WITCHCRAFT IN NIGERIA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143852, 27 July 1912, Page 7

WITCHCRAFT IN NIGERIA.

TRIAL BY ORDEAL. Mr. P. Amaury Talbot, who, accompanied by his wife, has for nearly two years been travelling in parts of Nigeria, large portions of which have never before been visited by a Government official, and certainly never by a "white woman, has related his adventures to Reuter s representative. During the first part of their travels Mr. Lalbot had the pleasure of escorting Miss Oliver M'Leod to Lake Chad. At the conclusion of his journey Mr. Talbot narrowly escaped being murdered by a Juju village of the Iko country, which he was the first white man to visit. Until his arrival no Government official had penetrated to this part of the region between the bend of the Cross River and the Cameroons. Describing some of his experiences m the Southern Nigerian bush—the home of witchcraft—Mr. Talbot said ; ' 'The bush, with its soft green twilight, dark shadows, and quivering lights, is peopled bv many terrors, but among these ‘ Ojje,’ or witchcraft, reigns supremo. . , . . Sometimes the terror of witchcraft will scatter a whole town. This happened at Oberekkai (Obetekkai —crab mud), ouee a large and prosperous place, which stands on a tributary of the Ewa River. To-day it is deserted and dreaded, and with rapidly advancing bush growth is but a shrunken survival of former prosperity. TRIAL BY ORDEAL. “Should the suspicion of witchcraft fall upon anyone, only trial by ordeal can free them. The most usual one is that of eating eeere, a poisonous bean which almost invariably kills the suspected person. The ordeals of boiling oil poured upon the palms of the hands, and of pepper corns inserted in the eyes are far less dreaded, not only because their results are practically never fatal, but because the physical anguish entailed is acknowledged to be less intense than that caused by esere.” One of the most interesting discoveries was that of the Lake of the Dead ip the Oban country: “The name of this lake,” said Mr. Talbot, “occurs in many of the tribal songs, hut for s long time. I could not discover the meaning of the word, and all inquiries failed to elicit information. When I believed I was in the neighbourhood of this haunted spot and altered my course, my carriers begged to be allowed not to proceed, and were left behind. After a struggle through dense bush we could see the edge of a sheet of water, along the banks of which were the holes of crocodiles, whose tracks covered the shore.

“The scene was a weird one; the surface was absolutely still, and round about were ten-feet high bushes with what were apparently great tufts of creamy flowers. These, however, proved to be the nests of tree frogs. The place is a sanctuary for all wild things, for no hunter would dare to penetrate the bush to this dreaded spot. As we stood at the edge,>»gazing out over the water, its quiet was suddenly broken by a broad ripple, and little fish were seen to spring agitatedly above the surface. A great python was crossing, and this, wo learned, shared with the crocodiles the guardianship of the Sacred Lake. Nothing, we were informed, must be allowed to trouble the water or even, to touch its outer edge, or famine and pestilence would ensue.” ALTAR FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE. Describing a visit to a district where all the houses were built of ebony, Mr. Talbot said: “The side of our tent almost touched a little ebony hut built over a large and gruesome-looking pot, the'sides of which were ornamented with iron hooks. Before this, about breast high, and the length of a mpn, was a kind of altar, made of stout ebony blocks. In front of our tent door was a tall carved pillar, ornamented with strings of human skulls. The people all had the filed teeth and thin shrunken appearance which was always associated with cannibal rites, and although they one and all stoutly denied knowledge of anything of the kind, every one of our carriers said that not only was the pot in the little hut meant for the sacrifice of human victims, but the tw r o hideous figures of a god and goddess in another shed on the further side of the carved pillar had their heads worn away byj the constant libations of human blood’ poured over them.” From Southern Nigeria Mr. and Mrs. Talbot crossed into German Cameroon territory, where they were hospitably received by the German Commissioner, Dr. Mansfield, who escorted them to another sacred lake which ho had discovered. , “The centre of this lake,” said Mr. Talbot, “is of immense depth, and, strangely enough, even on the hottest day its temperature at the bottom is far higher than that on the surface. According to legend, it contains a whirlpool into which all are sucked who venture to bathe in its waters or attempt to cross them in a canoe. No such evil -fate, howeyer, overtook the little Berthou boat in which we crossed.”