THE OIL RIVERS IN WEST AFRICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 77

THE OIL RIVERS IN WEST AFRICA.

(Chambers's Journal.) Part 11.

THE EFIC, OH Qr V TRIIIK. "Leaving the town of Opobo and proceeding a short distance up Opobo River, we f iter the country of the Etic or Qua people. ,». vast difference in customs and in caste at once apparent ; but the greatest difference is in the people themselves. You aye behind at Opobo a partially civilised, i 'dustrious, thrifty people, and there en(ounter an idle, slovenly, subtle, avaiicious <lpgrraded humanity. In the vicinity of Old Calabar the people ore somewhat improved in the habits of cleanliness, thanks to the traders and the mission. Women bear the greater "part of the burden of labour, while their husbands- leisurely rega'e themselves on tumbo, an intoxicating beverage which exudes frcin a cut or a slit mode in a palm tree. In order to continue these debauche.% the men scheme and devise all manner of cunning excuses with which to answer their wives' reproaches ■when the tatter plead with them to assist in preparing the ground for yams and corn. Seedtime and harvest compel the men of necessity to extrt themse'ves a little ; at other times they contrive to make life one long holiday — and they seem to enjoy it ! A Quaman's one ambition is to enter the ecpo ; but as this requires money, and therefore necessitates work, a goodly number never trouble themselves. Egpo is : n ancient form of Freemasonry on a native scale, a kind of fetich brotherhood through which the candidate is admitted into the society of his chiefs. The cost of entry is suited to the particular localities, averaging about £20. The distinctive stages of probation are mnde known by the different egpo rings worn on the crown of the head, which increase in size as the candidate advances. At the end of the first 12 months a part of the entrymoney must be deposited ; when a second twelvemonth's probation has been served, ; 'id "the balance paid over, the candidate < nerges a full-fledged chief. This is the ■ -ory ; but the honourable brotherhood ?ks to no hard-and-fast rules. Being - w reduced to a matter of necessity, no c need wait longer than two minutes, >• less two years. Money thus raised jvides for a glorious jnmbaree; when it not forthcoming, the brotherhood con- - ive to raise the wind m spite of trifles. - is on record that a European trader was « "» made egpo. ua marriage customs arc quaint. Umip"'\- they are celebrated after harvest. A •v months prior to the union the favoured *■ takes up her abide in the house of her •tended lord and ma-ter. This is known the "lying-in-oil timo." fiom the fact oil is rubbed all over the giil in order iat when she is presented her skin may be '•right and glossy. Of ceiemony there is little or none ; and critical eyes inspect her m much the same way as a cattle-dealfr judges an animal on sale. Why need it be otherwise? She is only one of .'.eveial wives, and by-and-bye her chaim« will b» forgotten for those of another wife. Except in mission districts-, the Qua Sunday, or its equivalent, falls onoc eveiv ei-'l-t days. In Old Calabar, braS3 rods are the cccepted coinage, which necessitates a special receptacle at the church door for holding them. In other parts they exchange the manilla, or horseshoe coin. All the Quas, male and female, learn to smoke in infancy. Xo dress is given to the children, noi are they permitted to wear any until married. Arthur would find it di£i-

cult to imagins his Guinevere coming to T him wearing only a stzing of beads and o smile ! Yet in the matter of morals they cempare favourably with more civilised cemmunities. According io their lawr=, adultery mean" death. It is with the advent of the white man that the blot appears on their purity.

THK EI',OE TBIBE

To close without some mention of the ■ Eboe people would be unfair, since they are ' naturally far the most intelligent, industrious-, cleanly people in the protectorate, their disadvantages notwithstanding. They dwell on the banks of Opobo River, 40 miles above the tow nof Opobo ; and it is their language that is still spoken in one form or another as fir inland as Europeans havp yet explored — something like 200 miles from the waterway. The coming of this tribe into touch with civilisation is quite w ithin recent memory, yet they had long before learned the «ecret of commercial prosperity. Time out of mind they have been the blacksmiths to the surrounding tribe?. Hoes and all kinds of agricultural implements made by them are eagerly t-cught by their less skilled neighbours, and in times of war they supply the demand for more formidable weapons. A native clnth wrought by them sells at a very high price ; and s-o much is this cloth prizeel that a Bonny or Opobo gill's marriage dciwry consists principally of it. Besides, they have a genius for ivory-carving, skilfully modelling elephants, fish, and monkeys so time to nature that- the}- are excelled by few even among more favoured artist". I One characteristic of this and all other tribes dealing in slaves, and a trait that can only be the outcome of tbe cruel practice, is their indifference to human life. It is no uncommon thing for men accused of some serious effence of which they are in- | nocent to commit suicide in order to prove j their blamelessness. In this connection may be mentioned their somewhat novel trial for any serious crime. A piece of a tree calleef sauce-wood is mashed into pulp and soaked in water. This produces a poisonous liquid, which the accused are made to drink, the survivor being proclaimed innocent — rv j curious ordeal, certainly, but one which may have something to commend it. The innocent, having no fear of death, may readily drink more than their share, with the re-" suit that they vomit, and after a time lecover — a pure sign that they are guiltless.

Prosperity has made the Eboe people very proud, a characteristic that in the chiefs and kings — every little town has its king — is carried to a delusive extreme. Here is a narrative of one who had dealings with them : "Accompanied by a friend, I visited a chief much more powerful than the ; nominal king of Ohumbli. This was my fiist vis-it to him, yet I had heard much about his self-conceit, and made up my mind to have a little diversion at his expense. After the customary palaver, Le asked me if, from report, I knew him. I replied by stating that I had never heard of him before. 'What.' he gasped, | ' never heard of Ba-BaV and. shaking his • head indicative of pity at my gross ignorance, remarked that I must have bpt?n brought up in some town far in the bush. The Queen, he informed me, had sent to' him her compliments many a time : and , before I took my depaiture he marie me ' promise to convey to 'her Majesty his warmest greetings !"'

sf.wi.ny,

Some fupeificial authorities speak in '/lowing terms of our ' saving the native? from slavery and from themselves.'' This is a mistake, and only shows ignorince of f'fts. Despite the werk accomplished by Wilbeiforce and Ins colleagues, slavery is almost as common in Africa to day as it was previous to the passing of the Abolition Act, the only differenc being that tie slaves are not exported now ; but men ?nd women are bought and sold in open market dai'.v, and that, too, under the eyes of our Government represent itives. To make it sound less disagreeable, we term it "household slavery" ; and yet. as of old, the •slaveowner has power of life and death over his purchase, who is his. body and soul. Cti'tainlv the owner cannot openly abu>e or kill offending slaves ; but tiust native running to tain it 5 - own ends. Suspected slave '"boys" have been known to go into the bush to "cut sticks, ' and never return. Few people out there ever know rightly what is going on ; they see a man to-day. miss him to-morrow ; that is all. After reading the section on cannibalism at the end of this article, the reader will draw his own inferences.

Slave* are originally obtained either Ly kidnapping or as prisoners taken in war. A man out nut-crathenng may venture 100 far away froYn his friends on to the confines of a neighbouring tribe, when he is suddenly overpowered and carried into slavery. Perchance his friends may go and demand his return ; but usually before that can be done the kidnapped man is sold away down-country. All pri«oneis taken in war are sold to the cliiefs and kings luhng in the lower reaches of ti-e river.', there to pull canoes or otherwise woik out their days at their master's pleasure. Some one may a«k why they don't mn home again, since they are allowed so much liberty, or why their friends do not take them' away. " Slave-traders have thought out and settled the point long :vgo. The slave's freml- never get to know where he i*. for at lea.«t one hostile tribe sepaiates the poor fellow from his home; and as toll is demanded at every town, it ) simply means that to forsake one master is to throw him«elt at the mercy of another. Slaves while in the hands of their captois aie ton near home ; therefore they aie, a 1 - a lule. pa^ed on. Their only chance of cv c r seeing home again i> m the company of a Europe <n: but usually by the timj they net thai opportunity tlic-y have , becomo indifferent about their old home and hare a preference for tbe new. Will- ' ing slaves aie presented with a wife, and the children bora to them aie in theoiy fics-born. They may even, if suece^-uil tTaders become sl-ivp-ownei.. Sour? chiefown thousands of slave*, and <r\ en aspac t3 the highest position in the lai-ci — .is, i\r , example, Ja-Ja, jntviouely inentiuiitd. J

IMiIOI.AIIO.V

Dispel inherent superstitious belief*-, and yen root out immolation. No legislation cm alter existing conditions excoyt. perhaps hi tlie case of s-lavciy. Our hope? for the future must rest in the advancement of civisation and the fostering of ccnunon sense— which, by the way, together with trade, are all that the natives ate waiting for. Already there is a tendency in the right direction, noted particularly in tLs Old Calabar and on the Kroo Coast. Continual petty warfare and the sacrificing ol human beings at the death of every chief in QuaLincl, Eboeland, and in Kroo towns prevents the increase of the population to any perceptible extent. Some of the younger men are beginning to see the folly of this : and lately one man who had the courage of his convictions boldly expostulated with the king of Fishtown (on the Kroo Coa-t) against this inhuman practice. Let it be Loped his initiative will be followed.

Htre are some instance* : — '"While tiavelling b% canoe from Opobo to Essene I had a rather disagreeable experience. On lounding a bend near to the market-place of Essene I was obliged to muffle my nose because of the terrible stench that prevailed. The cause was not far to seek. _ Stiung to a tree th.\t grew close to the water was the body of a man surrounded by vultures greedily devouring the fleth. I pulled past this emporium of Oriental odours as quickly as possible. On returning a week later I paw some of the bones still dangling irom the bough. This man's life had been sacrificed to appease the anger of tne god oi trade What particular circunv-tan«,e had off-nded the god on this occasion I never leaned; but the news travelled, and very soon every little town had made its. human sacrifice to th" same dull deity. "I taw a little girl of about 12 years of age dragged down to the creek and drowned. The reason for this mode of sdcriiice— easier perhaps to the victim than some othersis that these people, having a superstitious dread of ghosts and visits of spirits from the other world, think by doing so tkey will never bo troubled with bogles or nigntrnaro again." Formerly at Opobo a good yam, banana, or oil season was only secured from the gods at the expense of human sacrifice. The usual procedure was to purchase from the Eboes a young and pretty girl, to whom for a month or so previous to the sacrifice every door in the town was open. During this period s-he was at liberty to do exactly as fhe pleased, and to take whatever she desired, beiug questioned by no one. Poor girl ! she had suddenly become the most important unit in the town, and seemed to enjoy her distinction, whether conscious or not of the inevitable fate awaiting her. In all the dancing and revels she took the lead. Plays, in which s-he was tha central figure, were performed for her pleasure. In short, her happiness knew no bounds until at last the end came. Decked in gorgeous robes of .-ilk, trimmed with gold and coral, she was borne aloft amid the crowd on an elevated chair. Ariived at Ihe river, she was bound and placed in a canoe, which at length was paddled to Us mooring. The general it juicing then reached a climax, everybody being in the best of humour, and shouting and veiling until hoaise. What of the gill — of her who had of late been their festal queen, tli" embodiment of mirth and fun? Ask the r»ver !

N VI IVr. SUFI Tt>TITIOVS.

Passing along the native mad* — ''i\ tn be riore cured tracks— into the bu^i, one cannot help being struck at seeing so many seeming scarecrows dotted all ovr the landscape. These are ultimately clu-coveied not to be ex-ittlv what they seem, but are in reahtv symbolic of one or other of the gorls tn whom tbe natives pray and make offerings for the preservation of their crops. Curious god-> they must be, if one e;m imagine them made visible in old gin-bottles — ampty, of course, for the African would sooner think of turning wh:tc than place a full bottle of gin :n the way of his inquisitive neighbour. Then there are tin cms, broken pots (all different «oels), and sometimes a rag. Anything and everything resembling cloth, no nvitter how old, is put to some use by the natives, and is therefore generally too gooel for the gods !

Iv spite of all this petitioning '.aid propitiating of the gods, crop^ continue to go wrong ; but no one of the gods is. to be blamed, ai>d these bl-j.-scd beings are never brought to book for their misdeeds! Theie l*. beside-, another danger over which the gods Inve no control, so a law has been improved accordingly: niggers have some notoriety for thieving; and to keep them out of yam cr corn fields the law is very exacting, for death is the punishment. "Twice I saw the dira sentence earned out. On one occasion two little bo vs. probably because they were hungry, stole- a jam — equivalent to .\bout half-a-stone of potatoes. For thi^ they were flogged until I am positively certain every b>>ne in thru- bodies must have been bioken; then they wero I ung to a tree and left till death relieved them. In a week or ten da\.s only a few bones weie left hanging, the vultures, having accounted for the flesh "

These vultures, according to native superstition, are charmed against death, the charm being called ju-ju. They lord it in the market-places, wrddling .ibout at the feet of the natives in much th" Mime fashion as we here see farmyard fowls ; but immediately on the appearance of a white nnn they disappear, for the very good reason that they dislike being used a& target- ''I Tcmembtr once trying to reason out the absurdity of ju-ju with an enlightened Quaman in the town of Essene. He would not listen; and when I hinted tlu't it wa,s an easy matter to end the croaking of any one of' the vultures in sight, he laughed ,ni n.credulous laugh, declaring it impossible. I pointed mv nfle at the one nearest io me, ond it rolled over Another that lay among the sand sunning itself got the second discharge with a like result; but he would not be convinced. 'Thai bird,' he maintained, 'would never have been shot had it been awake.' So, like Wordsworth's ' Jittle maid,' I kft him to his will."

The follow iug vulture-peacock yarn will take some beating, even in Africa. While I was talking one day with fin old chief

oi\ the subject cf vv.'lures. ho told ma this story, whLh en hi? auilinri'y J gi'-o you as true. A whits trader named idackie tc-k iv beautiful pe.iccck with him to tii" town of Essene. Hitherto the natives in tUoic ports had nee even in their wildest, dreamt imcained such a biru ; and, sines its pride .-ppsaled to them ps a reflection o[ thc-ir own. they enshrined i- a god ab^vs the qo:!s. Covetous eyes daily feislcel on it, King Essene being the worsL offender, for he was seized with a pa^ionate longing to have the peacock all to himself. Before many days parsed. Mackie, while visiting

"His Majesty," wa.s .'i^kod to dash (present) the peacock. This he refused to do, whereon the king changed his tone. "Very well," he said, waving Mackie away, "I am for it, and it will be mine, for I will send my ju-ju bird for it. and he will bring it to me."' Next morning — fo the story goe' — the s-icy abo\e the trader's house was literally darkened by vultures. The peacock plumed its feathers at them in mockery, litt'e dreaming of its impending fate. Suddenly one vulture, presumably the king's bird, more daring than the rest, swooped down and drove the peacock before it into the king's courtyard. Thus »ay the Africans ; but I fear — as they, if they choose, could verify — that that vulture has yet to grow wings and learn picking as a means of livelihood. At any rate, Mackie afterwards admitted having mysteriously lost a peacock. The vultures evidently seized their opportunity while he slept L

CANNIBALISM.

Just as with slavery, so it is with cannibalism—report and rumour require to be taken in. two ways. Since we cannot prove we must just take for granted, and, thus we have for long indulged ourselves ii the belief that canniba'ism is almost entirely confined to the South Sea Islanders. 1 herefore it comes like a shock to us to be told that cannibalism, like slaveiy, is known to a very large extent in a British possession. Such is indeed the case, and officialdom is powerless. It is not too much to say that most natives on the Guinea Coast have at one time or other i made a good square meal of human flesh. On a traveller inquiring of a boy which cut he preferred, he denied ever having tasted it. Not to be beaten, however, the ciuestioner ventured a remark on the calf of the leg, adding that the boy's father said he always preferred that cut when Le could get it. This the little fellow repudiated, and, with an air of knowing decision, dccl ired the gristle of the chin and wrists to be by far 'the sweetest morsels. He preferreel to admit his weakness rather than be accounted a bad judge of flesh !

One of the most gruesome cannibal feasts on record, where the hosts ate their guests, io repoi ted from Andonie, a {own situated ar the head of the creek midway between Bonny and Ooobo. For some years the Andonie men had been at war with their neighbours ; and as both were tired of it. they mutually agreed to meet and settle their cliff eiences poaceabry. The Andonie men invited their foemen to meet them as friends in the town of Andonie, where, in honour of the occasion, it was arranged to give a big play. They met afi arranged, and for a tune all went we'l ; for it should b" stated that the Andonie men had not premeditated playing the traitor. They danced and sang as only Africans can do ; ;md they also drank and drank (another fc it m which they are peeiless) until they drank themselves chunk. It was then that t\.'o of the reconciled chanced to quarrel. In the twinkling of an eye the hall of n eminent became a pandemonium. Unmasked knives glistened in the sunshine-, death being dealt with every cut, while the fanatical yells and curses of the murderer.-, lose high above the groans of the dying. It was a scene of savage cruelty defying human description. Even the children became excited by this uiad passion, and rushed hither and thither, fighting with e;>ch other in their eagerness to get at ond diink of the victims' blood. At length, when the butchery was complete and the \isitors without one exception lay weltering in the>'r blood, the fiendish tumult ceased ; and we-11 it might. The scene closed with the dragging away of the dead and dying to the homes of the «-!ayers, where the f e«L v ould be cured and feasted on.

At that time the missionaries in the distnct suffered rather an anxious time of it, shut up for some days in a stuffy hut. Vrht-n once their blood was voused, the Andonie men proved desperate -fellows, and designed to rid themselves of their benef.ictur:>, whom they knew would condemn them for murdenng their neighbours Happily a mes-enger contiived to get through to Bonny ; and w hen a detachment of Hoitsas (native soldier*-) ariived on the scene, the murdeiers lied into the bush. Andonie town was burned, and a large- indemnity was claimed ; and this, so crippled the- w.utiois that peace was secured for v considerable time. Further, in o:der to prevent, a future outrage, their king w-<-politely informed that on the next offence nothing short of his own precious hf;*'' dangling at the end of a gibbet would satisfy justice. The fact that Europeans have unwittingly at times partaken of human Hesh whei entertained by native cb.efs imparts a certain unpleasant tone t'> the subject. Though not altogether so fastidious about his palate ;is the Frenchman, the Afiican chief can .it lea^t boast as many mysteiiou* dihhes on Ins festal board.

'■ I arcumpunicd a gentleman on a visit to a king with whom he l>;id opened trade. When visiting an African blood-royal one is expected to take with him a present — dash. as they term it — the dash they prefer and most frequently receive being gin and to-baci-o After palavering, in which we bad to suffer the effects of his presumed impnitance, he cordially incited us to dine with him. Dinner wa« certainly most desirable, for we had walked a long way under a broiling sun ; therefore we as cordially accepted his invitation.

" Lighting our pipes, we essayed to have a look round while the eatables were being prepared. Hung in the courtyard we espied a human leg from which the 'boy' had uvi-

aently juai> out a slice ©t tvo. My appA tito suddenly \a-rsJieel, as d.d I from tha( quarter, thus outraging "tie laws' of hogpL i.U ; ty. I had giown quito uncustomed to sec-ing my 'boy' pcllah the plates with his gruisy loin-cloth. and had even suffered worse things ; but to risk it, slice of that log! Anything was preferable-- -aye, even a, irainp across the Continent with the satisfaction of a certain meal at the end ol ht

'" At another time T Avas invited, along with other Europeans on the- beach, to one of the biggest plays that have~been seen in Opobo. At the feast all kinds of fish, fowl, and soup, cooked after the native fashion, were served. Every one thoroughly enjoyed the feast until, near to the finish, the 'chaser (desert) was brought ,in. This dish they called palm-oil chop. While it was being served there rolled out of the vessel what to all appearance was a human skull. Suddenly all th,e Europeans .turned pale as though suffering from an acute attack of seasickness ; and the symptoms they developed were identical, for" that dinner would- not stay down. The chief, in alarm, inquired what had made his friends so ill. One of the sufferers, whose eyes protruded from, their sockets, and afraid to trust himself to speak, placed his handkerchief to his mouth and jerked his thumb in the direction of the skull. The chief grasped the situation, apd with unaffected concern tnbd_to comfort his sick guests by saying, 'It be all right. He be no man ; he be monkey ! ' "' i