and night in order that he may be 
 always thinking of his weapons ; and she may not 
 sleep during the day nor go to bed before two in the 
 morning lest her husband or brother should thereby 
 be surprised in his sleep by an enemy." * 
 
 As an example of the way in which native customs 
 are sometimes misunderstood by even the best-meaning 
 of white men, it may perhaps be mentioned that a 
 missionary of great experience and high standing on 
 the West Coast who had heard something of the Efik 
 
 * " Magic and Fetishism," p. 12. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. 
 
 192 
 
,» • J 
 
 o 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 CQ 
 O 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 rites above described, related them in somewhat 
 garbled form as proof of the joy of these women on 
 being temporarily released from the control of their 
 men- folk ! 
 
 Although these two societies, Ebere and Iban 
 Isong, are the only ones which we were able to trace 
 as still existing among Ibibio women, yet accident 
 brought to light a very different state of affairs which 
 had obtained in former days. 
 
 While collecting information concerning the cere- 
 monies which custom had decreed should be performed 
 on the deaths of Efik chiefs who had held great posi- 
 tions in the Egbo Society — the most important secret 
 cult among Eiik and Ekoi men — my husband dis- 
 covered that when " the Egbo " flees the town, as 
 he is usually supposed to do after such an event, should 
 the surviving members fail to catch and bring him 
 back in triumph, they are forced to enlist the services 
 of an ancient woman who must belong to one of the 
 ruling families. At her call the spirit usually returns, 
 altiiough he has refused to pay attention to the summons 
 of any man. This need to ask the help of a woman 
 seemed strange in a society from which women are ex- 
 cluded on penalty of death from witnessing the rites. 
 My husband therefore inquired as to the origin of the 
 custom and was told, after considerable hesitation, 
 that feminine aid was necessary because Egbo was 
 originally a womarCs secret society, until the men wrested 
 from them its secrets, learnt the rites, and then drove 
 out women from all participation therein.* 
 
 * A full description of the ceremony of " recalling the Egbo " will be found 
 under the heading " Burial RiUs " in my husband's book " By Haunted Waters." 
 
 z 193 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 To-day, save in the depths of the bush, where 
 many of the old ceremonies are still carried out when- 
 ever there seems a chance of eluding the vigilance of 
 " Government," death can no longer be inflicted on 
 women who have trespassed, either accidentally or 
 with intention, on places set apart for the carrying 
 out of Egbo plays. One such execution, however, 
 happened just before our arrival at Oban, and is 
 thus described : 
 
 " The sacred images, etc. are carried to a part 
 of the bush where a little hut of green boughs has 
 been built to receive them. Sentries are posted to 
 keep all intruders from coming within a mile of this 
 spot. On one occasion, however, two young girls, 
 sisters, happened to have missed the patrol and 
 trespassed unwittingly within the sacred precincts, 
 probably in search of nuts or bush fruits which abound 
 everywhere. They were caught by the sentries, brought 
 before the Egbo, condemned to death and hanged 
 almost immediately. Their brother, who was a member 
 of the highest grade of the society, was allowed as 
 a great favour to be present at their death, and after- 
 wards to carry home the bodies to his family. Of 
 redress in such a case there could be neither hope 
 nor thought."* 
 
 Later we learned that the original discoverers of 
 Egbo were some women of the Kamerun who went 
 at dawn one morning to fish in the river. There, 
 by the waterside, they found the first Egbo which 
 had been brought thither by a divine woman who 
 
 ♦ " In the Shadow of the Bush," pp. 43-4. (Hcincmann, London ; George 
 Doran, New York.) 
 
 194 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 had come down to earth on purpose to teach the 
 secrets of the cult to her human sisters. After learning 
 the mysteries the women bore the image in triumph 
 to their town, where they built a hut in which to 
 shelter it and practise the rites of the cult. After 
 awhile the men noticed the importance of the new 
 institution and persuaded the women to admit them 
 to its mysteries. No sooner had they succeeded in 
 learning these than they rose and slew all those to 
 whom the secret had first been revealed, and made 
 a law that for the future only men might become mem- 
 bers of the society or be permitted to witness the rites. 
 
 A vivid account of the death of a woman who 
 peeped at Egbo is given by the Rev. Hope Waddell : 
 
 " Making her sit on the ground," he says, " they 
 danced round her, leapt and capered hither and thither, 
 ringing their bells, beating their drums and flourishing 
 their swords over her head, or, occasionally as they 
 passed, touching the back of her neck with the cold 
 edge to make her shrink and shudder. At length, at 
 a signal, the fatal stroke was given." 
 
 Such was the " justice " meted out by the usurping 
 male to women who dared intrude upon the secrets 
 of a cult the mysteries of which had once been ex- 
 clusively tlieir own. 
 
 That the most dreaded of all Ibibio secret societies, 
 Ekkpo Njawhaw, i.e. Ghosts — The Destroyers,* was 
 originally also a woman's society is proved by the 
 following story compiled from three accounts, only 
 varying slightly in detail, which were collected from 
 different parts of the District. 
 
 ♦ A full account of this terrible society will be found in " By Haunted Waters." 
 
 195 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 How Men Stole the Secrets of the Woman's Society 
 
 Ekkpo Njawhaw 
 
 In the old, old days Ibibio women were more powerful 
 than the men, for to them alone the mysteries of the 
 gods and of secret things were made known. By 
 such knowledge they were enabled to keep all males 
 as servants, employing them to do the heaviest work. 
 Especially because of the strength of their limbs and 
 greater endurance were men found useful as fighters. 
 
 Now at first women greatly outnumbered men 
 upon earth, but after awhile the latter began to 
 multiply, and in course of time grew discontented 
 with their lot. " Why," asked they, " should the 
 hardest work fall to our share, while the women lord 
 it over us ? Yet, body for body, they are weaker 
 than we ! " To this others answered, " So long as 
 the secret knowledge is theirs alone, we shall never 
 prevail against them." Thus the men whispered to- 
 gether, striving to find a way by which they might 
 cast off the women's yoke. 
 
 Then, on a day very long ago, the people of Oduko 
 went out to fight those of Urua Eye, whom after a 
 hard struggle they overcame and drove forth into 
 the bush. The victors began to burn down the town, 
 but in a house built for the meeting-place of one of 
 the women's secret societies they found abandoned 
 strange masks and fetishes, together with fringed 
 robes and all else necessary for carrying out the rites 
 of the terrible cult Ekkpo Njawhaw (Ghosts — Tlie 
 Destroyers). These things the warriors bore back to 
 their town, and showed to the old men who, by our 
 
 196 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 custom, always stay at home during war time. Long 
 they consulted together as to the meaning of the 
 things and of their hidden powers. Yet, of all that 
 they wished to know they could guess nothing. Then 
 one very wise old man said : 
 
 " Let us get together an offering of goats and 
 palm wine and take it before the women, begging 
 them to teach us the mysteries that we also may 
 know them and grow strong." 
 
 To this all agreed, and a great feast was made. 
 Then, after they had eaten and drunken together, 
 that old man, the wily one, went apart with some 
 of the elder women such as were leaders among them, 
 and spoke cunningly to these saying : 
 
 " Better to tell us the reason of Ekkpo Njawhaw, 
 and teach us the rites of the cult, because all the men 
 of this town want to join with the women in the matter, 
 that together our people may become strong beyond 
 all others." 
 
 Then the head priestess said to another old woman 
 of Oduko : 
 
 " Let us draw apart from the men so that the 
 women can consult alone and in secret upon the 
 matter. It seems to me that much whispering should 
 take place behind closed doors or in the hidden parts 
 of the bush, for soft and slow should our steps fall 
 upon this new road by which the men seek to 
 lead us." 
 
 To this the second old woman answered : 
 
 " As for me, I am against it altogether. I do not 
 want to teach our mysteries to the men, for I think 
 that they are trying to deceive us, and wish to take 
 
 107 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Ekkpo Njawhaw away from us so that we should not 
 be able to rule them any more." 
 
 Then these two wise ones spoke to the younger 
 women and said : " We will give the men no part in 
 our society." But the others cried out upon them, 
 saying that they were foolish and over slow, caring 
 only for the things of yesterday and taking no thought 
 for the morrow. In the end the younger women 
 announced : 
 
 " It is good that the men should know these things. 
 Are they not our own men, who have always served 
 us ? Why, therefore, should we keep the secrets hidden 
 from them ? " 
 
 So with loud and eager talk they beat down the 
 advice of the old ones who would have stayed them, 
 until the latter said : 
 
 " Be it as you will, since you do not choose to 
 listen, we say no more. Nevertheless we know that 
 when the men have learnt the secrets they wall take 
 Ekkpo Njawhaw away from us so that we can never 
 rule them as before." 
 
 Then the younger women explained to the men 
 all the mysteries of the cult, with the full rites and every 
 secret by means of which they had formerly held 
 dominion. Afterwards the men called a great meeting 
 and announced : 
 
 " From now on a law is made that should any 
 woman try to join in the play of Ekkpo Njawhaw, the 
 men will lead her to the market-place and there cut 
 off her head in the sight of all the people." 
 
 On hearing this the women were very sorry for 
 what they had done, but they dared not disobey, 
 
 198 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 because the men were stronger of limb than they and 
 also very cruel. Only the two old women who had 
 not agreed to tell the secrets said : 
 
 " We were never willing to open up these mysteries 
 to the men, so we shall continue to play our play alone 
 for ourselves as before." To this the men answered : 
 
 " If any woman plays Ekkpo Njawhaw again she 
 shall be bound to a stake in the market-place and be 
 beheaded before all the townsfolk, that other women 
 may see her fate and learn to play no more." 
 
 In spite of this the old women still continued to 
 carry out the rites as before, hidden in the bush in 
 a secret place which they had made. After long 
 searching, however, the men found them and bore 
 them off to Oduko market-place where their heads 
 were struck off in the sight of the trembling women. 
 
 That is the reason why none but men may join 
 the play of Ekkpo Njawhaw, or even witness the rites 
 of this society. 
 
 After this change had been made therefore, all 
 the inhabitants of a town who did not belong to the 
 cult were ordered to keep within their houses, behind 
 shut doors and windows, while the images ran 
 up and down. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Not long ago at Ndiya, a woman, Adiaha Udaw 
 Anwa bv name, dared to sit on her veranda and watch 
 the forbidden sight. The " image " ran in to catch and 
 punish her for her temerity. Terrified at the conse- 
 quences of her curiosity the poor woman ran inside 
 \ the house and fastened the door, but the followers 
 of Ekkpo soon forced open this frail barrier. Adiaha 
 
 199 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 looked round for a hiding-place, and, in default of a 
 better, climbed into the cupboard over the hearth 
 where pots and pans are kept and meat is laid for 
 smoking. The bottom of this receptacle is never 
 solid but made of palm stems, laid crosswise, so that 
 the smoke may pass through the interstices. After 
 Ekkpo Xjawhaw had forced an entrance he could 
 not for the moment see where the woman was hidden 
 but heard the palm stems creaking beneath her weight, 
 so slashed upward with his machet and cut through 
 the bottom of the cupboard, so that she fell down. 
 
 He then struck her twice across the head, making 
 two wounds, one running from above the root of the 
 nose to the back of the skull, and the other from ear 
 to ear across the crown, thus marking her with a 
 great cross. 
 
 Later a native doctor took the woman in hand, 
 and cured her wounds after a long course of treatment, 
 but the hair has never grown again over the scars, 
 which are still clearly to be seen. 
 
 Another case concerned a little girl about eight 
 years of age, also named Adiaha, who was rescued 
 from being offered up to Ekkpo Njawhaw, after the 
 sacrificial dress had been actually placed upon her.* 
 
 This Ibibio story of the revolt of man calls to mind 
 a similar state of things, the memory of which is 
 celebrated at the Fuegian festival, Kina. This was 
 instituted to commemorate the rising of the males 
 against the women " who formerly had the authority 
 and possessed the secrets of sorcery." "j* 
 
 • " By Haunted Waters." P. Amaury Talbot. 
 
 t " Les Origines du Mariage et dela Famllle," p. 448. Giraud Tculon. 
 
 200 
 
-1 
 
 THE ••MOTHER OF GHOSTS AND DEVILS 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 Just as behind the whole Ibibio pantheon looms 
 the awful figure of " The Great Creatrix," so behind 
 the cult of Ekkpo Njawhaw looms the still more terrible 
 presence of Eka Ekkpo — Eka Abassi's dread counter- 
 part—the source of all evil, the Death Bringer and 
 Fount of Terror. The word Ekkpo does not only 
 mean " ghosts," it also signifies " devils," and just 
 as in Isaiah, chapter xlv., verse 7, we read : " I form 
 the light, and create darkness ; I make peace and 
 create evil : I the Lord do all these things," so here, 
 amid these rude Ibibios, where woman is now regarded 
 as a mere slave of her overlord man and one would 
 least look for such a state of things, we get not father- 
 hood but motherhood—" motherhood, immaculate and 
 alone, a virgin birth" — as the source of the powers 
 both of light and of darkness, of good and evil, of life 
 and of death. 
 
 " Terrible indeed to look upon is this Mother of 
 Ekkpo Njawhaw. Often of colossal size, ill propor- 
 tioned and coal black in colour, she looms from out 
 the darkness at the back of her sons' shrine, surrounded 
 with the dreadful insignia of the cult, and with arms 
 outstretched as if to welcome fresh victims. Around 
 her flat, misshapen feet lie skulls, some new and ivory 
 tinted, some blackened with the smoke of many sacri- 
 fices, and others carved with astonishing care and 
 fidelity from solid blocks of wood. Two sons she has — 
 Akpan Njawhaw, the first-born, and Udaw, the second- 
 born ; also two daughters — Adiaha, the elder, and 
 Angwa-Angwa, the younger. 
 
 " At the planting of farms the lesser rites of the 
 cult are carried out ; but the greater ceremonies take 
 
 2 A 201 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 place at the New Yam Festival. Eight days before 
 the first of the new season's crop may be eaten, in 
 any town where this society has gained a footing, 
 the images must be carried forth in solemn procession 
 and set up in the public square." * 
 
 On such occasions the figure of Eka Ekkpo stands 
 in the midst, with a son on either hand. Sometimes 
 the efifigies of the two daughters are placed there in 
 addition, one at each end of the family line. For the 
 first seven days, at dusk each evening, fowls and other 
 offerings are brought and offered up before the fetishes, 
 while the club drums are beaten to warn non-members 
 among the passers-by from venturing too near the sacred 
 spot. No yams may be brought on this occasion, and 
 as is but meet, victims are first offered to Eka Ekkpo, 
 seeing that she is the fount from which the others have 
 sprung. Akpan is the next to receive offerings, then 
 comes the turn of Udaw, and lastly the two daughters, 
 though these are sometimes neglected altogether. 
 
 On the eighth day the images are carried back to 
 their usual abode, that of " the Mother " being borne 
 in front. Should anyone chance to meet this terrible 
 procession upon the road, the first thing that a native 
 would do would be to look whether the fetish was 
 represented with one ear or two. In the latter case 
 there would be a chance of life, because the goddess 
 might possibly listen to the victim's frenzied prayer for 
 mercy. In the former case prayer would be useless, 
 because with one ear {Una Utung) she cannot listen 
 to anyone. Only with two ears is it possible for her 
 to have compassion. 
 
 • Edinburgh Review, July, 1914. P. Amaury Talbot. 
 
 202 
 
Woman and Secret Societies 
 
 To primitive races, and indeed the world over, 
 death must always be one of the great mysteries, and 
 it is the less astonishing that for Ibibios the supreme 
 ruler of the Ghost Realm should be feminine when we 
 consider that according to some peoples, for instance 
 the Yaos and Wayisa of East Central Africa, death 
 itself " was originally brought into the world by a 
 woman who taught two men to go to sleep. One 
 day, while they slumbered, she held the nostrils of 
 one of them till his breath ceased, and he died."* 
 
 As has already been mentioned, if a woman chanced 
 to witness an Ekkpo Njawhaw play, no matter how 
 unwillingly, a member was singled out, and robed with 
 all haste in the special dress of the cult executioner. 
 After the poor woman he crept, " softly, softly," and 
 exacted a terrible penalty for her unwitting trespass. 
 No Ekkpo "image" may go forth without a machet 
 in his hand. Each, therefore, is ready at a moment's 
 notice to fulfil the behest of the " Great Mother," 
 and, like the devotees of Kali Ma, bring to her shrine 
 " Gobbets fresh and fresh ! " 
 
 Chance also brought to light the fact that even 
 over the "Great Warriors Club" — Ekong— (i.e. War) 
 woman was once the dominating influence. This is 
 shown in a curious survival. 
 
 At the time of the new yam harvest the members 
 of " Ekong " assemble for an interesting ceremony. 
 Across a corner of one of the town " playgrounds " 
 a line of forked sticks is driven into the earth. This 
 is so arranged that at the beginning and end of the 
 row a great tree may usually be found. At the 
 
 • Journ. Antlirop. Inst., xxii., 111-12. J. Macdonald. 
 
 203 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 height of about four and a half feet from the ground, 
 between the supports, palm leaves are hung, and against 
 the terminal tree on the left-hand side is to be 
 seen a little arbour made of the same leaves. In this 
 a member of the society, chosen on account of his 
 sweet voice, sits singing during the greater part of 
 the ceremony. He is clothed in women's garments, 
 and represents " The Mother of Ekong " ; " For 
 unless the latter be present on such an occasion, no 
 blessing can be hoped for during the coming year." 
 
 So far as could be ascertained, Ekong also had no 
 father, but sprang in full strength, it would appear, 
 from beneath the heart of a virgin. It was very 
 difficult to obtain any information on this subject, 
 the tradition of which seems all but to have died out 
 in the present day. Two very old women were, how- 
 ever, induced to relate what their grandmothers had 
 told them as little children, and the account tallied 
 in almost every particular, the only difference being 
 that in one case my informant asserted that Ekong 
 sprang forth " fully armed," Athene-like, from the 
 body of his mother, and in the second case it was only 
 said that he issued " in full strength, able to bear 
 arms." The latter account was afterwards corroborated 
 by Akpabio of Awa. 
 
 204 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 WOMAN IN WAR TIME 
 
 IN war time, even now, strong women on both 
 sides act as scouts. They know that they will 
 not be killed, so go before the main body fear- 
 lessly spying upon the enemy. As soon as the first 
 sign of the latter is seen they cry out to warn their 
 own men, and then run aside so as not to be in the 
 
 way. 
 
 At times a band of Amazons comes across and 
 captures a single foeman. Then these women, usually 
 so gentle and kindly, seem to change their whole 
 nature. They fall upon the luckless man, bind, and 
 often cruelly wound him; then hand him over in 
 triumph to be slain by the men of their own party. 
 
 Perhaps the most important service rendered by 
 the women of the tribe in time of war is the carrying 
 out of the secret rites decreed by ancient law for the 
 burial of a warrior. As much as could be learnt of 
 the matter from the men of the tribe is thus recorded : 
 
 " When a man in the prime of life is cut off in 
 battle, the body is carried home to the dead man's 
 town by wedded women who are his next of kin. 
 No man may touch the corpse. Weeping and singing 
 sad songs, it is borne by their gentle hands to a place 
 of thick bush called owok afai — the forest of those 
 
 205 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 slain by sudden death. . . . No maiden may be 
 present at these rites ; only to wives may such sad 
 mysteries be revealed." * 
 
 Later, an ancient woman was induced to confide 
 to me part at least of these strange rites. I had 
 not intended to publish them, nor, indeed, much of 
 the information already incorporated in the fore- 
 going account. Certain English scientists, however, 
 of the highest distinction, have been good enough 
 to point out that the matter is not without ethnological 
 interest, and also that it is most improbable that this 
 little study will ever reach those in any way con- 
 cerned. Save for one detail, therefore, all that could 
 be gleaned on the subject is given here. 
 
 After the bodies of dead warriors have been borne 
 into the shadows of that part of the forest set aside 
 for this purpose, they are gently laid upon beds of 
 fresh leaves, high piled to form a last couch, not far 
 from the place where an open grave has been pre- 
 pared. Young boughs arc next picked from sacred 
 trees, the names of which, unfortunately, my in- 
 formant could not be persuaded to reveal. These 
 boughis are drawn over the bodies of the slain amid 
 low, wailing chants and fast-falling tears. The chants 
 are said to contain a prayer that the virility of the 
 warrior thus cut off in the pride of life and strength 
 may not be lost, but rather should go forth to bless 
 with increase the hearths, farms and byres of his 
 own townsfolk. 
 
 My informant explained that she was only able 
 to give vaguely the meaning of the chants sung on 
 
 * " By Haunted Waters." V. Amaury Talbot. 
 
 206 
 
Woman in War Time 
 
 such occasions, since these have been handed down 
 in a tongue so old as to be practically forgotten in 
 the present day. It is a matter of great regret to 
 us that the expense of transport in countries such as 
 this, where all impedimenta must be borne upon 
 carriers' heads, had hitherto kept us from adding a 
 phonograph to the already somewhat long list of 
 scientific apparatus which we are in the habit of 
 carrying about with us. Lady Frazer, who has 
 herself rendered such inestimable services to science, 
 had urged us to do so, and had we but been able to 
 follow her advice it might have been possible to secure 
 records of these old songs, the chance to obtain which 
 may in all probability never occur again. Alas ! 
 " Our Lady Poverty " is a hard task-mistress, and 
 often places a stern veto upon the garnering of much 
 of the rich harvest which, in Africa, lies on every 
 hand awaiting gleaning. 
 
 Though the exact meaning of the ritual chants 
 has now been lost, the idea underlying the ceremonies 
 is indicated by the actions accompanying the song, 
 as, for instance, when the sacred boughs are drawn 
 over that part of the body regarded as the seat of 
 virile energy, with the avowed purpose of withdrawing 
 the spirit of fertility into the leaves. Before inter- 
 ment, small portions of the body are also cut away 
 and placed, together with the sacred leaves, in earthen 
 pots never before used. These are wrapped up in 
 the garments of the celebrants, and borne forth by 
 them in silence, to be secretly interred in farm or 
 byre, or hidden away in holes dug beneath the hearth 
 or bridal bed. 
 
 207 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 The reason that knowledge of such rites must 
 be kept aUke from men and maidens of the tribe is 
 said to be that this secret was among those entrusted 
 to women in the days when woman, not man, was 
 the dominant sex, and that these were not disclosed at 
 the time when males were initiated into the mysteries 
 of tlie secret societies, because it had been revealed 
 that on the guarding of this secret depended the 
 strength of the tribe. Were the rites once disclosed 
 the power of the juju would be broken, few or no 
 babes would be born, farms and herds would yield 
 but scanty increase, while the arms of future genera- 
 tions of fighting men would lose their strength and 
 hearts their courage — until the Ibibio people were 
 either enslaved or had vanished from the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 During our last leave in England we had the 
 privilege of talking over those primitive customs and 
 beliefs which seemed to us of special interest with 
 so great an authority as Dr. Wallis Budge, of the 
 British Museum. Among other incidents he listened 
 to that above given, and when the little account was 
 finished pointed out the striking similarity between 
 this still surviving rite and the strange story of the 
 origin of Horus — that seed of life and love snatched 
 by the widowed Isis from death itself. Indeed, were 
 the account of this Ibibio rite given in full detail it 
 might almost seem as though intended as a re-enact- 
 ment of the ancient tragedy of the Nile, when the 
 mighty goddess Isis found the body of the slaughtered 
 Osiris, and by her knowledge of the mysteries of 
 birth and death " the Great Mother " wrung a 
 
 208 
 
TYPE OF EKOI WOMAN 
 
Woman in War Time 
 
 new life from out the very jaws of desolation and 
 despair.* 
 
 At present there seems little danger of a falling 
 off in numbers among Ibibios, for the greatest pride 
 of both men and women is to become the parents of 
 many children. The head chief of Oyubia, Enyenihi 
 by name, has a family of thirty, all of whom he proudly 
 claims as his own offspring. Large as the number 
 seems, however, it is quite outdone by the crowd of 
 children which surrounds many chiefs. Akpan Udaw 
 Ibomm of Ikotobo, for instance, who died in 1913, 
 had a hundred and sixty sons and daughters, of all 
 of whom he claimed to be the actual father. Ofeok 
 Oyo of Ikua Ita too, who has only lately died, was 
 the mother of twenty fine children. Yet, almost to 
 the day of her death she carried herself as straight 
 and well and was as tall and good to look upon, 
 according to native ideas, as many a woman who 
 had borne but a single babe. Indeed the Ibibios 
 and neighbouring peoples would seem to be a standing 
 contradiction to the theory that polygamy tends to 
 restrict the race. We were informed on the authority 
 of Mr. John Bailey, a well-known native Government 
 official, who was present when Sir Claude Macdonald 
 went up to Afikpo, on the Cross River, that one chief 
 
 * Since vsriting the above, it has been our good fortune to have the oppor- 
 tunity of studj'ing the customs of Ibo and New Calabari women. It would 
 seem that the lives of these latter are ruled, even more markedly than those 
 of their Ibibio sisters, by rites of which nothing may be revealed to the males 
 of the tribe, or indeed, to any man. 
 
 As an instance may be mentioned the secret rites carried out by every New 
 Calabari widow during the seven days of mourning following the death of her 
 husband. These strange ceremonies entail almost incredible self-denial, pain 
 and discomfort on the unfortunate celebrants, but, according to unanimous 
 testimony, no word of what transpires on such occasions has as yet reached 
 male cars. 
 
 2 B 20« 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 alone brought ninety sons to salute the Chief Com- 
 missioner ! True it is that the distinguished adminis- 
 trator himself, whose memory is held in grateful 
 remembrance by European and native alike tlu'ough- 
 out the length and breadth of the colony for whose 
 prosperity he did so much, thinks that nineteen would 
 be a more probable number to give; but owing to the 
 marriage customs and rules as to family membership 
 it is by no means impossible that one chief should be 
 able to produce the number stated. 
 
 Amoncp some of the more civilised Efiks of Calabar 
 the growth of the family seems to have been restricted, 
 to a certain extent, from motives of vanity on the 
 part of the women, who fear that much child-bearing 
 might spoil their beauty. Yet, even here, there does 
 not seem to be cause for anxiety as to the danger of 
 racial suicide. The late Chief Esonta of Old Town, 
 for instance, had forty-five wives, who, between them, 
 are said to have borne him a hundred and sixty 
 children ! 
 
 Chief Essien Etim, who died in 1910, and was 
 a well-known Calabar chief, is stated to have had 
 ninety-nine sons and daughters. After his death, a 
 dispute arose as to the distribution of the property, 
 and the family marched into Court to lay the matter 
 before His Honour Judge Weber. It was fortunate 
 that the disagreement was only among themselves, 
 so that litigation did not extend to another family 
 of like or superior size. 
 
 Another well-known chief, Efa Etung Effion by 
 name, had sixty wives and ninety-five piccans ; while 
 Chief Abassi Okun Abassi of Creek Town had a mere 
 
 210 
 
Woman in War Time 
 
 thirty-five to show ; but then he had only seven wives 
 all told ! The aforementioned numbers are given on 
 the authority of Chief Daniel Henshaw. 
 
 To a certain extent large families may be accounted 
 for by the custom which, on the death of a chief, 
 caused the wives to be divided out among sons and 
 brothers, who henceforth assumed towards them the 
 position formerly held by the deceased ; care being 
 taken that a woman should not thus be given to her 
 own son. Before death a man usually " makes his 
 will," under which term is included the disposal of 
 his wives and female dependents. The women of the 
 household are called before him on his death-bed, 
 and he there and then decides to which relative each 
 should be given. Often in this way a grown woman 
 is allocated as " wife " to a small boy of eight or nine 
 years old. In such a case all children which she may i 
 bear to other men, while the child-husband is growing , 
 up, are looked upon as his. So that, supposing some / 
 half-dozen women are bequeathed in this manner to 
 a boy of eight, the latter on reaching the age of twelve 
 miglit easily find himself titular " father " of a 
 dozen or more children. 
 
 A case illustrating such a " marriage " came before 
 the Native Court at Idua Oron. In this the plaintiff, 
 Akon Abassi, stated on oath : 
 
 *' My former husband died and left behind him a 
 young brother of about ten years of age. According to 
 his will I was betrothed to the latter, but as I was over 
 twenty years old and already a mother I asked the 
 parents of the child-husband to receive back their 
 dowry, because the boy was too young for me." 
 
 211 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 A similar case occurred at the same sitting in 
 which a woman named Kadu claimed divorce from 
 a small boy, Affion Usuk Inyi by name. In the course 
 of her evidence the plaintiff stated : 
 
 " About six and a half years ago I came out of 
 the Fatting-housc and was married. Not long after- 
 wards my husband died, and I was told to become 
 the wife of a boy about twelve years of age. I am 
 now almost twenty-five years old, and therefore summon 
 the defendant to receive back his dowry and set me 
 free, as the child is too young to be my husband." 
 
 Many cases are known, however, in which young 
 and attractive women have refused the advances of 
 other wooers, and preferred to wait until the youth, 
 to whom they have been given by the will of their 
 late husband, should be of sufficient age to wed them. 
 
 212 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 WIDOWHOOD AND BURIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 4M0NG the Ibibios different funeral rites are pre- 
 /-^ scribed according to age, position, and manner 
 of death. 
 
 To begin with the youngest. The bodies of babes 
 who die within a few days of birth may not be buried 
 like those to whom a fuller span of life was given, 
 but are laid in an earthen bowl which is then placed, 
 inverted, in a shallow hole scooped out by the side 
 of the road. 
 
 A somewhat similar custom is reported from among 
 the Baganda for the burial of a twin. " The em- 
 balme<l body was wrapped round with a creeper and 
 put into a new cooking-pot. When the preparations 
 were complete, the relations assembled, a man called 
 the ' Mu 'aka ' took the corpse to waste land near 
 ' a main road, dug the grave, and laid the body in it ; 
 on the grave he placed a cooking-pot mouth downwards, 
 but put no earth in. Then everyone who passed by 
 knew the place to be the grave of a twin, and avoided 
 it lest the ghost should catch them. Women especially 
 avoided the place and threw grass upon the grave 
 to prevent the ghost from entering into them and 
 being reborn." * 
 
 ♦ " The Baganda, their Customs and Beliefs," p. 125. Roscoe. 
 
 213 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Many such upturned pots may be seen along the 
 paths near Akaiya, especially those leading through 
 parts of the bush which are carefully shunned at 
 nightfall, for there the bodies of all who have died 
 of smallpox, leprosy, or other infectious disease are 
 flung and left without burial. An almost similar fate 
 befalls those of women who have died in or immediately 
 before childbirth, since these, too, are regarded as un- 
 clean. Should such a one die before giving birth, her 
 body is cut open and the foetus carefully removed and 
 interred in an inverted pot in the manner described. 
 As with those who died in childbirth, the corpse is 
 propped against a tree and left, with sunk head and 
 hanging hands, until the luxuriant vegetation mercifully 
 covers the pitiful remains with its green mantle. 
 
 The ghosts of such are greatly feared, as much 
 here and now as amid the ancient Babylonians, among 
 whose most dreaded wraiths are mentioned ; 
 
 " A woman that hath died in travail. 
 Or a woman that hath died with a babe at the breast, 
 Or a weeping woman that hath died with a babe at the 
 breast." * 
 
 When the bearers come back after disposing of 
 these pitiful dead they may not enter their houses, 
 but must wait outside that of the dead woman, until 
 the members of her family have brought out and 
 sacrificed a dog, a cock, and some eggs. Magic leaves 
 are ground between stones and rubbed upon the bodies 
 of the corpse bearers, while the kinsmen pray that this 
 so sad a fate may never again overtake one of their 
 
 • " Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia." R. C. Thompson. 
 
 214 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 house. The fowl's head is struck off, and its blood 
 sprinkled over the bearers, who chant meanwhile : 
 
 " Let not the evil thing pass from me to any woman." 
 
 Until the sacrifices have been made and the prayers 
 offered, none who took part in carrying the corpse 
 may touch a woman lest that which cut off the newly 
 dead should be communicated to the living. 
 
 The attitude of mind which thus denies gentle burial 
 
 to those who have known the pangs, without the joys, 
 
 ^ of motherhood, is far as the poles asunder from that 
 
 expressed by the old northern ballad in which so 
 
 different a fate is meted out : 
 
 " Their beds are made in Heaven high, 
 Full lowly down by our dear Lord's knee, 
 All girt about wi' gilly flowers, 
 A right fair company for to see." * 
 
 Yet, though among Ibibios but little sentiment 
 is wasted on these unfortunates, their lot, in the old 
 days at least, was happier than that of women unlucky 
 enough to bear twins. The fate of such has already 
 been described, and the ill-results of the cruel super- 
 stition do not cease with life, but are thought to 
 continue even after death. A woman who dies in 
 giving birth to twins, or before the end of her year 
 of purification after such an event, may not be carried 
 to her last resting-place through the house door, any 
 more than she may go out by it on leaving home to 
 spend the prescribed twelve moons in the twin women's 
 town. Such sad exiles must pass through a hole 
 
 * " The Ballad of Clerk Saunders." 
 215 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 purposely broken in the wall, by which exit the un- 
 fortunate babes are also carried forth. Further, the 
 body of a twin mother may on no account be borne 
 along a road by which ordinary people pass to and 
 fro, but only by a little path specially cut through the 
 bush to the place where it is to be flung. 
 
 The reason for this prohibition is much the same 
 as that given in Cambodia for carrying a dead body 
 feet foremost, i.e. " that it may not see the house, 
 in which event other sickness and other deaths would 
 result." Ibibios say, too, that should the ghost return 
 and try to enter her former home she would be unable 
 to do so since the place by which the body was carried 
 forth has been blocked up, and wraiths can only enter 
 by the same way through which their bodies were 
 borne forth — the converse of that law of the spirit 
 world explained by Mephistopheles to Faust — 
 
 '' For goblins and for spectres it is law 
 That where we enter in, there also we withdraw."* 
 
 In the country round Awa, a superstition obtains 
 much like that of the Malayan " langsuir," a descrip- 
 tion of which is thus given by Sir William Maxwell : 
 
 '* If a woman dies in childbirth either before 
 delivery or after the birth of a child, and before the 
 forty days of uncleanness have expired, she is popularly 
 supposed to become a ' langsuyar,' a flying demon of 
 the nature of the ' White Lady ' or ' Banshee.' To 
 prevent this a quantity of glass beads are put in the 
 mouth of the corpse, a hen's egg is put under each 
 y armpit, and needles are placed in the palms of the 
 
 • Aymonicr, quoted in " The Mystic Rose," p. 95. A. E, Crawley. 
 
 216 
 
A WOMAN'S MEMORIAL 
 (Showing Pillows Market-Basket, etc.) 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 hands. It is believed that if this is done the dead 
 woman cannot become a langsuyar, as she cannot 
 open her mouth to shriek {ngilai) or wave her arms as 
 wings, or open and shut her hands to assist her flight." 
 
 It was only with great difficulty that any informa- 
 tion could be gleaned as to this terrible wraith, since 
 it is a matter of firm belief that even to mention her 
 might lay the speaker open to an unwelcome visitation. 
 No entreaty or inducement which we could offer availed 
 to persuade any informant to confide to us the appel- 
 lation by which these ghastly and malignant spirits are 
 known. The utmost we could prevail upon anyone 
 to impart on the subject was that among some tribes 
 she was called Ekwensu ; we have since learned that this 
 is the Ibo term for these sad wraiths. It was stated 
 from several sources that, by simply calling aloud 
 the dread name, a discarded wife had succeeded in 
 drawing down upon her husband the curse of such 
 an uncanny housemate. After long seeking we learnt, 
 however, that in this part of the world when a woman 
 has died in childbirth, the mouth of the corpse is 
 closed with pitch, and this mixed with thorns is some- 
 times also placed beneath the armpits, while the 
 hands are occasionally bound to the sides. To be 
 efficacious this service should be rendered by an old 
 woman, " who must be such a one as had brought 
 many children into the world but has now long ceased 
 from bearing." No mention was made of other pre- 
 cautions, such as beads, eggs, or needles placed in 
 the palms. 
 
 These sad wraiths are thought to be filled with 
 
 • straits Branch, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. No. 7, p. 28. 
 2 c 217 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 enmity against the whole human race, because they 
 have been robbed of offspring and denied burial, in 
 consequence of which last misfortune they are 
 forced to wander up and down over the length and 
 breadth of the earth, racked with hunger and parched 
 with thirst, with no resting-place in the ghost town 
 amid kindly kith and kin. With the idea of avenging 
 themselves upon men for this dreary lot they some- 
 times take the form of a beautiful woman in order 
 to attract tlie regard of a lover. To such the wraith 
 may bear elfin children, and is even said to be capable 
 of so w^cll disguising her evil nature as to live among 
 mortals unsuspected for years. Only one peculiarity 
 does she show. She cannot join in the merrymakings 
 of her town, for, should she once be inveigled into 
 a circle of dancers, her feet skim the earth so lightly 
 that she can no longer keep to the ground, but is 
 forced to spring — ever liigher and higher — till at last, 
 with a blood-curdling shriek, she flies away, and is 
 even said at times, to the horror of the spectators, to 
 have changed before their eyes into the form of an 
 owl or vampire bat. 
 
 When a man has fallen under the spell of one of 
 these terrible beings he is lost indeed, for at death 
 the ghoul-wife and her demon offspring gather round 
 his bed, mopping and mowing, and their unclean pres- 
 ence keeps off the kindly spirits of those ancestors 
 whom he would fain join in the ghost town. 
 
 Further details of the " langsuir," corresponding 
 in many points with those given above, may be found 
 in the fascinating pages of Skeat's " Malay Magic." 
 The passage is quoted in full on accoimt of its charm : 
 
 218 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 " The original langsuir, wliose embodiment is sup- 
 posed to be a kind of night owl, is described as being 
 a woman of dazzling beauty who died from the shock 
 of hearing that her child was stillborn and had taken 
 the shape of the pontianak or mati-anak — a kind of 
 night owl. On hearing this terrible news she clapped 
 her hands and without further warning flew whinnying 
 away to a tree, upon which she perched. She may be 
 known by her robe of green, by her tapering nails of 
 extraordinary length (a mark of beauty), and by the 
 long jet black tresses which she allows to fall down 
 to her ankles — only alas ! (for the truth must be told) 
 in order to conceal the hole in the back of her neck 
 through which she sucks the blood of children ! These 
 vampire-like proclivities of hers may, however, be 
 successfully combated if the right means are adopted, 
 for if you are able to catch her, cut short her nails 
 and luxuriant tresses, and stuff them into the hole in 
 her neck, she will become tame and indistinguishable 
 from an ordinary woman, remaining so for years. 
 Cases have been known, indeed, in which she has 
 become a wife and a mother, until she was allowed 
 to dance at a village merrymaking, when she 
 at once reverted to her ghostly form and flew off 
 into the dark and gloomy forest from whence she 
 came." 
 
 Of the pontianak or mati-anak, i.e. the ghost of 
 a stillborn child, no trace could be found among the 
 Ibibios, and no special precaution save that of burying 
 face downwards beneath an inverted bowl, seemed taken 
 to prevent its return. 
 
 The following story was told by an Efik woman 
 
 219 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 to whom it was related by a friend who hved near 
 the Opobo border : 
 
 " Many, many years ago a very beautiful woman 
 lived upon earth. She married a great chief who loved 
 her beyond all his other wives. To her alone he gave 
 the gifts which should have been shared between 
 all of them, and neglected the rest for her sake. This 
 made the others so jealous that they consulted together 
 and bought a strong juju which they buried one night 
 beneath the path by which the favoured wife went 
 to her farm. Further, they tied pieces of tie-tie into 
 strong knots and hid them beneath her bed, and 
 locked and clasped door- and box-locks, that by this 
 magic the portals of birth should be closed against 
 the coming of any babe to her. 
 
 " By this means the woman was kept childless 
 for many years, but at length her husband collected 
 great gifts and took them to a very strong juju, there- 
 by purchasing a medicine which he brought back and 
 gave, in all secrecy, to this best-loved wife. By its 
 strength the bad jujus were overcome, and the fellow- 
 wives saw that their envious plots were vain. 
 
 '* Now among the number was a witch. Full of 
 malice therefore, she went before her witch company 
 and told how her rival had triumphed over the magic 
 knots and other spells wrought against her, and was 
 about to bear a babe. Then all the witches plotted 
 together to weave a most evil charm, bj^ means of 
 which the babe should meet death on life's threshold. 
 Thus it came to pass, and when the little dead form 
 was shown to the mother she gave but one cry, and 
 striking out with her hands as though to fend off the 
 
 220 
 

 • • • • 
 
 PATH NEAR AKAIYA. PASSING THROUGH " THE FOREST OF 
 THOSE WHO MAY NOT BE BURIED" 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 cruel fellow-wives, without further warning flew up into 
 the branches of a tall tree, upon which she perched 
 in the guise of a white owl, uttering plaintive cries. 
 So embittered was she by the treatment she had re- 
 ceived that whenever one of her enemies bore a babe 
 she used to come down at night time and, vampire- 
 like, suck its essence, so that it also died." 
 
 It is interesting to compare this Ibibio version 
 with those from the Malay States given previously. 
 
 Little children from one to seven years of age are 
 laid in the grave on their right side, as if sleeping, 
 with hands folded palm to palm and placed between 
 the knees. Should it happen that several piccans 
 have died in any family one after the other on reach- 
 ing about eight to ten years, the next child to expire 
 at this age is also buried face downwards, " so that 
 he may not see the way to be born again." It is 
 thought that his spirit is one of those mischievous 
 sprites who only reincarnate to bring grief to parents, 
 and would never grow up to be a comfort to them 
 in later years. The mother or grandmother of such 
 unwelcome revenants usually breaks a finger or slits 
 an ear of the corpse before it is laid in the grave, that, 
 when it is born again, they may know it at once because 
 it will bear this mark. The spirits are said to dislike 
 this treatment so much " that they often give up their 
 bad habit of dying, and on the next reincarnation 
 grow up like other people." 
 
 When such a boy or girl has died the parents usually 
 wash the feet and hands of the corpse and pour the 
 water into a bottle which is kept in a corner of their 
 sleeping-room. When the wife feels that she is once 
 
 221 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 more about to become a mother, the liquid is sprinkled 
 over the floor of the room, while the parents cry aloud 
 the name of the ghost, saying, " You must not be 
 born into our family again." 
 
 Among the Ekets the father of a child is held 
 responsible for its burial. It is a breach of custom 
 for the mother to lay it in the grave. A case illus- 
 trating this came before the Native Court at Eket 
 early in April, 1913, in which the plaintiff stated : 
 
 " Defendant married my daughter. They had a 
 child who died. Just before its death defendant 
 came in and found the dying child in my arms. At 
 once he caught up a machet, and with the flat of this 
 struck me across the mouth. I said to him ' What 
 have I done ? ' He did not answer, but took up a 
 jar of palm wine which stood near by and flung the 
 contents over the 'Mbiam juju crying, ' Let me die 
 for my child ! ' I said to the people who stood around, 
 ' He thinks that I am killing the child, but never have 
 I heard of a grandmother who harmed her grandchild ! ' 
 Then I got up and went away, leaving the babe with 
 its mother. I did not go far, but came back into the 
 courtyard and made a fire in a corner, out of the way, 
 thinking ' I will stay here till I know how it goes with 
 the child.' As I sat waiting and listening, defendant 
 came out, seized me by foot and throat, and flung 
 me out of the compound. He caught up his machet 
 and would have killed me, but the bystanders ran 
 between and stopped him from harming me further. 
 It was then that the child died, and so soon as he 
 knew that its soul had quite gone from it he thrust the 
 dead body into the arms of my daughter, and bade 
 
 O'^O 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 her bear it to my house. This she did, and he refused 
 to bury it, although it is our custom for the father 
 to bury dead babes. It is unseemly and against our 
 rule that a woman should do so, yet when the husband's 
 half-brother came and ordered my daughter to bring 
 the dead body and bury it, she obeyed. She it was, 
 therefore, the mother, who laid it in the grave." 
 
 In tlie course of my husband's study of native 
 burial rites he stumbled upon the discovery that 
 among the Ibos underground chambers, much on the 
 plan of those of ancient Egypt, were formerly pre- 
 pared for the reception of the dead. In talking over 
 the matter with an Efik chief of high standing the 
 latter stated that in olden days at Calabar graves 
 only slightly different in form used to be dug out for 
 the interment of chiefs. His description was as follows : 
 
 " Within the walls of the dead man's compound 
 an oblong chamber often twenty-four feet deep, was 
 dug. Through one of the sides they cut a tunnel, 
 and at the end of this a large underground room was 
 hollowed out. . . . When all had been arranged the coffin 
 was carefully lowered into the first chamber, borne 
 through the passage, and laid upon the resting-place 
 so reverently prepared. 
 
 " Then the best-loved wife of the deceased and 
 two of his most beautiful slaves were led into the 
 chamber and seated upon three chairs at the feet of, 
 and facing, their dead lord. Between living and dead 
 a table was placed, and on this dishes containing fine 
 ' chop ' was set. 
 
 " The best-loved wife was in the centre, and into 
 her hands a lighted lamp was given. Then all save 
 
 223 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People ^ 
 
 the three women left the burial room. Boards were 
 plaeed before the entranee and earth piled against 
 these until the passage was filled up. Bolts of eloth 
 and the less costly artieles, were then laid in the first 
 compartment, immediately beneath the shaft. Lastly 
 soil was thrown in and beaten down over all." * 
 
 • '• By Haunted Waters." P. Amaury Talbot. 
 
 224 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 WIDOWHOOD AND BURIAL CUSTOMS (continued) 
 
 FROM the moment when the death of a great 
 Efik chief was announced his widows came under 
 the care of the Ndito Iban society, known among 
 Ibibios by the name of " Iban Isong," i.e. Women of 
 the Soil. Should an unfortunate widow offend against 
 custom in any way, such as by washing face or feet, or 
 plaiting her hair, the society at once fined her ; for 
 members were continually passing in and out of the 
 house of mourning to watch that the rules were ob- 
 served. At cock-crow each day the women of the house- 
 hold had to wake and start crying for an hour or two, 
 and should one of them not be thought to perform her 
 part of the ceremony in a sufficiently energetic manner, 
 external aids were applied of sufficient strength to 
 remedy any lack of naturalness. Widows were not 
 allowed to leave the compound on any pretext, but 
 were forced to stay, each in her own house, sitting 
 upon a small mat in a dark corner. No covering was 
 permitted, save the narrow strip usually worn round 
 the waist beneath the robe and called the " woman's 
 cloth." 
 
 When women from other families came, the 
 visitors seated themselves just before their hostess. 
 No sooner had they settled down than the widow 
 
 2 D 225 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 started to weep anew, and the guests joined her in 
 lamentation. After a certain time spent in this way 
 they went on to another wife, and so on till all had 
 been condoled with. Sisters and cousins of the dead 
 man usually received visits in the room beneath the 
 floor of which the corpse was buried. 
 
 Only legal wives were thus secluded. Other women 
 of the household, no matter how near or dear they 
 might have been to the dead, were not expected to 
 stay in their little corners, but were free to come and go 
 within the compound. The time of seclusion was called 
 that of the " Mbuk Pisi " house, i.e. house of mourning. 
 
 When a very great chief dies his widows make a 
 certain offering to the Ndito Iban Society. For this 
 purpose they prepare long wrappings of silk, and, after 
 having presented these, send to inform their families 
 of the bereavement which has befallen them. In 
 olden days a year or more was usually spent in this 
 seclusion. Now it is only a week or two, or at most 
 a month. 
 
 As the time of mourning drew to an end, about 
 nine o'clock one night a cry was heard coming from 
 the Egbo house. This was the signal for the beginning 
 of what was called a very " strong night " at Calabar. 
 All the widows stepped, one by one, out of the compound 
 where they had so long been confined, and proceeded 
 to the Egbo shed, each with her family walking round 
 her like a fence The building was full of the great 
 chiefs of the town, while crowds of spectators stood 
 outside. After all the wives had been stationed before 
 the entrance, the name of each was called in turn, 
 from the lowest to the highest, with the words : 
 
 226 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 " You must ' cry ' your husband before the Egbo, 
 that Egbo may hear." 
 
 Then, in the stillness, the poor woman raised her 
 voice bewailing her loss, and the Egbo answered the 
 cry from within, " a very thick and heavy sound 
 amid the silence." After awhile came a pause, then 
 all began again as before. Seven times the wail rose ; 
 but the seventh was the last. All this time the family 
 of the first woman stood in readiness to pass her along 
 from one to another. Suddenly bells were heard 
 ringing, and the widow started to run, sheltered always 
 by her kinsfolk. The same happened to all in turn, 
 and, should some unfortunate woman have no strong 
 family to encircle and save her, Egbo caught her 
 and she died there and then. 
 
 After having " cried their husband before the 
 Egbo," the widows went back once more to the house 
 of mourning, and early next day Idemm Ikwaw (i.e. 
 lesser Egbo) came out and went round the town. All 
 the principal chiefs followed him, holding in their 
 hands twenty to forty young palm stems, each about 
 four feet long, from which the hard skin had been 
 stripped off, so that only the soft inner part was left. 
 
 When these had gathered in the courtyard, the 
 women came out from the Mbuk Pisi house one by 
 one with folded arms and stepping backwards *' softly, 
 softly " ; for they might not turn their heads. Each 
 was shaking with terror, for none knew what was 
 coming and they feared " too much." All around 
 them bells were ringing with deafening clang and bang. 
 The Egbo image struck at each, as she came forth, 
 and, if the woman was lithe and nimble of mind as 
 
 227 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 well as body, at the first stroke she sprang back into 
 the house, but many were too bewildered to know 
 where to turn. For each blow a new stick was used, 
 the others being thrown away immediately. After 
 every widow had been struck in turn, the ceremony 
 was over. "The minds of the women could rest in 
 peace now. Tliere was nothing more to fear." 
 
 Later in the day all went down to the river to 
 bathe. There they washed the little cloths which 
 had so long been worn unchanged, and shaved their 
 heads. " Each widow was laved by the women of 
 her family and those who were her dearest friends. 
 No man could see them walking unrobed because of 
 the press of women about each. After bathing they 
 dressed themselves in cloth woven of plaited grasses, 
 the fine kind called Of on Ndam, black, red, and 
 yellow in colour, which is as soft as linen." Then 
 the *' woman's cloth," and every spoon, calabash and 
 other utensil used during the time of mourning was 
 thrown into the river ; were this not done it was thought 
 that their continued possession would entail barrenness 
 upon their owner. After these had been cast away 
 the widows returned for the last time to the house 
 of their late husband. They did not enter, however, 
 but only sat on the veranda. 
 
 Next some of the principal women of the town 
 and five or six chiefs went thither as witnesses that 
 all had " cleansed themselves," and now wished to 
 go back to the homes of their fathers. The household 
 juju was brought out and set upon the ground, and 
 before it each widow took oath : 
 
 " During my husband's lifetime if I was unfaithful 
 
 228 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 to him or did any bad thing against his family may 
 the juju punish me ! If not, may I go clear ! " 
 
 After this each woman's kin surrounded her. She 
 raised her clasped hands above her head, resting them 
 with interlocked fingers upon the crown, and cried, 
 " My husband divorces me to-day ! " The spectators 
 took up the cry, calling in chorus upon the dead 
 man by his " fine names " such as " Helper of the 
 Town," etc. 
 
 After each widow had thus set herself free, the 
 household dependents came forward and " cried " 
 in much the same manner. Then the " free born " 
 amongst them all went back to the homes of their 
 fathers. 
 
 For seven days only the native grass cloth " Of on 
 Ndam " might be worn by the bereaved wom.en, and, 
 when this was laid aside, custom ordained that a kind 
 called "Isodoho" should be substituted. 
 
 Sisters, cousins, and women " members " of the 
 deceased's family wore a blue cloth two fathoms long, 
 knotted over the left shoulder and hanging straight 
 down like the usual farm dress. As a further sign of 
 mourning they used to grind charcoal and mix with 
 a little oil to form a black pigment, with which they 
 painted a mark from temple to temple across the 
 forehead, much in the shape of a crescent moon. It 
 is quite probably from this circumstance that the 
 " house of mourning " among the Ibibios is termed 
 " the moon house," though, when the supposition was 
 mentioned, some of my informants disclaimed all 
 knowledge of the point. 
 
 Male members of the family or household were 
 
 229 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 supposed to wear black or dark blue cloth, sometimes 
 for as much as a year and a half, until a date was fixed 
 upon by the principal men among them, who said, 
 " On such and such a day we will finish mourning." 
 They liked to arrange so that this " throwing off of 
 mourning " took place about Christmas time, before 
 the planting of new farms. 
 
 It would seem that the period of mourning is pur- 
 posely made as disagreeable as possible for the widows, 
 in order to deter these from the temptation to poison 
 their husbands so as to clear the way for another suitor. 
 
 As with the Greeks of old, both men and women 
 shaved their heads in sign of mourning. Like the 
 widows, some of the dependents wore Isodoho cloth, 
 and some a kind dyed a lighter shade of blue called 
 '^Utan Okpo." 
 
 From the day when the widows " took oath before 
 the juju " and returned to their fathers' homes they 
 were free to marry again.* 
 
 On the occasion of the funeral rites of the head chief 
 of Ikotobo, the cattle offered to the "Manes" of the 
 dead were laid out to the left of the throne upon which 
 the corpse sat in state ; while on the right, as if to 
 balance the slaughtered sheep, which in this case were 
 twenty in number, crouched the deceased's twenty 
 wives with their children, all wailing and wringing their 
 hands. But for the presence of the " white man," f 
 most, if not all, of these unfortunate women would have 
 been sacrificed also and buried with their lord. Even as 
 
 • A full description of the obsequies of Ibibio chiefs will be found in my 
 husband's book, " By Haunted Waters." Only so much as directly concerns 
 the women is attempted here. 
 
 t Mr. W, W. Eakin, of the Kwn Ibo Mission. 
 
 230 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 it was their fate was sad enough. They were painted 
 over with black pigment and forced to go into mourning 
 for six months, though in the case of lesser men the 
 period is sometimes shortened to as little as seven 
 days. During this time they were obliged to observe 
 the strictest seclusion. On such occasions none is 
 allowed to wash either body or clothes. They are 
 even forbidden to stand at the door of their prison 
 while rain is falling, lest a single drop should touch 
 them and thus cleanse a fractional part of the body. 
 During this time the wretched women exist under 
 conditions too hideous for description. At the end 
 of their seclusion the Egbo "images" come with 
 attendants and drive them forth from the dead man's 
 house, which is then broken down. Images and 
 attendants bear sharp machets, with which they slash 
 the arms of the terrified women, who run weeping to 
 seek out former friends and beg them to bind up their 
 wounds. After this they remain homeless until parcelled 
 out among the heirs of the dead man. 
 
 The wives of even poor Ibibios must remain secluded 
 for a week after their husband's burial. During this 
 time they may wear no garment save a small loin 
 cloth and a piece of goat's skin tied over the right 
 hand.* Before coming forth they are allowed to dress 
 their hair, bathe and resume their customary garments. 
 The first use they make of freedom is usually to go 
 and pluck themselves boughs of ntung leaves, which 
 they wave to and fro " to drive away the scent of 
 the ghost," for Ibibios, like the ancient Babylonians, 
 believe that ghosts have a very evil smell. Thus 
 
 * We could learu no reason for this last, seemingly inconsequent, tabu. 
 
 231 
 
 / 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 protected, the women approach the grave and lay upon 
 it, folded into a small roll, the cloth and piece of skin 
 which they have worn during the time of their seclusion. 
 After this has been duly done they may return to 
 their ordinary mode of life, mixing with their fellows 
 and going to market as before. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Awa when a chief fell 
 sick his nearest kinsmen used to go to the Idiong 
 priest and ask the cause of the illness. Should the 
 oracle declare, as was usually the case, that this had 
 been brought about in consequence of a wife's unfaith- 
 fulness, Idiong was next asked to point out the guilty 
 woman. So soon as her name was pronounced she 
 was called upon to confess and give the name of her 
 lover. Should she refuse and as a result, according 
 to general opinion, the husband died, the oracle was 
 consulted once more, and, on the almost invariable 
 pronouncement that the woman was guilty of the 
 death, a meeting of the townsfolk was called to decide 
 upon her fate. By ancient custom this might be meted 
 out in two ways; either she was buried alive by the 
 dead man's side, in place of a female slave usually 
 sacrificed on such an occasion, or forced to sit above 
 the grave. In the latter case a slender pole of hard 
 wood was brought, sharpened to a fine point before 
 the eyes of the wretched woman, and then driven 
 into the skull, right through the body, and deep down 
 into the earth, in such a manner as to impale her 
 above the place of burial. 
 
 Before killing such victims the people used to 
 gather round and order them to pronounce a blessing 
 upon the town. " Make plenty piccans be born to 
 
 232 
 

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 • • • • 
 
 o 
 
 PQ 
 
 < 
 
 >- 
 
 PQ 
 
 Q 
 
 U 
 
 W 
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 O 
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 00 
 
 5 
 
 w 
 
 w 
 
 Oi 
 
 u 
 
 2 
 
 O 
 
 w 
 
 
• > . 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 us," they would cry ; " plenty girls and plenty boys.'* 
 Should the victim refuse to repeat the words they 
 coaxed her, and said : 
 
 " If you will but speak this blessing we will let 
 you go free." 
 
 Should she again refuse they beat her very cruelly, 
 crying, " Now speak." If, despite the pain, she still 
 refused, the " fearful Egbo " would come out — hideous 
 beyond description — and threaten nameless tortures 
 till she yielded. 
 
 In some rare cases the woman has still been known 
 to hold out, as is also recorded of one or other of the 
 slaves ordained by custom to share the grave of their 
 lord, and from whom a like " blessing " was demanded. 
 Under such circumstances the victims were never 
 sacrificed, since to do so would have been to draw 
 down a period of barrenness and poverty upon the 
 town. Instead of killing such steadfast souls, therefore, 
 they were sold into slavery, while a victim who could 
 be forced or cajoled into pronouncing the necessary 
 formula was offered instead. 
 
 It was of the utmost importance to the well-being 
 of the spirits of parents in the Ghost Realm that a 
 son should be left behind who would carry out the 
 burial rites with all due observances. The straits 
 to which good sons were sometimes put in order to 
 make sure that the necessary ritual was performed 
 are illustrated by the story of the sham burial of the 
 mother of the head chief of Ikot Okudum— a town 
 not far from Ubium Creek. 
 
 Many years ago when the present head chief, 
 Etuk Udaw Akpan by name, was a young man, he 
 
 2 E 233 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 was very strong and brave. For a certain reason his 
 fellow-townsmen wanted to kill liim. They tried their 
 best, and set many snares, but he always escaped 
 them, 
 
 One day he went to visit the house of a friend in 
 the Ubium country. His host prepared " chop " and 
 set it before him, with palm wine and all things 
 necessary for the refreshment of an honoured guest. 
 During the meal his enemies heard that he was within, 
 so they sent a message to the owner of the compound, 
 saying : 
 
 *' For a long time we have wanted to kill this man 
 but could never catch him. We beg you, therefore, 
 to give him into our hands, and in return we will pay 
 you a great sum." 
 
 The host said, " I agree, provided the amount you 
 offer is large enough ! " So they brought much money, 
 whereon he said, "It is good. Do to him what you 
 will." 
 
 Then the people surrounded the house and fastened 
 the doors of the encircling fence so that Etuk might 
 not escape them. When all was ready they called : 
 
 " Come out. We wish to ask you a word." He, 
 however, answered, " No. If you have anything to 
 say, it can be said while I am within." The people 
 replied, " You must come out." Then when they 
 found that he would not do this, they tried to force 
 in the door and fall upon him. 
 
 On that Etuk drew out a sharp maehet which was 
 hidden beneath his gown, and springing through the 
 door shut it suddenly behind him, and stood facing 
 his foes. So unexpected was his appearance, and so 
 
 234 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 fierce his blows, that momentarily the people all -gave 
 way before him. At a glance he saw that the gates 
 were barred, so, as he was an excellent climber, before 
 anyone could stop him, he sprang upon the mud wall 
 of the veranda and thence to the roof. Along this 
 he rushed till he came to a place where the building 
 was very near the fence, cleared this at a bound, and 
 alighted safely on the other side. Then he ran for 
 his life toward the bush, crying out, " If you want 
 me, follow me now ! " 
 
 It was some time before those within the enclosure 
 could unbar the gate which they themselves had so 
 carefully fastened, and by the time this was done 
 Etuk had disappeared. 
 
 All day he hid, but after nightfall managed to reach 
 his home unnoticed. There he said to his mother : 
 
 " To-day I went to a house in the Ubium country, 
 whither the townsmen followed to kill me. I was very 
 sorry for myself and also for you, because you are 
 my mother and, unless I am killed, you will probably 
 die before me. In that case it would be my duty 
 to bury you. Now that they want to kill me so soon 
 I fear that you may be left with no grown-up son to 
 perform the rites for you, since my brothers are still 
 very young. I think, therefore, it is best, while there 
 is yet time, to call all the townsfolk together and 
 do that which is proper for a son to do for a dead 
 mother." 
 
 To this the woman answered, " Do as you say, for 
 the people want to kill you, and leave me alone in 
 the world with no one to bury me when my time shall 
 come.'* 
 
 235 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 Then Etuk sent one of his small brothers to summon 
 the townsfolk. Goats, cows and much mimbo had 
 been provided, together with everything necessary to 
 do honour to a dead woman. 
 
 When all were assembled before the house Etuk 
 said to his mother, " Go now and bathe." Then when 
 the bath was finished he robed her as is done with 
 a corpse. Afterwards he went outside and placed a 
 chair for his mother, who sat thereon in the sight of 
 all the people, as the dead are used to sit in state. 
 
 Next all the beasts were slaughtered, and Etuk 
 Udaw took the blood and poured it out before the 
 feet of his mother, as is customary for women who 
 leave behind them a son of fitting age to carry out the 
 burial rites. When this was finished he ordered the 
 people to play the death play for his mother, and 
 at the end bade her go back into the house while he 
 addressed the company. 
 
 First he told them to keep silence for a while, and 
 then asked : 
 
 *' Do you know what I mean by dressing my mother 
 like a dead woman and holding her burial rites while 
 she is still alive ? " They answered, " No, we cannot 
 even guess, though we question much among our- 
 selves on this very matter." So he continued : 
 
 " You want to kill me, and should I die before her 
 she would be left in the world without a son old enough 
 to bury her properly when the time comes. There- 
 fore I have done all this before you slay me, that 
 everything may be performed in due order and she 
 may not suffer in the Ghost Realm." 
 
 They answered, " We have drunk all this mimbo 
 
 236 
 
Widowhood and Burial Customs 
 
 and eaten these sacrifices to no purpose as it appears ! 
 Never have we seen such a thing as this ! " So they 
 went away, much amazed. Nevertheless, from that 
 time they left the man in peace, and did not strive 
 to harm him as they had before. 
 
 Not long afterwards one of the small brothers fell 
 ill, so Etuk went to the Idiong man and asked the 
 reason. The diviner consulted the oracle, and replied : 
 
 "It is because you have carried out the death 
 rites of your mother, and the evil spirits grow im- 
 patient, watching for her to die. As she has not 
 yet reached the ghost town, they are trying to take 
 one of your young brothers." 
 
 On hearing this, Etuk went home and bought many 
 medicines, he also offered sacrifices to save the boy, 
 but in spite of all that was done the little one died. 
 
 The mother herself lived for many, many years. 
 Indeed, it is only about four years since she went to 
 the ghost town, but the son still lives, and has become 
 head chief over all those who formerly wished to kill 
 him, and he now sits as a " member," judging cases 
 in the Eket Native Court. 
 
 237 
 
L' ENVOI 
 
 Degema, Nigeria. 
 June, 1914. 
 
 SUCH, from cradle to grave, is the life story of an 
 Ibibio woman, so far as those of her people were 
 willing to confide it to one of an alien race. It is natu- 
 rally a matter of regret that, owing to the fear of being 
 blamed by their kin for having imparted so much 
 information to a stranger, hardly one of my informants 
 would allow her name to be given as authority for 
 any statement here set down. When, however, men 
 and women can be brought to grasp the fact, to which 
 some natives with more than a veneer of education 
 are gradually awakening, that Africans have a great 
 deal more to win than lose by placing on record 
 old customs and beliefs before these are overwhelmed 
 by the oncoming waves of alien religion and culture, 
 the greatest stumbling-block will have been removed 
 from the path of inquirers. It is true that there is 
 much of barbarity and hideous cruelty in these ancient 
 ceremonies, which the civilised negro would fain hide 
 from the knowledge of white races, but it is doubtful 
 whether there is anything more terrible to be disclosed 
 concerning the fetish rites of West Africa than those 
 known to have been practised in the early stages of 
 all the great religions of the world, as witness Egyptian 
 
 238 
 
L'Envoi 
 
 and Babylonian bas-reliefs. Yet, side by side with 
 much that will be found revolting to twentieth century 
 ideas, there yet remain traces of traditions and beliefs 
 of a depth and value to which northern races are only 
 just awakening. 
 
 Again, at the present day, whether we sympathise 
 with or decry the feminist movement, the fact remains 
 that, for good or ill, a spirit of restlessness has swept 
 over the women of the world. A stirring and quicken- 
 ing has come to them, rousing a consciousness of power 
 long latent which, rightly directed, may suffice to 
 destroy pitfalls and sweep clean those foul places which 
 now surround the path of the poor and weak, but 
 which, wrongly guided, might lead along unlovely 
 roads to sex antagonism and barren hate. The con- 
 dition of many an African tribe of to-day is in all 
 essentials the same as that through which we ourselves 
 once passed in long-forgotten ages. Surely then, on 
 whichever side we stand in the vexed question of the 
 hour,* it is well for us to look back now and again 
 and watch how primitive woman held her own, or 
 learn what yet remains to be gleaned of the stages 
 by which she rose to dominion over, or sank to serf- 
 dom beneath, the men of her day. 
 
 While re-reading these pages before sending them 
 to press, news came that two women, splendidly 
 trained and equipped, have set out to do, in another 
 quarter of the globe, what is so inadequately attempted 
 here. Perhaps, later on, others as wxU fitted as they 
 
 * A matter of much interest at the time of writing?, but now relegated to 
 the half-forgotten things of yesterday by the cataclysm which burst upon tlie 
 world in August, 1914. 
 
 239 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 may be induced to turn their attention to the women 
 of Africa. 
 
 To my critics I would say that the first steps along 
 a road, which to a certain extent at least has hitherto 
 remained untrodden, are necessarily difficult and un- 
 certain, and that only the intense interest which such 
 a study has for us and the more than kindness of 
 those whose opinion we so greatly value has em- 
 boldened me, in default of one more fitted, to attempt 
 even so inadequate an account of these primitive 
 women. 
 
 Perhaps a few words on another subject may be 
 permitted here. A recent visitor to the coast wrote 
 on her return reproaching her countrymen because so 
 few English officials take their wives to West Africa, 
 while many French and Germans do so. In discussing 
 the matter with a German acquaintance on one of 
 the boats, she quotes him as saying, apropos of the 
 presence of white women, " It is only the English who 
 fear the rains"— and herself adds in comment, *' I 
 deplored, though I could not resent, the slight touch 
 of contempt in his tone." 
 
 Had this gifted authoress been aware of the true 
 state of the case, and known how many men fruitlessly 
 apply year after year for permission to bring their 
 wives, she could have removed a misapprehension 
 from the mind of her fellow-traveller, and would herself 
 have had nothing to deplore on this score with regard 
 to her countrymen save their misfortune in being 
 deprived of those wliose companionship they eagerly 
 desire. Of one other point she, in common with the 
 general public, also seemed unaware. The German 
 
 240 
 
L'Envoi 
 
 and French Governments, recognising the fact that 
 the presence of white women in their colonics does 
 more than anything else to destroy abuses, raise the 
 standard of morals, and make men contented with 
 their lot, defray the cost of the voyage for the wife of 
 every official, while the whole expense, averaging some 
 seventy pounds per tour, must be borne by the English- 
 man, who, when all things are taken into accoimt, is 
 no more highly paid than his brother officials across 
 the border. 
 
 It is, of course, true that many women are unsuited 
 for the hardships of life out here. Some, too, might 
 possibly hinder work, either by seeking to interfere 
 in so-called " government palavers " which by no 
 means concern them, or by holding back their 
 husbands from that constant travelling which alone 
 makes possible efficient supervision in countries such 
 as these. For an official the interests of Government 
 should naturally come before all others, but it would 
 be easy enough for the authorities to judge, from 
 travelling returns and district reports, whether, in 
 any case, the presence of a wife had resulted in a 
 falling off in efficiency, and those women deemed un- 
 desirable could be forbidden to return. 
 
 On behalf of my sister and myself I would venture 
 to express thanks to Government for having allowed 
 us, during nearly six years, to accompany my husband 
 on all his journeyings. The conditions under which 
 administration is carried on in countries such as this 
 can hardly be grasped at home. In the chief towns 
 it is true that, save for the unhealthiness of the climate, 
 
 the state of affairs would not seem so much harder 
 2F 241 
 
Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People 
 
 than in England ; but in disturbed districts and at 
 busli stations, where adequate supervision often entails 
 ten to twelve hours work a day for long stretches, 
 with the thermometer at a temperature of 80° to 90°, 
 interspersed with marches varying from twelve to 
 twenty miles per diem in a downpour almost constant 
 for nearly half the year, things wear a very different 
 aspect. Under these conditions it is impossible for 
 the overworked officials to give time to seemingly in- 
 significant matters which are, however, so important 
 in a climate such as this, i.e. variety of diet, food 
 values, airing of garments, and, above all, the filtering 
 of water. Were the restrictions now placed on the 
 coming of wives removed, I venture to think it .would 
 do more than anything else to decrease the death toll 
 and improve the standard of health in the tropics. 
 
 It was lately remarked to me by a woman of high 
 rank in the colony, " Out here one hardly ever hears 
 a man complain as to the worries and hardships of 
 his lot." Difficulties are made light of and anxieties 
 borne in silence, while on every hand one sees examples 
 of devotion to duty not the less heroic because unre- 
 corded, and a gay-hearted courage which is beyond all 
 praise. Few even among the great Elizabethans took 
 more terrible risks than are borne every day by one ' 
 or other of these quiet men whose names are seldom 
 or never heard in England. Yet, when in carrying 
 out orders they meet a cruel death, as only too often 
 happens, or still more frequently are invalided home, 
 ruined in health by the hardship of life out here, scarcely 
 a word of praise or thanks is accorded them. 
 
 At the present time, Nigeria is fortunate in the 
 
 242 
 
L'Envoi 
 
 presence of a woman whose goodness, charm and broad 
 sympathies are gratefully acknowledged by all who 
 have the privilege of meeting her. Could but a few 
 more such be attracted to the colony conditions would 
 indeed soon show a vast improvement. 
 
 In conclusion, I would venture to add that, to the 
 great anthropologists at home and to those highly placed 
 officials who have given encouragement so unstinted, 
 as also to the one whose selflessness made possible the 
 writing of this little record, I have no words in which to 
 express my grateful thanks. Had the idea been earlier 
 suggested, or had it been possible before beginning to 
 gather information concerning the women dealt with in 
 these pages, to have had the advice of those scientists 
 who on our return so generously devoted time and 
 trouble to pointing out the best lines on which to 
 carry out such a study, this little account would natur- 
 ally have been of far ^^ ater value. We can only 
 hope that — better equip}, d as we now are for further 
 investigations, through ^he teaching and advice so 
 more than kindly expended^ upon [us — we j,- may have 
 the opportunity of undertaking fresh inquiries as to 
 the women of other Ni«crian tribes. 
 
 V.,' 
 
 i 
 
/ 
 
 1-. 
 
 'V 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abassi invoked by alleged witch, 171 
 
 — Anse in magic potion case, 149 
 
 — Isu Ma, goddess of the Face of 
 Lx)ve, 12 ; visit to sacred pool of, 
 18; prayers and sacrifices to, 19 
 (See also Eka Abassi) 
 
 — Isua invoked to ensure plentiful 
 crops, 86 
 
 — Ma and sterility, 17; form of 
 prayer to, 19 
 
 — Okun Abassi, Chief, family of, 210 
 Adiaha Agbo spies on play, 119 
 
 — Anaw fetches spring water for her 
 sick child, 78 
 
 — Isong, witness in slavery case, 125 
 
 — Ntokk, fickleness and punishment 
 cf, 146 
 
 — the elder, daughter of the virgin 
 goddess Eka Ekkpo, 201 
 
 — Udaw Anwa punished for curio- 
 sity, 199 
 
 Adut Nsitt, visit to, 83 
 
 AflBnities or "Bush Souls," 43; e 
 
 planation of, 48 ; purchase of, 51 
 
 unwilling and willing spirits, 51 ; 
 
 power of python affinity, 156 
 Affion Usuk Inyi, child "husband," 
 
 212 
 Afia murders her stepson, 132 
 African Association establishes refuge 
 
 for "twin mothers," 30 
 
 — Society, Journal of, quoted, 83 
 Akon Abassi in child "marriage" 
 
 case, 211 
 Akpabio of Awa confirms story of 
 
 Ekong, 204 
 Akpan saves his brother from the 
 
 witches, 165 
 
 — Idui in exogamy case, 12S 
 
 — Njawhaw, son of the virgin god- 
 dess Eka Ekkpo, 201 
 
 — Nka in love philtre case, 143 
 
 — Nkana, witness in slave case, 125 
 
 — Nwan shoots were-leopard, 50 
 
 — Udaw Ibomm, Chief, numerous 
 offspring of, 209 
 
 " Akwa Edui " (Creater Sunday), 
 rule for procuring water on, 77 
 
 2 F* 
 
 Altars, building of, 8 
 
 Ama Awsawdi, marriage ventures cf, 
 
 93 
 
 Amazons, cruelty of, 205 
 
 Anecdotes (See also Legends), a libel 
 case, 26; the Idiong Society and 
 " twin woman," 27 ; the Cbe 
 magic water, 28; Akpan Abassi's 
 visit to the Town of Women, 31 ; 
 the re-incarnation of Osini Essiet, 
 38 ; Etuk Nkokk and her stunted 
 child, 39 ; the pet lemur, 44 ; the 
 faithful lion cub, 45 ; the shooting 
 of the were-leopard, 50 ; the four 
 snake-children, 51 ; the thieving 
 snake-child, 54; the Idiokk ape 
 and the mother and child, 58; the 
 slain baboon and its mother, 60 ; 
 the little murderer who loved his 
 mother, 62 ; the suicide of the 
 unwilling bride, 88 ; maltreat- 
 ment of the chief's disobedient 
 daughter, 89; the disputed in- 
 heritance, 91 ; inhuman treatment 
 of Mbit Ese Ewan's wife, 99; the 
 childless chief, loi ; the human 
 sacrifice to Abo Abom, 118; the 
 murderous chief, 122 ; the slavery 
 case, 123; Nka Ananz's matri- 
 monial case, 130; childless wives' 
 crimes, 131 ; the stepmother's 
 crime, 132 ; love philtres and 
 magic, 138; methods of ensuring 
 victims' barrenness, 146; the 
 burglar, 151 ; the Calabar chief's 
 magic riches, 160; the witch and 
 the small boy, 162; Offong and the 
 witches' revels, 163 ; the murder of 
 the rival's babe, 167 ; the woman 
 accused of witchcraft, 170; the 
 mbiam priestess, 176; the orphan 
 and the juju offerings, 178; an 
 Ibibio Iphigenia, 180; an action 
 against Ebere Society, 190; how 
 the men stole the women's secrets, 
 196; of large families, 209; the 
 grandmother and dead child, 222; 
 the sham burial, 233 
 
 245 
 
Index 
 
 Angwa-Angwa, younger daughter of 
 
 the virgin goddess Eka Ekkpo, 201 
 " Ani, Maxims of," 19 
 Animals, strange intimacy with, 44; 
 
 regarded as superiors, 46; sanctity 
 
 of certain Egyptian, 47 ; power to 
 
 change shap>e attributed to, 57, 60 
 
 {See also \Vere-beasts) 
 Ansa Ekang Ita Henshaw, Chief, 
 
 describes crocodile juju, 183, 185 
 Ant-hill inhabited by evil spirits, 152; 
 
 rites to enlist their help, 154, 155 
 Anthropological Institute, Journal of, 
 
 quoted, 203 
 Anthropologists, tribute to, 243 
 Ants and expectant mothers, 21 
 Aphrodite, the Ibibio, 18 
 Aret prepares love philtre, 140 
 Atabli Inyang juju, 14S 
 Australia, Central, ignorance of 
 
 native women of, 3; theories of 
 
 human birth of, 12 
 Awa, local reason for killing twins, 
 
 36 ; Native Court case at, Sg, 142 ; 
 
 sacred pools round, 109; ancient 
 
 custom regarding sickness of 
 
 chiefs, 232 
 
 Babylon, powers ascribed to water in, 
 106 
 
 " Baganda, their Customs and Be- 
 liefs," quoted, 213 
 
 Bailey, Mr. John, quoted, 209 
 
 " Ballad of Clerk Saunders; The," 
 quoted, 215 
 
 Banana tribe, belief about hairstrings 
 amongst, 172 
 
 Banks Island, natives and virgin 
 birth, 12 
 
 Barrenness, Eka Abassi's remedy for, 
 13; sign of disobedience, 18; 
 source of jealousy and crime, 131 ; 
 magic to ensure rival's, 145 ; curs- 
 ing of Adiaha Ntokk causes, 146; 
 another method to cause, 147 ; 
 leads women to murder offspring 
 of fellow wives, 167 
 
 Beiliss trial quoted, 173 
 
 " Birth-marks," significance of, 38,39 
 
 Births attributed to Eka Abassi, 10; 
 similarity of Central Australian 
 and Ibibio beliefs, 12; customs, 15, 
 22 (See also Motherhood, Twins 
 and Triplets) 
 
 Bonny, 31 
 
 Borneo, customs in war time, 192 
 
 " Botanist on the Orinoco, A," 
 quoted, 34 
 
 Budge, Dr. VVallis, quoted, 5, iq, 139, 
 208 
 
 Burial rites, for warriors, 5; of 
 Ibibics, 205; of Ibo and New 
 
 Calabari women, 209 ; Ibibio cus- 
 toms, 213; for little children, 221 ; 
 Calabar chiefs, 223 ; Ibibio chiefs, 
 225 ; performed for live woman, 
 
 235 
 "Bush Souls" (See Affinities) 
 " By Haunted Waters," quoted, 19, 
 
 20, 130, 193, 195, 200, 206, 224, 
 
 230 
 
 Calabak, 8, II, 43, 99, 142, 160, 191, 
 
 226 
 Cambodia, belief regarding corpses 
 
 in, 216 
 Childbirth, curious customs connected 
 
 with, 22; rites of Goddess of, 23; 
 
 fears of evil spirits in, 38 
 Children, mothers' love for their, 62; 
 
 cases of paternal cruelty to, 64 ; 
 
 at the Ekong play, 65 ; girls' 
 
 desire for, 85; marriage of, 88; 
 
 considered at father's mercy, 91 ; 
 
 method of obtaining, 100 
 Christians, native, 26, 29, 30, 100 
 Clifford, Sir Hugh, quoted, 155, 156 
 Crawley, A. E., quoted, 159, 216 
 Cross River, 44, 115 
 
 Dante, quoted, 81 ; tribute to, 184 
 Dayrell, Elphinstone, quoted, 21, 100 
 Death, attributed to Eka Abassi, 10; 
 symbolic expressions for, 17; of 
 men refusing to sacrifice, ^;^ 
 Ibibios' stoicism regarding, 63 
 Efik ceremonial at chief's, 83 
 from sleeping sickness, 116; of 
 invisible burglar, 154; Efik and 
 Ekoi ceremonial at chief's, 193; 
 Eka Ekkpo, Bringer of, 201 ; 
 legendary origin of, 203 ; burial of 
 warriors, 205 ; Isis wrings life 
 from, 208; in childbirth, 216 
 Demons, alliances between men and, 
 
 28 
 Destroyers, secret society, 195 
 Devils that devour unborn babes, 169 ; 
 
 Ibibio belief in, 201 
 " Devils and Evil Spirits of Baby- 
 lonia," quoted, 28, 214 
 " Die Pangwe. Volkerkundliche 
 
 Monografhie eines westafrikan- 
 ischen Negerstammes,'" von Gunter 
 Te'^-^mann, quoted, 6 
 Divorce, intercourse with " twin 
 woman" a cause for, 26; in- 
 equality of, 98 ; demand for, leads 
 to murder, 122; schemes to bring 
 about, 144; claimed because of 
 " twin woman," 171 ; from child 
 " husband," 212 
 Dodd, Mrs. (See Fisher, Miss) 
 Dreams, influence of, 46, 47, 50 
 
 246 
 
Index 
 
 Dryad invoked for young girls, 80 
 Dyak customs in war time, 192 
 
 Ea, God, invocation of, 106 
 
 Eakin, Mr. (of Kvva Ibo Mission), 18, 
 
 24, 50 
 Earth Mother, Ibibio attachment to, 17 
 Earth, the, in Ibibio Pantheon, 18 
 Ebere Society, description of, 189; 
 
 survival of, 193 
 Edinburgh Review, quoted, 17 
 Edogho Idua juju, cruelty of, iSo 
 Efa Abassi heads deputation, 130 
 
 — Etung Effion, Chief, large family 
 of, 210 
 
 Efiks, birth customs of, 22 ; now 
 clothe children earlier, 67 ; regard 
 for streams and pools, 77 ; and the 
 Fatting-house, 82; warriors' wives 
 in war time, igi 
 
 Egbo Society, Nimm Society rivals, 
 7 ; people driven into house of, 
 60; recalling the spirit of, 193; 
 originally woman's society, 193 ; 
 execution of intruders, 194; origin 
 of, 194; captured by men, 195; 
 execution of intruder, 195 ; regula- 
 tion for widows, 227 
 
 Egypt, legends of, likeness to West 
 African, 5 
 
 Eise, crocodile worship at, 183 
 
 Eka Abassi (Mother of God), offerings 
 to, 8 ; supremacy of, 9 ; as Bestower 
 of Fertility, 10 ; First Cause, 13 ; 
 her son's virgin birth, 13; reasons 
 for peculiar offerings to, 14; 
 earthly manifestations of, 16 ; 
 author's visit to sacred pool, 18 ; 
 invoked to sa%-e girl, 74; grants 
 a child to Adiaha, 147 
 
 Eka Ekkpo, the Death Bringer, 201 ; 
 the children of, 201 
 
 — Mbopo [See Mother of the Fatting- 
 house) 
 
 V, Ekeple Ukim [See Ohio Iban-Iban) 
 Eket District, low type in, 4; native 
 political agent for, 8; "twin 
 town" established in, 30; woman 
 of, describes play, 67 ; marriage 
 customs of, 85 ; Native Court, 98 ; 
 blocking of main roads in, 114 
 EkkfK) Xjawhaw secret society, 195 ; 
 
 stealing of secrets of, 196 
 
 Ekoi tribe, cult of Nimm practised by, 
 
 7; triplets unknown by, 35; their 
 
 beautiful legends, 57 ; their love of 
 
 children, 62 
 
 Ekong, " Great Warriors' Club," 203 
 
 Kkpenyon made barren by Ita Briny an 
 
 juju, 147 
 Ekpenyong, the son of, joins witches' 
 revels, 163 
 
 247 
 
 Ekpenyong Abassi, the childless chief, 
 
 101 
 Ekung societies, object of, 64 
 Ekwensu the wraith, 217 
 Elkins, Miss, missionary work of, 36 
 Empire Day celebrations, 63 
 Enyenihi, Chief, numerous offspring 
 
 of, 209 
 Ese Efiom, mbiam priestess, 176 
 Esonta, Chief, numerous wives and 
 
 children of, 210 
 Essien Etim, Chief, numerous off- 
 spring of, 210 
 Etesim, Chief, machinations of, 124 
 Etete, Mrs., saves twins and their 
 
 mother, 26 
 Etuk Nkokk and her stunted child, 
 
 39 
 — Udaw in love philtre case, 144 
 Akpan, Chief, gives mother 
 
 sham burial, 233 
 Exogamy, information wanting on, 3 ; 
 
 case of, 128 
 
 Familiar spirit, how to obtain a 
 Kedah, 154; another method, 156 
 
 Fatting-house, 39, 65, 76, 82, 94, 11 1, 
 125, 212 
 
 Feminist movement, remarks on, 239 
 
 Fertility, Eka Abassi as Bestower of, 
 10 ; stones and rocks as givers of, 
 
 17 
 Fetish, in relation to juju, 15; deriv- 
 ation and use of word, 16 
 Fetishes, priests of, oppose white rule, 
 
 82; offerings made to, 113 
 Fisher, Miss, missionary work of, 36 
 Flynn, Thomas, trial of, 174 
 Foran, Dr., quoted, 116 
 Fort Lamy, the lion cub, story of, 45 
 Frazer, Sir James, theory re Central 
 Australian women, 3 ; re their 
 babies, 12; on childbirth tabu, 22 
 — , Lady, services of, to science, 207 
 French officials in West Africa, 240 
 " From the Congo to the Niger and 
 the Nile," quoted, 115 
 
 George Offong in love philtre case, 
 144 
 
 German officials in West Africa, 240 
 
 Ghosts, methods of preventing, 174; 
 secret society of, 195; fear of, 214; 
 precautions against, 216, 221 
 
 " Girls' Institute " of Jamestown, 36 
 
 Goethe, tribute to, 184 
 
 " Golden Bough, The," quoted, 22 
 
 Government officials, English, not 
 allowed to take wives to West 
 Africa, 240; difficulties and hard 
 work of, 242 ; tribute to, 242 
 
 Great Mother [See Eka Abassi) 
 
Index 
 
 Haddon, Dr., F.R.S., quoted, 16, 21, 
 
 172. 173. 192 
 Haggard, Sir H. Rider, tribute to, 
 
 Hair, potency of, 172 
 Hairstrings, beliefs concerning, 172 
 Heape, Walter, F.R.S., quoted, 3 
 Henshaw of Oron, Chief Daniel, his 
 
 position, 8 ; supposed example 
 
 of re-incarnation, 40; describes 
 
 "play," 65 
 Hercules, Juno Lucina and the birth 
 
 of, 22 
 Hillner, J., quoted, 22 
 Horus, similarity between Ibibio rites 
 
 and story of, 208 
 
 Iban IsoNG Society, rites of, 191 ; 
 survival of, 193; regulations for 
 widows, 225 
 
 Ibeno, persecution and trek of tribe, 
 77 ; visit to, 117 
 
 Ibibios, interpreters available, 4 ; life 
 of women unchanged since ancient 
 times, 4 ; reported as of no ethno- 
 logical interest, 4; show signs of 
 former religious culture, 4; their 
 great antiquity, 5 ; mysteries 
 known to women only, 5 ; 
 "Ebere" and "Iban" feminine 
 societies survive, 7 ; Mother of 
 God, 9; and re-incarnation, 12; 
 women and motherhood, 15 ; views 
 of rocks and pools, 16 ; attachment 
 to land, 17; tabu for expectant 
 mothers, 20; superstitions, 21, 22; 
 the lot of twin mothers, 34 ; atten- 
 tion to "birth-marks," 38; their 
 love of children, 62 ; now clothe 
 children earlier, 67 ; girls' admis- 
 sion to Fatting-house, 76 ; hard- 
 ships of unmarried girls, 8g ; old 
 ideas of hospitality, 97 ; morals, 
 f)7 ; superiority of women, 112; 
 drudgery of wives, 112; amiability 
 of women, 114; life of women of 
 little account, 115; treatment of 
 men in contrast, 116; loads carried 
 by women, 116; bloodthirstiness of, 
 121; slavery amongst, 124; matri- 
 monial cases, 128; murder by step- 
 mother, 133; matrimonial incon- 
 stancy, 135; love philtres and 
 magic, 138 et seg.; potion to cause 
 husband's suicide, 149; to secure 
 others' wives, 150; belief in power 
 to confer invisibility, 150; witch- 
 craft amongst, 162 et seq.; juju 
 worship of, 176; women's societies, 
 189; women's former power, 196; 
 women in war time, 20 1; ; burial 
 of warriors, 205 ; desire for large 
 
 families, 209; widowhood, 213; 
 
 customs at death in childbirth, 214 
 
 Idemra (fresh water), sacred day of, 
 
 78 
 
 — Ikwaw, the lesser Egbo, 327 
 " Idiokk " baboons and apes, 57 
 Idiong Society, law of, re "twin 
 
 women," 27; priest prescribes 
 sacrifice to redeem snake children, 
 53; laws against "twin women," 
 178; and sickness of chiefs, 232 
 
 Idua Oron Native Court, 190, 211 
 
 Iduans, fining of, 121 
 
 Ikan Belidah fish, its supposed feline 
 origin, 61 
 
 — Kalul fish, its supposed monkey 
 origin, 61 
 
 — Tumuli fish, its supposed human 
 origin, 61 
 
 " Ikom Be " ceremony, 192 
 Ikom District, a superstition in, 21 
 " Ikom Folk Stories," quoted, 100 
 Ikombo, Chief, murders his wife, 122 
 Ikoruben aids abduction, 150 
 Ikotobo, sacred pool of Abassi Isu 
 
 Ma, near, 18; Native Court at, 27; 
 
 tree at, 80 
 Ikwaw, machinations of, 139 
 
 — Eyo in the love philtre case, 139 
 
 " In Court and Kampong," quoted, 
 
 J55. 156 
 " In the Shadow of the Bush," 
 
 quoted, 15, 57, 194 
 Invisibility conferred by juju, 151 ; 
 
 similar beliefs amongst Zulus, 152 
 Iphegenia, an Ibibio, iSo 
 Isis and death of Osiris, 208 
 Isodoho cloth for mourning,* 229 
 , I song, the Earth Mother, 17; in 
 
 magic python rite, 158 
 
 — Edigi Owo invokes juju against 
 husband, 147 
 
 Isu Akariku, season for python rites, 
 
 158 
 Isu Ndemm (" The Face of the 
 
 Ita Brinyan, the Mbiam juju, invoked 
 against a husband, 147 
 
 Jehovah defied by Lilith, 10 
 
 Jucino Lucino, efforts of, to prevent 
 
 birth of Hercules, 22 
 Juju, Isu Ndemm, 13; origin of 
 word, 15; invoked to work spell, 
 71 ; Ainyena, chief Ibeno juju, 
 77; sacrifice offered to juju, 103; 
 protects Chief Ekpenyong, 705; 
 Isemin, bestower of fertility, 109; 
 the story of the Abo Abom, 118; 
 the calling of Antikka's soul into 
 the pot, 140; invoked to ensure 
 barrenness of a wife, 146; of a 
 
 248 
 
Index 
 
 husband, 147; to kill or destroy 
 reason of a husband, 148; Ikoruben 
 aids abduction, 150; Etuk Nwan 
 confers invisibility on burglars, 
 151 ; origin of " invisible juju," 
 152; Kukubarakpa, fantastic juju, 
 156; python affinity confers riches, 
 157; detects crimes of jealousy, 
 168; the two kinds of, 176; bene- 
 ficence of, 178; the cruelty of 
 Edogho Idua, 180; the crocodile 
 juju, 183; plots and counter -plots, 
 220 
 
 Kadu claims divorce from child "hus- 
 band," 212 
 
 Kamerun, native of, quoted, on 
 triplets, 35; magic in, 161 
 
 Keats, tribute to, 184 
 
 Keith, Professor, F.R.S., quoted, 112 
 
 Key, a symbol of easy delivery, 22 
 
 Kina, Fuegian festival commemo- 
 rating emancipation of males, 200 
 
 Kingsley, Mary, author's travelling 
 unlike that of, 2 ; quoted re evil 
 spirits, 41 ; and re re-incaraations, 
 
 Kusseri, present from German Resi- 
 dent at, 45 
 Kwa Ibo Mission, 18, 24 
 river, 31 
 
 Ladol-r mostly supplied by women, 112 
 Langsuir, or Flying Demon, descrip- 
 tion of, 218 
 Lapps, superstition of, re child-bear- 
 ing, 22 
 Law cases (See Anecdotes) 
 Legends of Kwa Town " Sky 
 People," 11; of Eka Abassi's 
 moon-bird and the barren women, 
 13 ; of the Ube magic water, 29 ; 
 of the Town of Women, 33 ; 
 among Ibibios less beautiful than 
 those among Ekoi, 57: the Plan- 
 tain Leaf, 67; the mother who 
 fetched water for her sick child, 
 77; the " invisible juju," 152; the 
 mother who became a vampire, 220 
 (See also Anecdotes) 
 I,emur, story of the pet, 44 
 Lilith enabled to defy Jehovah, 10 
 Locks and keys, supposed effects of, 
 
 on child-bearing, 22 
 Love philtres, 138 
 
 MAcnoNALn, Sir Claude, at Afikpo, 
 2og ; tribute to, 210 
 
 — , J., quoted, 203 
 
 Magic and childbirth, 22; taught in 
 Town of Women, 31 ; transmigra- 
 tion effected in Egypt by, 47 
 
 children's ornaments supposed to 
 possess properties of, 64; girl 
 caught in stream through, 71 ; love 
 philtres, 100; to obtain son, loi ; 
 to injure prosperous chief, 105; to 
 secure children, 108; love potions 
 employed, 113, 138, 140; "love 
 poisoning " epidemic, 142 ; other 
 cases of use of, 143 et seq.; invisi- 
 bility to facilitate nocturnal visits 
 and burglary, 151; rites to obtain 
 riches, 156; sympathetic magic in 
 war time, 191 
 " Magic and Fetishism," quoted, 16, 
 
 21, 172, 173, 192 ^ 
 " Malay Magic," quoted, 210 
 Malays believe in transmigration of 
 
 animals, 61 
 Mansfield, Dr., quoted, 35 
 Marriage, Fatting-house preparations 
 for, 83 ; of infants, 88 ; free choice 
 claimed in, 88; of little girl, 92; 
 as a gold mine, 93; punishments 
 for unfaithfulness, 97; inequality 
 of partners, 98; cruelty to sus- 
 pected wives, 98; cure for child- 
 less m;:rriages, 100; Efik's view of 
 monogamy, 106; wife's drudgery, 
 112; maltreatment of wife, 118; 
 death penalty for exogamy, 12S; 
 endogamy enforced, 130; com- 
 munal marriage formerly prac- 
 tised, 130; husband's sickness 
 attributed to wife's unfaithfulness, 
 131 ; sacrifice of chief's widow sus- 
 pected of unfaithfulness, 131; 
 barren wives' jealousy and crimes, 
 131; discarded wives' revenge, 135; 
 love philtres and magic, 138; 
 polygamy and population, 209; 
 " marriages" to boys, 211 ; widow- 
 hood, 213 
 Maxwell, Sir William, quoted, 216 
 Mbiam l^beand the " twin woman, 29 
 Mbit Ese Awan's cruelty to his wife, 
 
 100 
 Mbuk Pisi house of mourning, 226 
 Mecklenburg, Duke of, quoted, 115 
 Medicine of Ohio Iban-Iban, 31 ; for 
 Nyawhawraw, 67 ; to cure old 
 crone, 75; to make recipient 
 "chicken-hearted," 138; to cause 
 love, 149; to confer invisibility, 
 152; administered by witch to 
 small bov, 162 ; to catch witches, 
 166; made by devils from babies* 
 bodies, 170; 'to kill husband, 178; 
 to circumvent juju, 220; to save 
 boy unavailing, 237 (See also 
 Magic) 
 Millipede as harbinger of misfortune, 
 21 
 
 J49 
 
Index 
 
 Missionaries, influence of lady, 36 
 
 Mkpokk, new yam festival at, 109 
 
 Monogamy, Efik woman's views on, 
 106 
 
 Moon, legend of, 14 
 
 Moon-bird, and gift of fertility, 13; 
 and tabu on fowls and eggs, 14 
 
 " Most Great Name," utterance of, 
 confers immunity from punish- 
 ment, 9 
 
 " Mother of the Fatting-house." 
 Ibibio rites to secure blessings 
 from, 85 
 
 Mother of God {See Eka Abassi) 
 
 Motherhood, Ibibio women and, 15; 
 symbols of, 16; trilogy of, 17; 
 tabu re diet, etc., of expectant 
 mothers, 20; dread of twin-bear- 
 ing, 23; purification of twin 
 mothers, 24 ; desire for, 85 ; causes 
 jealousy and crime, 131 
 
 Mysteries, woman's, re NyawJuLwravj, 
 66; worship of Isemin, log 
 
 " Mystic Rose, The," quoted, 159, 216 
 
 Naiad, the, and the devoted mother, 
 
 Ndito Iban Society, rites of, igi 
 Ndiya, resting place of juju Isu 
 Ndemm, 13; distance of Town of 
 Women from, 31 ; re-incarnation 
 at, 38 
 Ndukpo-Isi town, 129 
 Ndun Ukaw town, 88 
 Nimm Societj', strength in Oban Dis- 
 trict of, 7 
 Nka Anang in matrimonial case, 130 
 Nko, the unwilling bride, 88 
 Nku Ita in Eben Society case, 190 
 Nse Abassi sues Eben Society, 190 
 Nwa Adiaha Udo Ide in " twin 
 
 woman " lawsuit, 26 
 — Udaw Uko, false imprisonment of, 
 
 124 
 Nyawhawraw, 66 
 
 Oban District, 80, 83; strength of 
 •women's secret society in, 71 ; 
 sacred trees in, 80; Fatting-house 
 in, 83; execution of intruders at 
 Egbo play at, 194 
 
 Obio Ekkpo Ghost Town, murder to 
 prevent separation in, 174 
 
 Obio Iban-Iban (Town of Women), 31 ; 
 story of origin of, 33 
 
 Obot I'do in exogamy case, 128 
 
 Obumo, the Thunderer, relation with 
 Eka Abassi, 8, 10; once on earth, 
 11; connection of pools and rocks 
 with rites of, 16; as giver of fer- 
 tility, 17; jealous of his powers, 
 158- 
 
 Oduko, war with Urua E3-e, 196 
 Ofeok Oyo, numerous offspring of, 
 
 209 
 Offering {See Sacrifice) 
 Offong Udo Akpa I mo, cruelty of, to 
 
 wife, 98 
 Ofon Ndam, cloth for widows, 228 
 Okat village and sanctity of snakes, 
 
 III 
 Okkobbor country, magic stream in, 
 
 28; endogamy enforced in, 130 
 Okon Ekkpo {See Jamestown) 
 Okonnor Asom, Chief, in exogamy 
 
 case, 128 
 Opobo, 31 
 " Origines du Mariage et de la 
 
 Famille, Les," quoted, 200 
 Oron District, Kkung plays in, 64 
 " Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrec- 
 tion," quoted, 19 
 Oyubia Native Court, 91 
 
 Pangwe, rites practised by, 6; Ma- 
 wungu Society of, 191 
 
 " Pangwe, Die," quoted, 6 
 
 " Pelsit," metliod Kedah ladies em- 
 ploy to obtain a, 154 
 
 Pig, forbidden as food for expectant 
 mothers, 21 
 
 Plays, n, 54, 64, 65, 68, 87, 104, ng, 
 189, 194, 199 
 
 Pottery, Ibibio women make, 112; 
 beauty of, 114; comparison of 
 Ibibio and Ekoi, 1^5 
 
 Praniatis, Father, at Beiliss trial, 173 
 
 Prenatal influences, 15 
 
 Primitive Methodist Mission at 
 Jamestown, 35 
 
 Primitive women as yet unstudied by 
 one of same sex, 2 
 
 Prior, John, superstition in connec- 
 tion with death of, 174 
 
 Ra, transmigration of, 47 
 
 Raben, Ober-Leutnant von, presents 
 his lion cub to author, 45 
 
 Rags, superstition concerning, 172 
 
 Re-incarnation, 12, 38, 39, 40, 49, 
 221 
 
 Religion, traces of former religious 
 culture of Ibibios, 4; "The 
 Mother " at fount of Ibibio re- 
 ligion, 9 
 
 " Religion of Ancient Egypt, The," 
 quoted, 48 
 
 Richardson, Miss, missionary work 
 of, 36 
 
 Rites, when burying warriors, 6; of 
 Juno Lucina, 23; of hideous 
 nature still obtain, 82; over love 
 philtre, 144 
 
 Roads, improvement of, 114 
 
 250 
 
Index 
 
 Roberts, R. A., discotery of human 
 
 sacrifice, 131 
 Roscoe, quoted, 213 
 Royal Asiatic Society, Journal of, 
 
 quoted, 61, 217 
 
 Sacrkd pools near Ikotobo, 18 
 
 Sacrifice, to Eka Abassi, 8 ; offerings 
 to Abassi Isu Ma, 18; to Mbiam 
 Ube, 29; required at Obio Iban- 
 Iban, 32 ; prescribed to redeem 
 snake-children, 53; before ad- 
 mission to Fatting-'house, 76 ; made 
 to " Ebiribong " trees, 81 ; offered 
 by childless chief, 102, 103 ; made 
 to Isemin juju, no; to " gods of 
 the week," 113; to Abo Abom juju, 
 118; to juju to curse faithless 
 wife, 146; to ant-hill spirits, 156; 
 offerings eaten by orphan, 179; 
 human sacrifices, iSi ; to appease 
 crocodiles, 187; for death in child- 
 birth, 214; of wives at chief's 
 burial, 223 ; of animals at sham 
 burial, 230 
 
 Saxons of Transylvania, superstitions 
 of, re child-bearing, 22 
 
 Sayce quoted, 48 
 
 Secret societies, 193, 195 ; woman and, 
 7, 189 
 
 " Sex Antagonism," quoted, 3 
 
 Shakespeare, tribute to, 184 
 
 Shelley, tribute to, 184 
 
 Skeat quoted, 218 
 
 Sky People, legend of the, 11 
 
 Slaves, cases of dealing in, 124; 
 method of retaining, 171 ; un- 
 executed victims disposed of as. 
 
 Snail as forbidden food for expectant 
 
 mothers, 20 
 Spence quoted, 34 
 Staves, description of Ibibio, 73 
 Sterility, Abassi Ma and, 17 
 Superstitions, r^ child-bearing, 21, 22; 
 re twins, 25 ; explanation of twin 
 superstition, 27 ; re transmigra- 
 tion of Idiokk apes, 60; re Nyaw- 
 hawraw, 66; re rags, 172; in 
 Ireland, 173 
 
 Tabu, on eggs and fowls, 14 ; on food 
 for expectant mothers, 20 ; on 
 drinking water, 77 ; snake flesh, 
 III 
 
 Talbot, P. Amaury, quoted, 16, 17, 19, 
 20, 57, 130, 195, 200, 206, 224, 230; 
 tribute to, 243 
 
 Tessmann, Herr Gunter, quoted on 
 Pangwe secret societies, 6, 191 
 
 Teulon, Giraud, quoted, 200 
 
 Thompson, R. C, quoted, 28, 106, 214 
 
 Thunder God [See Obumo) 
 Totems, 48, 49 
 
 Town of Women (See Obio Iban-Iban) 
 Trade, carried on by women, 113; 
 
 increased by better roads, 114 
 Transmigration, employed to injure 
 
 prosperous chief, 105 ; in Egypt, 
 
 47 
 Trees, regarded as guardians, 80; 
 
 offerings to " Ebiribong," 81 
 
 Tree-souls {See Affinities) 
 
 Triplets, birth of, at Jamestown, 35 ; 
 rarity of, 35 
 
 " Twin mother " and sacred waters, 
 28-9 
 
 Twins, destruction of, 23 ; expulsion 
 of twin mothers, 24; supposed 
 demoniacal origin of, 27 ; " twin 
 town" visited, 31; reason at Awa 
 for killing, 36; medicine for avert- 
 ing danger of, 38 ; excuse for 
 divorce, 177; "twin mothers'" 
 sacrifices unacceptable, 187 ; burial 
 of Baganda twins, 213; uncere- 
 monious burial of twin mothers, 
 
 Twin Town, 24, 25; the Eket, 30; of 
 Ekeple Ukim, 31 
 
 Twin women, ostracisation of, 26 ; 
 and Idiong Society, 27; "off- 
 spring of demon," 27 
 
 Ube, town of, and the legend of the 
 
 stream, 28 
 Ubium, trip up the river, 83; matri- 
 monial negotiations at, 128; sham 
 burial near, 233 
 Udaw, 201 
 
 — Owudumo relates ape story, 58 
 Udofia Nwa in love philtre case, 143 
 Umana I song sold as a slave, 124 
 Umo Ekkpe in magic potion case, 148 
 Unang Obo, under curse of barren- 
 ness, 170 
 Unwa of Efa, story of, 122 
 Utan Okpo cloth for mourning, 230 
 Uyo District, 122 
 
 Virgin birth, disbelief in, 12; of Eka 
 Abassi's children, 13 ; of Eka 
 Ekkpo's children, 201 ; of Ekong, 
 204 
 
 Volksthiimlicher Branch und Glaube 
 bei Geburt und Tauje im Sieben- 
 burger Sachsenlande, quoted, 22 
 
 Waddell, Rev. Hope, quoted, 195 
 " Wandering souls," dread of, 40 
 War time, women in, 205 
 Water, as symbol of motherhood, 16; 
 
 cleansing and fertilising powers 
 
 attributed to, 80 
 
 251 
 
Index 
 
 Wayisa and the origin of daath, 303 
 Weber, Judg», family litigation be- 
 fore, 210 
 Were-beasts, 43, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 54, 
 
 105, 13'. '57, 163 
 
 Widows, sacrifice of, 223 ; seclusion 
 of, 225; "crying" of husbands 
 before Egbo, 227 ; chastisement of, 
 227; cleansing of, 228; mourning 
 dress of, 229; hideous condition of, 
 231 ; sacrifice of, 232 
 
 Witchcraft, used by jealous wife, 22 ; 
 dreaded by expectant mothers, 38 ; 
 connected with " affinities," 51 ; 
 promotes antagonism to white rule, 
 82 ; used to injure Chief Ekpen- 
 yong, 105 ; to revenge barrenness, 
 131; to provide love potion, 138; 
 to wither rival's body, 139; to pro- 
 vide love philtre, 144; to wither 
 up victim's vital powers, 145, 148 ; 
 to kill or make mad, 148; to cause 
 suicide, 149; to murder or abduct, 
 150; prevalence of, amongst Ibi- 
 
 bios, 162; taught to children, 162; 
 
 overcome by juju's medicine, 166; 
 
 employed by barren women, 167 ; 
 
 the testing of the alleged witch, 
 
 170; method of facilitating evil 
 
 spells, 17'; use of rags, 172; in 
 
 Beiliss trial, 173; and widowhood 
 
 amongst Ibibios, 174; employed to 
 
 destroy babe, 220 
 Wizards, destruction of, 167 
 " Woman's Law " re Nyawhawraw, 
 
 66 
 Women, their emancipation in Oban 
 
 District, 96; their servitude in 
 
 Eket District, 97 
 Women's mysteries, existence of, how 
 
 discovered, 6 
 
 Yaos and the origin of death, 203 
 " Yellow God, The," accuracy of 
 description in, 185 
 
 Zulus, belief in invisibility, 152 
 
 Pbintbo ST Cassbll & CourANV, LiuiTto, La Billi Sauvaci, London, EX. 
 
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